Bulkeley High School - Class Yearbook (Hartford, CT)

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CDC Champs! lst row, l. to r.: J. Pazdar, J. Bieletti, M. Buonome, B. Leghorn, R. Pecott, E. Reilly. 2nd row, l. to r.: R. Audet, Manager, J. Muraski, M. Violette, J. Pillion, J. Kelly, Coach Bazzano. BASKETBALL As the Bulkeley Maroons entered the 1959- 1960 campaign, few critics believed them ca- pable of reaching any great heights. Rugged re- bounder Mark Buonome was a question mark after his knee injury in the ill-fated Turkey Day grid game. Beyond their fine All-Tournament veteran pivot, Barry Leghorn, Bulkeley seemed to have little, save a collection of untried ex- jay-vees. With another vicious CDC slate ahead, this nucleus appeared to be far from enough. The Maroons tipped off the season at home against the Hurricanes from New Britain, With New Britain's taunting football sign State Champs, Almost! hanging over the railing, Bulkeley butchered the Canes, 72-50. Leghorn led the vengeful onslaught with 19 points, while big Jim Pillion showed, by some solid rebound- ing, that heid be a man to be reckoned with. Legs had his finest hour in the second game, against East Hartford, as only his own unselfish- ness prevented his wiping out Carmen Perrone's school record of 41 points. Barry, unstoppable inside, outside, and at the foul line, plunked in 41 to tie the mark as his team bombed the Hor- nets, 90-55. With the last quarter hardly begun, Leghom removed himself from the lineup and did not return. The Maroons went on to dunk 65 per cent of their shots from the field. Shades of the '58 Keyhole Kids! Paul Tilly Bieletti, Bulkeley's ace back- court man, sparked the Marooons to a 72-59 vic- tory over New London in their next encounter. Bieletti unveiled a deadly jump shot which pro- duced 25 points and held off the persistent snipes of the Whalers' Bob Simoni. Leghorn also rang up 25 in another top-drawer effort, and Bob Pecott's floor game was outstanding. Norwich handed Bulkeley its first setback on a last-second overtime basket in the Wildcats' den, as the Leghorn threat was completely smothered by the Norwich defense. But the Maroons bounced back against Wethersfield, paced by Bieletti's fine all-around game and Mark Buonome's sturdy job under the boards. In downing Ted Beal 81 Co. 68-55, Bulkeley chalked up its 22nd straight win in their gym, aptly termed by the Hartford Times as the tor- ture chambern 1to opposing teams, of course! I . Unbeaten Notre Dame then held off a late Maroon spurt to pin a 54-53 loss on the Bull- dogs, as Leghorn's 20 went down the drain. Again, though, Bulkeley snapped right back against the Weaver Beavers. The Maroons ap- plied the pressure to Ernie Perry and his mates from the outset and ran up a 14-point lead in the third quarter. When the Beavers began to counterattack, Leghorn tossed in several key baskets and climaxed a perfect 14-for-14 free- throw performance. As Weaver went down 51-47, Bieletti and Pillion aided Barry no little with fine defensive gems and floor games. A lackluster Sacred Heart club fell at Bulke- ley, 74-47. This was more or less a routine var- sity game, but some fans might remember this

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'N Xxx! , .gli X fs, t .it-w X Z A K X aff,- Central by the score of 40-37. The initial first of the meet by the medley relay team of Vignoti, Vissoe, Peatie, and Raffalo and was followed up with firsts by Langhans and Shortell. Adding valuable seconds to the team effort were Grif- fith, Shortell, Vissoe, Raffalo, Keane, Peatie, and Vignoti. Bulkeley came out on the short end of a 44-33 score in a meet' with Maloney High. Lack df depth hindered the team considerably in this meet. Outstanding in defeat were Raffalo, Peatie, and the medley relay team composed of Shortell, Vissoe, Peatie, and Karwan, all of whom secured first places. Once again the Bulkeley team lost a very close meet by the score of 40-37 to Middletown High. Bulkeley made a strong bid for victory witli Raffalo, Peatie, and the freestyle team of Keane, Langhans, Karwan and Raffalo capturing first places. Griffith, Shortell, Vissoe, Connelly, and Langhans added second places to what proved to be a losing cause. Bulkeley fell victim to Manchester Highis team, one of the most powerful in the state, by the score of 59-18. With only Shortell being able to take a first, it was evident that Manchester was too much for the Bulkeley team. Vissoe, Raffalo, and Peatie contributed second places for Bulkeley. In the next encounter, the Bulkeley swim- mers were able to turn the tide in posting a 39-38 win over Croft. Outstanding in this close meet were Raffalo and Peatie with a double win for the latter. Keane, Vissoe, and Shortell all added valuable seconds in erecting the winning margin of one point. The relay team in action. . Q A 4 I -2 f t hr , att?- SCHEDULE Bulkeley L Windham .,,. .. . Bulkeley W Wilby . Bulkeley W Bristol Eastern Bulkeley L Sacred Heart .. Bulkeley W Bristol Central Bulkeley L Maloney .,..,., Bulkeley L Middletown . ,. Bulkeley L Manchester .. Bulkeley W Croft . Bulkeley L Crosby .. Bulkeley L New London , Bulkeley L Hartford , , Bulkeley W Platt .. . At Crosby High our swimmers met with their next defeat. Shortell and Peatie captured the only first places for Bulkeley, while Griffith and Lynch managed to gather in a couple of seconds. A powerful Hartford High team handed Bulkeley a 52-25 loss. Ralfalo and Connelly com- bined for a first and second in the diving event, while Shortell and Lynch did the same in the backstroke. Vissoe and Peatie captured seconds in individual events. Bulkeley swamped Platt by the score of 44-32 in the final dual meet of the season. Griffith, Shortell, Vissoe, Raffalo, Peatie, and the medley relay team of Vignati, Vissoe, Peatie, and Lang- hans showed the way by securing first places. Connelly and Lynch followed up with seconds in a fine team effort. The swimming team finished its regular sea- son with a five and eight record. Captain Bob Raffalo, an outstanding performer throughout the season, captured Bulkeley's only place in the C.I.A.C. Championships with a third place in the diving event. Joe reveals Flash's strategy. 5

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niglit's jayvee game, in which the Waterbury club ran up exactly one point in the first quar- ter. Remember Leavenworth? Next on the list was Hartford High, unde- feated and conqueror of state champ Wilbur Cross. Not at all awed by the Owls' imposing reputation, the Maroons displayed a fine team effort in staying even with Hartford for a half, 25-all. But an upset of the Owls was not in the cards. From the start of the second half Hart- ford took command as Ed Griffiin hit a hot spree and Bulkeley,s offense completely collapsed. Despite a fine showing by ,lack Kelly and a late spurt by Leghorn, Bulkeley went down 61-46. Now 6-3, the Maroons had reached a crossroad of campaign. The key game of their schedule was fought at Bulkeley on January 19, against Naugatuck and 6-11 Ed Big Dipper Slom- censki. The game was decided under the boards, where Mark Buonome continually boxed out his towering opponent and flagged down 21 re- bounds in his best performance of the year. Leghorn tossed in 28, but Bieletti was even bet- ter on offense with several brilliant feeds to Pillion under the basket and 24 of his own. The Bulldogs led all the way and won 68-57 despite one of the finest individual performances ever seen at Bulkeley. Naugy's Bill Rado popped in 22 foul shots, and 7 baskets for 36 points, but was weighed down by some wretched support. The Maroons then repeated over Weaver, 64-57. The Beaver zone hogtied Leghorn most of the way, but this only gave ,lohn Pazdar, then just an ace reserve, his long-awaited opportunity to step into the limelight. John was red-hot from the corner in tallying 20 points while Barry was held to 13. Since Weaver had swept a pair from Bulkeley the year before, it was indeed sweet revenge for the Bulldogs. Since he relieved Babe Allen in 1953, Coach Bazzano had never lost to New London in 13 jousts. This tradition was kept alive in the Wlialing City as Leghorn's 23 points led a late rally that got the Maroons under the wire, 52-48. Everybody's All-Slater, Barry Leghorn. -aFD? .'?' Mark Buonome flags one down. Bob Pecott licks the Candy Canes