Mark Donnal went to the NCAA tournament men’s Final Four in Atlanta this year and liked what he saw despite Michigan coming up short in the national title game against Louisville.FORT WAYNE – Jeremy Pfister admits to checking every year if his record still stands in the Nancy Rehm/Border Wars Classic. The former DeKalb standout scored 34 points during his Indiana team’s win over Ohio in 1996.
“I haven’t been to a Nancy Rehm game since I played, but I always look up the stats after the game to see who won and see if anybody has eclipsed my scoring record,” said Pfister, a lawyer in Fort Wayne and a father of three daughters.
Pfister, who still has the record, is part of the all-time top 20 list of players in the history of the games, five each coming from the Indiana boys and girls and the Ohio boys and girls.
The team is in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Nancy Rehm/Border Wars games. The 20th edition will be Saturday at Saint Francis and is sponsored by The Journal Gazette and McDonald’s. The all-time team was selected by Nancy Rehm/Border Wars committee and is based on the individual’s performance in their respective game.
Pfister (1996) tops the Indiana boys starting five, while ex-Bishop Luers star Rachel King Merz (2001) is on top of the girls list.
“The game was relatively new when I played, but we definitely took it seriously,” Pfister said. “I still look back on that game with fond memories.”
All-star series games actually started as softball games in the early 1980s after Nancy Rehm, a former Luers and Indiana Tech standout, was murdered.
Tom Rehm, Nancy’s father, joined with The Journal Gazette in 1993 in putting on the annual battle between the best from northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio.
“The Nancy Rehm/Border Wars Classic was/is such a great opportunity for student-athletes in the area to represent their schools and communities, while also showcasing their talent,” said Merz, who recently moved back to Fort Wayne from South Carolina and got married. “When I played I felt thankful, but also felt like I was a part of the greater community of Fort Wayne, almost like it was a steppingstone into adulthood.”
Ohio’s teams are led by Ottawa-Glandorf’s Tim Pollitz and Oregon Clay’s Kate Achter.
