'This one is for your mom.' NorthWood community wraps arms around Raasch brothers.

• Class 3A final: No. 1 NorthWood vs. No. 12 Guerin Catholic, 6 p.m., Saturday

NAPPANEE – There is a tradition after every NorthWood High School basketball game that has nothing to do with basketball.

Shannan Vincent, a family friend and mother of former teammate Ben Vincent, seeks out Ian and Tyler Raasch and gives them each a hug. Not one. Two hugs for both.

“This one is for your mom,” Shannan says before hugging them a second time.

Ian, a senior, and Tyler, a sophomore, have been playing with heavy hearts the past two seasons. On Oct. 30, 2021, their mother, Pauline Raasch, died at 46. She had battled cancer for seven years without so much as a complaint, traveling for treatments and continuing to work part time as a physical therapist for Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Center in Elkhart.

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“She was never afraid to die,” said her husband, Mike Raasch. “And because she wasn’t afraid, I think it put the boys at ease a bit. They saw their mother facing the biggest challenge she could ever face and she wasn’t afraid.”

Mike, a pastor for 21 years at Living Gospel Church near downtown Nappanee, a community of nearly 7,000 people in Northern Indiana straddling Elkhart and Kosciusko counties. It is the kind of place where you are as likely to see an Amish-owned horse and buggy at a four-way stop as a car or truck. It is also the kind of place where neighbors can hug neighbors and where everybody felt like they knew Pauline Raasch.

“It’s neat that people remember her,” Ian said. “She was special. A great mom. You couldn’t ask for a better mom.”

Pauline would be proud of her boys and this NorthWood basketball team no matter how the season ended. But the Panthers (27-2) will roll into Gainbridge Fieldhouse Saturday night for the Class 3A championship against Guerin Catholic (20-8) for an opportunity to accomplish something they had talked about and dreamed of since third grade: hang a banner.

“I remember coach (Aaron) Wolfe talking about that when we were in third grade,” said senior and leading scorer Cade Brenner. “I remember looking up the ceiling and him saying 2023 could be that year. You look at back at that now and it’s like, ‘Wow, that could happen.’”

'She was a warrior. She was not afraid.'

Mike and Pauline Raasch did not necessarily expect to end up settling in Northern Indiana. They were both athletes from Wisconsin. Pauline was an excellent volleyball player at Brookfield East High School and went to college in Michigan, earning her undergrad degree at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids and a master’s degree in physical therapy at Andrews University.

Mike, who attended Grace College, married Pauline in 1997. After graduating from the seminary, he became the pastor at Living Gospel Church in 2002. It was not long before Northern Indiana became home for the Raasch couple, who had their first son, Jacob, soon after Mike became pastor. Ian followed, then Tyler.

“It became a wonderful place to raise our kids,” Mike said. “Jacob was born here in Nappanee and we made this our home. The community here has always been incredibly supportive of the kids, especially in some of our lowest times.”

Pauline was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She was 39 and healthy as could be. Ian was 10 at the time.

“My initial reaction was that I didn’t really understand it fully,” Ian said. “I didn’t know how serious it was either. There was a lot of treatment and she spent a lot of time going to the doctor and what not. As I grew up, I started to understand a little more what was going on. Thankfully, it wasn’t a sudden thing. We had some time to understand what was going on.”

Mike said he and Pauline made the decision to be as up front with the boys as possible about her prognosis. There were ups and downs over the next several years, following her initial chemotherapy treatments in 2015. Three years later, the cancer had returned, moving into her spine and leg.

But even then, Pauline’s faith guided her positive attitude. Her outlook help shield her sons from feeling sorry for her — or themselves.

“She was a warrior,” Ian said. “She was not afraid. She would smile and everything, no matter what she was going through. She was a great example for me and my brothers and the rest of my family. It was a blessing for me to have her for the 17 years I did.”

Pauline was active through it all, even after she was told in 2021 there was little doctors could do for her anymore. “She pushed through it all,” Tyler said. “She only ate healthy stuff. I never saw her eat junk food.” In the fall of 2021, doctors said she may only have a month or two to live. It turned out to be much shorter than that.

That part brings Ian to tears. It was only in the last week or so of her life that Ian could see the pain she was feeling.

“Up until then it still felt like a normal life for us,” Ian said. “The week up until she passed was really hard. It was hard to have a conversation with her. She was very weak and that was hard, not being able to talk to her. Before that, even if she couldn’t move around well, you could still talk to her.”

Pauline died just before the start of what was Ian’s junior year of basketball and Tyler’s freshman year. It was a whirlwind for the family, which added fourth son in 2016 when Cody Bryan, who is the same age as Tyler, was adopted by Mike and Pauline. Bryan’s father, Wes, died of lung cancer in the spring of 2016.

“It was definitely a transition adding another boy to the family,” Ian said. “It was a little rough at first, but it’s been a lot better.”

Wolfe, who has coached at NorthWood for 16 years, has an especially close connection to this team in part because his son, junior guard Ethan Wolfe, played with this group growing up. He played basketball with Mike in open gyms years ago and got to know Pauline, too. He watched her handle her prognosis, even when it became clear what the outcome would be, with dignity.

“You know it was a struggle inside, but she was so strong and supportive of her boys and all the boys,” he said. “But at some point, you get the news that it wasn’t in remission and felt like there was an hourglass. Everyone is hoping she could extend her life as far as she could. But when Mike called and said she was really struggling, your heart breaks. There’s nothing you can do except try to empathize what it’s like to be in their shoes.”

That’s exactly what the community did, providing meals for the family. Members of Mike’s Living Gospel Church still provides meals twice a week, almost 18 months after Pauline’s death.

“I don’t want to paint a picture that it was all smooth sailing because the waves were whipping around us,” Mike said. “But the community, and our church community, was so important to us. We have a section of individuals from our church who sit in a section together at NorthWood basketball games at 'The Pit.' They turned out in especially large numbers this year to watch Ian and Tyler and the boys play. I can never speak enough about how much they have meant to us.”

NorthWood closer to hanging that banner

Wolfe sometimes has to catch himself when the starting lineups are announced. Almost every time he looks at the 6-8 Tyler take the floor and says, “Man that kid is big.” Or something to that effect.

“He didn’t play much varsity last year,” Brenner said of Tyler Raasch. “But he’s grown into his body and he’s a little quicker and more athletic. Ian has made a huge jump, too. He’s locking up on defense and he has the ability to score the ball a lot better. He’s been great for us.”

NorthWood’s only losses came in December. The first was 55-51 to defending Class 3A state champion Beech Grove in the Sneakers for Santa event at Brownsburg and the second a 60-42 loss to 4A unbeaten and top-ranked Ben Davis in the Hall of Fame Classic championship in New Castle, a game NorthWood led at halftime.

Since that night, the Panthers have ripped off 19 consecutive wins. Their closest tournament game was a 10-point win over Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger in the semistate semifinal at Elkhart.

“I think our fans love this team and love how we play,” Brenner said. “We’re humble and we play together. That’s what people like to see. That’s a big part of our success and I think why people drive from miles around to watch us play.”

The 6-3 Brenner averages a team-leading 18.0 points and 4.6 rebounds. The 6-6 Ian Raasch, who is committed to Grace College, is averaging 15.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists, while shooting 42.2 % from the 3-point line. Tyler is putting up 9.5 points and 6.9 rebounds and the 5-11 junior Ethan Wolfe (7.0 ppg, 38.4 % 3-pointers) and 6-2 senior Brock Bontrager (4.6 ppg, 4.5 rebounds) are the other starters and primary contributors.

Aaron Wolfe does remember telling this particular group they could hang a banner.

“I think there is a belief system that your players have to have,” he said. “I told them they are capable of hanging a banner... We don’t talk about it a lot but thank heavens this group had that as one of their goals and they worked for it.”

They are 32 minutes from having the chance to do it. Ian and Tyler both know either way, their mother would be proud of them. Tyler misses her laugh, a distinctly joyful sound around the house. Mike, even in his faith, admits he still does not completely understand the why.

“I thought we were going to live into our 80s happily ever after,” Mike said. “It was a huge shock to me. You question how this could happen or why this would happen. I still don’t know the answers. It’s been a difficult journey for us, but you stay grounded in the belief that God is good.”

It helps to have a community that has wrapped its arms round the Raasch family — both figuratively and literally.

“It’s humbling to know so many people here care about us,” Ian said. “Some of them we don’t even know, but they know us and know my mom. It speaks to what this community is about. It shows they love us.”

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