Fort Lauderdale High School - Ebb Tide Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

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The L’s returned to their home court January 11 to face the Coral Gables Cavaliers in what was sup- posed to be another breather for the L quintet. Ap- parently the Cavaliers forgot to read the script for they provided the L’s with one of their closer battles. It was not until the last quarter that the L’s were able to outmaneuver the Gableites for their sixth triumph 70-57. Then in rapid succession the L’s met the Miami Beach Typhoons, The Miami Jackson Generals, the Tampa Plant Panthers and the Tampa Jefferson Dra- gons. On this series of road trips the L cagcrs posted their seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth straight victories of the season. St. Petersburg’s Green Devils were the next team to visit the local courts. The Green Devils were, at the time, considered the best team on the West coast. With a string of eight consecutive victories, the Devils expected to wrap up their ninth win at the expense of the L’s. At times, it appeared that the L’s were in for one of their rough nights. Going into the second half the lead repeatedly changed hands as one team and then the other scored a basket. In the last five minutes the capacity crowd in the L gym was in a continuous uproar. Then with just two minutes left in the game and holding a one point lead, the L’s decided to freeze the ball. This was successful for a minute and thirty seconds, but then, Bill Huegele got the ball under the basket and promptly scored two points to give the L’s a three point victory 49-46. The following week the L’s met the West Palm Beach Wildcats for the second time and again walked off with another win but this time scored their highest point total of the season—75 points. Friday night, February 1, the L’s met the Lakelanr’ Dreadnoughts on the West Coast Courts. As ex- pected the L quintet won another ball game but this time it wasn’t such an easy job. With an unblemished slate the L’s were tk t target of every team they met and such was the case with Lakeland. The Dread- naughts held the L’s in check for a good part of the ball game but did not have the material to beat the L’s. The following night the L’s moved over to the gym of the St. Petersburg Green Devils in what was billed as the toughest game of the year for the L’s. Beaten by only three points away from home, the Green Devils were accorded a good chance to break the L’s skein of wins. With a crowd of some 2,000 partisan St. Petersburg fans on hand, the L’s put on one of their most brilliant exhibitions of basketball seen all year. As the first few minutes of the game elapsed it became evident that the L’s were having one of their better nights. By the end of the first quarter the L’s had rolled up an impressive 21-3 lead. This lead con- tinued to grow and by the halftime intermission they were holding an amazing 42-13 point spread. As the last half wore on, the St. Petersburg fans resigned themselves to defeat as the L’s continued to hit a good percentage of their shots. Although at one time the Green Devils had narrowed the margin to a com- paratively small 19 points, the L’s posted a 74-53 tri- umph. Coral Gables again fell before the L’s in a game in the Cavalier gym. Later in the same week, teams representing Jefferson and Plant of Tampa met with defeat at the hands of the L cagcrs. The Plant game was reasonably close with the L’s coming out on top 58-52.

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SCHEDULE 1951-1952 LTD COACH CALDWELL Flying L’s 63 Flying L’s 57 Flying L’s... 49 Flying L’s 65 61 70 54 Flying L’s 71 Flying L's 64 48 49 75 Flying L’s. 58 74 Flying L’s ... 62 Flying I.'s 50 Flying L’s ... 58 Flving L’s 66 Flying L’s 43 55 Flying L’s.... 59 Pompano ---------.r......37 South Broward 38 Miami Edison ......... 46 Wett Palm 48 Jacksonville Lee........ 50 Coral Gables 57 Miami Beach 35 Tampa Plant ......... 52 Tampa Jefferson 40 Miami Jackson ---------36 St. Petersburg ......... 46 West Palm .............. 38 Lakeland 47 St. Petersburg . ------- 53 Coral Gables .......... 45 Tampa Jefferson —.... 36 Tampa Plant...........52 South Broward .......... 34 Miami Beach 22 Miami Jackson ........... 40 Miami Edison 60 Basketball in 1952 was the most outstanding sport from the point of wins and losses. Coach Clois Caldwell’s cagcrs breezed through the year with a total of twenty wins and just one-loss. That one loss came in the last game of the season and was only a one point defeat. Although only three players returned from the previous year’s L’s quintet, there was no lack of talent on the 1952 squad. Up from the “B” team came some of the best basketball players in the state. Along with Mike Holt, John Holt, and Jack Rockett they made up one of the most outstanding teams ever to come from Fort Lauderdale. The initial game of the season, with the Pompano Beach Beanpickcrs, was a breather for the L’s as they easily outclassed their North Broward rivals. Next they faced the South Broward Bulldogs in another game on the local courts. This too was a “breeze” for the L’s who trounced the Hollywood cagcrs. Next on the schedule were the tough Miami Edison Red Raiders. At the time Edison carried an unblemished slate into the game and was out to rack up another win. At first it looked as if Edison were going to do just that as they held the lead at the end of the first period of play. By the halftime Edison was still in the lead but only by a scant three points. The game held the spectators in a frenzy in the second half as it continued to be a seesaw battle. Then late in the game the L’s emergd with a three point lead which they held for the remaining few seconds for a 49-46 win. Robert E. Lee of Jacksonville was the next team the L’s had to face on the home courts. As in the game with Miami Edison, the Generals of Lee held the score close until the last period when the L’s raced to a 60-51 victory. The first road game of the year was played Tuesday afternoon in the gym of the West Palm Beach Wildcats on January 8. After having one of their better teams the year before, the Wildcats had one of their leaner years in 1952. As could be expected the Wildcats were no match for the superior L’s as they practically scored at will and won their fourth game in a row.

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The following week the L’s trampled the Miami Beach Typhoons and the South Broward Bulldogs. Immediately there was talk of an undefeated season. Never before had such an event taken place at LHS, and the students were ready to take up the chant of an “unbeaten” season. Miami Jackson gave L fans a scare when they faced the L’s on the courts of the Caldwellmen. At the end of the half the L’s were two points behind and Jackson still showed life. Fans began to breathe easier later in the game when the L quintet forged into the lead. At the beginning of the last quarter, the L’s began to show their old form as they raced to a 15 point lead which they held for the remainder of the game for a 55-40 victory. With twenty wins and no defeats the L’s went into the final game of their schedule. Miami Edison had taken it on the chin from the L’s earlier in the season and were out for blood. As the L’s were unbeaten, the Lauderdale fans wanted it to stay that way and as a result turned out en masse for the game in the Red Raider gym. With a capacity crowd on hand the Red Raiders took an early lead. L partisans were gloomy as the Red Raiders held a 32-7 margin at the end of the first quarter. Toward the end of the first half, the L’s began to show life and nar- rowed the margin to a two point Raider lead by half- time. Early in the third period the L quintet grabbed an eight point lead. This was short lived, however, as the Red Raiders quickly struck back. In no time at all the Edisonites were again holding a lead. As the game ended the score was deadlocked and the game was forced into overtime. In the overtime period the L’s were first to score on a free throw by Mike Holt. Again the Raiders quickly pulled into the lead with a basket. As the overtime period came to an end the Raiders held a one point margin of victory and the L’s were on the short end of a 60-59 score—their first defeat of the season. Although the defeat was a disappointment to L fans, they were looking forward to the district and state tourna- ments which held promise of bringing a state champion- ship to Fort Lauderdale.