HAMMOND – Organizers ordered the pizza and snacks, but they couldn’t order the thrilling, come-from-behind, overtime boys basketball victory that turned the first-ever BNI All Alumni Watch Party into an instant classic on Jan. 7.
“It was great!” said Paul Perez, of Michigan City, after he and several ’76 Bishop Noll Institute classmates watched the Warriors come from behind to score a 59-57 OT win over Andrean High School on a go-ahead basket and a final free throw by Javier Meraz with 18 seconds left.
“We beat Andrean twice last season, so this is three in a row,” added a jubilant Paul Mullaney, BNI president.
Andrean led the entire game until Noll tied the contest 54-54 on a Me’Trell Harbin lay-up with eight seconds left in regulation. By then the 70 alumni and guests had abandoned their pizza and socializing in favor of loudly cheering on their alma mater. “The alumni even started their own ‘Let’s Go Noll’ cheer from the balcony,” said Mullaney.
The watch party was the brainchild of Ryan Julian, Noll’s new director of advancement and former baseball coach. “We tested the event with young alumni for about 10 years and had about 20 attend. We decided to open it up to all classes this season, and what’s better than BNI vs. Andrean?” he explained. “My goal was to get 50 alumni, and we’ve exceeded that.”
Mullaney said BNI alumni are an integral component of advancing the Noll mission. “They play a key role, not only with their strong financial support, obviously, but by speaking to students, offering internships, serving on the advisory board, helping with building projects, providing meals for teams and other efforts,” he said. “We try to host events to show our appreciation and gratitude for all they do.
“Alumni help strengthen an already strong tradition and community,” he noted. “The more engagement and participation by our alumni, the better off we are at Noll as we enter our second century.”
Forty-six years after his BNI graduation, Perez agreed. “I was raised Catholic, and while I may not have picked Bishop Noll originally, I eventually came to appreciate my education, and you’ve got to support the school, or it won’t continue,” he said
“You learn here, and if you want this school to stay strong, you need to come back and give something back,” said James Martinez, class of 2013, who was impressed with recent improvements to the field house. “I hadn’t seen the school in a few years,” added the Chicago resident.
Tim O’Brien, a 1985 Noll graduate who lives in Munster, is glad his class “is still pretty involved” with its alma mater. “There are about 18 of us who keep in touch through a group text, and a number of us are here tonight. It’s good to get together,” he said.
O’Brien’s classmate Lori Whelan, also of Munster, attended “to see all the improvements at the school, the STREAM Lab and the gym,” she said while chatting with classmate Lisa Perez of Merrillville, and Jen Klocek, of Schererville and a class of 1986 alumna. “The best thing about BNI is the lifelong friendships I made,” Whelan added.
“It’s important to carry on the legacy of our school; I met my husband here,” said Klocek, who came to the watch party to cheer on her nephew, varsity hoopster Matthew Klocek. “We all come to other events, like the annual Big Event fundraiser.”
Barb Opperman, of St. John and a class of 1976 Noll grad, said she attends all class reunions and remembers “great times” in high school, especially a trip to Canada with her French class the summer before her senior year.
“I know everyone thinks their class was the best, but ours really was,” added Christine Kolavo, also a member of BNI’s class of 1976. “We have a Facebook page, and a lot of us keep in touch, and we had an entire weekend of events for our 40-year reunion. We represent the Spirit of ’76.”
Father Jeff Burton, Noll’s chaplain and pastor of St. John Bosco and St. Joseph parishes in Hammond, said “The (alumni) network at Noll is so strong, and the bond with each other is amazing. They pay it forward, too, through internships, scholarships and financial support. Their connection to this institution is such that every time one of them comes through these doors, they are home.”
No one at the watch party has more memories of Noll than Mary Kay Klassen, of Hammond, and Katy Ready, of Valparaiso, friends “since first grade at St. John Bosco School” and members of the 1952 BNI class.
“I’m really proud of the way Noll has progressed; it’s still a good school,” said Klassen as she surveyed the field house from the balcony bleachers. “We attend luncheons and dinners; we were at the Centennial Gala in 2021 and it was outstanding. We still hold reunion luncheons, too, twice a year, and have 15 to 20 classmates attend.”
“The wood carving of St. Joseph in the STREAM Lab is wonderful,” Ready said of the sculpture by 1977 Noll grad Christopher Klocek that was dedicated in 2019. “It’s important to support the school, because a lot of kids couldn’t afford to attend without help.”
Julian said the idea of the watch party is to “grow our BNI culture with our alumni. We have a deep, deep alumni base, and nothing compares to coming back home,” especially thanks to an exciting overtime win that put an exclamation mark on the evening.