New Haven

New Haven

New Haven’s gym during the Class 2 District 5 championship at New Haven High School in New Haven, Mo., on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.

If you weren’t already aware of New Haven’s mascot when you enter its gym, there are plenty of clues.

Six on the court to be exact.

The seats are green. The banners, featuring the school’s multiple state championship teams, are green. Even the stage curtains are a bright green.

Then there’s the shamrocks. (No, not the Shamrock players and fans.)

One is stained into the wood at center court with the outline of the state of Missouri and a shamrock marking New Haven. Then four more in each corner.

This is the home of the Shamrocks.

The court is named for former Head Coach Ray Steinhoff who led the boys team to four Final Fours and three titles in 1997, 1999 and 2001. Steinhoff, who was also athletic director, was inducted to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

The gym lobby has the old floor’s center court cutout and framed. Ray Steinhoff’s name from the former floor is hung in the New Haven Ice Cream Shoppe, just down Highway 100 from the high school. Another piece of the old court serves as a step to the counter at the ice cream shop.

There’s more than 40 years of basketball history in this building, constructed in 1983. The former high school still stands, now part of the New Haven Preservation Society.

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