1977 WCHS Girls Basketball

With the passing of Title IX on June 23, 1972, girls' athletics at the high school level moved beyond the Girls Athletics Association.  WCHS fielded its first girls teams during the 1973-74 school year in a limited capacity.  There is nary even a mention of girls' sports in the 1974 yearbook.  The first girls' basketball team, in 1973-74, finished with a record of 2-4.  Several freshmen were on that team, including Jane Grebner, Glenda Simmering, and Linda Launer.  During this first season, the girls had to pin numbers onto their gym uniforms.

After Washington's inauspicious 2-4 first year, they finished the 1974-75 year with a 9-4 record, taking second place in the Tazewell County Tournament.  Freshman Nancy Roth joined the team this season.  They actually got uniforms for this season, the same uniforms worn for every sport.

In 1975-76, the crew was back and got off to a hot 12-1 start, but lost the last two games of the Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament, finishing the season 12-3.  Two of the three teams they lost to, Morton and Pontiac, they also beat during the season.  Freshman Tammy Brown joined the team this season.

When the 1976-77 season came around, the IHSA had decided to begin a state series for girls' basketball.  The IHSA rollout for girls' state tournaments was tempered, adding tennis, volleyball, bowling, and track for the 1974-75 year, then golf, swimming, softball, and field hockey in 1975-76.  In 1976-77, gymnastics, badminton, and archery were added with basketball.  Basketball was intentionally delayed due to its concurrence with the boys' season and the difficulty in finding open gymnasiums and referees.

In a March 1976 article about the start of the girls' state series the next year, the writer waxed on some of the early local favorites who might make it to the first state tournament in 1977.  In typical 1970s Peoria Journal Star fashion, the only schools mentioned (Central, Richwoods, Limestone, East Peoria, & Spalding) were all from the Mid State Nine Conference.  Washington had beaten East Peoria in 1976 and had all contributing players returning.

In these early years of girls' basketball, Washington played in the west gym, usually to very few fans.  Families and friends were mostly the makeup of the crowd.

Back then, the girls' basketball season did not start until January, and on January 25th,1977, the Panthers kicked off their campaign with a 52-35 victory over Metamora.

On February 7 & 8, the girls suffered consecutive defeats, losing to Morton 31-28 and Peoria Central 73-45.  Morton was led by Beth Landes, who later taught and coached at Wacohi from 1982 to 1984. 

A string of seven straight victories carried into February, culminating in the Heart of Illinois Conference Tournament in early March.  Entering the tournament with a 9-2 record, the Panthers made it to the championship game but fell short to Pontiac, 53-51. 

Entering the inaugural postseason with an 11-3 record, the Panthers had a shot at winning the East Peoria regional if they could get past Morton, whom they had beaten twice and lost to once during the season.  After dispatching Pekin easily in round one, the matchup was set.  In a back-and-forth battle, while probably still only playing in front of friends and family, WCHS was victorious when Jane Grebner made a steal and drove in for a layup in the waning seconds.  Final score: Washington 36, Morton 34.

The sectional was held in Washington.  In the first round, Washington faced Wyoming High School, with an enrollment of 212, as the girls' tournament was a one-class tournament in its infancy.  In front of a growing but still sparse 700 fans, the Panthers built a big early lead and held on for a 47-41 victory.

On to the sectional final at Washington against 14-1 Limestone and legendary (and confident) coach John Gross. The Rockets were led by sharpshooter Kim Hurley, who ALSO taught and coached at WCHS.  Gross felt his team was the best in the area and made that very clear in the press.

Limestone led for the first three quarters in front of 1,200 fans, until Jan Smith's full-court press finally started to pay dividends in the fourth quarter.  The Panthers would outscore Limestone 17-3 in the final two minutes to win by 16.  Sectional champs!

The supersectional was held in Pekin, and the opponent was Jacksonville.  Interest in the team was growing now.  A pep assembly was held for the girls the day of the game, and a crowd of 1,600 filed into the spacious Pekin gym.  Washington led for most of the game and had jumped out to a 19-point lead in the third quarter.  They still led by ten with three minutes to go in the game, but Jacksonville did not give up and tied the game with 23 seconds left.  With the game still tied, Washington had the ball out of bounds with five seconds left.  Jane Grebner threw the ball in, which almost went out of bounds, but Nancy Roth saved it. Roth heard the word "Shoot!" and launched a bomb from about 25 feet away as the buzzer sounded.  Swish.

Bedlam in Pekin.  The Panthers were on their way to the first girls' state basketball tournament at Horton Fieldhouse on the Illinois State University campus.

The Panthers' first opponent in the state tournament was Mattoon at 7:00 PM on April 1, 1977.  Win or go home.  WCHS, underdogs in every game since the sectional title game against Limestone, overcame an early deficit against the Green Wave and gradually built a bigger lead en route to a convincing 55-38 victory in front of a crowd of 4,000.  Glenda Simmering led the way with 22 points.  On to Saturday.

Centralia was the next opponent, having beaten Joliet West by nine in the quarter-final. Their coach was confident in the press: "I have the girls, I have the speed.  We found our opponents are usually not in the condition to run like this.  I don't think they (Washington) are as fast as Joliet.  And they're not as big."

1:45 PM, April 2, 1977.  Centralia had the advantage early and jumped out to a 10-point lead in the 2nd quarter.  The Panthers clawed back to within six at halftime and within three at the end of the third quarter.  In the final quarter, Washington held Centralia without a basket, outscoring them 12-3 for the victory; final score 44-38.  Roth and Simmering had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

8:45 PM, April 2, 1977.  State championship game against undefeated Sterling.  The first girls' basketball state championship game in Illinois history.  6,000 strong packed Horton Fieldhouse.  Sterling led for the entire game, although it was close.  After three quarters, Washington was within four.  With fatigue setting in, the margin grew, and when Jane Grebner hit a jumper as the buzzer sounded, the final score was 52-38, Sterling.  Players from both teams hugged and celebrated their accomplishments.

A replay of the championship game against Sterling can be seen here.

The next day, a long procession of cars welcomed the girls home from Goodfield to Eureka to Washington.

Back at school, 1,500 strong welcomed the girls in the gym for a reception.  What started as a season of playing games for a handful of fans and media indifference had turned into a city-wide celebration, with coach Jan Smith and the girls on the team now seen as Washington heroes.

Left to right: Amy Mauschbaugh, Glenda Simmering, Jane Grebner, Bettina Schaefer, Danna Aliano, Deidre Berry, Linda Launer, Nancy Roth, Valerie Baird, Tammy Brown, Shelly Carson, Coach Jan Smith

Special thanks to Nancy Roth Kirkpatrick and Tammy Brown Williams for their help with this article.