St. Anthony High to play last game at Goff tonight

Goodbye . . . so long . . . farewell.

Those will be the words echoed the most tonight through Effingham St. Anthony High School's Goff Gymnasium as the Bulldogs play host to Casey-Westfield in the final high school basketball game to be played at Goff Gym.

The Bulldogs will move into their new facilities next season and although the junior high teams will continue to compete at Goff, the loud, raucous high school games will cease to exist on the hardwood floor.

Festivities begin tonight at 5:45 p.m. when the junior varsity game will be played. There will be a ceremony between the junior varsity and varsity contests with a celebration following the varsity game at the Knights of Columbus Building in Effingham.

"I think things are well organized for tonight," said St. Anthony High School Athletic Director Matt Hensley. "The thanks and praise for that goes to Scott Kabbes and the group of individuals that he worked with to coordinate the between game activities."

The first team that competed in Goff Gym during the 1949-50 season will be recognized. Returning from that team will be Frank Kabbes, Ben Meyer, Jack Hightower and cheerleader Viola Gebben.

Also honored along with the first team will be past and current coaches, past and current pastors and 1,000-point scorers.

"My first memory of Goff Gym is the day that I was hired for this job," said Hensley. "Mrs. Byers took me on a tour of the grade school building, and we couldn't get on the floor of Goff because they had just refinished it. I remember how that floor shined. They refinished it just like they do every year. It was an impressive sight on a sunny afternoon in August to see that floor shine."

St. Anthony actually played its first basketball games during the 1931-32 season. They used the old parish hall to play their home games but that was torn down to make room for the new gymnasium. In 1949 the gymnasium was first named Memorial Gym in memory of those who lost their lives in the St. Anthony hospital fire in 1949. The name was later changed to Goff Gym after the pastor and superintendent at that time, Rev. John J. Goff.

The Bulldogs were first known as the Saints, but during the 1940-41 season, when Lenny Dust was the boys' coach, the Saints became the Bulldogs. St. Anthony became a member of the Illinois High School Association in 1946-47 and had their first athletic director appointed, the Rev. Leonard Rathgeb, in 1947-48. In 1949-50, the first full-time paid coach was hired and that was Harry Forrester.

After competing one year in the Midland Trail Conference, the Bulldogs joined the National Trail Conference in 1950-51.

"I always felt like it was a big homecourt advantage at Goff," said former athletic director and coach Dave Bartlett. "I got to know it well because I had to clean it and lock the doors after every game as well as coach!

"I remember the 1991 regional final when we defeated Teutopolis, and they had beaten us twice. That was a memorable game," he said. "I remember some of the games when we hosted a regional, and of course, I remember all of the games against Teutopolis. Some ended well and some didn't. They were great games because of the atmosphere."

Mike Wente, who played during the late '60's and early '70's and is one of the returning 1,000-point scorers, also has fond memories of his days playing for the Bulldogs.

"I think part of the great tradition can be attributed to Goff Gym," said Wente, who also had three sons play for the Bulldogs. "I personally have had the opportunity to see many gyms through the years and it's just a great home atmosphere - that means intimidating for opponents and a great atmosphere for the home team.

"I've had the opportunity to talk to many college coaches that have come in scouting and recruiting and many have commented about the great fan support and great home atmosphere," he said. "Looking back from my own times playing there, my biggest memory was the great fans we had. Pretty much every game it was a packed house, loud and noisy.

"Probably the games that stand out for me would be the first game I was a starter and that was a loss to Beecher City. That same year we played Effingham in the regional in 1968. We hosted the regional and they had their state-ranked team. We lost to them in the finals.

"In my senior year in 1970, the games that stand out are a win over a highly regarded Urbana team to start the year, and about mid-year, Quincy came in and they were rated No. 8 in the state and we had a win over them. We played them on a Sunday afternoon," said Wente.

"Obviously we always looked forward to playing our biggest rival, Coach Lawrence Carie's Wooden Shoes. Those were always big games. They brought the best out in us. We really played well against them. But that's the sign of a really great coach when you get both teams fired up!"

The biggest games have come against rival Teutopolis when the Wooden Shoes invade Goff Gym, either during regular season play or regionals.

"I remember getting beat in sudden death overtime, unfortunately, back in the early 1960s," said former T-town head man Lawrence Carie. "We fouled in overtime and back then when the first two points were scored in overtime, then the game was over. They made both free throws and won the game. I thought it was a jump ball, but the official disagreed with me!

"The other thing I remember was when Mike Wente was playing. Any time Mike Wente saw blue and gold it made him play extra good. I probably made Mike Wente an all-stater!" said Carie. "Another big game was when St. Anthony was 4-0 and we were 0-4 in the early '60s. We didn't think we had a chance to beat them, and we came in and upset them.

"I'll always remember the late Carl Koerner when he was guarding that door at Goff Gym. He was a big guy and that scared me a little bit looking up at him.

"The final lasting memory I have was in 1978," said Carie. We beat St. Anthony twice that year and we were down by two in the regional. We were within two and had the ball with 30 seconds to go. Scott Kabbes stole the ball and went in for a layup. That was the worst memory."

Although the high school memories will end for Goff Gym, it's not totally the end.

"The advantage that the new facility will bring to our program is numerous," said Hensley. "Additional practice facilities. The ability to run two practices at the same time. New weight room facility. New locker room and coaches offices.

"I think our usage of Goff Gym, even though it will decrease, will still be a facility that people will be in on a daily basis. Junior high volleyball and junior high basketball will continue there and we'll also use it as a high school practice facility when we have scheduled events going on in the new gymnasium.

"We're saying goodbye, but not really."

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