Homestead’s Andrew Leeper works across the court during November 24, 2021’s Thanksgiving Eve game at Huntington North.
Bounce usually doesn’t pick up the ol’ computer in October unless its working on getting ahead on some season preview items. We leave the start of fall to the football bear and prepare for our own hostile takeover at the end of the month and into November.
But then Bounce did something silly; he went on Facebook. And oh, how the ranters rant on Facebook.
Today’s topic that seemed to get some people from Huntington a little off kilter? The fact that the Huntington North and Homestead boys basketball teams will no longer have a showdown on Thanksgiving Eve.
It has been a rite of passage for the two schools. With Thanksgiving Eve being the unofficial launch of boys basketball season (the IHSAA’s ‘official’ start of games is two days prior), it has been the start-up that many fans and those who cover the sport yearn for.
Now, after six straight wins in the series for the Spartans, the game is no more. Not on Thanksgiving Eve, not any time during the 2024-2025 season. In fact, the Homestead girls won’t play Huntington North anymore either.
But it’s ok.
Traditions of Thanksgiving Eve are fun, but a change in schedule is something fresh that has long been needed, and not just with this recently one-sided rivalry.
Why would either Homestead or Huntington North be excited to keep a game that hasn’t been decided by single digits since 2018 and in which the Vikings haven’t won back-to-back seasons in…ever? In fact, the Vikings are 2-14 on opening night against Homestead dating back to when this Thanksgiving Eve series started in 2009.
Other rivalries of Thanksgiving Eve have come and gone as well. Norwell and Concordia Lutheran used to be one of the best games that Wednesday, including Will Geiger’s legendary performance to get Norwell the win in 2018. That series ended in 2019 after three straight Norwell dubs and now the Knights open with Carroll, while Concordia has been taking on a smorgasbord of opponents each year to open its season. Norwell and Carroll has been fun, as have games with Concordia’s now most-common opening night opponent Leo, who they will match up again with this Thanksgiving Eve.
Those changes leave DeKalb and Northrop as the most historic Thanksgiving Eve game on our agenda next month. And let’s be honest, do we still need to see the Barons and Bruins matchup to start the season or could there be more intriguing matchups for both teams? The last four years have been split evenly 2-2 and last season even provided the interesting teacher versus student battle with DeKalb coach Marty Beasley going up against former player and now Northrop coach Shane Merryman. But before that it was years of Northrop domination coming after DeKalb had its turn for a stretch.
Other than three single-season blips on the radar, Northrop and DeKalb have opened the season against each other every year since 1993. That sounds like something that needs to change just to keep things exciting.
The draw of Thanksgiving Eve to the boys basketball circuit in northeast Indiana is a hard one to describe. If you don’t get it, you probably never will. But doesn’t that draw, for those who understand, seem like something that should be ever-changing, as long as contracts allow?
To make Thanksgiving Eve matter again, fresh matchups will be needed.
This season, we will see seven games the night before we feast on turkey and cranberry sauce. Homestead gets a much more exciting matchup with Tippecanoe Valley. And then it is on to games that we’ve regularly seen for a couple of years to 20-plus years.
Central Noble will draw fans against Canterbury, Leo will bring in its faithful against Concordia, Garrett fans will flock to Heritage, the Whitko/Columbia City rivalry will stay intense and Norwell will take a trip to Carroll and new coach Chris Benedict.
This frog’s interest alone is on Sparty and Tippy…why? Because it is different.
Traditions are fine. I like traditions. But they can also get boring, tedious…you get the point. A series like Homestead and Huntington North to open the season had gotten stale. So of course, you know Bounce had to say something when he saw some rants about it going away.
It is time to embrace the change if Thanksgiving Eve is going to feel as special as any true hoops fan in the area wants it to be.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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