The Michigan City Regional has been a staple of area basketball since the 1970s, becoming an annual pilgrimage for local fans and a destination point for northwest Indiana teams.
“One thing I think we lost with the advent of class basketball is the consistency of where you are,” Crown Point coach Clint Swan said. “I was telling my assistant coaches, this is my 19th year, I’ve won five sectionals and every one has been at a different venue. I’ve never won a sectional in a place where I’d won previously. But wherever the sectional was, the regional’s been at Michigan City. It was everyone converging in the morning for the games, going to a restaurant after the semifinals, then coming back to watch the championship.”
Swan grew up in Rensselaer, attending high school and college there before coming to the Region in 1997, when he became the head coach at Andrean in 1994 at the age of 24. After a stint at Frankfort, he returned in 2006, taking over at Crown Point and reached the regional the following season.
“My first experience (at MC) was at Crown Point,” Swan said. “I got to know Bear (Falls) at Andrean, but never coached against him. We were always in 3A.”
Since then, City has been a regular part of the schedule, whether for a Duneland Conference game or as a state tournament site.
“The sectional’s bounced around, the format has changed so much, we’ve lost a little bit of that luster, the regional atmosphere there, but it’s nice to have that constant,” Swan said. “It’s nice that you have more teams who get to cut down nets, so there’s good to both sides of it. I look forward to going every year.”
Crown Point won the regional last year, outlasting Warsaw in overtime.
“It’s a great venue, it’s got great old bones, but it’s the people who make the events special,” Swan said. “I feel bad I don’t know a lot of their names, but it’s always been the same person doing the scorebook, the same announcer, the same scoreboard keeper, every year. I haven’t seen her in a couple years, but there used to be an usher, an elderly lady on the end, it got to the point, I came up and she gave me a big hug, I gave her a big hug back, she asked how I was doing, if my wife was coming. It’s still going to be great.”
Portage’s Bryon Clouse, whose team will square off with Swan’s Bulldogs at 4 p.m. on Saturday, is a Region lifer. He played at his alma mater, the 1994 Portage graduate taking the court at both Elston and Rogers before the schools consolidated. The Indians lost to Elston in the regional his sophomore year.
“I was fortunate to play at both Rogers and Elston,” Clouse said “When you’re playing, you don’t think about how important a gym is. A buddy and I would go over and watch the regional. I remember the packed crowds. The upstairs would be filled, too. It was cool.”
Clouse returned to Portage in 2021 and is making his first trip to the regional as a coach as the Indians won their first sectional since 2001, when they outlasted South Bend Washington in overtime. Former MC coach Tom Wells, the Indians coach at the time, was among the many people to reach out with congratulations.
“I thought Friday was awesome, part of it because it was Portage-Chesterton,” Clouse said. “We show up Saturday, it was way better. It was packed all the way up our side and half way up the upper deck, all in Portage red and white. I look up and see Jim Samuel, Tom Sanidas, Tom Taylor, all the Portage people sitting there. I had administration tell me you don’t know what this means to us. Portage has been struggling for a while. There’s been nothing but support. That doesn’t always happen. It’s really cool any time, it happened to me at Hanover, but especially when you haven’t done it in a while. I’m glad it was our group that did it.”
Like Swan, Clouse has an appreciation for the tradition of the Michigan City venue.
“For me, what sticks out, and it’s what they will do Saturday, every year at Michigan City Rogers, they had the fastest draw in the world on the scoreboard, I would look up and it was already up there, and I remember the announcer always saying your last name,” he said. “You think about more in a regional atmosphere. It’s a great gym, but coaching there, it will be better on Saturday with everything opened up.”
East Chicago’s Alaa Mroueh went to Griffith and never played in the Wolves Den, the Panthers’ 3A tournament runs going other directions. He first coached at MC in last season’s 4A regional. The Cardinals, who moved down to Class 3A this season, faced the Wolves there in the regular season and return Saturday, when they will face Hanover Central in the 3A regional at 1 p.m.
“We’re excited. We have a great opportunity in front of us,” Mroueh said. “We have a great group of guys who have been there before – we returned four of five starters – we didn’t get the result we wanted for a culmination of reasons, but we came back, regrouped, put together a tough schedule, and found out how to win. Finding out how to handle success was probably the biggest thing. I’ve been super blessed to have this team at this point in my young career.”
Michigan City has a different meaning for Mroueh than the others, with his brother Mo the school’s principal, transitioning from Athletics Director since the Cardinals and Wolves met.
“We correspond on a regular basis since he came back from Dubai,” Alaa said. “Obviously we’ve spent more time together. Any time all three of us brothers are home together, it’s good times. Ali lives in Chicago, he’s coming down. Big bro Mo’s running the show. He’s got to be neutral. He doesn’t have a dog in the fight. We’ll see if he’s in his East Chicago gear. (The gym) gives you a homey atmosphere. It’s very energetic. It’ll be a little different in a regional than in the regular season, too. What’s really cool is it’s four region teams, regardless of class. The region should come out strong Saturday.”
Hanover coach Brad Stangel’s only experience with the Wolves Den was from his time at Andrean, when the 59ers and City plated in the regular season.
“We lost a buzzer beater and by two, so bad memories,” he said. “I remember the first year before I was at Andrean, I went to the regional in the morning. I watched Warsaw and South Bend Riley. They shot 50 free throws. Crown Point beat East Chicago. The next year, I got the Andrean job. I watched Crown Point. They lost to Merrillville. I think Michigan City was good that year.”
A Wisconsin native, Stangel has gained an appreciation for the high school basketball venues throughout Indiana.
“From my perspective, not growing up here, the gyms are unbelievable and this is another cool one to play in,” he said. “It should be a good (crowd) for four o’clock, I have no idea about our game. People excited at Hanover, but I don’t know Hanover-East Chicago draw will be. I’m sure they will bring a bunch of people. We’ve played in La Porte’s holiday tournament. It’s one of those gyms that hosts tournaments, we’ve been to Kokomo, that was pretty cool, now Michigan City. We practiced there. I doubt that any of them have ever played there. It was fun for the guys. We’re excited.”
Michigan City has been a boys basketball regional venue dating back to the 1970s.
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