While 2013 is the first appearance of the consolidated North Tama County Community School District in the state boys’ basketball tournament, more than 60 years ago tiny Dinsdale almost lived its own version of the Hoosiers story twice.
In Iowa in the early 1950s, basketball teams were split into classes AA, A, and B. All of them were combined for the postseason and winnowed into a 16-team tournament held at the Iowa Fieldhouse in Iowa City. The Daily Iowan, the U of I student newspaper, covered the games and the papers are available online.
In 1950, Dinsdale’s entire high school enrollment was 47 students (27 boys), but the Red Devils were playing on the same terms as the Davenport Blue Devils, with nearly 2000 high schoolers.
State tournament teams as listed in the Daily Iowan, March 21, 1950.
Dinsdale beat Montezuma 39-34 and then Atlantic 49-47 to reach the semifinals. The contest with Davenport was anything but. The Blue Devils led 26-8 at halftime and overwhelmed the Red Devils 71-22 — but the next day Davenport did the same thing to Ankeny, winning the state championship 67-28. It would be the first of three straight titles for Davenport.
Then as now, the boys’ tournament had consolation games. Winfield broke away in the third quarter and beat Dinsdale 50-45. Dinsdale finished the season with a record of 34-4, the fourth-best team in the state.
For Davenport to finish that championship three-peat, the Blue Devils would have to play the Dinsdale Red Devils again. The second time wouldn’t be so easy.