Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, March 11, 1954, Page Five, Image 5

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    Quintets Await
Tournament Action
| by Gordon Rice
Em«mld Aniuant Nawt Editor
The 86th annual high school
basketball tournament open* in
McArthur court Tuesday with 16
of the top teams in the state com
fading for the crown won last year
by Marshfield high school.
The Pirates will be on hand a
KHln this year to defend the title,
but they won't be the favorites.
Milwaukie, ranked first in both the
Associated Press and Oregon Jour
nal |>olls throughout most of the
season, has yet to clinch a berth in
the tournament, but that hasn't
. prevented the odds-makers from
listing them as the leading con
tender for tlie crown.
Three other power-laden teams
are given a good chance to go all
the way this year. Eugene, second
in the state last year; Corvallis,
which had one of the longest win
ning streaks in the state going
through part of the season, and
Rooaevcdt, the Portland Interscol
- a.stie league champ, Join the other
two clubs as the class of the tour
nament this year.
As usual, tournament fans will
not sec some of the top individual
performers In the state, because
their teams lost out in district
competition. Among those missing
will be Oakridge's Paul Tuchardt,
who broke the Lane county scoring
record set in 1951 by Dean Parsons
of Eugene. Parsons scored 621 in
29 games; Tuchardt scored 032 in
26 starts.
Another record-breaker the fans
. at this tournament won't see is
New berg’s Ruben Rosen, who
smashed the TYV league scoring
• record set by Don Porter of Mc
Minnville in 1952. Dick Jolley of
Cleveland. PID scoring champion
and the only unanimous choice in
• Portland, will also miss the state
• tourney.
But those cases are Isolated
compared to the number of out
standing teams and performers
that will be entered. Here is a run
down of the 16 clubs participating
in tills year's tournament;
Dlst. 1: ONTARIO. The Tigers
from the Snake River Valley con
ference came into the tournament
boasting a 21 and 3 record for the
season. Making their first appear
. ance in history at the tourney last
year, the Tigers made a strong
showing even though they lost*their
- first two games to The Dalles and
Medford. Returning from that
team are Wayne Anderson and Ken
Ackerman, guards; Dave Barton,
Darwin Hall and Burke Nicholson,
forwards, and center Charles Bind
er. The latter four stand 6'4”, 6'2",
6’3” and 6'5", respectively. Ontario
also boasts the smallest player in
this year’s tournament. 5’3” Cliww
Morikawa.
I>lst. 2; THE DALLES. The In
dians placed third in last year's
state tournament, but lost almost
the whole team by graduation.
k - "
Ranked 11th In the Intent Assooi
ated 1'ress poll, Ted Sarpola’s men
have a noticeable lack of height.
Gary Haynes, at 0T” the tallest
man on the starting five, has paced
the squad with an average of near
ly 20 points a game this year. Also
back from last year’s tourney team
are Dave Jones, who was fourth in
tournament scoring for The Dalles,
and forward Tom Head. Cal Calla
way, a reserve last year, Jerry
Urnew und Fandrey complete the
starting unit.
I»l»t. 3: .MADRAS:.The Central
Oregon league entry will be making
Its first appearance in the class A
tournament. The White Buffaloes
finished second In the league be
nind a three-way tie for first place
and then got hot in a single eliml
nation district tournament, A
stronger team than their record (
would indicate, Madras holds a
victory over The Dalles and won ]
the early-season L i n f i e 1 d Old
Grads’ tournament. Bill Machamer,'
8’1" tenter is the tallest man on the
starting five, but has a 17.1 aver
age for the season. The other four
starters are Carry Fivecoat, Dan
ny Macy, Roger D i d d o c k and
Charles Nathan, the later three all
5’10". Fivecoat is 5’9".
DUS, 4: GRANTS PASS. The
Cavemen made their last appear
ance in 1950, finishing second be
hind Salem that year. Sam Dean,
6’4" center has paced the southern
Oregon team most of the year.
Hanked eighth in the latest AP
poll, they hold a 17 and 7 record
for the season. The other four
starters are Gary Sutphin, Gene
Barber, Bill Hansen, and either Jim ;
Reid or Don James. James, a junior !
is the brother of Dick James, the
University of Oregon athlete.
Dist. 5: MARSHFIELD. The de
fending champions lost the first
six men off their squad by gradu
ation. but came back to compile a
20 and 7 record this year and end
up third in the AP poll. Coach
Bruce Hoffine, in his third year as
coach of the perennial contenders,
has a well-balanced squad with,
good average height, but no out
standing big man. Bob Ayre, Ron
Jones, Steve Bigelow and Wayne
Young, all veterans of last year’s
squad range between 6' and 6T'4”.
Sophomore Sandy Fraser, 6'1”, and
Freshman Roger Johnson round
out the nucleus of the Pirate club.
The only team besides Milwaukie
to receive a first place vote in the
latest AP poll, the Pirates could go
all the way if they get past the
Mustangs in the first round.
Dlst. 6: EUGENE. Any team
with nine returning veterans from
a squad which placed second In
the state last year should be fav
vored to winjihis one, even if three
of those nine weren't second team
all-state players a year ago. Coach
Hank Kuchera apparently has ev
erything he needs to win the state
title this year. Returning are the
d
j Official Oregon Ring
(
Show others that you are proud of your
university — wear an official ring when
you go home on vacation.
Sold Exclusively By The
Alumni Office in the S.u.
PRICES FROM $20.75
• - w mi
WADE HALBROOK, OSC’s out
standing center, made the all
ntar team two yearn In a row
when he wan playing in the high
nehool classic a couple of years
ago. Thin year’n tourney getn
underway next Tuesday night
at McArthur Court.
three all-staters, Don Ainge, 6'3”,
Norm Willoughby, 6'4" and Wendy
Rasor, 5'11", plus Jack Henkel and
Gene Stott, the other two regulars
last year. In addition, the Axemen
have Bud Kuykendall, who has
shown tremendous improvement
this year; Don Robinson; Leighton
Tuttle, who has been out with an
injury, and 6’7" Mike Moran, all
of whom played a lot of ball on
last year's squad. The Axemen
have rung up 21 wins in 25 games
with this outfit, but for seme reas
on dropped to fifth in the latest
AP poll. Admittedly, a few mem
bers of the team have shown a
tendency toward rugged indivdual
ism once they get on the playing
floor, but this should be minimized
during the tournament.
Dist. 7: CORVALLIS. The Spar
tans have one of the finest players
in the state In center Dave Gam
bee. who stands 6'6'£" and led the
Big Six league in scoring this year.
Gambee has led the Corvallis club
to 21 wins in 24 games and a
second place ranking in the Asso
ciated Press poll. He has scored
well over 400 points and holds a
23 point per game average going
into the tournament. To go with
Gambee, Coach Tommy Holman
has an all-veteran quartet of for
wards Bob Langton, 6’2", and
Dick Koford, 6'4”, and guards
Larry Edwards, 5'8", and Ron
Taylor, 6'.
Dlst. 8: DALLAS. The Dragons
were the surprise team in last
year's tournament, advancing into
the semifinals undefeated, and fi
nally winding up in sixth place.
Returning from that squad are
guard Herb Brandli who led the
team in scoring both years, and
Rex Domaschofsky, who
led the team in rebounding and
finished second in scoring. Round
ing out this year's first five are
two reserves from last year's
squad, forward DeWayne Hoffman
and guard Harold Holdorf, and
Domaschofsky. All five range be
tween 6” and 6’2'.
SWIM
Wintei Swim Schedule
Afternoons 2 to 0
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Nights 1 to 10
Wednesday, Thurs., Frl., Sat.
BENTON LANE
NATATORIUM
4 ml. No. of Junction City
on Highway 99 West
Phone Junction City 8-2836
I»lHt. 9: n E A V E ft T O N. The
Beavers are making their first trip
to the state tournament since 3 94],
and they drew Eugene in the first
round. Coach Bob Perry's squad is
ranked 33th in the state by the
AP after defeating perennial cham
pion Hillsboro for the right to en
ter the state meet. Perry has a
young squad, headed by guards
Ben Indahl and Charles Shea, cen
ter Dirk Davidson and forwards
Chuck McClure and Bob Grant,
j All five saw some varsity action
j last year.
Dint. 10: ASTORIA. The Fight
ing Fishermen have only about a
.500 average this year, but still
managed to qualify for their annu
al trip to the state tournament.
The team generally lacks height.
The starting five consists of
Mickey Utti and Frank Bechtolt
at guards, Jon Englund at center
and Bob Reiter and Graham at
forwards. Of these five, only Utti,
Bechtolt and Reiter played in the
tournament last year.
IRst. 11: SALEM. The team that
has played in more state tourna
ments and won more state titles
than any other high school in Ore
gon is back again this year. The
Vikings, witTners of seven state
titles in 31 years of state compe
tition, have compiled a 16 and 9
record and are ranked seventh in
the state. Three of this year’s
starters played in the tourney
last year, guards Gordon Dorao
galla and Jim Knapp and forward
Tom Pickens. Bob Wulf, 6'4” cent
er, and forward Bill Burkland
round out the first five. Coach
Harold Hauk also has two reserve
guards, Herb Triplett and Larry
Springer, back from last year’s
| tourney team.
Dist. 12: UNDETERMINED. Al
though the play-off game between
Milwaukie and Molalla won’t be
played until Friday night, the pow
erful Mustangs from Milwaukie
are heavily favored. Winners of
I 22 out of 23 games this year, the
Mustangs have lost only to Gresh
am, and are ranked first in the
state on nearly every poll in exist
ence. Only three of the first 12
men are under 6’ tall, and nine of
those 12 played in the state tourna
ment last year. The Mustangs are
paced by center Elmer Bloedel,
6'4"; Forwards Bill Fredericks and
! Paul Shimer. 6’4" and 6'5”, re
spectively, and guards Ted Miller,
6'1", and Larry Larsen, 6'. The
; other returning veterans are
guards Dick Darby and Stan Byars,
and forwards Bob Sturgis and Ron
Pattee.
Dist. IS: GRESHAM. The Goph
ers finally ended the domination
of Central Catholic^in District 13.,
Coach Bud Monnes’ club piled up
20 wins against 3 losses to place
sixth in statewide rankings, and
hold the lone win over Milwaukie
this year. Center Dave Gardner
led the scoring on the well-bal
anced ball club. Guards Gary Roy
and Graham, and forwards Jim
Jenkins and Cliff Shelton round out
the starting five.
f»ist. 14: CLATSKANIE. The
Tigers will be making their second
trip to the state tournament this
year, carrying with them a 14th
place rating in the AP poll. Four
men, guard Larry Hermo, forward
Dick Lahti and centers Lew Harri
son and Ben Sorenson return from
the team that finished eighth in
the state last year. Hermo, Harri
son and forward John Glouse have
all averaged better than 11 points
per game this year.
Dist. 15: ROOSEVELT. The
Roughriders closed their regular
season with 19 wins and 3 losses
and the Portland Interscholastic
league championship. Nine men.
including two all-city choices, re
turn from .the team that lost its
first two games in the tourney last
year. Dave VVanaka, 6'3” forward
has averaged more than 11 points
and 24 rebounds per game this
year, and Bill Wiitala has served
as the play-maker of the squad,
in addition to holding more than
his own in the scoring column.
Charlie Geldaker, 6'4” center; Den
nis Rodin, 6'1” forward, and Rich
ard Curtis 5T0” guard, all veterans
of state tourney play, round out
the first five.
Dist. 16: BENSON. The Mechan
ics, led by all-city Johnny James,
beat Cleveland, last year's city
champ, for the right to enter the
tournament, and administered the
only defeat hung on Roosevelt in
PIL play. James is joined on the
starting unit by forwards George
Bailey and Taylor, guard Jim
Davis and 6'4” center Gordon
Grenier. All but Taylor lettered
last year. The Techmen will be
making their first tourney trip in
18 years.
STUDENT UNION
BARBER SHOP
3 Barbers
To Serve You
S.U. — Basement Level
HOURS:
8:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M.
for RELAXATION.
Final Week and Every Week, it’s
^nt5i
v*
ThfE CAMPUS - 852T