By MIKE BEACOM
of The Gazette
Judie Janquart must have felt a little like Harry S Truman in early Spring of 1980.
After knocking off a Neenah girls basketball team that featured the state's player of the year, the SPASH head coach reached for the following day's Wisconsin State Journal only to find it had inaccurately printed "Neenah wins class A," on its front.
Much like Truman surprised Dewey in the election of 1948, SPASH's 18th ranked squad surprised number-one ranked Neenah, 38-32, in the state final.
Janquart remembers the day and her journey to state that year as well as most remember events from the previous week.
And due to the success of this year's girl's SPASH team, memories of the program's only other state participant have been thrust back into the limelight.
The objective for the Panthers in 1980 was simple.
"Our goal was to win our conference and go on to state," said Janquart.
The year before, conference foe Wausau East had beaten the Panthers three time and stomped on their hopes of advancing in post-season play.
The 1980 SPASH team beat East two of three times including a 66-45 sectional win.
The starting lineup for the Panthers that year were Liz Kennebeck, Tracey Skorseth, Pam Suplicki, Linda Szymanski and junior Kathi Bennett with Donna DeDeker, Cathy Roman, Dee Christofferson, Julie Fox and Jan Maslowski coming off the bench. Lyndel Bohanski and Tammy Slowinski joined the team during tournament play.
When the group reached the state tournament, a championship trophy wasn't the only thing on their minds.
"I remember one of the girls saying 'If we would get into the final we would be on TV. Wouldn't it be great to be on TV,'" recalled Janquart. "(Having reached earlier season goals) anything we won would be icing on the cake."
After wins over Brookfield East and Oregon, only Neenah remained for the Panthers. Jean Kessler's team had already given SPASH one of their two season losses and had played in two of the previous four state title games.
"It was kind of interesting because a lot of coaches were bringing me plays," said Janquart who threw her peers' suggestions out. "I thought to myself, 'we got here how we got here and we're going to do the same thing we've always done.'"
Janquart also received a phone call on the afternoon of their game from Kathi's father, Dick Bennett, then UW-Stevens Point men's head coach, who encouraged her to coach from the same game plan she had used all season.
Janquart stuck with that plan and, despite criticism, a man-to-man defense to slay Neenah.
"I still get emotional about it because it was so special," recalls Janquart of the time. "Everybody dreams about something like this. If you're in athletics, it's the ultimate for a ballplayer and a coach."
But even more special to Janquart than the achievement was the bond she shared with her team.
"We had a special group of people," said Janquart. "They were more wonderful people than they were ballplayers."