Hammond Technical Vocational High School - Chart Yearbook (Hammond, IN)

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STATE CHAMPION BASKETBALL TEAM BACK ROW, Left to Right — Mr. Benson, Principal; John Kielbowicz, Richard Smith, Robert Haack, Joe Abatie, Mr. Zimmerman, Financial Manager. FIRST ROW — John Thomas, Richard Haack, Stanley Shimala, Coach L. Birkett, Robert Kramer, Mike Bicanic, John Caul. The first ball game was played by Froebel and La Porte; Froebel won by a wide margin. The Tech-Brook ball game featured small, but very fast Brook against slower but much taller Tech. Both teams employed their strength to good advantage, hat is. Tech, their strength under the basket and Brook, their fast break. At the half, Tech led by four points. In the third quarter, the Tigers pulled away to a twelve-point lead, but Brook came back fast in the last quarter and was only three points behind when the game ended. The night game was played by two teams using the same style of play. Both Tech and Froebel played a ball-handling control game. Tech was behind four points at the half and still trailed by three points as the third quar- ter ended. The Tigers then put on the steam and tied up the ball game. With about a min- ute left to play, Tech went ahead and stayed there till the gun sounded SLMI-FINALS Due to the fighting spirit and team work displayed in the previous tournaments, the Tigers were made favorites in the semi-finals. The Tigers were scheduled to play the first game of the afternoon against the strong Riley team of South Bend. This game was very close during the greater part of the first half; but just before the half ended, Tech put on a burst of speed to gain a four-point ad- vantage. In the third quarter, Riley came back to tie up +he ball game. As the third quarter ended, Tech was leading again but only by two points. The Tigers then asserted themselves by pulling away from Riley to a ten-point victory. Page Twenty-one

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a VUe Way, ta CONFERENCE Pre-season rating had Tech listed as one of the strong contenders for the conference crown. This was due to the fact that Tech had a good team last year and that four mem- bers of that team were back again to form the nucleus of a new team. The season opener saw Tech defeat Roose- velt in an impressive manner. The Tigers con- tinued on the victory trail in their second and third game by beating Thornton Fractional of Calumet City and then drubbing their city rivals, Hammond High. In the fourth game of the season, Tech took their first defeat at the hands of Whiting. The next three ball games brought three suc- cessive defeats in engagements with Wash ington, Lew Wallace and Emerson. This brought the losing streak up to four ball games, the worst slump Tech suffered all year. The players then found themselves again and justified the faith placed in them by Coach Birkett when they thundered back down the victory trail with seven consecutive victories over top-notch competition. The parade was started in the Valparaiso game when two baskets were scored in the last 1 5 seconds to bring victory. The three following ball games saw Tech on top in suc- cessive engagements with Horace Mann, Roosevelt, and our other city rival, Ceorge Rogers Clark. The next ball game involved Froebel of Gary, who at the time was the leading team in Northern Indiana. When the gun sounded. Tech was again on the long end of the score. The week following saw the conference- leading Washington Senators go down in de- feat, as the team added another victory to the string. The winning streak was extended to seven games by drubbing Valparaiso. The streak was then stopped by Froebel. The Tigers bounced back again by defeat- ing South Bend Washington and then clinch- Page Twenty ing the city championship by defeating Ham- mond High a second time. The season finale saw Tech drop a one- point decision to Horace Mann in a see-saw ball game. TOURNAMENT SECTIONAL When tournament time rolled around there were three teams listed as main threats to grab the Hammond Sectional. These three teams were Whiting, Washington, and Ham- mond Tech. Whiting was installed as favor- ite due to impressive late season showing. Tech won its first game of the tournament by defeating Dyer, 37-21. Tech’s second opponent was Washington of East Chicago. This ball game was steady and well played all the way. Tech was be- hind two points at the half but came back strong in the second half to win by an eight- point margin. The Tiger’s third opponent was its city rival, Ceorge Rogers Clark. This game was a real thriller for it was close all the way. Clark put on a spurt to go ahead by five points with only a few minutes to play. It was then that Tech ' s height asserted itself by convert- ing three rebounds into field goals. This gave Tech victory. After that hectic afternoon, Tech reached a peak in the final ball game against Whiting. The first quarter saw Whiting jump into the lead only to have Tech tie it up and go into the lead at the end of the quarter. The sec- ond quarter saw sparkling offensive play on the part of both sides, with Tech still ahead. The third quarter saw Tech increase their margin over Whiting. In the last quarter Tech led by a ten-point margin, but a closing spurt by Whiting cut the margin to fve points. The game ended with the score 40-35 in Tech’s favor. Thus this team had attained a goal never before reached by a Tech team. REGIONAL The four teams participating in the Gary Regional were Brook, La Porte, Froebel and Hammond Tech.

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Tech’s opponent in the night game was the Logansport Berries. Logansport was a small, collectively fast, ball club. Scoring in this game was much the same as in the afternoon game. The play in the first half was close with Tech leading at the intermission. A third quarter rally by Logansport put them ahead by five points. As the third quarter closed, the Tigers were again ahead, but this time by only one point. The play in the last quarter was close with Tech still ahead. In the closing minute, Logansport was forced to come out after the ball and Tech responded by increasing their victory margin to six points. FINALS The finals at the Butler Fieldhouse featured the four remaining teams in the tournament. That Saturday night, one of those four teams would be crowned champion. The four hope- fuls were Lapel, Mitchell, South Side of Ft. Wayne, and Hammond Tech. Lapel and Hammond Tech were paired to meet in the first game of the afternoon, and South Side was to tangle with Mitchell in the second. Lapel was a fast breaking team that took shots from everywhere on the floor. This made them a difficult team to guard. Lapel jumped into the lead at the start of the ball game and led 9-6 at the quarter. In the second quarter they increased their lead to six points. Two minutes remained. It was then that the Tigers unleashed a powerful attack to take the lead from Lapel. The score then read 21-19. The Tigers continued their barrage in the third quarter and increased their lead to 12 points. The score at this time was 35-23. The final quarter was as thrill- packed and nerve-jangling a quarter as anyone would care to watch. The Lapel team started on a rampage and the 12-point .ead began to melt away. There were many jittery people in that last minute, for it was a tense mo- ment. Tech was fighting to save a lead and Lapel was desperately trying to overcome that lead. But when it was all over and everything had quieted down, Tech was still on top. Page Twenty-two Mitchell then gave the fans another case of jitters by vanquishing the highly touted South Side of Ft. Wayne team in a hammer and tongs battle. Thus Mitchell and Hammond Tech met that night to decide who was to be champion. This was a match between two powerful teams. Both had size, speed and aggressive- ness. The Tigers and the Bluejackets both played the same style of ball, that is, they both relied on their rebound department to gain control of the ball. The Tigers proved to be more effective, for they held an 8-7 advantage at the quarter and never relinquished the lead through the re- mainder of the ball game. Through consist- ent ball playing, Tech increased the lead in the second quarter and the score at the half read Tech 15, Mitchell 8. In the third quarter, Tech pulled away from Mitchell and held a ten-point lead. The great defensive play of the Tigers can be shown in the fact that Mitchell only scored eleven points in the first three quarters. Tech en- tered the last quarter leading 21-11. The Tigers continued the steady pace and led by 12 points with only a few minutes remain- ing in the ball game. Eager reserves then re- placed the regular Tigers and finished the ball game in fine style. When that final gun sounded, Tech was the new State Champion by virtue of a 33-21 victory. The crowd remained in the field house to watch the closing ceremonies of the 1940 basketball season. The Cimbel award for sportsmanship was presented to Duane Con- key of Mitchell. Hammond Tech received a large impressive trophy and each happy Tech Tiger was presented with a smaller replica of the school trophy. And so the curtain was brought down on the 1940 basketball season. We, the Class of “40” salute you, Tech Tigers. May the years to come unfold greater achievements and greater glory for you; and may that shin- ing banner of courage, loyalty, and sportsman ship wave unfurled throughout the game of life.