By FRED BECKWITH
CO-SPORTS EDITOR
Pleasantly stunning even their most ardent admirers, the |
Oregon basketballers handed the visiting Washington Huskies
a double jolt of defeat. The Hobsonmen, by virtue of their twin,
triumphs, elevated themselves to the status of serious con
tender.-, for the 1946 Northern diviison basketball crown. Prior
to the windup of the Husky series, the locals were limping
along under the .500 percentage belt. History came to their
rescue, however. You may remember that in 1945, Oregon
dropped the opening encounter to the Seattle scrappers, and
then came back to win the next three and the championship, as
well.
SAME STAGE
The same casaba stage was set this year. Our var.sity folded
to the Huskies in the Seattle opener two weeks ago, came back
to win game number two. and then grabbed up the remaining
two contests with an amazing alacrity. Who were the heroes
in this piece de resistance? Calling the roll, we see the names
of Dick Wilkins. Ken Hays, Mary Rasmussen and Captain Bob
Hamilton. Of course these gents had more than able support
from little Stan Williamson, veteran Roy Seeborg and depend
able Reedy Berg. But the first four named receive this week’s
orchids. Wilkins finally shook himself out of a scoring slump,
'and split the Washington defense wide open. Ken Hays grabbed
Oregon scoring honors Saturday night, and it was the defen
sive play of both Hays and Marv Rasmussen that kept the
point balance on the Hobsonmen’s side of the ledger. Captain
Bob Hamilton finally demonstrated that he can go the whole
route and still lie effective. His team play and smart basket
ball made a lot of difference on the pinewoods for-Oregon.
Bob zipped up the morale of an already enthusiastic gang
of cagers. They responded under his leadership like the flock
to the shepherd. The record attendance didn’t materialize
Friday night, but the stay-at-homers got an earful over their
radio sets, and showed up en masse Saturday night.
WE WANT A SPLIT
In the meantime, the Idaho Vandals moved a step nearer
the coveted land by whipping Washington State, Gail bishop
notwithstanding. Oregon State, fresh from a disastrous Inland
Empire jaunt, was idle, and in a position to nurse along the
injured Glen Warren. The Beavers tangled with Washington
last night, and have another contest with the same club tonight,
l or the effect it would have on the conference race, we are
pulling for a split. That nay, neither Beaver or Husky would
gain any ground on the idle Duck. Still the most potentially
dangerous outfit in the entire loop is the Washington State
ftv e.
The locals managed to bottle up the highly touted Le Don
Henson of Washington. Hec Edmundson, Husky coach, com
mented that Henson had a bad.cold, and therefore, wasn't very
effective. If we were still in the crying towel regime, we might
bemoan the condition of both Hamilton and "Salmon” William
son, who took a bad bump on his head Friday night. Stan,
incodentally, feels okay now, but had a special physical exam
ination yesterday afternoon just to be on the safe side.
Oregon will have to be content to fall back and watch the
conference proceedings for a while, because the characters who
dreamed up this year's schedule provided an eleven day basket
ball holiday for the llobsonmen. Two weeks ago, this prospect
would not have been discouraging, but at the present moment
the I tucks are on their toes, and slightly fearful that this “hot"
streak may vanish if idleness sets in.
PEPPERDINE IS SELECTED
We note with interest the' fact that IVppenline college of
Southern California lias accepted an invitation to participate in
a .-cries of games in the Hawaiian Islands late in March. Oregon
tendered just such an arrangement this year, hut Coach
Howard Hobson was forced to turn down the offer on the
grounds that the locals could not afford to be away from'their
studies that long. The varsity has already completed one barn
storming trip this year, and the after effects of it, in physical
' wear and tear, were not good for the team. More power to
Pcpperdine, however. As far as the records show, it's the first
tone that this little school has made the overseas jaunt. The
Hawaiian people were no doubt impressed hv Pepperdine’s
showing in recent NCAA basketball tournaments.
Another late communique from Corvallis informs us that
the Barometer sports staff is conducting daily workouts for
their as yet indefinitely scheduled contest with our own scribes.
It won't do ’em any good, but it’s still good exercise, they say.
Oregon Team Shows Talent
In 63-55 Victory Over UW
Flaming action seared the hardwoods of McArthur court last
Saturday night when the Webfoots made it three straight over
a long-range Husky quintet from the University of Washing
ton in a thrilling basketball classic that left fans limp, with the
final count of 63 to 55 in favor of the lemon and green winners.
It was Ken Hays and Marv Rasmussen controlling the
backboards and dropping tallies through the basket; Bob
namuion, ttoy seeoorg ana stan
Williamson giving smooth per
formances on the floor; but the
man of the evening did not see
action during the last 18 y, minutes
of play—Dick Wilkins, who was
taken out with a leg injury in
the opening minutes of the second
half.
Dick Wilkins started the score
pad scratchings for the night when
he dropped in a gratis shot during
the opening minutes of the fray.
Quick action followed with Huskies
going under the bucket for lay
in shots and an early lead.
Temporarily rattled Web
foots began to get the range
with two minutes left in the
first half. With a triple-bang,
Hamilton, Hays and Wilkins
slithered basketballs through
the hoop. Jorgenson retorted
for Washington with a tally
from long range.
Marv Rasmussen flipped for two
points from the side, and Ken Hays
tipped in another score after three
slaps, just before the halftime gun
sounded. Super-speed and back
board control gave the Ducks a 28
to 23 lead at the end of the first
canto.
Honors for opening- the second
half scoring rests with the Huskies,
Dalthorp and Henson curving in
hoop ringers from the side. The
night’s proceedings promised to be
a -repeat performance of the night
before, with the Seattle men wax
ing hot in the second half.
Scrambled players went
down in a pile under the Ore
gon basket, and Dick Wilkins
was stretched out with a
wrenched knee. Teammates
carried Kick off the floor, and
returned to a furious assault
on Husky forces.
Williamson opened the torrid
pace with a flip shot from close in,
Rasmussen hit with a pivot heave,
Seeborg tossed in gratis shots,
Hays made tip-ins good, Rasmus
sen dribbled down the court and
scored, and the Ducks held a com
fortable lead of 11 points.
A wild melee of swishing nets
and zipping passes ensued, with
Jorgenson and Dalthorp zeroing in
on the right range. Hays banged
back for the Ducks with pivot
shots from the key. Red-thatched
Reedy Berg carried on with a
couple of lay-ins, and Seeborg
boosted the score with never-miss
free shots. With 12 minutes to
play the count read 52 to 35 in
favor of the Hobson-mentored
five.
Seven minutes remained in
the hot fray as Eathorne
launched halls on a net trajec
tory for steady scores build
ing up the Husky short end.
Seeborg and Williamson gal
lopped back for the Wehfoots
with a free throw and a
bucket.
Dalthorp answered fire with a
booming tally, Jorgenson added a
free toss and Eathorne let fly
from in front of the coed bleach
ers to cut the count to nine in
favor of Oregon with four minutes
remaining.
From there on out the casaba
proceedings were as hot as a
stopped up steam boiler with minor
explosions ripping the air. Captain
Bob Hamilton twice stemmed the
Husky outburst with twist shots
from the side. There were rugged
mixings as both fives went all
out for the final scoreboard say
so.
Scrambling Webfoots seem
ed to have a driving spark
igniting their victory yearn
ings. Ken Hays hit one of the
biggest nights in his career,
dropping 38 points through
the net, with eight baskets
and two free throws.
Washington (55)
FG FT PF TP
Pomfret, f .
Dalthorp, f .
Anderson, c .
Jorgensen, G ....
Eathorne, g .
Gill, f .
Henson, c-f. 3
Sheaffer, c . 0
Gibbs, c . 2
5
3
1
1
4
1
0
3
2
2
20
0
11
9
Totals . 24 ^ 20 55
Oregon (83)
FG FT PF TP
Wilkins . 2
Rasmussen, f . 6
Hays, c . 8
Williamson, g . 2
Hamilton, g . 3
Seeborg, f . 2
Bray, c . 0
Berg, g . 2
1
1
2
1
1
1
0
4
5
12
18
6
8
9
0
5
Totals
. 25 13 11 63
Referee—Tim McCullough. Um
pire—Emil Piiuso.
Hayward Visions
Oval Trials
For Sprinters
After sending Oregon’s potential
cindermen through the paee3 Mon
day afternoon Colonel Bill Hay
ward, veteran cinder mentor, came
forth with a statement concerning
Oregon’s cinder possibilities for the
coming season. According to Hay
ward, the fellows are finally be
ginning to take the resemblance of
a track squad; with proper con
ditioning and training Oregon may
be capable of developing a good
team before conference competi
tion opens April 13, with Oregon
State.
Hayward’s optimism * lias
several substantial factors,
mainly; (1) Jake Leicht, .09:6
century harrier, is expected to
check out warmups Wednes
day, (2) several newcomers
have been added to the squad
in the last week with prospects
of additional recruits forth
coming, (3) finally, but best
of all, the squad as a whole'"”
is improving rapidly and with
proper conditioning should be
capable of giving opponents a
tough go.
Distance Men Outside
| During the last week distance
| men have been working outdoors
j and yesterday saw their return to
the oval on Hayward field for the
first time this year. Prior to this
week milers and fractions thereof
have been working out on the
grass turf adjacent to the base
ball diamond and in the unfinished
area of the physical education
wing.
Sprinters, high jumpers, hurd
lers, and shot putters have been
training inside for the last five
weeks; all are waiting for the op
portunity of working out on fche
field in the near future if weather
permits. Conditioning work in
every event continues and Hay
ward is awaiting a larger turnout
and less “Oregon Sunshine’’ before
starting time trials. Several posi
tions in each event are unfilled and
additional men are needed to fill
the depleted positions before the
relay meet with Oregon State in
April.
COUGAR COACH INSTRUCTS
x wdbmngcon Mate College basketball coach since
1928, shows two of his boys the finer points of the game. At the
leit is Gene Sivertson, 6’4” forward who played two years of
varsity ball at Western Washington College, Bellingham, '
v- ore transferring to WSC last fall; Sivertson gives the
Cougars plenty of strength off the backboards. Ray “Tiny”
Arndt. 6 a” forward, is only a freshman but has been seeing
much action. A veteran of 43 months infantry service in the
Pacific, Arndt was an all-state center for the great, undefeated
hverett high school team which breezed to the state prep title
in 1041 IT r