GIBSONBURG, Ohio — Thursday night could end a 48-year drought for Gibsonburg girls basketball.
With a win on the road against Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic, the Golden Bears can clinch at least a share of this year's Sandusky Bay Conference River Division title.
Prior to their attempt at securing history, the team got an opportunity to be greeted by another set of champions. Members from the 1976 squad itself.
"It's time to pass the torch on," former Gibsonsburg guard Lou Kuhlman said.
For nearly five decades, her Co-SLL title has remained the program's only trophy. Although that's now expected to change, the 2023-24 squad is aware that they can do one better by claiming an outright championship.
"A little bit stressful because the first one was a co-championship," senior forward Jazmyne Morant said. "It'd be nice to have it all on our own and be the team strictly on top."
To do that, they must defeat the winless Panthers on Thursday and then beat Woodmore on Saturday, a game they won 54-23 back on Jan. 5.
Gibsonburg doesn't just stand in first place but is a perfect 15-0 in conference play. Success that has impressed the alumni.
"It's huge. It's huge to see them progress as they have," Kuhlman said. "To come back and be able to put their name up there alongside ours, it's about time."
On Monday, Kuhlman and three of her teammates from the 1976 SLL Co-Championship team returned to the court where they once shined. The group also arrived with a message for the current set of hoop stars.
"To enjoy it, take it in and enjoy the experience," Kuhlman said. "Keep going with it, don't stop with these next two games. Take it to the next level."
Whether competing in a free throw contest, honoring the past with old-school socks or simply conversing the interaction between past and present made a difference.
"It was making me real emotional, like it's really flying by and I'm already a senior," Morant said. "It's an honor that I'm part of the team that's making a difference here."
Head coach Bo Evarts, who is in his 5th season at Gibsonburg High School, helped generate this meeting. Even he was taken back at how impactful the conversations turned out.
"For them to come here to practice and share their history with the girls, just watching them interact was pretty special," Evarts said.
Despite a sizable age difference, both teams learned they had more in common than originally thought.
"It's very similar to ours. We started out three years ago and needed to build it," Evarts said. "So we've had a lot in parallel with them."
Of course, the sport of girls basketball has changed since the mid-70s.
"Back then, Title IX had just gone through. We weren't allowed in the weight rooms and were playing with the strength that we had," Kuhlman said. "Didn't have a whole lot of plays in the playbook either. A lot of barnyard basketball."
Times may appear different, but in reality, it's created a bond. One that is motivating the current state-ranked Golden Bears to join elite company.
"They bought right in and it's gone very well," Evarts said. "Anytime something comes up I tell them, '1976,' and they refocus because that's what the mission is."
Gibsonburg is currently ranked sixth in the state for Division IV and also received the top seed in their district for the OHSAA State Tournament. Accolades that aren't taken lightly, but don't guarantee future achievement.
"If we want that league title we have to push ourselves every single game," Morant said. "Play every game like it's a state championship."
The moment of having these two generations of basketball players meet in person is heartwarming in and of itself, but it also created another special occurrence. Some of the 1976 players hadn't talked since high school and have been reunited as a result of how well this year's team is playing.
The four of them do plan to attend Saturday's game at Woodmore in which the Golden Bears will look to clinch the program's first-ever outright league championship.
"These are the things that our girls and them will remember for a long time and that's what it's all about," Evarts said.
The court Gibsonburg played on in the 1970s now sits as a historic marker on the wall of the gymnasium. After every practice, the team will touch it to symbolize their appreciation for the past as they aim to fulfill a long-awaited milestone.