A Look Back At The 1986-1989 New Washington Mustangs
The late 1980’s were a wonderful time
for Southern Indiana basketball. There was the Pat Graham
led Floyd Central team, Damon Bailey
and his Bedford North Lawrence Stars, and the tough
Jeffersonville and New Albany teams.
This was a time when these big schools were very good. But there
was also a very talented team from the small community of New Washington
called the Mustangs. The high school had 200 students, give
or take a few, so yes, they were truly a small school. New Washington
has always seemed to field competitive basketball teams (though they have
struggled the past few years), but in a period from 1986 to 1989, they
were simply spectacular.
It was a time of single class basketball, and the Mustangs record over this period was an astounding 66 wins and 8 losses. Coach Jim Matthews had a squad long on talent and short on height with only one player as tall as 6’ 3”. The starting five consisted of Scott Matthews, Jamie Matthews, Shannon Arthur, Scott Abbott and Jeff Cartright. Abbott and Cartright were valuable players and certainly important to the success of team. But in reality, the Matthews’ twins and Arthur were the big guns. Those three players are among the top four all time scoring leaders in Mustang history (Arthur 1938 points, J. Matthews 1443 points, S. Matthews 1376 points). And let’s be realistic here, all three could have had bigger numbers if not for the fact that Coach Matthews never wanted to embarrass or show up the other team. I remember several times over their careers these three players could have had huge games but came out early with big leads.
The 1986-87 season when Jamie and Scott Matthews were sophomores and Shannon Arthur a freshman was a great success with the team posting a record of 19-3. It was obvious the future was looking bright for the Mustangs. In the 1987-88 season the Mustangs experienced the first-ever sectional title in school history by capturing the Madison Sectional. That win sent them to the Seymour Regional where they lost to a Damon Bailey (Mr. Basketball 1990) led Bedford North Lawrence Final Four team in a close game to finish the year at 22-3. The Mustangs never skipped a beat with the1988-89 season, starting with a 9 game winning streak; after losing 1 game, the team started another streak winning 16 games in a row. Their 9th win of the year was a blowout win over Jeffersonville on Jeff’s own court (I have this game on tape and still love to watch it).
The 88-89 season was also special because the Mustangs were asked to play in the Hall of Fame Classic, a nice honor for a small school in the single class era. They faced Rich Mount’s Lebanon team in the morning round and were beaten by three points. But they came back in the evening game to beat a Basil Mawbey coached Kokomo team by four points. This was a big win because Kokomo would eventually make it to the State Championship game that year and also because it was played on Kokomo’s home floor. The Mustang’s finished the regular season with the Lebanon loss as the only blemish on their record as they headed into Sectional play.
The Mustangs won their second consecutive Madison Sectional, beating Austin by 17, Madison by 19, and Scottsburg by 15. Then came their second straight Seymour Regional where they beat the New Albany Bulldogs by 10 in the morning game. That brought about a very tough evening match-up with the powerful Floyd Central team featuring the Gibson brothers and 1989 Mr. Basketball Pat Graham. It was a great game and the score was dead even after three quarters of play. In the fourth quarter, the Mustangs seemed to tire slightly and fell behind, with Jamie Matthews also being forced out of the game with an injury, and went on to lose by twelve closing out the year at 25-2. Once again New Washington had lost to a Final Four team.
This all came in a time when most basketball
experts recognized the Seymour Regional as the toughest Regional in the
state. Even so, tiny New Washington had not only stood toe
to toe with the big dogs, but for a bounce here or a bounce there, could
very easily have been in a State Championship game. Perhaps the biggest
indicator of just how good this team was is the fact that they were ranked
all year, being as high as seventh in the State AP Top 20 Poll in a time
of single class basketball. That statement alone still gives me goose
bumps. Since then the Mustangs have had some very good
teams, even going to a Semi-State as recently as 2000-2001. But it
was this special 1980’s team that energized the community and will always
hold a very special place in the hearts of Mustang fans, including yours
truly.
If anyone has any questions concerning Mustang basketball or would like any additional information, please feel free to e-mail the author at: info@mustanghoops.com
This article may not be reprinted or copied without written permission from the author.
