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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (March 19, 1956)
Monday, March 19, 193v MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE SEVEH pionsnip For State loop Cham 1 1 Oi Bjarne Jensen's Height, Play Give Portland Quint Edge in A-l Tourney Final By DICK JEWETT Mail Tribune Sports Editor McArthur Court, University of Oregon, Eugene Bjarne Jensen, the superb, agile giant and "splendid spire" of Franklin high spurred the Quakers Saturday night to the loftiest peak in Ore gon hi;?h school basketball, the Class A-l diadem. And for the second successive year a maple court goliath proved the undo ing of the championship aspira tions of Medford Black Tornado. The 6-foot 9-inch Jensen was the "tower" of might under the backboards and poured 27 count ers through the hoops on this collegiate court to head the Quakers of Portland to a record smashing 73 to 60 decision over a game, never-say-quit Tordano aggregation. Franklin, in the championship engagement for the first time since 1926, gained its first state prep cage diadem in 35 years. Medford, back for its sixth final ist appearance in the 38 years of tourney history, bowed last BOB TISDEL All-State Choice year to the Mike Moran- led Eugene Axemen in the title game. , Spurt Away The Quakers, who piled up margins of 17 points inthe sec ond quarter, saw their lead al most vanish before a potent Tor nado gale in the third session. But the Portlanders spurted out early in the fourth stanza with a 10-point rush for a 15-marker bulge and they battled the Med ford crew on even scoring terms from that point to the finish. As vital as Jensen's play and altitude were in the titular tri umph, the skyscraping center was not solely responsible for the victory. When the Tornado massed its efforts at stopping the goliath, the "little" Quakers fired from "outside", or slipped close in for all-important scores. dick Mclaughlin 2nd Team All-Stater And the sharp floor work of Ernie Spargur, not-so-small at 6-2, Jim Kuhn, Jack Luhrs and Glen Hutton and their scrappy defensive efforts took up where Jensen left off. But it was the work and pres ence of the towering Bjarne that was the key. His lofty reach en abled him to get in shots in close and frequently when a mate would miss the "spire" would tip or rebound the ball in any how. . Medford, an aggregation which Y 'ti:, rtA 9"' t 7 r J- , , I y 1 gm 1 ' all season never knew the word quit, gave it the old try all the way against the Franklins. The Tornado grabbed the lead in the early portion of the fray, was sturdy on defense through most of the first half and bettered the Quakers, Jensen and all, dur ing the first half. But the field gunning of the Medfordites fell short by far of their season average. Had their barraging not faltered to a meager 25 per cent in the first half, their rousing surge up in the third quarter could have car ried them to the championship. The Tornado, spurred by bur ly Larry Gober, Dick Copple and Ed Reinking, turned to a press ing game in its big bid to pull a victory, and with it the title out of the fire. Five buckets in the last IV2 minutes of the third panel and one other at the start of the fourth whacked a Franklin spread from 17 points to five from 53 to 36 to 53 to 43. - But the risk of a pressing defense, fouls, caught up with the Tornado. Franklin tallied four points on free shots and added three field goals for a 63 to 48 advantage. Medford could not come closer than within 12 points of the Quakers after that. Franklin had one lead of 16 points at 67 to 51. Scoring Records Set When Jerry fjarboe added a final free shdr for Franklin's 73rd point a ; new record was set for a champion's final score. Eugene's 72 'against Medford last year was the old mark. The 133 points of the final total score was a new record also for the championshiD game, exceed ing last year's 128 (72-56). Medford had its first lead in the conflict at 4 to 3 on two free shots by. Bob Tisdel. Spar gur's bucket made it 5 to 4 for the Quakers. But McLaughlin's jumper and a fielder and free shot gave Medford a 9 to 5 edge. Medford still had the front posi tion at 13 toJ10. Then Luhrs got a long jump, Hutton two gifters and Luhrs a, tip shot for ' a 16 to 13 Franklin gap at the quar ter. Tisdel tied up the mix at 16 each on a jump basket and a free shot. Spargur got a free toss for 17 to 16 but Reinking countered from the key slot off a feed for a Medford lead of 18 to 17. Kuhn then drove in for 19 t j 18 and Franklin was ahead to stay. 1 Fioht Back The Quakers upped their mar gin to 27 to 20. The Tornado came back with a long shot by Cearley, a free counter by John ny Foust and brace of foul points by Tisdel for 27 to 25. But Jen sen and Luhrs got baskets for 31 to 25 at the half. As the third quarter wore along Jensen and company fought to 49 to 32 and 53 to 46. Then Medford applied their pressure. Copple got a jumper, Gober a rebound shot and Cop ple another jump goal. Gober, who moved with surprising agil ity for his heftiness and drew "ahs" for his work, stole the ball and went for a solo marker. Copple scored on a fast break off an interception and score at the end of the third quarter was down to 53 to 46. Reinking plunked a rebounder as the fourth period swung into action to bring the score to 53 to 48. Coach Frank Roelandt used his seniors in the final minutes, Gober, Foust, Reinking, Tisdel and Cearley, giving them a chance to vie in their final cage conflict for Medford high. They battled their hearts out, as did all the players who saw duty, but the four-day tourney pace was telling on the Tornado. And Franklin, improved since its 58 to 53 loss to Meriford in Decem ber, was not tb?be denied. Tisdel Scores 17 Points Jensen i,n addition to his 27 points pulled down 22 rebounds. Tisdel scored 17 points for Med ford and Copple was the top Tornado backboard man with 16 plucks. Spargur scored 15 points, Gober 12 and Copple 11. Spar gur got 13 retrieves and Neil Plumley of the Tornado 10. Medford's ganging on Jensen and furious play under the bas ket enabled the Tornado to have 28 to 22 edge in rebounding in th. first half rbut Jensen's effec tiveness became more- pronounc ed as the tangle went on and Franklin had"a 54 to 47 margin for the game. The Quakers had a .364 average to Medford's .250 in the first half and for the game the difference was .387 to .304. Franklin made 25 free shots in 48 tries and there was some feeling the Quakers were de liberately trying to- draw fouls. Medford shot 18 to 29. . Free shots helped Lincoln to its 72 to 57 third place win over Marshfield. Refs Pat Wohler and Dan Jones whistled 26 infrac tions on Marshfield and just 13 on the Cardinals. Lincoln made 46 of 30 free attempts and Bob Tisdel On All-State First Team Eugene (U.R) Seven teams shared spots on the all-state team announced at the close of the state A-l high school basketball tourney here Saturday night. State champion Franklin and runnerup Medford each landed two spots on the 10-man squad as did fourth place Eugene. Chosen for berths on the my thical all-state five were two seniors, two juniors, and for the first time in six years, a soph-, omore. Seniors named to the first team were Jefferson's Chuck Rask and Bob Tisdel of Medford, a pair of scrappy guards. McLaughlin Picked Bjarne Jensen, acclaimed as the tourney's top single player, and Roger Johnson of Marsh field were the two juniors chos en. Jensen, 6-9, was picked to fill the pivot slot and Johnson named as a forward. Rounding out the top five was Charlie Warren, sophomore from Eugene. Gaining berths on the second all-state five were Dick Mc Laughlin, Medford; Ernie Spar gur, Franklin; Norm Weis, Mac Hi; Mike Doherty, Lincoln; and Doug Lundstrom, Eugene. Of SO Loop This Year Bandon has been suspended from the Southern Oregon base ball league, according to word received here from Hal Zurcher, Roseburg, league president. Zurcher said the suspension took place because of Bandon's failure to notify the league of its intentions for the coming sea son. Several feelers have been sent to Bandon to learn pf their 1956 plans but no response has been received. The suspension means that the Southern Oregon league will consist of five teams for the campaign. They are Coos Bay North Bend, Coquille, Bend, Drain and Medford. A sixth team will be added if one can be found before the playing schedule is drawn and it could be Bandon if a decision is reached before that time. Teams already in the league are anxious to learn if they will have bye dates so that they can be filled with exhibition games, Zurcher said. Hawks Lead By UNITED PRESS The St. Louis. Hawks, one up on the Minneapolis Lakers in their Western Division National Basketball League play-off series and hope to end it all tonight when they meet the Lakers in Minneapolis.. ' The Hawks came from behind in St. Louis Saturday night to defeat the Lakers, 116-115, and a. victory tonight would clinch the series for them in their best-of-three play off. The winner of this series will meet the division champion - Fort Wyne Pistons in the semi-final playoffs. A Laker victory would mean they'll meet again on Wednesday night again in Minneapolis. In the Eastern Division, the Boston Celtics defeated the Syra cuse Nationals, .110-93, Saturday to take the lead, and will be trying to; clinch the series to night against the Nats in Syra cuse. , A third game if necessary, will be played in Boston Tues day night. Central Catholic Chooses O'Brien Portland UR) Bill O'Brien an assistant coach at Aberdeen high school, was named Satur day as head football mentor at Central Catholic high here. O'Brien will fill the vacancy cre ated when Harry Scarff resigned to accept a head coaching job at Vallejo, Calif. Marshfield 11 of 21. The Pirates of Coos Bay topped the Port landers 23 to 21 in field goals although their hitting rate was poorer. George Miller scored 23 for Lincoln and Roger Johnson 16 for the losers. BOX SCORE: Franklin fa fg fta ft reb pf tp Spargur. f 12 3 13 9 13 0 15 Kuhn. f 6 1 8 4 6 5 6 Jensen, c 23 12 9 3 22 1 27 Luhrs. g 11 4 3.2 4 1 10 Hutton, g 7 3 9 4 2 5 1ft CrandaU. f 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Porter, f 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Zilk. c :. 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Jarboe, g 2 1 6 3 5 4 5 Nakata. g 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 TOTALS 62 24 48 25 54 20 73 Medford fga ig fta ft reb pf tp Copple, f :.. .13 5 3 1 16 5 11 McLaughlin, f .... 8 1 2 2 9 4' 4 Plumley. c 7 1 4 1 10 3 3 Tisdel, g 17 4 11 9 1 4 17 Cearley. g 7 2 0 0 3 1 4 Foust. f 2 0 4 1 1 4 1 Gober. c ... 6 5 3 2 4 4 12 Reinking. g 9 3 2 2 3 4 8 Perkins,, g C 0 0 0 0 0 0 TOTALS 69 21 29 18 47 29 60 Medford Rifle Team Laurels The Medford Junior Rifle club team took top honors at an all junior rifle match held Sunday at the Ashland armory. Medford's team "score of 676 bested Yreka's 664 by 12 points The Medford team of William Goldin, son of W. A. Goldin, 2933 Lone Pine rd., Phyllis and Margaret Taylor, daughters of Chuck Taylor, Old Stage rd., Central Point, and Eddie McGrew, son of E. E. McGrew, 1433 Mc Andrews rd., made a fine showing, especially since they have been hampered by the lack of a place to prac tice due to the loss of their range which had been located in the Merrick building. There was a total of 36 com petitors and five teams, coming from Fort Jones, Yreka, Ash land, Grants Pass, and Medford. Medforih,Tribune ilwaukee Braves Think 1956 Will Be (This is the first in a series on the 1956 prospects of the major league clubs.) By LEO H. PETERSON United Press Sports Writer Bradenton, Fla. U.R) The Milwaukee Braves feel that 1956 is going to be their year. Almost every one is talking about the world champion Brooklyn Dodgers when it comes to the National league penant race, but Manager Char ley Grimm of the Braves will not go along with that. "Man for man, we're as good as they are, and I think even better," jolly, Charley said. "We aren't giving an inch to any club in the league, and that includes Brooklyn." "I think Charley is right," General Manager John Quinn pitched in. "But there's a lot of luck that goes along with base ball, and if we get some for a change, we could win it all." Injuries Hamper-Club - . What he was referring to was West Heads Pro-Am Golf - ? ' Harold West, pro of the home course, and Duke Matthews, Eugene Country club, took the lead among the professionals yesterday as a three day pro amateur golf tournament began with medal play on the Laurel wood Country club links at Eu gene. . West carded a. 68 gross score and Matthews followed with a 69. Play moved today to Rose burg Country club. Third 18 holes of the 54-hole tourna ment will be contested Tuesday at Rogue Valley Country club here. Each pro will play here with two to four amateurs. There is a S600 total purse for the pro fessionals, plus entry money, and trophies will go for gross and net honors among the ama teurs. Prizes are offered for sep arate day's play as well as for the overall tourney. West, Matthews, Ron Caper na, Astoria, and Harvey Hixson, Laurelwood and amateurs with which they teamed were tied with 66s in the pro-am best ball competition. Terry Carter and Bruce Fish er, Eugene, had 73 nets to head amateurs. Al Williams, Rogue Valley pro, carded a 74. Nineteen pros and 100 ama teurs played. Among professionls expected here are Eddie Oldfield, Rose burg; Wendell Wood, Harold West, Duke Matthews and Har vey Hixon, Eugene; Bunny Ma son, Salem; Larry Lamberger, Eddie Hogan, Howard Bonar, Harvey Bunn, Bob and Buck McKendrick, Dave Killen and Glen Spivey, Portland, and area and Ron Caperna, Astoria. Tourney Crowds Short of 1955 Eugene i(U.R) Attendance at this year's class A-l high school tournament here fell short of last year's record turnout but still- soared to 74,961.' Last year's record figure was 77,285 for the five day meet. Attendance records for six of the 12 tournament sessions were broken this year with Thurs day's 18,670 for the day's three sessions, an all time high for the third dav action. Palm Springs, Calif. (U.R) Portland collected two unearned runs yesterday to edge San Diego, 3-2, in a game played in 88 degrees weather. Juniors Nab On Sunday This was the first ' time Grants Pass has been represented at a local match. Margaret Taylor came out second best in the Grand Aggre gate with a total score of 178, being topped by Victor Hansen of Yreka who shot a 186. Mar garet, however, took top hon ors from a field of nine girl shooters to win the high girl award. Next junior tourney is na tional sectional at Roseburg April 21. RESULTS: Grand Aggregate 1st, Victor Hansen. 186. Yreka; 2nd, Margaret Taylor, 178, Medford; 3rd, Mike McDonald, 177, Ashland. Match I (10 shots prone) Class A. 1st, Mike McDonald, 99, Ashland; 2nd, William Goldin, 99. Medford. Class B, 1st. Duane Nelson, 93, land; 2nd, Judy Heitmanek, 92, land. Match II (10 shots standing) 1st, Victor Hansen, 88. Yreka; Margaret Taylor, 70, Medford. Ash.-Ash- 2nd, Their Year injuries. For two years now the Braves have been handicapped by injuries to their key players. One of them is a question mark right now- pitcher Gene Con ley. The 618 righthander won only 11 games last season be cause of back and arm miseries. There have been reports that he is through. But Conley, Grimm and Quinn won't buy those reports. "Gene will be all right," Grimm declared. "He's only 25 and has had his share of tough luck. Maybe that luck book will balance on him. If it does, watch out for us." It will be big Joe Adcock and George Crowe at first base; Dan ny O'Connell, a disappointment since the Braves obtained him from the Pirates, al second; Johnny Logan at short and home run hitting Eddie Mathews at third. In the outfield, Henry Aaron will be in right field, the speedy Bill Bruton in center and either Bobby Thomson, the former Giants star who never has been the same since he broke an an kle in spring training in his first season with the Braves two years '. ago, or veteran Andy Pafko in left field. Depend on Conley Del Crandall is the No. 1 guy behind the plate with Del Rice the second string catcher. Grimm is counting on Conley to anchor the pitching staff. Be hind him as starters are the vet eran lefty Warren Spahn, Bob Buhl, Chet Nichols, Lew Bur dette and a host of other poten tials. Ray Crone, 10-9 with the Braves last season after he was recalled from Toledo; Humberto Robinson, a 14-game winner at Toledo; and two left-handed discards, Gene Bearden and Lou Slater are among them. "So if those Dodgers do not get off to another miracle start as they did last season, don't sell us short," Grimm said.. All-Purpose 4-wheel 'JeepMruck Extra Hauling. The pulls heavily 4-WHEEL DRIVE 505 North Central SF Dons Overwhelming Favorites In NCAA Basketball Tournament; Utah Beaten 92-77 in Regional By UNITED PRESS San Francisco's brilliance even without All-America K. C. Jones established the defending champ ion Dons today as overwhelming favorites over the three other survivors in the NCAA basket ball tournament SMU, Iowa, and Temple. It will be San Francisco vs. SMU and Iowa vs. Temple in the semi-finals at Evanston, 111., on Thursday night, with the two "hot" streakers, San Francisco and Iowa favored to reach the finals. . And the defending champion Dons must be rated heavier fa vorites than ever to walk away with the top prize, in, view ' of the way they swept through their first two games in the tourney 72-61 over UCLA and 92-77 over Utah. The other tourney teams had hoped that the loss of Jones through ineligibility as a fourth year man would make the Dons a much weaker outfit. But .soph Gene Brown has stepped capably into Jones' shoes with 41 points in the two games to completely wipe out that hope. , Russell Sparkles And All-America Bill Russell, the Dons' 6-10 center showed that post-season play has dulled Jensen Top Point Maker University of Oregon, Eugene Bjarne Jensen, ' the talented Franklin junior who guided the Quakers to their first state cham pionship in 35 years, won both the..; scoring and the rebounding championships as the 38th annual Class A-l Oregon basketball tournament closed : Saturday night. Jensen tallied 27 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in his final game to boost his four-game to tal to 96 points apd 91 rebounds. Charlie Warren, the sophomore Eugene center, took, second place in both departments with 79 points and 68 rebounds. Bob Tisdel of Medford' . took third place in scoring with 75 points and the top five also in cluded Roger Johnson of Marsh field with 73 and Doug-Lundstrom of Eugene with 64. ' The other three top rebound ers were George Lieuallen of Mac-hi with 61, Norm Weis, also of Mac-hi with 59, and Len Paola of Milwaukie with 51. iTOP SCORERS: fg ft reb pf tp Jensen, Fran. ....39-86 18-42 91 11 96 Warren, Eug 32-80 15-24 68 16 79 Tisdel. Med 28-81 19-29 21 14 75 Johnson, Marsh. 25-78 23-32 24 11 73 Lundstrom, Eug. 24-52 16-24 22 10 64 Weis, Mac 20-58 22-33 59 14-62 Rask, Jeff 19-55 24-34 27 16 62 Tague, Pend 21-52 12-22 41 14 54 Lieuallen. Mac. -.19-63 15.-21 61 8 51 Paole, Mil.- 19-39 12-23 51 12 50 G's'nbacher. Mil. 14-47 22-23 10 5 50 Thorne, Pend. ...17-40 16-30 35 13 50 Doherty. Lin 21-61 10-16 33 11 50 NET CHAMPION Cannes, France U,R) Jac ques Brichant, Belgian Davis Cupper, won the men's singles final of the Cannes International Tennis tournament Sunday by defeating Antonio Maggi of Italy, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. drive stamina . . . on the highway or of f . . . Selectivity. The 'Jeep' Truck operates in 2-wheel drive for normal highway travel. You shift into 4-wheel drive when the going gets tough. Most useful truck ever built! 'Jeep' Truck carries a one-ton payioad and loaded trailers, on the road or off. TRUCK wiuys. Ask for a demonstration today . , STEVENS AUTO SALES; INC. "Your Independent Dealer" none of his sparkle, either. SMU, on the other hand, had to fight to a one-point win over Texas Tech before drubbing Oklahoma City, 84-63, at Lawr ence, Kans., on Saturday night. And Temple edged Canisius by only 60-58 at Philadelphia on Hal Lear's pair of free throws with two seconds to play. Iowa appeared more formidable in downing Kentucky, 89-77, at Iowa City as Carl Cain tallied 34 points. Each of these teams emerged ' as the winner of the regional tourney to qualify for Thursday's, games. By HOWARD APPLEGATE Corvallis (U.R) AIL Ameri can Bill Russell led the Univer sity of San Francisco to a 92-77 victory over Utah Saturday night for the Don's 53rd straight vic tory. It advanced the defending national champion to the semi finals of the NCAA tournament. A howling crowd of 9,858 fans had visions of an upset for the first 30 minutes of play as Utah, champion of the Skyline con ference, battled the heavily fa vored Dons on even terms. But Russell's tremendous height and his all-around play pulled San Francisco out of danger late in the game. Russell made three personal fouls in the first half and sat out the final four minutes of the period. ' Jenson Hurts , Curtis Jenson, a scrappy little guard from Midvale, Utah, was the big thorn in San Francisco's side in the first period. He bucketed 16 points in that period alone, all on field goals. Morris Buckwalter of Utah made a field goal just as the half-time gun sounded and San Francisco led only 44-41 at the midway point. ' Utah came out full of fight in the second half and after two minutes and 49 seconds a field goal by big Gary Bergen put Coach Jack Gardner's Redskins in front 49-48. Sophomore Gene Brown and Mike Farmer hit for the Dons to put them back in front "but Jen son sparked a drive that pulled Utah to within one point 56-55, with 13 minutes to play. High Water Mark That was the high water mark for Utah, however. Farmer, Mike Preaseau and Russell con nected to put USF ahead 63-55, then Bergen, who had done a fine job on Russell, fouled out. The Utah club sorely missed his 6-foot 8-inch height for the re maining 12 minutes. . Russell scored 27 points, , 18 of them in the second half. He thrilled the crowd several times by leaping high above the basket and firing the ball through like a line drive. Art Bunte was Utah's high point man with 23 counters while Jensen hit for 21. : Brown, the replacement for tournament-ineligible All-Ameri-can K. C. Jones, scored 18 points for the Dons while Farmer and Preaseau hit 14 apiece.; Russell Outstanding Russell was named the tourna ment's outstanding player. Utah led only once besides its ; Traction. With its 4-wneel drive, the 'Jeep' Truck climbs 60 grades, goes through mud, sand, snow, or soft earth, -where ordinary vehicles can't go. -. . . : : Belt Power. With power take-off, the 'Jeep' Truck supplies power for many types of industrial or farm equipment .world's largest rakers at 4-wfreel drive vehicles 49-48 margin in the second half. That was in the first half when, a field goal by Bunte put the Redskins in front 20-19. San Francisco appeared to have trouble in the first stages of the game with Utah's pressing defense. Utah also forced San Francisco to play its type of run ning game. But the Dons had what it takes to pull out to vic tory, thanks mainly to Russell, who finished the game with four personal fouls. MHS Cagers Praised by Their Coach "I thought they played whole-heartedly and gave all they had,";Coach Frank Roe landt of lhe Medford Black Tornado said yesterday when questioned concerning his ag gregation's play in the losing to Franklin of Portland in the Oregon Class A-l basketball tournament semi-finals. The mentor had high praise for his squad for its perform ance not only in the disap pointing final game but in the whole tournament. : "I feel they did the finest job they possibly could . do, the kids worked awfully hard and -. hustled the whole tournament and I'm downright pleased," Roelandt declared. PLAN TO GO BACK - Medford for the second yet r had its hopes spoiled in -the , tournament finale. But the Tornado aims to do like Eu gene which last year won the . title after losing in the eon cluder of the two previous tournaments. "We plan to go back," Roelandt stated, point ing out at the same time that there will be four other clubs in the district with equal am bitions. The coach pointed to his . club's great defense in the first half but brought out that . not being able to make shots connect from the field was damaging. Roelandt did not take any thing away from the Franklin team. Like others, he felt they -. were improved over their December-.game here. Medford received the well wishes of not only Medfordites but supporters from through out southern Oregon for its finale and Roelandt expressed the appreciation of his team for this backing. Buy At Builders Supply Bricks. Flues Drain Tile 7 W. McAndrews Phone 2-4107 Phone 3-3655 i Wa- blocks
