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     The year was 1927. Calvin Coolidge was president. “Wings” became the only silent film ever named best picture at the Academy Awards. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig powered the New York Yankees to the World Series championship. And the cost of admission to a session of the South Dakota state high school basketball tournament was 25 cents.

     It was a quarter well spent for the many fans who packed the Corn Palace in Mitchell to watch Huron defeat Watertown, Madison and Aberdeen. The Coffeymen, as the Huron team was called at that time, boasted two of the state’s all-time greatest players in Sam Perrin and Conrad “Cornie” Collin. Both went on to become collegiate stars. Huron team members were, from left, front, Harold Marquis, Harold Crawford, Collin, Lawrence Sheridan and Kenneth Hoppell. Back, Percy Washabaugh, Perrin, Arthur Campbell and Coach Frank Coffey.

     Huron’s state championship earned it an invitation to the National Interscholastic Basketball Tournament in Chicago. Read the complete story of the 1927 Huron team’s drive to glory in the upcoming South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame newsletter. Published biannually, in the fall and spring, the newsletter examines topics from the past while providing information about the Hall of Fame and its activities. Included are items of interest for all basketball fans.

   The newsletter is free. To add your name to the Hall of Fame mailing list simply e-mail your home address (not email address) to: dlwagner@tnics.com. Or phone in your address by calling (605) 467-3010.