White Cloud to Honor ‘75 Regional Champs

'75 team celebrating schools lone Regional title

Recognition takes place during Friday’s game

It’s  March of 1975
Jerry Ford is President, the #1 song is Best of My Love by The Eagles,  and it is the first season of Saturday Night Live, featuring John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Jane Curtain and the rest of the originals.
And the White Cloud Boys basketball team has just completed a magical season going undefeated (19-0) in the regular season and topping it off with a tournament run that ended in a quarterfinal loss to eventual state champion Bay City All Saints.
Now a half century later the team that captured the hearts of the students, parents, alumni and the whole town and beyond will be honored in a ceremony Friday, during Senior Night when the current White Cloud teams will host Central Montcalm.
Playing in the always tough NCAA Conference the Indians swept the field, including a 104-37 beatdown of neighboring Newaygo, on their way to the conference title.
The team was coached by Bill Reigle who played college ball for Duke before being drafted into the army. After discharge  he played for McNeese State and following graduation  eschewed an offer from the Lakers (Minneapolis Lakers at the time) to play in the highly regarded AAU league where he was a 4 time AAU All American. He also coached at his alma mater before moving to White Cloud in 1974 to teach English.
“It was apparent from the first practice that he expected your best effort both in practice and in games,”  according to Stewart Sanders, one of the players on that historic WC team. “He preached defensive intensity which generated much of our offense.” 
An offense that averaged 90 points a game in the pre 3 point line era.
From a December 1974  article in the Oceana County Herald:
The Indians, favorites to win a Newaygo County Athletic Association Championship, have second team all-stater Bob Fowler back from last year's squad which won a district championship. Fowler, at 6-5, will be joined by 6-7 Bob Taube, 6-6 Dennis Wawsczyk and 6-3 Greg Lovell to give the Indians their tallest squad in memory.
Reigel's son Ernie, a guard who received all-district recognition in Louisiana last year, is expected to add ball-handling and scoring punch to the offense. The Indians are working on speed and a snappy passing attack in an effort to better their 10-4 finish in the league last season. White Cloud wound up second behind Tri-County, and closed the year with a 13-6 overall record. Coach Reigel, who guided McNeese State to a 21-5 record last year, said he chose the coaching offer at White Cloud over one at a large university in order to spend time with his family.
After securing the hardware in the NCAA the Indians marched through District play taking the title with a win over Lakeview in the Wildcats gym then blasted Breckinridge 103-53 in the Regional Final, the lone Regional title in the schools history.
The Quarterfinal match at Alma College pitted the AP #2 ranked Indians against the #1 ranked All Saints.  WCHS was allotted 1500 tickets for this game which sold out in 3 hours with lines stretching far down the sidewalks outside the school. 
We asked Sanders what the team’s key to success was.
“We played as a team. Coach Reigel had a quote ‘None of us is as good as all of us’. And it didn't hurt to have the 2 All-Staters in Fowler and Reigel.”
“The excitement and support from the community and surrounding areas was astounding.We had mostly tripleheader games with the freshmen starting early followed by JV and then Varsity.  If you didn't have a seat by halftime of the freshmen game you couldn't get in.  When we traveled away we played to standing room only crowds.
“I am sure that every member of our team would say it was exciting, magical, and fun.”
The evening's schedule is as follows:

• 5:30 PM: Varsity Girls Basketball Game vs. Central Montcalm
• 7:00 PM: Varsity Boys Basketball Game vs. Central Montcalm
• Senior Recognition: Between the girls' and boys' games
• 1975 Men's Regional Team 50th Anniversary Recognition: Halftime of the boys' basketball game

The 1975 Roster
Ernie Reigel, Matt Temple, Stewart Sanders, Dan Jones, Bob Fowler, Doyal Hershberger, Jeff Taube, Dean May, Kelly Alger, Dennis Wawsczyk, Sam Bain, Greg Lovell, Manager – David Walker, Manager – Harold Harper

​