BOONE: History of Waveland Basketball: The Greve family legacy

Even today, Greve descendants are bringing fame to Waveland and Montgomery County as Edna Mae’s grandson, Garrett Jones who was born in Harvey, IL, made a big hit with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season by coming up to the parent team from Indianapolis of the International League. Brought up in July, Jones hit 21 home runs, drove in 44 and had a batting average of .293. Jones was drafted in the 14th round by the Atlanta Braves and played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, and the New York Yankees. His last stop was with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan where he hit 24 home runs in 2016. The names may change, but the apple never falls very far from the tree. Keith Greve had two sons, Tom and Greg. Tom was an outstanding athlete at Greensburg winning ten varsity letters in his career. He was selected All-Conference ten times, three in cross-country, two in basketball, one in track and four in golf. He then went to Cedarville College in Cedarville, Ohio and letter four times in basketball and four in golf. He was MVP in basketball in 1983-84 and 1984-85. Tom has spent over 30 years teaching and coaching in Milford, Ohio. Tom’s sons chose lacrosse as their favorite sport. His oldest son Caleb, the third generation played on a State Championship team in club lacrosse. Tom’s youngest son Josiah, was the state of Ohio defender of the year in lacrosse and was named to the All-State team twice. He went on to Baldwin-Wallace where he was twice named All-American and selected to play in the North-South All-Star game in lacrosse. Greg Greve, Keith’s youngest son played baseball and basketball in high school as well as running cross-country. Greg was a three-year starter and all EIAC (Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference) his junior and senior year. He was the leading scorer and leading rebounder on the Greensburg team that won the sectional in 1977 and was Honorable Mention All-State. He was also a three-year starter in baseball as Greensburg won the baseball sectional his senior year. He went to Cedarville and starred in basketball and baseball. Greg was a starter on the Cedarville College that was 25-4 and was NAIA District 22 champions. He also played baseball in college and batted .340 his junior year. The Greve era ended in 1955 when Bill graduated. The Hornets had made it to the sectional finals six times and won all six. They had won three sectionals in a row (the only County team to accomplish that feat.) They had also annexed four County crowns, and were runner-up six times. The Hornets continued to be very competitive after the Greve era ended, getting to the final game of the sectional six times. (1958, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, and 1971) They were led in the 60s by 1000 point scorers Herschel Tague, Phil Myers, and Mike Mitchell. Mitchell led the Hornets to the finals of the sectional in 1967 and 1968 as he rounded out his career with 1473 points (2nd on the list). He scored 588 points his senior year for a 26.7 ave., and had a high game of 51 points in 1966-67 against Roachdale. Herschel Tague led the Hornets to the title game in 1963 as he ended his career with 1035 points. He had a high game of 33 against Turkey Run that year. Don Evans was a fine all-around athlete lettering in baseball, basketball, and track. He scored 938 points in his four year career, including 481 his junior year when the Hornets went to the final game of the sectional. He had a high game of 33 against Montezuma his senior year (1964). Evans died the summer after his sophomore year at Wabash in a fall at Cherry Grove elevator. Phil Myers graduated 1967 and ended his career as the sixth Hornet to score over 1000 points as he ended up with 1014. Ron Bruner represented the last Waveland Hornet team as he finished in the top ten in all three scoring categories. Bruner finished his career in 1971 with 918 points placing him 9th on the list. He scored an even 500 points his senior year for an average of 21.7 ppg. He had a high game of 37 against Ladoga his junior year and had 35 against Darlington his senior year. Phil Myers was a senior in 1967 as the Hornets advanced to the Sectional finals. Myers finished his career with 1014 points which placed him 6th on the all-time scoring list. Bill Boone is a local sports historian who contributes to the Journal Review.