Tolleson Union High School - Wolverine Yearbook (Tolleson, AZ)

Page 65 text:

The I952-i953 Basketball Season By Jerry Mathias ,b This year's Tolleson basketball team, coached by Bob Korte, went through one of the greatest sea- sons in Wolverine History. The Tolleson hoopsters finished the season with a record of seventeen wins and ten losses, and they won the Consolation Cup.in the West Central District playoff. in the State playoff at Tucson, the boys beat Tempe in the first round, but were finally eliminated by Clifton in the second round. ' 3' The Wolverines led by All-ConferencerCenter, Jack Villa, started the season with a bang by winning their first three games. The first three victims were Buckeye, Gila Bend, and Litchfield. The win- ning streak was halted by Parker in a tightly contested ball game which Parker won 47-38. Undaunted, the Tolleson dribble artists came back to win their next five out of seven encounters, losing only to Coolidge by eight points and the State Champions, Scottsdale, by six points. At this point in the season, Jack Villa had bucketed a total of I90 points for an average of I7.3 points per game. After trouncing the Phoenix indian School, the Wblverines lost two conference games in a row. The first to the towering Carver Monarchs, and the second to the hustling Litchfield Owls. The next five games saw Tolleson winning three and losing two. The two losses were at the hands of Class A clubs, Glendale and St. Mary's. The night of Friday the thirteenth ffebruary l3l, was anything but unlucky for the Wolverines. lt was the first time in four years that Tolleson had beaten Ajo, the score 48-44. In the final game of the regular season, the Wolverines, playing without Jack Villa, who was in- jured in the Ajo game, went down to defeat at the hands of the mighty Scottsdale Beavers, 53-3I. ln the district playoffs at Peoria, Tolleson lost their first game to Wickenburg, a team they had beaten twice in the regular season. Losing to Wickenburg put the Wolverines into the consolation bracket and they had to win four games in order to go to the State Tournament in Tucson. With a 'never quit spiritn, our fighting basketball team came through as never before. After dropping Bagdad 57-39, they followed up with another stunning win over Ajo, this time 57-55. Then came Wickenburg again and this time the Wolverines chewed the Wranglers to shreds 67-42. This victory put Tolheson in the consolation finals against Parker. Despite the rigorous schedule, an inspired Tolleson team nosed out Parker 43-42 in an overtime thriller that had the stands jumping with excite- ment. This win put the fighting Wolverines into the State playoffs. Tolleson drew Tempe as their first opponent. It was a tough game even though the final score was Tolleson 50, Tempe 39. Going into the fourth quarter, the Wolverines were behind 29-30, but in that final quarter they outscored Tempe 2I-9 and pulled the game out of the fire. The last game our team played this year was a disastrous one. Clifton took advantage of the Wolverines' 'cold' shooting and outscored our boys 34-Il in the second half. The final score was 63-39, and now the record books are closed on a wonderful, exciting basketball season. The season is worth remembering because of the two victories over Ajo, the winning of the Consola- tion Cup in the District playoffs, and Jack Villa's election as All-Conference Center. All in all it was a great season: one of the greatest Tolleson has ever known.

Page 64 text:

Three cold Tolleson rooters keep warm dur- Our fighting football team poses for a pic- ing the Carver game. From left to right, ture before leaving for the Miami game. Betty Taylor, Glendyn Metzler, and Nancy King. Assistant Coach Pease talks things over Coach Patrone strides onto the football with assistant manager, Marshall Wells. field followed closely by an erstwhile fan.

Page 66 text:

M, .ff 1 Max Wager - Center Charles Shipman - Forward Sam Garcia - Guard A 'Y Jack Villa - Center l Gilbert Villa - Forward Manuel Quinonez - Forward All Conference Center