Parkston High School  Gym

Before the basketball game started, the wooden floor in the Parkston High School gym was immaculately polished.

Joe Shelly, custodian, stood guarding that floor to keep it a perfect playing surface for the team. No fans would dare walk on it to get to the bleacher seats on either side of the floor or to the additional seats on the stage at the north side of the gym. Joe also made sure that the big American Flag hanging on the wall, next to the stage was properly unfurled.

Bill Fix, volunteer announcer for the game, was up in the south balcony, arranging his audio equipment.

The “Pep” band, directed by Ron Hilgenberg, unpacked instruments on their designated bleacher seats. You could hear warm up notes for “On Wisconsin” - renamed “Onward Trojans” and adapted as the school song.

The smell of concession stand popcorn permeated the air as hundreds of fans begin arriving. February, 1955, the Class “A” Parkston Trojan Basketball Team were undefeated, 23 wins under their belts. The Parkston fans were not disappointed that night, another victory was theirs!

This is a story of one small town and its athletic teams, but it reflects the spirit of many small towns in America in the 1950s. 

"Pete" and the Parkston Trojans

The 1954 Team:

Top row (l-r): Asst. Coach Paul Turpin, L. Hamersly, D. Pfann, F. Kurtenbach,

D. Sudbeck, K. Neugebauer, D. Carmody, K. Gehring, J. Adkins, Coach Floyd Mitchell.

Middle row (l-r): B. Carmody, K. Huey, A. Schlumberger, G. Wermers, R. Drefs, D. Labor, A. Mogck,Manager Borchart.

Seated (l-r): M. Schlimgen, V. Herbst, B. Rieb, D. Idema.

The 1955 Team:

Top row (l-r): Asst. Coach Kurt Kroeger, R. Drefs, D. Sudbeck, G. Wermers, K. Gehring, J. Adkins, F. Kurtenbach, Coach Floyd Mitchell.

Seated (l-r): D. Idema, G. Eslinger, A. Mogck, Manager Schlumberger, M. Schlimgen, K. Huey, L. Hamersly.

In the 1950s, there were two classifications for basketball teams in South Dakota, “A” and “B” based on school enrollment. “A” teams were the big schools from places like Sioux Falls, Mitchell, Rapid City, Aberdeen, and Yankton.

Some of those had populations 20 times more than Parkston. But Parkston’s population was just on the cusp of missing the “B’ classification.

In 1954, the Mitchell Daily Republic Newspaper referred to the Parkston Trojans as that “scrappy” little team. By 1955, they no longer used that term. 

"Jumping" Jim in action.

Circa, 1954

My brother, Jim “Pete” Adkins was part of those teams. He was a good bit older than my sisters and me.

I was in the first grade when he scored a “whopping” 43 points in a single game against Yankton in 1955 - an all-time school record that held for many years. At the time it was the highest point score in the history of the Corn Palace in Mitchell, where the game was played.

Larry Ober, from Yankton, who guarded Jim that night recalls, “You couldn’t stop Jim. We even double team him, our 6’4 center and me. He just couldn’t miss, even when I put my hand in front of his face! He was that good.”

In 1954 and 1955, the Mitchell Daily Republic and the Parkston Advance newspapers had many descriptive words for my brother; scoring ace, eagle eye, and "Jumping" Jim.

By the end of 1955, he had scored a total of 771 points for the season, and his total four-year record was 1,700 points. He was known by his team-mates as The Shooter.

Jim "Pete" Adkins. Circa, 1955

My brother was an eagle-eyed shooter, but it takes a team to win a game.

In an interview this January with Kermit Gehring, guard for the team: “We trained as a team and played as a team. None of us were out there to be hot shots, we were there to win as a team.”

Arlo Mogck was one of those instrumental team players. The newspapers deemed Arlo and my brother as the one-two punch. Arlo was referred to as the “floor general”, the best passer, guard and dribbler that Parkston High School had ever produced.

Speaking with me in January, Arlo Mogck said, “It took all of us to be as good as we were.” 

Arlo Mogck dribbles as Jim Adkins looks on. Circa, 1955

Background picture, Parkston High School Yearbook

Jim "Pete" Adkins in his backyard. Circa, 1950

The teams that came together in high school had no formal training. no junior high teams or YMCAs.

They were just kids who grew up loving to play basketball.

For Kermit Gehring, who was a farm boy, it was playing in a barn hay loft cleared out by his neighbor Marvin Thompson.

For Doug Idema, another member of the team, it was going to the Weidenbach’s to shoot baskets. They had poured a concrete slab in front of their garage and installed a hoop above the door. It was the best place for the town kids!

For my brother Jim it was a going into our backyard and practicing lay-ups on a wooden backboard with a hoop constructed by our father, Pete Adkins. Doug Idema would join my brother there for a game of “horse.”

Arlo Mogck remembers saying to his young friends, “Let’s go shoot a round.” They did for hours and got very good at the game.

In 1953, Coach Mitchell introduced the team’s “secret weapon”: a unique play called the “Drake Shuffle.”

In the small projector room at the high school, the coach would show a 16mm film of the play, over and over again, until the boys had it memorized.

This play, along with the incredible abilities of the team, carried them forward to two of the best seasons in Parkston High Schools Basketball. 

In 1954, the Mitchell Daily Republic newspaper gave little credence to the “scrappy” Parkston team. But like David vs. Goliath, the team rose to defeat many giants!

They won battle after battle until they arrived at the 6^th Sectional Tournament. Down went the big schools, Mitchell and Yankton. Parkston emerged as the victor! 

It was on to the State "A" Tournament.

Coach Floyd MItchell. Circa, 1954

Called the dark horses, the Cinderella team and still referred to as scrappy, the Trojans were a favorite among the fans at the State “A” tournament. They knocked-out Custer and Madison, only to bow to Deadwood in the final game.

1955 proved to be a banner year for the team, now a force to be reckoned with. Game after game they won, going to the Sectional Tournament with a perfect win-loss record. From there it was on to another State Tournament!

Denny Sudbeck, Center

Frank Kurtenbach, Forward

Jim "Pete" Adkins, Forward, Co-Captain

Arlo Mogck, Guard, Co-Captain

Kermit Gehring, Guard

The top five players were ready to go to the State A Tournament with a perfect record of 31 wins and 0 losses. Their highest scoring game was 105 points, the average was 71 per game. 

After a victory over Madison, they thought they were on their way to a First-Place trophy. Then they were hit by Aberdeen and lost their only game of the season.

The stars were not aligned for the “scrappy” little Trojans. The trophy was not to be theirs.

Recovering, the team placed 3^rd in the Tournament, The overall record for the year: 32 wins and 1 loss.

It was an incredible two-year journey for the Parkston Trojan teams. It was also an incredible journey for the fans, high school and the community.

Those were phenomenal times; the teams have become part of an outstanding high school basketball legacy. Nearly 70 years later they are recalled with fondness, by many.

To my sisters, Gloria, Diane and me, Jim was our special hero. Still to this day we often introduce ourselves as Jim Adkins’ little sisters.

(l-r); Jim  Adkins, Diane Graber, Kay Brown, Gloria Leonard. Circa, 2015

Jim “Pete” Adkins passed in October, 2022. This story is dedicated to his memory. 

Newspaper articles from the Daily Republic courtesy of the Mitchell Public Library. Some pictures courtesy  of the Parkston Public Library and Sharon Idema Heisinger. All others part of the Adkins Family Archives.