GARBER — Garber’s celebration of its Class A boys basketball state championship started with the team making a victory lap around the gym and  slapping the hands of elementary school students.

The commitment to victory starts early in a school that has won back-to-back Class B state football championships, has gone to state three straight years in boys basketball and went to state in girls basketball from 2006-08.

Six of Garber’s senior basketball players had played together since kindergarten in YMCA basketball. School athletics begin at fifth grade.

“We have worked all of our lives for this,’’ said Hayden Vencl, a two-sport standout. “We stayed together, and we came through in the end.’’

Success is not a recent trend.

The Wolverines were a baseball power in the 1950s, led by the Hays brothers and future Enid High School coaching legend Dusty Eby. Garber was the state football runner-up in 1964 and took the Class B crown in 1998.

“Sports has always been very important in Garber,’’ said Ted Bentz, who quarterbacked the 1964 team and coached the 1998 team.

“You just come out and play sport, that was it. It’s one of the ways of life around here. Our kids focus in on whatever season they’re in.’’

The faces in the recent celebration crowd ranged from infants to grade school kids to senior citizens.

“It’s the same faces and same names,’’ Bentz said. “We’re fortunate at Garber that a lot of people stay in the community. Some parents live in Enid, but they send their kids to school here. They are very dedicated around here.’’



Winning tradition



Five of the Hays brothers would make All-State in baseball, but they all played sports year-round, beginning with Thurmond, who played on the 1944 state championship football team.

“Baseball was always big in Garber,’’ said Guy Hays. “We all pushed each other. We had a real good summer league when we were 10 to 12 years old. We would play all summer and learn the fundamentals at an early age.’’

Tex Bradshaw, who coached football, basketball and baseball, instilled the work ethic that exists today.

“He was rough, but he was a good coach,’’ Hays said.

Vencl and his senior class were in the first grade when the Wolverines won the 1998 state championship. The banners are displayed prominently in the gym.

“These kids were looking at these banners in the sixth and seventh grade,’’ said boys basketball coach Dusty Torrey, who doubles as the elementary school principal. “I told them wouldn’t it be nice if you guys got a picture on the wall, too.’’



Excellent support system



Football coach Mark Harmon, girls basketball coach Jamie Davis and Torrey all said they have had excellent parental support.

Harmon pointed out the community raised the money for the football championship rings and will do the same in basketball.

“It’s one of those places where people still believe in working hard and discipline ... the right and wrong ways of doing things,’’ Harmon said. “That’s a big strength for sports.’’

“The parents are very supportive,’’ Davis said. “They hand you their kids and let you mold them and shape them into the players they can be. I’ve had nothing but support from parents.’’

“Our parents do an unbelievable job of letting the coaches do their job and being supportive,’’ Torrey said.

Superintendent Jim Lamer said the local school board has made a commitment to athletic excellence. He said the system has excellent coaches who know how to work with young athletes.

“They put a lot of time and energy into it,’’ said Lamer, who coached the seniors in YMCA basketball when they were in grade school. “The coaches have to share kids. It takes the whole gambit.’’

Garber Mayor Greg Swaim, who doubles as the Internet play-by-play announcer, said athletics has put the town on the map.

Garber’s tradition, he said, is evident by his listening audience. His broadcasts, at one time or another, have attracted listeners from all 50 states. The championship game had hits from 42 states and seven different countries.

“Sports unites the community,’’ Swaim said. “It’s everything. Little kids grow up seeing this and they aspire to be champions some day.’’

Garber’s athletes, he said, have been solid ambassadors for their town by their conduct on and off the court.

Hays, an official for more than 50 years, concurred.

“I just liked their attitude on the court,’’ he said. “If they got upset with a call, they went on about their business. It was a good bunch of kids.’’



Making sacrifices



All three coaches said older athletes are expected to be role models for the kids in the stands.

“They’re not saints, but they’re good kids,’’ Harmon said. “They have a lot of pride and character, and that’s great for the younger kids to look up to.

“Our young kids grow up watching the older kids play in the state tournament, and that becomes an expectation level,’’ Davis said. “They go into games expecting to win. They work hard because that’s where they want to be when they get older. The success that we have had is huge for athletics at every level.’’

Torrey, as a grade school principal, uses sports as a learning tool.

“It’s very important for kids to get involved and hooked up in athletics be-cause it teaches you a lot about life lessons,’’ he said. “When you’re winning, it’s good for academics. They know if they don’t make the grades, you don’t get to perform in athletics.’’

Paul Semrad, father of football and basketball star James, said community support and coaching are two reasons for the athletic success.

“From Day 1 when they started at the YMCA, they played well together,’’ the el-der Semrad said of the 2010 seniors. “The parents have been 100 percent behind them.’’

The parents are willing to make sacrifices for their kids to play sports. Semrad said the athletes have learned their work ethic either on the farm or through family businesses.

James works with his dad in the family’s combine salvage business.

“We don’t have any problems with parents here,’’ he said. “Some of the Saturday morning practices we wonder about, but we go along with it. When the boys get off practice, they’re working.’’

Semrad smiled when reminded Garber has been known for supporting teams win or lose.

“We don’t know about the losing,’’ he said with a smile. “Sports is good for this community. None of these boys have been in any trouble, and they all have good grade point averages.’’