But you had to go way back to find that last championship.

It was 1982.

Many of the parents of kids playing in 2020-21 weren't even born yet or very young at the time while most wouldn't remember when this happened.

That 39 year conference championship drought is now over for Wayne City.

With a 41-38 overtime win at Woodlawn on Friday night, Coach Jake Talbert and his Indians are now Midland Trail Conference champs.

The Tribe ended the season with a 7-1 mark in the league.

“That's what I preached all week that 'it's our time' and Woodlawn has had their time but it's our time now and hopefully we can do this for two or three years,” said Coach Talbert. “Games like against Mount Carmel this week, I know we got beat but we thought if we could take that then we could hand it to Woodlawn and we did tonight.”

On the other side of the coin Woodlawn finished the MTC campaign at 6-2 with the defeat for first year mentor Dawson Verhines.

This is a rare feeling for the defending conference champions.

Since the above mentioned expansion (2008-09) the Cardinals had won 11 of the 12 regular season conference championships, with only 2016-17 (Waltonville) being the lone missed title.

The final possession of the game, or possessions, summed up the night and season for Woodlawn.

Trailing by three with just seconds to go, the Cardinals got off four shot attempts.

Three 3-point shots and one desperation lean in shot to try and draw a foul.

None of the attempts found the mark as the horn sounded on the Wayne City victory.

The Cardinals ended their season by hitting just 13-of-46 shots (28.2 percent) from the floor in the loss.

In the good news, bad news scenario Woodlawn got a lot of second chances on the night (11 offensive rebounds) including those last four which led to a 29-26 rebounding edge.

Another key stat that led to the Cardinals' demise was a 2-of-10 performance from the foul line.

Championship clubs knock down shots, especially free throws, and Woodlawn missed out on key opportunities that could have resulted in a win in regulation.

Wayne City got special performances from key players who, at different times during the contest, stepped up.

Six-foot-six sophomore forward Justin Durham scored a game high 18 points while grabbing nine rebounds.

Noah Cooper, a 6-foot-4 senior, added 11 points for Wayne City, including five key points in the overtime.

Junior guard Taj McKinney was saddled with foul trouble and ended up with just five points, all in the first half.

But his teammates picked up the slack in his absence late in the game.

The Indians only made two 3-pointers in the game but both ended up being big shots.

Senior Jarrett Lewis scored his only three points on a 20-footer in the second quarter while junior reserve guard Risten Kell hit probably the biggest shot of his varsity career late in the contest to give Wayne City the lead.

The Indians tale of the tape was 17-of-36 from the field overall, 2-of-6 from the arc and they committed nine turnovers.

The Cardinals were led in scoring by 6-foot-1 senior Hayden England with 12 points.

Freshman Chance Phelps and senior Jackson Tiemann added eight and six points respectively.

Woodlawn ended it's season at 7-9 overall while the Indians, who went 0-6 outside of the MTC, finished 7-7.

England scored 10 of his 12 points in the first quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.

His first trey got Woodlawn on the board and then second bomb closed the first quarter scoring at 11-7 Cardinals.

Cooper and Durham both got buckets on the inside in the opening frame.

Phelps nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to open the second quarter scoring for Woodlawn as the Cardinals took their largest lead of the game at 14-7 with 7:29 left in the half.

Durham proved to be a difficult matchup for the Cardinals in the lane as the Indians rallied.

The sophomore forward added three field goals in the paint in the second quarter, with his third bucket tying the game at 19-19 with just under a minute left.

Woodlawn senior guard Brier Van Eycke scored his only points of the game on a drive to the basket to send the two teams to intermission at 21-19 Cardinals.

England struggled from the foul line, missing all six of his attempts.

However on one trip to the line in the third quarter he managed to corral his own rebound on the second miss and he ended up scoring on that possession, banking home a shot for a 25-21 Cardinals lead.

Wayne City scored the last six points of the third quarter to take the lead 27-26, all of the points coming on the inside.

Durham scored twice on inbound plays and Cooper got the ball close to the basket for a short shot that sent the teams to the fourth quarter.

With a 6-2 run to begin the final period, Wayne City looked like they were going to get the victory.

Cooper and Durham continued to shine inside with points and when Durham scored on back-to-back possessions, the Indians led 33-28 with 6:18 remaining.

In a game that the defenses dominated, neither team could score a point for the next three minutes.

Finally, Phelps cashed in a missed Woodlawn field goal attempt with 3:18 left and just over a minute later Tiemann connected on a 3-pointer from the right wing.

In the interim McKinney was lost for the game after being whistled for his fifth foul going for a loose ball with 2:16 left in regulation.

Tiemann's bomb at the 1:57 mark tied the game at 33-33.

With the ball after a timeout in the final seconds, Woodlawn had a chance to secure the win but Durham came up with a biggest defensive play of the game.

England drove into the lane in the final seconds but Durham rejected his shot back to Wayne City, who quickly called a timeout near mid-court.

“I think he (Durham) has the talent to be special. His talent for his age, his athletic ability, the sky is the limit. He is amazing and I can't wait to see what he can accomplish in the next two years,” said Coach Talbert.

After a the officials put :01.5 back onto the clock, Wayne City got off a 3-pointer that missed by Kell as the two teams went to overtime.

But that wasn't the last time Kell was heard from.

After Tiemann and Cooper scored to begin the extra session, Kell found himself open from the left wing and he calmly nailed down a 20-footer to give the Indians back the lead.

“He (Kell) has guts and you could tell he was a bit apprehensive at first but he got into the flow of things,” said Coach Talbert. “He hit a couple of 3's in the JV game so I think he got confidence from that.”

A Phelps 3-pointer evened the game once again at 38-38 before Wayne City took command and the MTC championship.

Cooper got the ball again in the paint as he spun towards the goal in front of England who was there to take a charge.

Although there was contact on the made shot by Cooper, it was a 'no call' as Wayne City took a 40-38 lead with :51 left.

The Cardinals promptly turned the ball over just seconds later and then fouled Cooper, sending the senior to the free throw line.

Cooper hit the first shot but missed the second as Woodlawn claimed the rebound and called timeout just seconds later with :28.7 left.

The Cardinals, as mentioned earlier, had chance after chance to tie the game but none of their final shots found the mark as their chance for a fourth consecutive MTC regular season title vanished.

Wayne City (41) – McKinney 1 0 3-6 5, J. Lewis 0 1 0-0 3, Cooper 5 0 1-2 11, Durham 9 0 0-0 18, G. Lewis 0 0 1-2 1, Noe 0 0 0-0 0, Kell 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-15, 3FG-2, FT-5-10, PF-11.
Woodlawn (38) – Van Eycke 1 0 1-2 3, Hu. England 0 0 0-0 0, Tiemann 1 1 1-2 6, Martin 1 1 0-0 5, Ha. England 3 2 0-6 12, Beckham 2 0 0-0 4, Phelps 1 2 0-0 8.
2FG-9, 3FG-4, FT-2-10, PF-12.
Fouled Out – McKinney - Wayne City.
Technical Fouls – None.