Portland Observer. December 22, 1962 P»Qe 9 ¡ PIL Forecast b rJ M W U tt Marshall M inutem an One o f the darkhorse teams in the league practices d aily in the M a r ­ shall gym. The M in u tem en return three players from last season's state q u a rte rfin a l team w ith plans on sneaking up on the pack. Don Em ry, M arshall head coach, pians on making up for lack o f size by using pressure defense, hustle and his team's tw o biggest assets— quickness and shooting ability. " W e 're hoping to gain a p la yo ff spot [the P IL qualifies four teams). W e think we have a chance for one o f thenf," Emry said. H eading up (he charge is ju n io r R o b ert Key. Key is averaging 2$ points per game this season and hit for 31 against Benson. The M inu te­ men lost by six to the Techmen but Emry saw that as a positive sign. " I look for us to challenge. W e played a good game against Benson." Senior fo rw ard s Leonard W ade and W ilb ert A n to in e are the other returning players Emry looks to for production. Marshall will hope to earn one of those fo u r p la y o ff positions and E m ry re ally believes they can. " A fte r G rant and Benson, anyone could come in there.” Cleveland Indiana Some o f the firin g guns m en ­ tioned earlier belong to the Indians. C lev elan d is swamped w ith good shooters as evidenced by a field goal percentage o f over 50 percent for all three games. Craig M iller, a 6-1 forward, leads the way with a shooting percentage o f 62 percent and 25 points a game average. Cleveland rates as another team that could surprise this year. Head coach Gary Tash is highly confident that his first year as head man will be a good one. " I don't sec any rea­ son why we can't be one o f the bet­ ter teams in the city,” Tash said. T o accomplish that goal the In ­ dians are going to wear out some tennis shoes. " W e play a fast style o f basketb all. Fast break and fu ll court press the whole g am e ," Tash said. Grant Ganarala T his was supposed to be some sort o f rebuilding year for the G en­ eral team that went 19-$ last season and won 12 out o f 14 league games but don’t tell that to the team mem- , bers. M u ch traveled firs t year head coach John Stilwell has (he Generals lite ra lly o f f and running. " I ’ m an up-tempo type o f coach,” he said. " I like to get the game m o v in g ." G ran t is m oving up and dow n the ; court at a pace that brought a 68-56 win over Parkrose. F ran klin head coach Hugh Pen­ n in g ton changed his m ind about Grant after the Generals soared o ff to a 40-point win over the Quakers. " T h e y loo k p retty to u g h ,” P en ­ nington said. One of the big surprises so far this pv T >W ” Then try the Union Avenue . . . year is the development o f forw ard R ich ard H o llis . By playing at rim level, Hollis pocketed 28 points in a game versus Glencoe and fired in 19 in the Parkroec shoot out. G uard s E ric Ross and C o ry W ashington arc tw o o f the reasons Stilwell said, “ I ’ ve got the best team I ’ ve ever coached talent-wise.” Ross pumped in 23 against Parkrose and alo ng w ith H o llis form s a deadly o n e -tw o punch. S tilw e ll said, "Richard is doing really well inside. F o r a ju n io r w ho hasn't played much, he has a lot of talen t." G ra n t's biggest problem now is the fact that they are no longer a se­ cret. Teams are going to prepare for them and that w ill create more o f a challenge— a challenge the Generals will try to run right over. A n in ju ry here and there and a couple o f other surprises are going to make the Portland Interscholastic League's basketball season like the shoot-out at the O K . corral. Guns < are going to be firing and it's going to be a wide open affair. Early season predictions had Ben­ son Tech slated to w in a th ird straight P IL crown but those ideas have been bolstered for awhile. Benson was dealt a dam aging blow when 6-5 U lf Spears, one o f the state’s premier players, suffered a badly sprained ankle just over a week ago. Spears missed the entire week o f school this past week and Benson head coach Dick G ray isn’ t sure how serious the injury is to his star player. " I t w ill definitely hurt us,” Bray said. He reported that Spears should be back p layin g by the m id dle o f January unless complications arise. Describing Spears' importance to the tea m , G ra y said, “ W e d o n ’ t have a guy to substitute who can re­ bound or score as m uch." W hile most o f the coaches in the P IL are predicting that Benson will b attle fo r the league title . G ray sticks to his guns in saying the team w ill fin ish th ird or fo u rth . " W e w ould be th ird or fo u rth w ith U lf out and we'll struggle to be third or fo u rth when we get him b a c k ," Gray said. He says there are other teams with more experience at more postitions in the league. G ra n t, W ilso n and Roosevelt were mentioned. "Those are three teams we have to beat. W ith o u t U l f , we w ould have a problem beating them ." One big problem facing the Tech- men is that they a re n ’ t as deep as past seasons. Steve A d am s, A n ­ thony Stroughter and Kenny L uck­ ett are three o f the starters but Gray said, “ W e’re still looking for a fifth guy" W hen Spears gets back, Benson will be a team to reckon with but for now they sit on the same fence post with the rest o f the league. P »1 J i / V W W A N N A START SOMETHIN? " r p p ’ p p " J a t’ CHRISTMAS SPECIAL B eautiful Unique .Jewelry / at The Best S avings Ever! <, 40% to 50% OFF : I )iaintni;»;>- 1 /.d i \\c - Roosevelt Rouqhrlder* M an y people feel that Roosevelt w ill have anything but a rough ride on the way to the p la y o ffs . T h a t feelin g is form ed when loo kin g at Five returning starters buoyed by 6-9 center John Piwarchuck. P iw a rc h u ck is the big man fo r Roosevelt but not the only one who can shine for the team. Leon Brew­ er, Andre Phelps and Andre George can Find the scoring book also. Friday night the Roughriders won a battle with Cleveland. The Rough- riders won 95-86 behind a balanced scoring a tta c k . B rew er ta llie d 22 points, Piwarchuck tossed in 19 and George contributed 16 points. T he win puts the Roughriders at 2-0 in the P IL race so fa r. W ilson fell 100-66 to the pow erful offense o f Roosevelt. Fans o f the N o rth Portland high school should see plenty o f scoring this year and a bushel o f baskets. Lincoln Cardinals Inexperience and lack o f height are tw o o f the problems facing 0-2 Lincoln. “ W e’re not real big. This is pro bably the smallest group w e've had at Lincoln in some tim e," head coach Tom Thomas said. T h e te a m ’ s big gun is M ic h a e l Lankton He fired in 18 points in a 49-45 loss to Marshall Friday night. Thomas rates Lankton as one o f the top shooters in the P IL . " M ic h a e l probably has (lie best range o f any­ one in the league. Once he gets hot, just get him the ball and the b all's going d o w n ," Thomas said. Even (hough the team is sm all, Thomas is pleased with the way the players are working together. " I ’ m more optimistic because the kids are workin h ard ." Madiaon Senators Talking about his basketball team isn't the most pleasant subject right now for M adison head coach Bob O sborn. The Senators were put far beh in d because o f the M ad iso n football team making the state play­ o ffs and numerous other problems have surfaced since then. N otably injuries and other in te r­ ests have left the Madison squad on the edge o f collapse. G u a rd C hris K o c k , one o f the three re tu rn e rs , left the team for personal reasons as did guard Tiny Butler. Injuries have sidelined guards B illy P o rter and T im M cC o rm ick and left the team without very many guards. T ran sfe r Edgar G lo ver has been declared ineligible and point guard John Clark has been out ill. A ll o f these p ro blem s have re ­ sulted in a 0-3 start at (he season's b eg in n in g and le ft the Senators gasping fo r a ir. " W e 'v e got some problem s," Osborne said. “ You go into a season hoping you can solve these problems the best you can." Osborn hopes (he football players will come around soon. Junior Dave Brannon missed a week after fo o t­ b all to get some dental work done and still is, " N o t where we would lik e him to b e ," according to O s­ born. Franklin Quakers Hugh Pennington spent 12 years at Benson as an assistant coach be­ fore moving to Franklin this season. A long with him he brought a great deal o f basketball knowledge and a new system. P en n in g ton is hop ing th at the Quakers w ill adapt to a faster style o f play and compete with the rest of the league. "S o m e o f the kids are having trouble handling the ball on the m o v e ,” he said. " W e w ant to play a faster game than they're used to .” Brian C ro o k is playing his third season on the varsity and averaged in d o u b le figu res last season. Crook and the team w ill need more as shown in a 40-point loss to Grant in the league opener. “ There’s the potential to be fairly competitive. A lot depends on how these kids work together," Penning­ ton said. ® BATTERY X-CHANCE FROM FREE lestallatieN FREE Battery Test iO ïT Â «19.95 , FREE Electrical check g «Chang« Wilson Trojans W ilson is using a little o f (he old and some o f the new to jum p out to a fast start in the P IL race. Last year's team leader B ria n W ilso n pumped in 24 points against M a r ­ shall as the Trojans won 86-81. He's the old. The new is a player named Rich Banton and he em erged w ith 27 points against the Quakers. Wilson has eight returning letter- men this season and fo u r starters back fro m a 10-10 team last year. The team rates as one o f the favor­ ites to earn one o f four playoff posi­ tions from the P IL . J .ffa r a o n D a m o c ra ta Before the season began Jefferson coach Bobby H a rris said his team would be right in the m iddle o f the fight fo r the p la y o ffs . People are taking him seriously after the Dem ­ ocrats stunned G ra n t 67-62 Friday night. Jefferson used a balanced scoring output to upend one o f the favorites for the league title . John Johnson led the way with 15 points and C u r­ tis Penny chipped in with 14. Johnson is a 6-3, 250-pound cen­ ter fo rw ard who is counted on for offensive production. Keith Jackson guides the o ffen se as the p oin t guard but can also score. H e had nine points in the win over G rant. 249-0101 3007 N .E . U nion A ve. FO R SALES SERVICE PARTS REPAIRS Our Maw Modam BuUdlng Morthaatl groadway at Flral for the BEST BUYS in town Alan Molden FORD Receive $50°° cash or discount with purchase. 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Order ONTV by December 24th and you'll receive a free $20 Fred Meyer holiday gift certificate Call |5O3| 293-6688. or stop by our ONTV booths in participating Fred Meyer Stores Call n o w (503) 293-6688. Portland trailblazer/ l ’«»r 11, in d . O R 2 2s-(> l is . / i . <- « - 1: «■ 1 . 1 . 1 - 1 . - 1 - . i - 1 - .. « - 1 " C le v e la n d 's been the d o o rm a t but I think we're really going to sur­ prise a lot o f people,” Tech said. The big surprise will be a platoon ing system that creates havoc on op­ posing teams. T h e In d ia n s have some depth and Tash is using it to ru n tw o squads o f fiv e players in and out o f the game. When one gets tired, the other takes over. Defense will play a big part o f the Cleveland game plan and the name Roger M arcell comes to Tash's lips when you m ention defense. " H e 's our best defensive player and prob­ ably one o f the quickest and best de­ fensive players in the c ity ." You d o n t n e e d cable to g e t ft. 1. xJ *