Alexandria Tigers

In 1959 Coach Shorty Burdsall captured his first sectional championship with a brilliantly played and coached victory over the highly regarded Anderson Indians, 47-38. Tom Willis racked up 18 points against the Indians and 17 against Pendleton in the afternoon game.

1959 - Games were played at the Madison Heights gym. The Wigwam had burnt the year before. 12 teams competed with the 4 winners coming back on Saturday to play for the title. The Tigers defeated Anderson in the title game. The big cheer was Heap Big Smoke But No Fire. Crispus Attucks ended the Tigers run for the title the following week in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

1960- Again games were played at Madison Heights. The Tigers played Anderson on Saturday afternoon with the Tigers coming out on top 20-18. Elwood defeated Alexandria for the title that evening.

1961- Again it was Alexandria and Elwood in the final game. The game was almost postponed due to a big snowstorm. The Tigers once again won the sectional only to be defeated by Attucks again.

1963 - In 62 a group of sophomores had taken the Indians to the semi-finals and they were suppose to be unbeatable. Alexandria 36 Anderson 33. The game was close all the way and in the final minutes the Tigers had an out of bounds play. The play worked to perfection and Larry Henderson laid it in the Tiger fans went wild. The road ended again at Hinkle Fieldhouse when the Southport Cardinals with Louie Dampier handed the Tigers the loss.

1989- 25 long years since the last sectional title. The Tigers had to defeat Highland and Anderson to get to the title game. This set up the championship between Alexandria and Pendleton Heights. The Tigers left the gate fast and never looked back winning by 30 points. The following week they returned to the Wigwam to beat Delta in the afternoon. The Kokomo Wildcats beat the Tigers in the night game in a very hard fought contest.

1994- The Tigers defeated Madison Heights 53-52 in Fridays semifinal action to once again face the Indians in the title game. Some clutch free throw shooting gave the Tigers the title 60-58. Returning to the Wigwam the following week Alex beat Jay County 57-54 in the afternoon game before losing to Bonzi Wells and the Muncie Central Bearcats52-49 in the title game.

1995- The Tigers beat Madison Heights 79-57 and then defeated the Indians in Fridays game 62-52 to move on to the title game against Franktons Eagles. The final score was 67-66 as the eagles battled all the way. Once again the Tigers would return to the Wigwam for the Regional. They defeated the Muncie Southside Rebels in the afternoon in a very close contest. In the night game they won their first regional title defeating Jay County. The following week they took 5000 fans to Hinkle Fieldhouse to face the New Castle in the afternoon. The Tigers lost in overtime.

1998- Class basketball comes to town and brings with it the First State Title in any sport. The sectional and regional were at home with the Tigers winning in sectional play over Frankton and Tipton then they beat Bluffton for the regional title. At the Fort Wayne semi-state the Tigers defeated Bremen in the afternoon round to move on to the night game to defeat Northwestern for the title. Alex beat Southwestern at the RCA Dome for the state Championship.

Top Row Cunningham, Harlan, Runyan, Yount, Nicosin, Wagner, Wagner, F. Hughes. Middle Row C. Hughes, Vannatta, Moreland, Boyles, Gipe, Fuller, Shivley. Front row unidentified.

Football at Alexandria High School had its beginning in 1897. They lost their first game to Summitville on Nov. 12, 1897 by a score of 36-4. Later on Thanksgiving Day they lost to Anderson 42-0. Alexandrias first football victory was over Anderson, 12-11, on Oct. 5, 1901. Shortly after the turn of the century football was abandoned as a major sport at A.H.S., but it returned on Sept. 20, 1940. The first Homecoming game was held on Oct. 13, 1950, with the Lions Club as sponsor. The Tigers defeated Delphi, 13-7, to make the day a success. The homecoming festivities lasted Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and included such events as a tractor pull, band concert, parade, luncheon of the Downtown Coaches Club, pep rally, carnival, amateur hour, and religious services.