Ranchester High School - Rustler Yearbook (Ranchester, WY)

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This brought the 1946-1947 basketball season to a close, so the tired but happy Rust- lers packed away their suits until next year. Every credit goes to Coach Lyman for his knowledge, solid understanding, pati- ence and helpful suggestions for individual and collective improvement. He has built up a good team and in doing so has used every available boy in school, thereby proving what can be done with basketball in a small school. At no time has the coach, or his team, lost the idea that good sportsmanship and fair play is the ultimate goal in school athletics. Through this season of wins and de- feats we learned a great deal more about basketball than we had dreamed the game could teach. It has been the best and most enjoyable season any of us can ever remem- ber. We want to thank our coach for the many hours of extra time he gave us in train- ing and kindly criticism. We take this opportunity to say that even when we might have seemed non-cooperative we were always with him one hundred per cent. —Raymond Johnston (?o H Ke uiatiott t Ok t e “Plcujcta JERRY DIERKS-- Despite a knee injury which he suffered early in the season which kept him from playing in several games, Jerry did a very fine job for the team. He was especially rated for his fine defensive work and under the basket work on offense. He was a very good shot from the corners and did fine work on tip-in shots and clearing the back board. He usually played defensive guard and offensive forward or center. RAY JOHNSTON- Ray was the captain of the team and is regarded by many as the best performer on the floor. He was a dependable man at either defense or offense and played any posi- tion with equal ease. He was usually the one who set up the plays on offense. He was a good shot from any place on the floor and was also good on tip-in shots and clearing the back board. BERT JOHNSTON- Bert’s job was holding down a forward position both offensively and defensively. He was very good at shooting from the side and the fact that he is left handed made him especially hard to be stopped. Bert coould hit the basket from almost any place. DON JOHNSON- Although this is Don’s first year of basketball he did a very fine job. He usually held down the forward position on defense and usually played guard on offense. Although he did not score many points he did a dandy job from the feeder’s position and did a good defensive job as well. ARNOLD TSCHIRGI— Arnold also played his first year of basketball in a praiseworthy manner. He did especially well on defense and in getting rebounds off the backboard. He was a good shot from the corners and will be a hard man to watch in future years. Arnold usually played defensive guard or offensive center or forward. BOB HAUF- Bob usually played defensive guard and offensive center or forward. He did a good job at defensive guard and was a hard man to get around. This is Bob’s second year of basketball and he will be a man that will bear watching during the next years. JIM STRAIT- Jim played his first year of basketball this year. He was unable to play in several games because of a dislocated hip but when he did play he did a good defensive job. His lack of experience in ball handling handicapped his offensive work but he did a good defensive job as guard. ‘29

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On Feb. 11 the Rustlers journeyed to Dayton where they played their poorest per- formance of the season. The Rustlers just couldn’t get their sights fixed right but man- aged to come out on the long end of a 27 to 20 count after one of the most nerve rak- ing games of the season. On Feb. 14 the Rustlers gained revenge on the Moorcroft “Wolves” by defeating them by a score of 23-17 after a hard fought battle. The Rustlers took an early lead but were never far ahead at any time; several times the lead dwindled down to almost an- other tie. Feb. 19 found the Rustlers headed for Big Horn to tangle with the “Rams” in what the Rustlers called “the Cracker Box.” The Rustlers had little trouble in downing the Rams as they smothered them under to the tune of 34-11. The real test came to the Rustlers on Feb. 21 when they tangled with the Clearmont Panthers on the local floor. The game was a knock-down drag-out fight all the way and proved to be the best and most exciting game of the season for either team. The Rust- lers led the Panthers for the first three periods but the Panthers came fighting back in the fourth to take a 22-21 victory from the Rustlers which virtually served up the crown for the Clearmont “Panthers.” The largest crowd in the history of the school was on hand to witness the game, which proved to be the most tense game played in Ranchester in a good many years. The following week on Feb. 28 the Rustlers journeyed to Sheridan to play the Colts in their last game of the season before the district tounament. The Rustlers displayed their spirit by branding the Colts with a 31 to 13 victory. In the last half the “Rust- lers” displayed their defensive power by holding the “Colts” to two free throws. On March 5 the Rustlers packed their bags and rolled up their bedrolls and pulled out for the District tournament at Gillette. Their first game was with Big Horn at 10:00 A. M. Thursday. The Rustlers displayed their power by taking the Rams into camp, 39 to 10. This win put the Rustlers into the semi-finals where they had to play Moorcroft to earn the right to play for the championship. In a close and hard fought battle the Moorcroft Wolves defeated the Rustlers, 27 to 23. The Rustlers were not se- riously threatened until the last quarter when the team was weakened by the loss of Jer- ry Dierks who left the game on fouls. The Wolves staged a rally which couldn’t be stop- ped. The Rustlers then had to play the Hulett Red Devils to see who would get the right to play for third and fourth. The Rustlers had little trouble in defeating the Red Devils in that they defeated them 44 to 24. The Rustlers then played Upton for third and fourth places. After a close and hard fought defensive battle for both teams the Rustlers managed to come out on the long end of a 24 to 16 count to take third place in the tour- nament. The Rustlers returned to Ranchester with colds, pneumonia, bruises, floor burns but above all, a trophy. Bert Johnston came down with pneumonia the day after we got home and was sent to the hospital. He was not able to make the trip to the State tournament at Laramie. Despite the fact that the Rustlers only took third place they made a commendable showing in athletic statistics. They made the highest percentage of free throws of any team at the tourney by making good 57% of their throws. In the point making depart- ment Jerry Dierks was second high in making a total of 44 points and Ray Johnston was third with 42 points. Pat Folan of Upton took first place in the scoring department with 49 points. Bright and early on March 18, the Rustlers started on their long journey to Lara- mie where they were to meet the Guernsey “Longhorns” in the state tournament. Aft- er a close and hard game, the Rustlers were defeated, 24-31. The Rustlers then played Glenrock. After a four-point lead at the half, Glenrock staged a rally in the third quar- ter that ended in another Rustler defeat. Final score was 43-35. This defeat eliminated the Rustlers but they stayed for the rest ot the tournament and took in the games and other recreations. 28

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7 Sa tf ccttCeM The Ranchester Junior High Basketball Team The Ranchester Junior High Basketball Team this year were as fol- lows: Captain, Robert Lyman, guard, No.3; Raymond Kawulok, guard, No. 7; Douglas McLean, guard. No. 8; Tommy Fiedor, forward. No. 9; Eugene Fackenthall, forward, No. 4; Henry Seder, center, No. 14; Ix)ren King, forward, No. 5; Donald Graham, No. 10, and Dale Schilling, center, No. 6. The team had a very successful season with ten wins and seven losses. We went on two trips to Buffalo but lost both times, and Buffalo Junior Team came to Ranches- ter twice where they won one game, and lost one. The Lodge Grass Junior High Team paid us a visit December 5th and beat us badly. We also made trips to Clearmont, Big Horn, Dayton and Monarch. We beat Clearmont, Dayton and Monarch, but we lost to Big Horn. On March 28th we went to Buffalo to the Junior High Basketball Tourna- ment. We had a great time and met a lot of other boys. We played Monarch first and beat them 18 to 11. Our record game was with Upton and we beat them 23 to 11. This put us into the finals but Big Horn won first place by beating us 23 to 11. We came out second best and received a nice-looking trophy to add to our show case. We all feel we’ve made great progress this school year and have high est hopes for next year’s season. —ROBERT LYMAN. 30