Unbeaten Tipton may add to program's legacy: 'Amazed every day at the things they can do.'

TIPTON — The framed photos above Cliff Hawkins’ office desk are not exactly what you would expect for an Indiana high school basketball coach more than four decades into his career.

They are of college football coaching legends Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, Knute Rockne, Bo Schembechler and Duffy Daugherty. The photo display might have something to do with Hawkins’ background growing up in football-crazy Ohio until the age of 14.

“I’ve always been drawn to football,” Hawkins said, sitting in his office on a December night.

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But this is Indiana. And in the middle of the winter, basketball is of course still a primary source of entertainment. Hawkins happens to coach one of the most entertaining teams in the state. Tipton, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A and 12-0, is winning games by an average of nearly 20 points per game.

“I’m amazed every day at the things they can do,” Hawkins said. “The beauty of coaching so long is players continue to evolve. What I thought motion offense was in the 1980s, we do a little different now. We have an extremely good cutting team at times, and I think we’ll continue to get better at that as the season goes along.”

Tipton is heating up “The Inferno”, its gym that opened in 1961, with a team that appreciates its Blue Devils history, which can be traced back to names like Kenneth Cage and Jim Ertel in the 1940s, Dick McIntosh and Don Curnutt in the 1960s, Kreigh Smith and Matt Waddell in the 1980s and more, recently, Derek Elston and Mike Crawford.

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Nolan Swan’s older brothers, Lukas and Mylan, played for Tipton. Nolan, now a senior guard, remembers sitting in the upper reaches of the bleachers in the Tipton gym, watching Crawford, a 2013 Indiana All-Star and the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,104 points, drop bucket after bucket for the Blue Devils. Even now, Swan and teammate Grady Carpenter will occasionally shout out “Mike Crawford!” when they make a tough shot at practice.

“I say, ‘Hey, you are Nolan Swan,’” Hawkins said with a laugh. “But you know, Mike was a wonderful ballplayer (he scored 950 points in four years at Saint Louis) and it’s fun to see how they relish the past and look up to those guys. Tipton is a community that cares about its kids and school, and our kids know the history. If a guy walks in (to practice), they know who it is. We really pride ourselves on that.”

There is a lot of success in Tipton’s basketball history, all the way back to the program’s first sectional championship at Lebanon in 1928. The Blue Devils won three regional titles the single-class era (1935, ’42 and ’89) and three more during Crawford’s era in 2011, ’12 and ’13. This team, after winning the sectional last year before falling to eventual state champion Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian in the regional, could have a chance to make deep a run.

Swan, a 6-1 guard, already has his name on the gym wall as a 1,000-point scorer, an accomplishment he achieved late in his junior season. He leads the Blue Devils with a 20.0-point scoring average, shooting 46.6% from the 3-point line (34-for-73), and averages 3.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.1 steals per game.

“He really works hard on his shooting,” Hawkins said. “He takes pride in it and he can feel it — he knows when it’s going in or not.”

Swan scored 31 points in Tipton’s most impressive win of the season, a 65-61 win over Delta at Muncie Fieldhouse in early December. Tipton erased a four-point deficit in the final 14 seconds of regulation to send the to overtime and eventually win, handing 3A second-ranked Delta (10-1) its only loss.

“That game was a huge boost for us,” Swan said. “We know how good of a team they are in 3A, so for us to play some good competition, knowing we can play with those guys gives us confidence that we can play with anybody in the state.”

Carpenter, a 6-5 point guard, will no doubt see his name up on the wall, too, by the time he is finished at Tipton. But while 1,000 points is in clear sight for Carpenter, his talent goes well beyond putting the ball in the basket. Carpenter averages 16.1 points, but the number that pops off the page is his 8.9 assists per game, which puts him among the state leaders.

Carpenter seems to take great joy in finding open teammates, helped by his height and reach to pass over and around smaller guards.

“I really do take pride in my passing and getting my teammates shots,” he said. “But if my teammates don’t hit shots, I don’t get the assists. So a lot of credit goes to them.”

Swan called Carpenter “the best passer in the state.” He is admittedly biased, but it is clear the on-court chemistry between the guards is a big reason for Tipton’s success.

“I remember me and little Grady sitting up in the bleachers watching games together, watching Mike Crawford and all the stars we’ve had in the past,” Swan said. “I feel like our team has a special bond that most teams don’t have, even off the court. I feel like that transfers on the court when we are playing.”

Jackson Money, a 6-foot senior guard, is averaging 13.2 points and 3.0 rebounds and 6-2 junior Sam Quigley is averaging 5.9 points and shooting 41% (16-for-39) from the 3-point line. Ryan Tracy, a 6-4 senior and transfer from Noblesville, has added an interior presence, averaging 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds.

“He’s jelled quickly with the rest of the team,” Swan said of Tracy. “We have a bond that most teams wouldn’t have with a new guy like that. He’s just been outstanding for us.”

Hawkins started his coaching career at Caston in 1978 before moving on to Tri-Central, where he coached against Tipton and then-coach Dick Barr, who led the Blue Devils during two stints from 1960-65 and 1975-83. He went on to coach at Greenfield-Central, DeKalb, Center Grove, Madison and North Miami before coming to Tipton in 2019.

Hawkins said the trust he has with this team has been built over time.

“I remember going back to the days coaching Luke Recker (at DeKalb) and saying, ‘You can’t handcuff a great player,’” Hawkins said. “You never want to handcuff great players. Sometimes you have to tone it down a bit for some guys, but when these guys work at the game and respect the game the way they do, it builds trust. We’ve got to play the way we play. I have great faith in them and their decision making.”

There are tough challenges ahead on the schedule, including a Jan. 20 visit to see Flory Bidunga and Kokomo. But this is a program accustomed to winning, posting just one losing season in 19 years. Swan, Carpenter and the rest of the Blue Devils had a bleacher seat for many of those victories.

“I know our guys will stay hungry because they love the game and pursue it with a lot of passion,” Hawkins said. “They are proud to represent Tipton.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA basketball: Tipton capable of adding to program's long history