Atwood Hammond High School - Post Yearbook (Atwood, IL)

Page 17 text:

The next game was the last of the schedule, Cerro Gordo at Atwood. Atwood won by ihe score of 99 to 10. Several of the goals wt re shot without a Cerro Gordo player having touched the ball. This finished the season leaving LaPlace and Atwood tied for first place in the southern division and Mansfield winners in the northern division. A series of games was held in Atwood to settle the three cornered tie. These games were played in the M. VV. A. hall in which none of the Atwood team had ever been permitted to practice. The first game was between Mansfield and Atwood. Nothing was known of Mansfield except that it had not lost a game for the season. At the start of the game by a fesv lucky goals, Mansfield obtained a lead which they kept throughout the game. The score at the end being 29 to 35. Metzler and Hart were the greatest contributors to the score for Mansfield besides doin- good defensive work After the game was over a banquet was given by the students of the A. H. S. in hono'-of ihe visiting teams. The tir.-t game the next day was be tween LaPlace and Mansfield. Again the unexpi cted happened, LaP ace winning in a walkaway b a score of 38 to 19. The Mansfield team set mid exhausted from their previt ns encounter and played pooi ly. In this game Jone«. the crack right forward for LaPlace, starred getting 12 points. The last game vvasbet ween LaPlace and Atwood, il LaPlace won this game thev would get the Champion ship, but if Atwood defeated tlnm each of the three teams would have a claim on the title There wassome doubt as to whether Biggs, owing to his weight could guard the star left forward from LaPlace so Greve an eighth grader, was put in his place. Greve had been doing some good work at center for the grade team, but this was his first attempt at guard. At the start ot the game Atwood fairly ran away from LaPlace, using their signals from center to a great advantage, the first half ending with the score of 17 to 7. In the last few minutes of the game LaPlace finished strongly but the lead was too great for them to overcome. Atwood winning by the score of 35 to29. Fisher’s basket shooting was wonderful in this game, getting almost every throw and adding 26 points to the score The guard work of Greve and Suffern was another feature of the game the two LaPlace forwards getting only 17 points. This game left the race tor the championship in the same oid three cornered tie, since each team lost a game and won one. The next venture of the team was to enter the big basketbal I tournament at Decatur where the championship of central Illinois was to be decided. Atwood was very unlucky in drawing Peoria Manual Training school for the first game. In the first few games ol the tournament Peoria had won two games easily and were in good shape. They ran away Irom Atwood winning by a score of 48 to 12. Anglesea, a Peoria player, starred in this game, playing the fiist half at center and the last half at right forward getting 22 points. Suffern played an excellent game and had one ot the best men in the tournament to play a-gainst. It was some consolation to the Atwood team and its rooters to see the strong teams from Slate Normal. Streator and Lexingtf n go dow n to defeat in the hands of this Peoiia team by almost as large scores as Atwood was beaten.

Page 16 text:

BASKET BALL Shortly after the school term began the Piatt County Athletic Association met and decided to adopt basketball as a sport. At this meeting a schedule was arranged between the high schools of Monticello, Mansfield, Cerro Gordo, Bernent, Del and, LaPlace, Hammond and Atwood. The county was divided into two parts the Northern division, Monticello, Mansfield and Deland and the Southern division, Bement, LaPlace, Hammond, Cerro Gordo and Atwood. Each high school was to play two games with the other teams in its respective division, and the team winning the championship in its division was to play the winners of the other division for the County Championship. At the first of the school term the basketball squad under the supervision of Prof. Madden began practicing. None of the boys had ever played basketball before but everyone did his best to learn. After about two weeks of practice the lineup was chosen to play the first game. Fisher and Hassig, forwards, Wilson, center and Suffern and Biggs guards The first game was at Cerro Gordo and after the team had recovered from its first stage fright won easily by the score of 32 to 2. Encourged bv.this the team practiced harder than ever for the next game which was at Bement. Bement had always proved a dangerous rival and the boys took every precaution to be in good shape. The game turned out to be a very poor exhibition of basketball, Atwood winning 38 to 13. Had it not been for the excellent work of Biggs, the heavyweight guard, the game might have gone otherwise, for the other players were not up to their usual standard. The weather getting rather unfavorable for outdoor sport, the team moved indoors and the following Satuiday played LaPlace. Atwood won this game by the score of 38 to 24. Fisher’s playing at left forward was excellent, shooting 18 points. The La-Piace guards showed remarkable skill in handling the ball. This semi round in the southern division placed Atwood ahead with three victories, Bement and LaPlace tied for second place with one defeat apiece. In the northern division Mansfield was having everything its own way easily winning their games. The next game was between Bement and Atwood. This was an important game for if Bement was defeated they would be put out of the race, if not they would be strong contenders for the little. Bement was defeated in a fast game by tne score of 27 to 21 Everyone on the Atwood team played well and their fast team work was all that saved them from defeat at the hands of thet.heavier Bement team. The second game with LaPlace was the surprise of the season. The team because of its walkaway in the first game was too confident and was a little out of training. In ihe first half they held their own but in the last five minutes of play LaPlace ran away with them and won bv ti e score of 27 to 17. Biggs, the right guard, was so unfortunate as to have to plav against a man who was about one-half his size and twice as fast. This forward’s playing was sensational throughout the game, he shooting over 20 points.

Page 18 text:

Many other games were pla}red with tlie neighboring high schools A series of three games were played with an independent Arthur team. Arthur won this series by winning two games. The last game played on Christmas night was very fast and exciting. The score was very close throughout theentire game and at the end of the last half the score was tied 21 to 21. In an extra five minutes of play Arthur won by a score of 23 to 21. Probably the best team that Atwood played was Spark’s Business College of Shelbyville. This team was composed of more experienced and older players and beat Atwood 58 to 29. Although beaten by such a large score the Atwood team began to show that they knew some basketball. Atwood beat the Sullivan High School team in two games and lost one to them. This was quite an honor,for Sullivan is very wellknown in athletic circles, having won the Central Illinois football championship. The first game was a walkaway for Atwood, they winning 31 to 23. The second game played a few weeks later was won by Sullivan 21 to 14. They showed a remarkable improvement in their playing and fairly played Atwood off their feet. The rub game was played in Atwood April 2nd. Sullivan started like a whirlwind and secured a lead of 12 to 0 in the first few minutes of play. Then Capt. Hassig started a rally which was kept going till the end of the first half, the score standing 18 to 12 in Atwood's favor. This took the confidence out of the Sullivan team and the rest of the game was easy for Atwood, winning 35 to 29. The fast work of Captain Hassig was greatly responsible for this victory. Since in the first half he shot iO points which helped to overcome the great lead of Sullivan. Demerit had expressed some dissatisfaction on not being allowed to enter the tournament at Atwood, so the Atwood team resolved to give them another beating. Bernent w as outclassed in every minute of the game, the score standing 26 to 13. This score showed that the team had been learning a little about the game since they had last played Bement. Atwood closed the season on April 8th, playing Brown’s Business College from Decatur. This was a very interesting and exciting game. In the first half the Decatur school obtained a large lead, 27 to 9. But in the next half Atwood made a desperate effort to overcome this but failed, the score being 41 to 51 in favor of Brown’s. The game marked the last appearance of Capt. Hassig in the basket ball team, and his playing was well suited to the occasion. Atwcod played a total of twenty games winning eleven of these being beaten three times by high schools, three times by business colleges and three by independent teams. In every instance, the institution which the opposing team represented w a s much larger than the Atwood High School. Supt. Madden cannot be given too mucli credit for his work in coaching the team He staried out with eight boys, not a one of which had ever played before. By working with these every night he managed to show them a few of the finer points of the game, which were very useful in the games. He also started up a town team which played a few games with the neighboring towns and gave the high school many valuable practice games. KENNETH W'.KSON