Central Collegiate Institute - Analecta Yearbook (Calgary, Alberta Canada)

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■— 20 Thk Analecta SENIOR BASKET BALL TEAM . L

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The Analecta 19 GIRLS’ BASKETBALL (J. W. C.) rile basketball season of 1926 ran true to form in that C.C.I. with their veteran line-up carried the league championship for the third successive time. Starting the season with four members of last year’s champions on the roster the wearers of the purple were considered the team to beat for the title, but the ease with which they defeated all oppo¬ sition was rather unlooked for. Alice Allen, Madeline Piette, Muriel Thom and Ruth Bingham of last year’s team responded to the call when the team went into training in October. This save C.C.I. the same forward line that won the honors in 1925. Helen Woodside, a member of the 1924 team, came back to the game and paired on the defence with Ruth Bingham. Eva Brown, a member of the freshman class made the position of jumping centre and completed what was probably the smoothest working sextet that ever represented the purple on a basketball floor. The team was without doubt the best balanced, both offensively and defensively, that has ever played in the Interscholastic league. Eleven games were included on Central’s schedule, all of these being victories for Central, the closest being tbe final which was played at the Y.M.C.A. and resulted in a purple victorv by a score of 36 to 15. During the season the purple machine scored 592 points to the 69 scored by their opponents. The season was the third completed by C.C.I. without a defeat and saw the Central record of consecutive victories climb to forty. Centrals introduced tactics that were novel to the Intercollegiate game by adopting so far as possible the newer methods of the men’s game. On tip-offs they employed a revised addition of the “Y” formation of Wisconsin that brought five players into defence territory. When not in possession at least five of the players were concerned with defensive tactics. No team was able to cope successfully with this guard. Crescent Heights, in the final, did manage to score six times from the floor but in so doing weakened their own defence that Central counted no less than seventeen field baskets. Offensively the Central team was unstoppable, the strength of the attack lying in their using five players to rush the ball well up the floor and these employed short passes to retain possession until a forward broke free for a close-in shot. Great credit is due to the members of the team for their faithful attendance at practice and the unselfishness which characterised the play¬ ing of each and every girl. Probably no better evidence of loyalty and team spirit could have been shown by any team than that displayed by the purple clad co-eds when they elected Alice Allen captain for the third year. It was a splendid tribute to the one so elected, but it is no less a one to the team themselves. Many a splendid team has been ruined by

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The Analecta 21 petty jealousies bet veen players—Central girls by their actions prove they are superior to that sort of thing. C.C.I. were grouped in the southern section of the league with South Calgary High School and Mount Royal College. The season opened with Centrals playing host to the’ College. The game, which was attended by as large a crowd as has ever witnessed a basketball game at C.C.I., was a landslide for the purple and resulted in a 73 to 1 victory. Sure of their new methods C.C.I. next invaded South Calgary and there registered an even more impressive victory by a score of 52 to nil. a rather remarkable result for a game played away from home. Crescent Heights were the next to meet Centrals, the game being an exhibition one on C.C.I.’s floor. The Sheiks provided the most strenuous opposition to date. In the early moments of the game they outplayed their hosts and at one point were leading by 4 to 0 but C.C.I. came down out of the clouds to have the half time score 22 to 6. In the second half the purple drive continued the game finishing 44 to 12 for C.C.I. Central next entertained South Calgary and while the red and green gave a better exhibition than the earlier one on their own floor they were still a long, long way from Central’s form. Central left the southern maidens stranded at the unlucky thirteen while they themselves found the hoop for 47 counters. The final game of the first half of the schedule was played at Mount Royal and resulted in a 70 to 3 Central win. A few days later Mount Royal returned for their final game on Central’s floor. Their defence showed improvement in that they held Central to 56 points but they were held to one lone counter on a free throw from the foul line. Central’s next game saw them in action on the South Calgary floor where they proved that their earlier victory over the Southerners was no unmerited win. The purple girls attacked re¬ lentlessly throughout while maintaining their splendid defence with the result that the Stanleyites were forced to content themselves with three points and the Central clan piled up 54. The following week South Calgary made their final appearance at Central. The game was particularly interesting in that C.C.I. gave an exhibition of a perfect defence. Not only did they prevent South Calgary from scoring from the field but the methods they used were as gentle and proper that fouls were so few that the Southerners did not even have the jov of scoring on a free shot. Nor in doing this did Central weaken their attack for when the final w histle tooted the purple score read forty. The final league game was played at Mount Royal and resulted in a win for C.C.I. by 62 to 6. In the interval between the completion of the schedule and the final game with the winners of the northern section. Central played an exhibi¬ tion game with Commercial High, runners-up in the northern section. The result was a complete Central victory by a 58 to 11 score. The final game was played with Crescent Heights on the floor of the Y.M.C.A. Early in the first period, Eva Brown received a bad fall when she was crashed to the floor trying to recover a rebound. Gloom fell on the Central supporters, as it looked as if C.C.I. would be minus their centre for the remainder of the game, but the freshman hooper pluckily con¬ tinued after a few minutes rest. At half time Central was leading by 20 to 10. In the last half they tightened their defence holding Crescent to one field basket and winning the game by 36 to 15. Central Seconds came back to their usual place at the top of the Southern Division of the Junior Interscholastic League and although they