East Noble (4,300) Built 1958
December 23, 2025: Goshen vs. East Noble
I've written a lot about small schools in the single class era and how winning a sectional for them back in the day probably meant more to them than winning a 1A or 2A state championship does for small schools today. This was not only because you often had to win 4-5 games to bring home the trophy, but often you had to fend off the other small schools in the area and then come face to face with whatever local big school powerhouse stood in your way at the end. It was like mastering all the normal levels in a video game but still having to defeat the final boss to actually beat the game in the end. These final bosses often came in the form of schools like Vincennes Lincoln, Muncie, Marion, Jeffersonville, Kokomo, Terre Haute Gerstmeyer, Jasper, and others that just dominated the sectional landscape year after year. They were bigger, and usually they were better. While most sectionals had at least one dominant school, others had schools that were a little larger, but maybe not as imposing as the ones I just mentioned. This was the case with my own high school and the sectional they played in before the advent of class basketball. In the northeast corner of Indiana, there isn't really a true city, and there wasn't really a singularly dominant basketball program. By default, the sectional went to the school with the biggest town, and as usually was the case with the biggest town, the biggest gym: East Noble in Kendallville.
East Noble formed as a conglomeration of Rome City, Avilla, and Kendalville in 1966. At that time they moved into Kendalville's sparkling new gym that was built a few years earlier. With a seating capacity of over 4,000 people, it could almost fit the entire town. While I mentioned that East Noble maybe wasn't the traditional big school dynamo you found in other sectionals, that doesn't mean they weren't successful. They captured 12 sectional titles to go along with 2 regional championships in the last two years of single class hoops. They did this while hosting a sectional environment that was as raucous as they come. Growing up in the Westview basketball tradition, I would hear legends of the old East Noble sectional games from time to time. I asked my dad (who played in that sectional in the early to mid-80s) again recently about his memories of those famed battles at the "Big Blue Pit" as the East Noble gym became known. He said that East Noble had a huge student section that would unleash a rousing chant right before tipoff at every game. The line for tickets would be out the door. For the small schools in the northeast corner, this was probably the biggest gym they would play in (unless they ever had a reason to be over at the Northside Gym in Elkhart), so that just added to the intensity of the place when the stands were packed. One of the more unique things he remembered was that in the mid-70s when my uncle Roger played, some members of the cross country team would take turns running and dribbling a basketball all the way from Emma to Kendallville on the day of the sectional game as another way to drum up excitement. Talk about Hooser Hysteria! These sectional matchups were everything for the communities back then, and the Big Blue Pit was a great host for them.
I made it back recently to East Noble for the first time since I played there during my senior year in 2013. Not much has changed from how I remember it, which isn't a bad thing! It's called the Big Blue Pit, and maybe it was pretty blue back in the day, but now it'd be more accurate to call it the Big Grey Pit. There are two levels of worn grey plastic bleachers on three sides of the gym. They go up 12 rows along the bottom baseline sections, and 15 up top. They go up 6 rows and then 9 rows on the one baseline end, with the lower level being a pretty narrow section of bleachers. A few of the bleachers feature a blue or yellow streak, but it's mostly all grey. A full scale replacement would do this place wonders. I'm always going to be partial to wood, but if you name the place the Big Blue Pit, and you want to go all in on bright blue high quality plastic bleachers, it would probably look pretty sharp. High up on the wall above the upper bleachers hang athletic accomplishment banners for different sports. While I appreciate that they're made of cloth and have some character to them, they're a little hard to read unless you're sitting right under them. Hanging them all across the big baseline wall where there are no bleachers would probably be the best move in my opinion.
Speaking of that wall, while there is a lot of blank space, there are a few big things going on as well. The first is a massive scoreboard that tells you how many points and fouls each player on the floor has which is always appreciated, and it also features advertisements below it. It's massive. On the other side of the wall is a brilliant old mural of an East Noble Knight riding its trusty steed into battle. If they ever paint over it I will be incensed. On the bottom of the wall you'll find padding like at most gyms, but the padding is flanked on both sides by what look like prison bars protecting who knows what behind it. Gives it a unique look if nothing else! The floor design is pretty blase. It's your standard light-tan hardwood most places with a ever so slightly darker shade inside the three point arcs and some blue in the foul lane. "East Noble" and "Knights" are written along the baselines in way smaller font than you normally see in those spots. A very grey and very bland emblem sits at center court with "EN" emblazoned on it in blue and yellow. "Big Blue Pit" is written in pretty script inside the sidelines. "NE8" is written right inside the free throw lines to acknowledge the NorthEast 8 Conference. You can also find that conference honored high above the playing floor where some nifty pennant banners hang for each team. They're vinyl, but they look more regal when hanging above in the baseline air instead of plastered on a wall. There are a couple of defunct concession stand windows in the upper level which is always depressing to see, but at least the stairwells leading up to them are adorned with old pictures and jerseys honoring past athletic greats that have passed through the school.
My own personal memories of this gym are not many. East Noble wasn't on Westview's schedule a lot growing up, and my only memory from my one game here was that our coach hyped up their team the whole week to the point that we thought we were going to get slaughtered, and then we came out and won by 30. It was weird, maybe we just had a lucky night. I am also just now remembering as I write this that I watched my brother nail a fadeaway game winning three at the buzzer a couple years later which was way more thrilling than anything I ever did. Regardless, while my memories of the place may not be spectacular, for anyone who got to experience a sectional environment here in its heyday, they certainly are for them. Some pockets of the state may have had big NCC gyms, or Seymour, or the Hatchet House, but the northeast had the Big Blue Pit, and it was just as special. Long live the Big Blue Pit!
