Lewis Cass (3,900) Built 1968
February 28, 2025: Lafayette Central Catholic vs. Lewis Cass (Boys)
February 28, 2025: Lafayette Central Catholic vs. Lewis Cass (Boys)
When I was in college at Indiana Wesleyan, it was a very popular thing amongst the students on the Christian campus to discuss where the coolest place was to attend church on Sundays. There were plenty of hip and trendy churches scattered all over Grant County that people would try and convince you to come to. There was even an event in the auxiliary gym at the beginning of each school year where local churches (along with businesses) could basically come and sell you on why they were the right choice for you. I'm not going to get into why this is feels like a swarmy practice here, but suffice to say it definitely felt weird at the time. My best friends who I grew up with in a small Mennonite church and who also attended IWU with me had an older brother who found a quiet little Mennonite church way out in the country that he went to when he attended the university. We tried it out in the fall of 2013 during our freshman year. It was a far cry from the churches our peers were debating between back on campus, but it felt much more simple, and in turn, like home. Families in the congregation quickly invited us to lunch in their homes and even included us in events to serve their youth. It was a home away from home for the four years we were in Marion, and we met some of the kindest people there. One of the ways we connected with a few of them was through naturally, basketball. A couple of the families had kids who attended Lewis Cass. Cass had won a state title in the early years of class basketball just like our own high school, Westview. Then our two worlds converged when Lewis Cass actually played Westview while we were attending the church in the 2014 2A semistate game. My brother was a sophomore on that team. I remember thinking while I was attending that game at Huntington North about how similar and strong the support from the two communities were. Westview ended up victorious and won the right to get steamrolled by Park Tudor the next week, but it was obvious that the program and community at Lewis Cass was special. I finally got to experience it first hand over a decade later.
While the community support I witnessed 11 years ago at that semistate game and last Friday night at Lewis Cass was strong, it wasn't always that way at the beginning. Reading a great Pharos-Tribune article by Sarah Einselen, I learned that the school was born out of a bit of bitterness from the surrounding towns. Five schools came together to form Lewis Cass in the early 60s: Walton (which had already consolidated earlier), Galveston, Young America (one of my favorite old high school names), Tipton Township, and Washington Township. Like most people from small towns in that era, they did not want to lose their local schools. People found their identities in those little schools, and especially their basketball teams. While there was some tension in those early years, basketball helped bring people together as it often does. After the first time the fledgling basketball program beat their big school rival Logansport, people quickly hopped on board. When the school was founded, they adopted the nickname of the "Kings." They've even incorporated it into pieces of their gym design. Declaring yourself as royalty can sometimes feel pretentious (looking at you Hamilton Southeastern). It doesn't here. It comes across as a school that is proud of where they've come from and confident in where they are going. It is also appropriate because their gymnasium is an absolute palace.
Whenever I see that a 1A or 2A school has a gym that sits 3,000+, I'm always going to be in. Tell me that all of those seats are wooden originals, and I'm going to drop everything on my calendar to come see it before they get replaced with plastic nonsense. I've been trying to make it to Lewis Cass since the moment I started this blog. For a million different reasons it seems, it took me until the very last weekend of the 2025 boys season to finally arrive, but I made it. The beautiful bleachers I saw in pictures were worth every second of that wait. There are two big levels here along each sideline. They are connected with stairs through the middle barrier which is always appreciated, and big cement staircases along the sides on the interior of the gym. The lower levels have 10 rows while the upper levels have about 18. They roll out in individual sections like most old retractable bleachers do, so there are little cracks inbetween the sections that I had to keep my toddler away from so he wouldn't drop his toys down them (good, old bleachers have been a young parent's worst nightmare for years. It's a time-honored tradition, not a negative in any way). The very top of the upper level has two rows of bleachers that are stained a slightly darker color and don't retract which I've seen a couple of other places, but isn't common. In the corners up here you'll also find a wooden barrier for the ends of the top two rows instead of the metal grating that runs down the rest of the way. It almost looks like something you'd see at the end of an old church pew. The upper levels also each have doors into the side walls on the far end of the gym. I always wonder where doors like these lead to in gyms.
The stairs that lead up the bleachers are all painted the navy blue that is used elsewhere throughout the gym. It's a nice little touch. I'm guessing the handrails that accompany the steps are a recent addition. The lower level bleachers are stained the same color as the top, though if you look closely you'll notice the numbering of the seats looks different in some spots. This isn't uncommon in older gyms, but I always wonder what the reason is behind it. One feature of the gym I really enjoy involves the lower level seating. Along the baseline opposite of the main entrance to the gym is another section of retractable wooden bleachers that go up 10 rows. That's a big section of baseline seating for a gym that isn't one of the giants in the state. It also is labeled as "home students" and "away students," which is definitely unique in putting the two student sections right beside each other in close proximity. It's a pretty cool seating section, and since there aren't any baseline seats on the opposite side it makes it feel more grand. Now that I've spent two paragraphs on these lovely bleachers, we can talk about what else makes this place so special.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the ceiling as it is totally unique. Instead of some type of flat roof or dome, there is a zigzag pattern going on across the whole thing. I was wracking my brain while I sat there trying to think of what the purpose might be for it, but I came up with nothing. It wasn't until I walked out of the gym in the dark and looked back up at the building and realized what was going on. From the outside, the top of the gym looks like the zigzag pattern on top of a crown, for the "Kings." Brilliant! This is next level design stuff you just don't see. It looks neat from the inside of the gym too. Moving down from the ceiling to the walls, you will see on the far baseline side one of the coolest ideas for an athletic accomplishment display I've ever seen. There are rows and columns of navy blue plaques all under a large sign that reads "IHSAA Tournament Champions. There is a row for each sport, and a column for each level ranging from sectional to state. The years are marked under each one for each title. It's incredible. On the left of it is a smaller but matching display for conference titles in different sports. On the right are three huge team pictures for the three state championships the school has won in different sports. In the corner on this wall is maybe the only thing I don't love in the entire gym which is the Three Rivers Conference team display. There's a small little banner that just generically posts the teams' logos in a small circle. There's some bare wall space on the opposite baseline wall that they could use to do a really cool display of some sort. That would be the icing on the cake of an otherwise perfectly designed gym.
The baseline wall above the entrance also has a lot going on. On one side is a really nice scoreboard which is accompanied by a big screen that is mostly used to run advertisements and announcements it seems. The other side has some more random banners. In the middle is the centerpiece which is a huge mural of a stately crown with "We are the Kings, Lewis Cass High School" written underneath it in navy blue. A navy blue and and red stripe runs the length of the wall about halfway up as well. Aesthetically it is all magnificent. At the very bottom between all the entrance doors is a well designed red and navy blue mat as well. Even the corners of the gym were well thought out here. It looks like at one time there were concession stands in two of the upper level corners. They were shuttered on this night, which is the case at most places these days when it comes to secondary concession stands. It's sad, but it's the reality we live in these days, and I'm still glad they're there. Each of these corners has a unique flair to them. On the wall above one is a list of every Indiana All-Star to come through Lewis Cass and the year and sport in which they played. On the wall above the other one is a display honoring the two undefeated regular seasons that their boys basketball teams have produced over the years. Seriously, not a foot of space is wasted in this place. Finally, the floor design. You can tell it was redone fairly recently as it has that glossy sheen to it that is becoming more and more popular. Most of the floor is a light-gold color. The insides of the three point wings are stained a greyish-blue color. At center court sits a nice interlocking navy blue and red "LC" logo. The showstopper here is inside the free throw lanes though. Against dark blue backgrounds sit transparent crowns that are slightly tilted. It's incredibly unique, and it does not miss the mark. It looks awesome. "Cass Kings" is written along the baselines against another dark blue background. All of it works together splendidly.
While the Lewis Cass boys team is having a bit of a down year, you wouldn't have known it from the crowd's enthusiasm this Friday night. It was senior night, and there was electricity in the air even though both teams were below .500. I can only imagine what the place is like when the team is rolling, which is exactly what their girls team was doing this year on their way to 19 wins and a sectional title. Before I left, I checked out a few of the many shadow boxes on the walls of the hallway outside the gym. The one honoring Ted Kitchell especially caught my eye as I've read about him in a couple of different Indiana high school basketball history books. All the boxes do a great job honoring these past greats, and rightfully so. All of them are a part of the fabric of the community that has been developed at Lewis Cass over the years. It's a rich heritage that is thoughtfully displayed all over their gym. It seems to be the kind of community I found in that small country church 11 years ago. That church became a special place for me, just like I'm sure this gym has become a special place for the people of Walton, Galveston, Young America, Washington Township, and Tipton Township.
