The Saint Mary’s High School basketball team in Michigan City, Indiana, prepared to play its first game of the season, just three days away; however, the team did not have a head coach. It was November 28, 1942 and Coach Tony Juska had joined the armed forces. Furthermore, World War II created a dearth of capable men available to coach athletics. Saint Mary’s had its eye on a candidate: Louis Sass. One problem—Sass already had a job coaching varsity basketball.
Sass was well-known in Michigan City. The 32-year-old grew up there and had had a prolific high school athletic career at the local public school, Elston High School. He participated extensively in sports—4 years in football, 4 in basketball, 4 in baseball and 2 in track. The high school yearbook described him succinctly: “Small but speedy.”
Sass had coaching experience too. He had coached boys basketball, as well as girls basketball and girls baseball, for 7 years[1]. Sass already had started his eighth year coaching at Springfield High School where he taught when Saint Mary’s fell in need of a head coach.
Springfield Township School sat in the countryside 9 miles east of Saint Mary’s High School. It was one of 12 township-run schools in LaPorte County at the time. Sass lived in Springfield Township with his wife and 2 ½ year old son.
How the deal was struck is unknown at the time of this writing, but on November 30, 1942, Saint Mary’s made the announcement public: Louis Sass was its new head coach. He would remain head coach of the Springfield team as well. Sass would be a busy man.
The local newspaper wrote, “Securing Mr. Sass . . . has been a lucky break for St. Mary’s as many other Indiana schools are having to cancel schedules because they have been unable to secure coaches.”
In their first game of the season, Saint Mary’s Blue Blazers defeated Chesterton, 34 – 29.
Both Louis Sass-coached teams finished the regular season with winning records: Saint Mary’s, 10 – 7; Springfield, 9 – 6. When the Sectional draws came out, it revealed that Sass’s Springfield team would play in the tournament’s first game Thursday night at 7:00 pm and his Saint Mary’s team would play the second game of the tournament at 8:00 pm the same night. If both teams won, they would face each other in the second round, Friday afternoon.
Virginia Ferrier[2], the Michigan City News-Dispatch sports editor, pointed out the twists to Sass’s drama:
“If all of these things come true [both St. Mary’s & Springfield win], then the fans will see the two Sass teams in action. What will happen we don’t know. With all of the practice that Sass has had this season handling four teams[3], perhaps he will be able to handle both teams at the same time.”
“One thing about it, he is sure to have one team in the semi-finals to meet his alma mater, Michigan City high school.”
Ferrier suggested that Sass might sit in the bleachers and let his two teams battle it out themselves if they met in the Sectional. The following day, Sass set the record straight—sort of. Ferrier wrote,
Louis Sass “said today that if his two teams come together in the second round of the tournament, he will probably stick to his Springfield five. Sass, who has been coaching and teaching at Springfield for the past eight years, said he didn’t like to leave the Blazers in the lurch, but he never thought of such a thing coming up when he accepted the job to fill in for the St. Mary’s coach, Tony Juska, who went to the army last fall.”
The 1943 basketball Sectional marked the first time in history that segregated all-black high schools such as Gary Roosevelt and parochial schools such as Saint Mary’s were allowed to play in the Indiana statewide basketball tournament.
On Thursday, February 25, 1943, Louis Sass coached his Springfield team at 7:00 pm. Springfield led, 17 – 8, at halftime, but in the third quarter, the team’s star guard and rebounder, Rathnow, fouled out. Their opponent, Wanatah, rallied to victory, 37 – 28. Immediately after the game, Sass met his Saint Mary’s team and took his seat on the coach’s bench again at 8:00 pm. Saint Mary’s defeated Clinton Township handily, 52 – 32, to win its first Sectional game in school history.
At four o’clock the following day, Saint Mary’s beat Wanatah, 32 – 20, to advance to the semifinal. Saturday, coaching against his alma mater, Michigan City Elston High School, Sass and his Saint Mary’s team lost, 46 – 29. Elston went on to win the Sectional tournament that night.
And so it went, the story of the man who coached two Indiana varsity boys basketball teams in the same season. Louis Sass moved to Saint Mary’s High School the following school year and coached five seasons of basketball there. In 1955, he and his wife, Jean, moved the family to California and left behind a unique bit of Indiana basketball history.
[1] Sass likely coached varsity baseball, junior high basketball, and any track teams Springfield fielded as well. Common practice in area township-run schools stipulated in the teacher/coach contract that he coached all sports (it always was a him and never a her). Girls basketball got eradicated from Indiana high schools sometime during World War II.
[2] Virginia Ferrier was the only female sports editor in the history of the Michigan City News-Dispatch. She worked there during World War II.
[3] Springfield varsity boys, Saint Mary’s varsity boys, and a combination of junior high boys and/or a girls basketball team at Springfield.
Photo is Coach Louis Sass (far right) with his 1943-44 basketball team.