The Tower Hill High School Tigers were very competitive, though their small enrollment limited the number of sports they could offer. The boys competed in basketball, track, and probably baseball.  The girls competed in volleyball, track, and probably basketball at one point.  It is also possible that Tower Hill High entered into a co-op effort with nearby Pana or Shelbyville at some point before its closure.  Conference affiliation and the records of someof the better teams are being sought.

 

Lee Connelly provided the following information regarding Tower Hill High School's conference affiliation for the 1967-68 school year:

 

*Note:  As of 2012 with the closing of Lovington High School, all of the schools in this conference are now closed or have gone through a change in their name.

 

 

One male athlete carried the banner for the Tower Hill Tigers for many, many years.  In the 1930s track & field was a one-class sport.  Dale Dilley showed he belonged with the best of them.  Taking on all comers, Dale won the IHSA State Championship in the 220 Yard Dash in 1939!  His efforts resulted in a 10th place finish for the Tigers overall.

 

 

                1.)  Elmhurst York HS                   22

                2.)  New Trier HS                          17

                3.)  Morton HS                             13

                4.)  Rockford HS                          12.5

                5.)  Proviso HS                            10

                6.)  East St. Louis Senior HS         9

                6.)  Sterling HS                             9

                8.)  Wheaton HS                           6

                8.)  Evanston HS                           6

              10.)  TOWER HILL HIGH SCHOOL  5

                      Highland Park, Mendota, Paris, Springfield HS all tied with 5 pts. also.

 

 

The Lady Tigers had some real nice volleyball success in the 1980s.  Coach Sharon (Christian) Rincker led the lady netters to an overall record of 114 - 106 during her ten seasons at the helm. This included five straight winning seasons.  Unfortunately this is the only era of volleyball covered on the IHSA website.

 

1980-81     10 - 10         Coach Sharon Rincker

1982-83     14 - 11         Coach Sharon Rincker

1983-84     14 - 10         Coach Sharon Rincker

1984-85     17 - 6           Coach Sharon Rincker

1985-86     17 - 7           Coach Sharon Rincker

1986-87     16 - 11         Coach Sharon Rincker

 

 

The Tower Hill Tigers had some good, competitive seasons on the hardwood court as well. The Tigers won two District Championships.  There are only three seasons listed on the IHSA website regarding the boys basketball program.  The last season listed is of the 2002-03 school year when the Tigers, coached by Travis Reider, finsihed the year with a 3 - 22 record. 

 

Jay R. Brown tells us the coach of the Tower Hill HS basketball program in the early 1950s was Bob Miller. Coach Miller went on to coach at Blue Mound-Boody High School from 1955 through 1965. He would later become Superintendent of Schools for Coles County. The exact seasons that Coach Miller was at Tower Hill High School are needed.

 

Some basketball scores from the IHSA Tournament involving Tower Hill High School were located on a website titled "Illinois Postseason Basketball Scores." The scores we located are printed below. Unfortunately the records of other great Tower Hill teams are not available.

 

1921-22          Taylorville District Tournament                   Coach's name & record needed

                      1st Rd Lost to Pawnee 46-2

                      Pawnee lost in semi-final round.

  

1922-23 through 1932-33 Postseason scores, records, and coaches' names needed.

     

**From Greg Largent:

"Tower Hill would have had the distinction of winning the longest boys basketball game in IHSA history (6 O/Ts), beating Lakewood High School 18-14 on November 8th, 1929. However, that record was short-lived as it was broken in the same season when Terre Haute, IN beat Casey in 7 O/Ts on February 1, 1930."

  

1933-34          Pana District Tournament                          Coach's name & record needed

                      Lost to Cowden 17-13

   

1938-39 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed

1939-40 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed

1940-41 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed

1941-42 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed

   

1942-43         District Champions!                                 Coach's name & record needed  

                     District scores needed

                     Taylorville Regional Tourney

                     1st Rd lost to Pana 33-19

                     Pana lost in title game 

  

1943-44 Postseason scores, record, and coach's name needed

  

1944-45         Witt District Tournament                            Coach's name & record needed

1947-48         District Champions!!                                Coach's name & record needed

                     District scores needed

                     Pana Regional Tourney

                     1st Rd Lost to Shelbyville 65-46

                     Shelbyville lost in semi-final round

   

1948-49         Strasburg District Tournament                    Coach's name & record needed

 

**From former Tower Hill HS teacher Andy Kerley:

 

"I taught at Tower Hill HS the last year it existed, 2003.  The top photo on your website is the HS building that was used as the last HS in Tower Hill.  It is still standing and serves as the main building in the Pana grade school located there.  There was talk they were going to use it as an alternative school or shop/trade building, but I don't know if that ever came to be. 

We were annexed in 03 by Pana and now all Tower Hill students attend Pana schools.  The last year we were there we still had a girls volleyball team and a boys basketball team.  All other athletes went to Pana to participate in other sports like FB, baseball, track, girls basketball, softball etc as we had a co-op in place with them.  We were not very successful in either sport as we only had 43 enrolled total students on the first day of school in August of 2002. 

At one point in their history, Tower Hill offered football, basketball, baseball and track to the male athletes.  Girls were able to compete in volleyball, basketball, track and maybe softball.  There was while I was still there, a photo of one of their football teams in the trophy case.  At one point I think they were still pretty competitive in baseball to.

I left after 03, I taught social studies at Tower Hill HS (actually, I was THE social studies dept.  :) ).  I moved on to Shelbyville after.  I drive by the old school every chance I get, but it's not very often since I'm now teaching in Clinton."

   

**From Greg Largent (Class of 1989):

   

"I played basketball for Tower Hill from '85-'86 to '88-'89.  While my final two years were forgettable (0-23 in '87-'88 and 1-23 in '88-'89), I took pride in wearing the maroon & gold.  That one win was a 48-38 defeat of Springfield Lutheran.

    

We were more competitive during my first 2 years of high school.  I don't recall our records but both years would have been .500, give or take.  My most memorable game to watch was during the '85-'86 season.  Macon scored late to take a 1 point lead and we were able to get a time out with :01 left on the clock.  I believe it was Chuck Chesterman taking the ball out under the Macon basket and he threw a pass the length of the court to Pat Guiot.  Pat beat the buzzer from the free throw line and the Tower Hill crowd stormed the court.

   

A new gymnasium was built directly west of, and connected to, the main building around 1981.  The picture at the top of the page is of the high school building that was built somewhere around 1930 and is still there today.  After completion of that gym, Tower Hill finally had a facility large enough to host the Meridian Conference Tournament and did so for the 50th annual  tournament.  This would have been sometime between 1981 and 1984."

      

 

If you have any more information regarding the many successes of Tower Hill High School, especially a photo of the most recent high school building, please write to us via e-mail at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.  You can also write to us at the old fashioned way at:

 

Chicago, Il.       60631