Forty two years ago this week, the Lincolnwood Lancers won third place in the IHSA State Basketball Tournament at the Assembly Hall in Champaign. Although I was only eight years old, I can remember many details about that weekend. I was so excited that people from Raymond were going to be on TV, and I remember "warming up" our RCA big screen (28") console television in anticipation of the first game. The Lancers won a tense game on Friday night and advanced to the semi-finals. The following day an unprecedented event occurred: my dad closed the Raymond Variety Store on a Saturday afternoon so he could watch the ballgame. As my brother pointed out, no one in town would have been doing any shopping that day anyway.
Of course it was disappointing that the Lancers lost the semi-final game, but it was exciting to watch them on television again Saturday evening when they won third place. On Sunday, many people in town lined the streets and cheered as the Raymond police and the fire department (lights and sirens blaring) escorted the players' bus and the fan caravan in a victory parade through town that ended at a pep rally at the high school gym.
Do you remember when the Lancers went to state? See below to relive some of the fun and excitement from March 1972...
(From The Raymond News, March 16, 1972)
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