Pike (2,800) Built 1965
December 21, 2024: Anderson vs. Pike (Girls & Boys)
December 21, 2024: Anderson vs. Pike (Girls & Boys)
I'm in a Facebook group that is centered exclusively around Indiana high school basketball. It's filled with about ten thousand people who are as nutty about this awesome tradition we have even to this day. It's one of the very few places I can talk and connect with people about it considering the local coffee and barber shops aren't exactly considered the "Saturday Morning Coaches Clubs" that they were 50 years ago. A hot topic of conversation in the group lately has been the evolvement of the ticketing and transaction processes at different schools. Most places exist as they always have and accept cash at the ticket booth and concession stands. Some places take both cash and card. In the strangest cases, some schools require card only to get in, but then only accept cash for concessions. It seems that the closer you get to Indianapolis, the more nonsensical things become.
Ahead of my recent visit to Pike High School to watch Anderson, they sent out a notice on Facebook beforehand stating the following stipulations: All tickets were presale only, they wouldn't even accept a card at the door. Tickets were $8! Only high schoolers from Anderson and Pike would be admitted, and they had to have their school ID with them or they would be turned away. Online sales ended at 6:30 for a girl and boys varsity doubleheader, so if you showed up and tried to buy a ticket online at halftime of the FIRST game, you would be out of luck. I understand times are changing, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why some schools (looking at you Marion and Hamilton County) make it so complicated for people to attend games in an era when most schools are not drawing what they used to. It's maddening. I'll get off my soapbox now and talk about the gym.
Pike has a slightly unique setup that mirrors what you would see at a place like Western. It has two sets of sideline bleachers, but one side has only one level and the other has two. The side opposite the scorer's table has about 14 rows going up which matches the lower level behind the scorer's table. The upper level is accessed by two wide sections of stairs running against the baseline walls on each end. This upper deck has about 10 more rows of seating. All the seats are old dirty red plastic. I am not lying when I say they are the most uncomfortable seats I have ever had the misfortune of sitting in while taking in a high school basketball game. You can tell just looking at them that they have some weird kind of over-the-top curvature to them. It's awful. I moved around a lot during the game just so I had an excuse to stand up. I'm not sure there has ever been a gym more ripe for a bleacher upgrade. The upper bleachers don't quite go up against the back sideline wall so you can look down to the depths below, also like at Western (unlike Western the bleachers don't sway beneath your feet at least). Like Warren Central, there is quite a bit of space between the bottom row of bleachers and the barrier to the lower level, which doesn't make for great sightlines in those first few rows. There's actually a double barrier on each side of the walkway in front of the upper bleachers which is weird and feels unnecessary. There are also little red gates that would potentially allow people to pass easily from the upper to lower levels that are closed and locked for unknown reasons.
Besides the bleachers, there are a few noteworthy features to touch on. One is how the giant HVAC pipes in one particular spot in the upper level unload directly above the top row of seats. This has to be the toastiest seat in the entire state. The sideline wall above the short section of bleachers has modern and basic athletic accomplishment banners hung neatly in a row all across the top. The baseline wall above the entrance has Indiana All-Star jersey decals littered around the scoreboard (Pike has had some pretty good players come through here). Beside those are the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference (try saying that three times fast) team displays which are basic but clean. The opposite baseline wall has the normal state title and runner up banners hung in the shape of Indiana on one side, and a nice track and field record board on the other. The court design looks like it is a little older. The Pike Red Devil logo is written in small script inside the center circle which looks a little weird. "Pike" with the red devil tail coming off of it is written weirdly in the corners of each baseline in white with a red backdrop. The court does have "State Champions" with the years underneath written in beautiful red cursive script along the sidelines which may be my favorite feature of the whole gym. The court is all a light golden color except for the foul lanes which are red and have the MIC logo right inside the free throw line.
Watching Anderson play at Pike while the Teague brothers' (who are originally from Anderson) jerseys hung on the wall from their time there was pretty cool. It would have been even more special if Jeff Teague had been coaching that night (he was suspended for two technicals the prior game), but it was still a great Indiana basketball moment nonetheless. I really hope nobody missed the opportunity to watch it because they didn't get the ridiculous memo sent out via the school's Facebook account a few days before. While I hold the traditions of Hoosier Hysteria as close to my heart as ever, there aren't nearly as many of us as there used to be. That's why places like the Facebook group I'm in are so cathartic to me. This is exactly why when there are really cool matchups and great games, we should try to make them more accessible to the widest group of people possible, not be more restrictive. Indiana high school basketball is for everyone.
