Nebo Hall of Fame--Springville High 1958 Boys’ Basketball Team

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

Nebo Hall of Fame--Springville High 1958 Boys’ Basketball Team

Nebo School District, Cathi Jarvis Springville High School Athletic Director, and the coaching staff at Springville High School have nominated the 1958 Boys’ Basketball Team for the Nebo School District Athletic Hall of Fame Award.

This group of young men started playing together when they were in grade school.  Every Saturday, the boys would pay Mr. Whitney, the custodian, 10 cents each to play in the old girls’ gym.  The boys commented that the community was so supportive of the boys.  The community even predicted a state championship in the future.

Back then, the gyms available were very small.  The gyms were poorly lit and seating was cramped with balconies on all four sides.  The teams felt like the fans were right on top of the team and the noise level was deafening.  The fans would line up hours before the game to get a seat.  Head Coach, Alma Garrett, was a strict, no nonsense type of coach who drove the team to excellence.  The boys played his way, or it was the highway! Coach Garrett always produced a championship team and 1958 was no exception.

Springville High was the smallest “Class A” school in the state.  The team moved up from “Class B” the year before.  Springville played in the same classification as all of the schools in the Salt Lake valley.  Springville found they could hold their own playing with the “big boys” from Salt Lake.

Springville was heavily favored to win the championship.  However, they lost the first two pre-season games to Davis High and Ogden High.  At the state finals, the team played and beat Bountiful and Logan.  The third night, SHS came from 11points down and beat Ogden!  Next was the championship game against Davis High School--the team that beat them in the pre-season. Springville won 43 to 41!  The boys got their revenge!  The team rode into town on the fire truck.  The whole town was there to greet the new “Class A” State Champs.  This was a night to remember and never to be forgotten!

The 1958 Basketball team Coach Alma Garrett (deceased), Coach Gordon Smith, Rod Miner, RaNell Whitney (deceased), Bill Child, John Sumsion, Merril Bryan, Dick Nielson, Craig Smith, George Black, Calvin Hjorth, Tommy Alvey, Elliott Jordan, Terry Barney, Wes Hoover, and Jimmy Smart would like to say, “Thanks so much for remembering us on this special night.”  Thanks for the memories!

On behalf of Nebo School District and Springville High, Springville High 1958 Boys’ Basketball Team is inducted into the Nebo Athletic Hall of Fame.

Attributions
Lana Hiskey