The End Of The Road

Batesville sits not 15 miles from Milan, in the very same county—Ripley County, believe it or not. When he drives down to Aurora to visit a friend, Menser always stops for a sundae at the Milan Dairy Queen, which is hardly a Plump jump shot from the water tower that still bears the legend STATE CHAMPS 1954.

There's no DO in downtown Batesville. It's lined with storefronts evoking the German settlers who arrived in the 19th century, attracted to the forests of hardwood that made for sturdy caskets. Not far from Feltz's Restaurant, Schmidt's Bakery, Nolte's Pharmacy, Fullenkamp Sporting Goods and the Pizza Haus is Telles's Barber Shop, where the regulars offer up sports-talk radio unplugged. Last week there was unanimity on one point: Batesville had its best shot in three years of winning the New Castle regional, god willing the creeks don't rise and 6'5" forward Aaron Ertel gets his stroke back. Siefert's six seniors, groomed over a quadrennial, inspired that kind of easy confidence. "They know the game," said Siefert, who teaches three government classes every day, launders the Bulldogs' uniforms himself and over the summer supervises the community pool, where Menser works as a lifeguard. "They love the game. With them you don't really need to teach. You just need to remind."

On Saturday morning there's no need to remind his team of what happened in the 1996 regional at New Castle, but Siefert does so anyway. "I still ache from last year," he tells the Bulldogs before they take the floor for their 12:30 p.m. semifinal against Connersville. Fortunately Ertel has his stroke back. He bottoms out his first two three-pointers as Batesville eases to a 57-39 victory. After the game comes hopeful word from Indy: Ben Davis is gone, beaten by Indianapolis Cathedral.

In the regionals, semistates and final four, the semifinal and final games are played on the same Saturday, because principals are petrified at what might take place if their students were left overnight in some distant town. At 2 p.m. the Bulldogs make the mile ride to the Best Western to rest up until the eight o'clock rematch with New Castle, which was an easy 56-37 victor over Winchester in the other semifinal.

As the bus pulls out into traffic, a cry issues from the back: "Hey! Someone flipped us off!"

"They're just letting you know you're Number 1," Siefert says.

New Castle's field house is an intimidating place, where every citizen of Batesville could fit nearly two times over. And at least a quarter of the town is settled in by the time the Bulldogs return for the regional final and Siefert delivers his pregame talk. "They say success is where opportunity meets preparation," he tells his players. "You've prepared for this all year. It's an opportunity nobody has ever had at Batesville, to beat the Number 1 team in the state."

A local paper has called Batesville's defense "stickier than the floor of a movie theatre," and against New Castle it is magnificent. So is Menser, whose NBA-distance three-pointer at the first-quarter horn gives the Bulldogs a 16-8 lead. They're ahead 23-17 at the half. But the Trojans are bigger and deeper, and by the end of the third quarter they have sprung for a string of threes and moved narrowly in front. Batesville is tiring noticeably. With 1:42 to play and New Castle up 46-45, Menser drives into the lane and draws a foul, only to pull up with a cramp.

In Indiana in March there's drama in every charley horse. Two years ago Indianapolis Cathedral might have won a state title if three players hadn't cramped up in overtime of the team's regional final against eventual champion Ben Davis. Next year's regionals will involve only one game per day because of the smaller number of schools in each draw. So you could say the IHSAA has jeopardized yet another tradition, Saturday-night cramps, which have been as much a part of the tournament as buzzer beaters and sectional upsets.

Perhaps the cramp causes Menser to sink only one of two free throws. Then again, the cramp may be no hindrance at all, for he will force overtime by dropping in two more free throws with five seconds to play and add a three-pointer and a couple of more foul shots in the extra four-minute OT. But the Bulldogs have no one capable of challenging Joey Gaw, New Castle's 6'8" center, whose putback basket and defensive stop in the final half minute assure the hosts a 61-58 victory.