Garry Abplanalp, the starting point guard for the 1972-73 Franklin Grizzly Cubs, poses with his wife Laura.
Submitted photo
High school sports teams displaying a player’s last name on the back of his or her jersey are few and far between.
Still, one can’t help but wonder had Franklin boys basketball chose to travel that sort of self-promotional route during the early 1970s.
Garry Abplanalp, the Grizzly Cubs’ 5-foot-10 coach-on-the-floor point guard, might have required smaller lettering or a friendlier font while directing the on-court goings-on of some of the best squads in school history.
A 1973 graduate, Abplanalp — pronounced A-plan-up — was the only senior starter for the 1972-73 Franklin ball club that ventured all the way to the single-class Final Four at Indiana University’s then-barely-broken-in Assembly Hall before losing a semifinal in overtime to New Albany, 77-76.
It was Franklin’s first time making it that far in 34 years.
“It was, I call it, kind of spacious,” remembers the 68-year-old Abplanalp, who lives with Laura, his wife of 36 years in — interestingly enough — New Albany. “Obviously, to be able to play on IU’s court was kind of neat. Franklin had the greatest pep club, and there was never a ticket to be had.”
Understandably so.
Coached by Dick Harmening, the Cubs also started the talented junior quartet of twin forwards Don and Jon McGlocklin, center Darrel Heuchan and guard Ed Trogdon. Two of Abplanalp’s classmates, Virgil Cross and Mike Breck, were the first players off the bench.
Two of the letters in Franklin’s point guard’s surname are silent, but Abplanalp wasn’t. He scored, dished, defended and led.
“My role changed over the years,” said Abplanalp, who remembers making his first varsity start midway through the 1970-71 season at Seymour. “I kind of became a floor general as a sophomore. I liked that role because I enjoyed the mental process of the game.
“Coach Harmening would relay to me what he wanted us to do, but I also had free rein to change things on the fly.”
Abplanalp’s sophomore campaign ended with a 73-71 loss to Bloomington in the championship game of the regional; a year later, it was Center Grove handing the Grizzly Cubs similar heartache with 72-71 loss in a sectional semifinal.
Franklin’s tournament fortunes changed in Abplanalp’s senior season, starting with sectional defeats of Greenwood, Whiteland and a 65-60 revenge win over Center Grove in the title game. The Cubs then tore through the regional, beating Greenfield-Central by 29 points and Bloomington South by 30.
The competition became tougher at the Hinkle Semistate — but so too did Harmening’s ball club, as it downed Speedway, 56-45, and Richmond, 67-53.
As a team, school and community, Franklin was living the dream.
“The biggest thing I took away from that is everybody in the community played a big part in that time,” said Abplanalp, who owned his own construction business, GLA Incorporated, from 1989 to 2001 and continues to work in residential construction and remodeling.
“Just a real happy time to grow up in Indiana. All of us had grown up with each other. There was a competitiveness within each of us, but not against each other.”
Abplanalp led the state in assists both as a junior and senior. He graduated from Franklin with seven varsity letters, with others coming in baseball, golf and tennis.
“Mostly, it was Garry’s leadership,” said Jon McGlocklin, who since 1982 has resided in San Diego with his wife, Cindy. “He was basically the coach on the floor. Anything Garry said to do, you knew it was what coach Harmening wanted to do. Offensively, he pretty much ran everything.”
Even with Franklin’s rich athletic history, Abplanalp winning the prestigious Trester Award following the 1972-73 state finals was the first time a Grizzly Cub athlete took home the mental attitude award in any sport. That number is now up to 12.
Abplanalp attended Purdue University, graduating in 1977 with a degree in building construction and contracting.
Those who mispronounced Abplanalp’s name were usually a quick study, considering both of Gil and Rita’s two sons were solid athletes at Franklin (Dean Abplanalp, a 1976 graduate, started for the state runner-up golf squad in 1974).
“Actually, when people were trying to pronounce it, they would stop. I would just say ‘Garry,’ and then they would spell that wrong because it was with two Rs,” Garry Abplanalp said, laughing. “But because of sports, people heard it enough and began to pronounce it correctly.”
