Portland woman planning 56th straight state tourney finals

PORTLAND, Ind. -- Doris Northam hadn't planned to attend the Indiana high school boys' basketball finals this year. After all, she's 87 years old, climbing stairs is difficult and, frankly, her interest just wasn't there anymore.\nBut when her hometown team Jay County advanced to the Class 3A championship game, Northam decided to make the trek to Indianapolis one more time -- her 56th finals tourney in a row.\n"When I was a kid, you know, you went to church and you went to ball games. And that was your entertainment. It was just natural to me," said Northam, who has tickets for all four games at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday.\n"I would have been so disappointed if I had given up on going," she told The Commercial Review.\nHer late husband, Charlie, was a high school referee, and she began attending the finals with him in 1951, first at Hinkle Fieldhouse, then at IU's Assembly Hall, Market Square Arena, the RCA Dome and now Conseco.\nShe says she can prove her lengthy attendance streak with ticket stubs her husband, who died in 2004, saved.\nHer most memorable tournament was in 1954, when Milan upset Muncie Central for the championship. Milan's historic win then became the basis for the Oscar-nominated film "Hoosiers."\n"I'm telling you, that was something else," she said. "Of course, then the next day we went to Milan to help celebrate."\nMilan coach Marvin Wood's cousin was married to Northam's sister.\n"Of course I claimed him right away," she said.\nBesides the tournament games, she said she always enjoyed socializing with people her husband met through officiating, but hasn't seen many people she knows the last two to three years.\n"But I feel like I'll see some people I know this year," she said, referring to Jay County's appearance in the finals.\nAnd she's convinced the Patriots can win against New Castle.\n"I told everybody all year long that we've got a good team," Northam said. "To me, they just seem so aggressive."\nWin or lose, this trip probably will be her last, she said.\n"It's not the fun it used to be," Northam said. "I'm sure I won't be there next year"