ORLEANS – Walking the concourse around the perimeter of the Orleans gym is like a timeline of Tom Bradley’s life.

On the west end of the gym is a black and white photo of the 1953 Orleans basketball team. It was the first sectional champion in the Southern Indiana school’s proud basketball history. Bradley’s uncle, Joe, is front-and-center in that team photo, wearing No. 14. His father, John, then a sophomore sharpshooter, is wearing No. 3.

On the other end are sectional championships team photos from Tom Bradley’s coaching career. He can mark the years by his son, Trey, who grows from a student manager on the title teams from 2003 to ’08 to a standout player who scored more than 1,000 points and helped the Bulldogs to sectional championships in 2012 and ’13.

Bradley, a 1979 Orleans graduate, left here for a while. After graduating from Indiana University, he coached the junior varsity for a couple of years at Southwestern (Shelbyville) before moving on to Paoli as an assistant for 13 years and then two years as the girls coach at Paoli. In 1999, he had a chance to return to Orleans, a community of a little more than 2,000 residents in Orange County, as the head coach.

“I always thought I might come back here, but I wasn’t really sure,” he said. “My mom still lives here (his father died in 2013) and it’s always been a really tight-knit community. Once I got here, I never really thought about leaving. I’ve had some different calls from people and so forth, but I could never find a situation where I’d truly enjoy coaching more than I do here. Plus, there’s no way my wife is going to want to move away from the grandkids.”

Bradley, one of a dwindling number of coaches who wears a suit and tie on game nights, represents Orleans basketball in many ways. He can look around the Bulldogs’ classic 1958 gym, a smaller version of the New Castle Fieldhouse’s in-ground style, and recognize faces he’s known for years. On his bench is assistant Mark Wheeler, who walked into an open gym in 2000 and asked Bradley if he needed any help. He’s been here ever since. His junior varsity coach is Michael Stroud, who played on the 2008 Orleans team that came oh-so-close to beating Borden for a regional championship.

“It’s definitely not a one-person show,” Bradley said. “It’s all of us working together to put together the best product we can on the floor. Once you know each other so well, you know when to step in and give your opinion.”

After a four-overtime 62-58 home win over sectional rival Loogootee last week, Bradley hugged wife Belinda before making his way to do the postgame radio show. On his way, Lucas McCullough, one of his former players on the 2012 sectional championship team, stopped to say hello and introduce him to his young son.

It is these little moments Bradley appreciates about Orleans. He and Wheeler, who replaced him as athletic director when he retired last year, are often invited to weddings of former players. One of the players on his first team at Orleans has a son, Nate Brown, who is a freshman on the junior varsity team.

“I’ve coached here so long that the kids graduate and next thing you know you see their kids coming through,” Bradley said with a smile. “I know there’s other places like this. I’m not trying to brag that it’s different or anything, but it’s a community situation here. It’s pretty much what you do on Friday and Saturday nights if it’s the boys or girls playing. It’s always a big highlight for me when someone leaves here and says, ‘We loved your band’ or ‘Your cheerleaders were great.’ We get a lot of support here and I know other places do too, but it’s special to us.”

Orleans has a special team, too. The Bulldogs (15-2) are ranked No. 2 in Class A with losses only to 4A New Albany and 3A North Daviess. Five of the top six scorers will be back next year with juniors Ian Hall (12.2 ppg, 3.5 assists) and Xavier Alston (9.7 ppg, 5.6 rebounds) and sophomore Rylan Crocker (8.8 ppg, 51% 3-point shooter) leading the way.

But getting out of the sectional is tougher here than in most places. North Daviess did bump up to 3A (choosing to move up two classes) and out of Sectional 63 after winning the Class A state championship last season. As last week’s game against Loogootee proved, beating the Lions again in the sectional (at Loogootee) will be a chore. Barr-Reeve (10-8) is also a traditional power that will pose a threat.

Orleans has not won a sectional title since 2015, representing the longest stretch without one since Bradley came back in 1999.

“(Winning a sectional championship) would mean a lot to me,” said senior Blake Love, who averages 7.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. “I see a lot of my family members up there and a lot of people I know, so it would be amazing to put my picture up there like my cousins did or my great grandpa when he played.”

Bradley knew this group would be competitive when it was coming up through the system. The junior class is especially deep and talented even beyond the 6-2 Hall and 6-2 Alston with guard Carter Allen (6.1 ppg, 4.0 assists) also starting. The sophomore class is also bright with Crocker and Bryce Jones (4.5 ppg, 2.2 assists), the latter who made the go-ahead 3-pointer in the fourth overtime against Loogootee.

The hallmark of the Orleans program is tough man-to-man defense. The Bulldogs are second in the state in points allowed at 37.2 per game.

“You can’t do it with just one class,” Bradley said. “These guys have jelled well together and get along. They don’t care who gets the credit. It’s not, ‘I’m going to get my points and the heck with the rest of you.’ They are out there to win. It’s not always the same guy.”

It helps that most of them grew up watching Orleans basketball in these same bleachers with the same coach patrolling the sidelines. It’s not all fun and games of course.

“Sometimes you get mad at him,” said senior Hunter Williams, who averages 2.3 points and is one of the Bulldogs’ best defenders. “But you gotta get over it. He’s striving to get us better, so that’s part of it.”

Bradley has coached nine of Orleans’ 15 sectional championship teams. In 2003, the Bulldogs won the regional championship in a triple-overtime thriller at Loogootee. It remains the only regional title for the program.

There is room along the concourse for other celebratory team photos. Bradley would love to have that happen for a community that has meant so much to him for six decades. But the trophies and banners only mean so much.

“It’s kind of a family thing,” Bradley said. “We want kids who go through our program to know they are always part of the Bulldog family. And if they ever need anything from us, they can always count on us to help them out — no matter what that may be.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana high school basketball: Tom Bradley leads Orleans to success