Gordon Technical High School - Tech Log Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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BASKETBALL VARSITY ee Standing: Tim Ryan, Glen Noesen, Phelan Powell, Ray Egan, Kevin Jennings, John Masello, Al Gienko, Ed Wayda, Dennis Barker, Pat McAvoy, Vince Edwards, Tom Beyak, Lemuel Rowans, John Giordano. Middle Row: Manager Mark Lenczowski, Manager Jeff Laufenberg, Head Manager Rich Torres, Assistant Coach Steve Pappas, Head Coach Bob Ociepka, Assistant Karl Costello, Moderator Rev. E. Dubel, Manager Tom Lake, Manager Jim Watson. Bottom Row: Co-Captain Darryl Smith, G.T. Ram, Co-Captain Scott Petway. On a hot and muggy July evening, the sound of bouncing basketballs rang throughout the gym at Oak Park-River Forest High School. The returning Ram Cagers breezed through lay-up lines in preparation for their contest with Provi- so East High School. Although the reg; ular season was over 4 months away, the basketball program was in ful swing. The team didn’t look bad, but it was a totally different team from a yeal ago. Our experience was inside this year with returning starters Scott Petway, Darryl Smith, and Ed Wayda Adding to this inside strength would be seniors Al Gienko, Dennis Barker, anc Junior John Masello. | With the dynamic duo of Johr Mcllvain and Charles Perry gone, inex perience loomed in the backcourt 0: Gordon Tech. Ray Egan, Phelar an ke Ss : 4 Powell, Glen Noesen, Vince Edwards Scott Petway (No. 40) sets a screen as Lemuel Rowans takes it to the hoop. and Lemeual Rowans were all excel lent, but unexperienced and unprover

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WINTER SPORTS BASKETBALL

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players. Juniors Tom Beyak, John Giordano, and Derrell Adams were also looking for a spot in the Gordon backcourt. After months and months of prep- aration, November 21 arrived and the whole team was ‘‘sky high’’ Pats. When the contest started, both teams showed first game jitters. But after a relatively sloppy first half had ended, we sported a five point edge. With the start of the third quarter we began to dominate our opponent. From there we coasted to our first win behind Ed Wayda’s 14 points. Scott Petway and Vince Edwards were also in double fig- ures for the Rams. With the sad experience of the Tur- key tournament over, it was time to turn our attention to the brutal Chicago Catholic League. Our first opponent | was St. Francis De Sales. We played an uninspired first half and found our- selves down at the midway point. After a few choice words at halftime by Coach Ociepka, things started to hap- pen late in the third quarter. An | amazing comeback followed and with 8 | seconds left in the game Scott Petway took a pass from Ray Egan at the freethrow line, and calmly hit a 15 footer to tie the game at 56. De Sales Powell goes over a Ridgewood defender. Petway takes his defensive stance to guard Ernest Hubbard of Proviso East, as Phelan Powell (No. 22) comes over to help. ee {hele —$ F called time out with two seconds left to set up a play. All hopes of a come- back victory ended when Dwayne Hunter unloaded a 35 foot bomb that hit nothing but net at the buzzer. The following day we played our sloppiest game of the season. In the Ed Wayda tears a board in heavy traffic. Battle of Addison Avenue we came out on top over Lane 61-40 despite com- mitting 46 turnovers. With a 4-2 record, we prepared for the league fa- vorite, De La Salle. When De La Salle entered the gym on the following Friday night, we all knew we had our hands full. Some costly turnovers sealed our fate, and Mike Williams connected on two free throws in the final minute to assure a Meteor triumph. With a league record of 0-2, we needed a win at St. Rita the following Friday night. Behind George Porter’s spectacular 28 points on 11 for 13 shooting and his 10 assists, Rita hand- ed us our third straight league loss. With a 4-4 record, we came home to face an always tough Westinghouse team the following night. That night proved to be our turnaround. We eased to a 19 point victory over the Warriors. With an impressive win against Men- del the preceeding week, we stormed the den of the Leo Lions. The follow- ing week we played three tough games. We started out the week by beating Loyola on a Tuesday night in overtime. Against Brother Rice, we 99