Laney College - Oak Log Yearbook (Oakland, CA)

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Santa Rosa's Bear Cubs were the next to feel the bite of the 'Birds, as they were downed 57-43 on the Merritt court. Ed fStorkl Donahue potted 23, and spring-legged Hawkins, 14-to lead the host team. Perhaps the turning point of the season came in the '4Thundering', Birds' third league encounter. Oakland played host to a strong City College of San Francisco five. The T-Birds needed this must game and they got it in a most dramatic finish. Down 44-40 with but 1:10 left, the 'Birds came on strong behind playmaker Wayne Ol- son's intercepted pass-scoring play, Buss Wickwirc's two clutch free throws tying the score, and Joe ,lohnson's jumping set shot with only six seconds left. Needless to say, pandemonium reigned and the score read Oakland 46 . . . City College 44. A tougher than expected College of San Mateo Bulldogs opposed the Oaklanders next. Once again behind the 23 points of Hawkins and some spirited fan support finclud- ing the now famous, explosive bass druml the high flying T-Birds were victorious 61-51 at the 'Dogs gym. The big one was next. The rivalry with West Contra Costa has grown since 1954. Both the 1957 T-Bird-Comet contests did nothing but substantiate the feeling of the schools toward each other. Shades of the S.F. 49'ers were visible in the visiting Oaklanders, 52-51 victory in the first encounter between the two. Once again the clutch performances of Olson, Johnson and especially Wick- wire led the way. Wick's free throws with twenty seconds remaining turned the tide in Oakland's favor, and left them all alone in first place. Trainer Ken Coleman flefti and Coach Bill Rockwell fright! cast smiles toward their 24-4 season record. Stocktonis Mustangs invaded the compact gym of Oak- land next, only to be corraled by a 63-49 count. Minus the services of forward Wickwire, who managed to obtain the mumps, the Blue and Gold Baskcteers headed for Sacramento to do battle with the Panthers of the capitol city. Despite the officiating, the visitors came out on top, 54-39. A return engagement with Modesto proved just as dis- astrous to the Pirates as the first meeting. The host team scored 73 to the hapless Pirates' 36. HRock cleared his bench and played Hank Wellington, Fran Friedman, and Don fTech. foulj Melen most of the game. The ten-man squad which finished the season are fl-ri! : Rufus Hawkins, guard, Wayne Olson, guardg Don Melen, forward, Steve Riggins, center, Russ Wi4'kw'ire, forwardg Ed Donahue, forwardg Joe Johnson, centerg Fran Friedman, forwardg Bob Laird, forwardg Hank Wellington, guardg Paul Waar, manager. Coach Rockwell and Trainer Coleman are kneeling.

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Ed. Duffy of Compton's Sporting Goods present' Rufu ll k' 'l h , ,. s s 'au 'ms wit 1 t e Most Valuable Player trophy. T-Birch Win Seconcz' lace In State IC Belrleetbczll Tourney By Stu Smith Climaxing the greatest athletie season in Oli' historv the Thunderbirds of Oakland ,lunioriCo11ege eapturedia second place in the State ,l.C. basketball championships held in Bakersheld in March. losinff out g to l.ong Beach City College in the final game. ln the opening round of play the T -Birds met the Eastern Confer ence champions, Orange Coast ,Ill ., and dumped the over-ranked Orangemen by a 76-57 count. The game was a rout from the beginning as six Oakland players hit for douhle ff' igures. ,loe Johnson and Rufus Hawkins were high for the game as both tallied l-L College of Sequoias, who broke a tournament record I Y . . . . . my scoring 104 points ln their first game also felt the sti ff ,, . f , ,. ng of the Thunderbirds as they were stopped cold, 59-50. The invaluable Hawkins with 18. and Bob Laird with 15 left the Blue and Colders' offense. All-tournament team mem- bers lineup after final championship game. They are Ray McCarty, Sequoiasg ,lim Stephans, Comptong Wayne Olson, Oakland: Bob Berry. Long Beach: and Dave Jones. Long Beach. li ..4fvl.vne.!.'?i2eHna-V'l The final championship frame w , . ga , 'as one to be remem- bc l l ' :ret . as tie weary l'-Birds collided with th- . 1, veteran- loaded bong Beach five. Oakland jumped off to a quick 20-9 lead, but dog-tired from tourney play, they were speedily overtaken. When llawkins fouled out with five minutes left it was a fin al blow and the Big lfiight champs bowed, 57-47. Consolation honors went to the 'Birds as Wrayne Olson, play-making guard, was named to the All-Tournament team. Olson was also voted as the most valuable player h. to is team by the tourney committee. League Action Combine the best defensive 1021111 in the nation, and the winners of the Big Eight Basketball conference with a 14-0 record. and you have the aggregation that proudly represented Oakland Junior College l ' ' , . g , 1 urlng the 1957-58 season. Success was the keynote for the Jcltes all season long from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. Opening the season against the strong San .lose JC live, Oakland had to go into an overtime period to down the eventual Coast Conference champs, 58-53. Next on the list were the Santa Clara lfrosh. The visit- ing T-Birds dropped a listless -l-6-41 decision to the Bronco team. Another defeat came at the hands of the 'Qloadedn Saint lVlary's Frosh, 64-50. This Gaelet team was heralded by most experts as the best Frosh team in the nation. Practice wins numbers 2. 3. and 4 were gained over East Contra Costa's Vikings 67--19, Vallcjo's Redskins 53-39, and Napais Chiefs as they also fell by the wayside 62-39. The Colden Valley Conference ehamps College of M- . 1 . .N , arm administered the last loss for OJC until the final game of the Bakersfield Tournament, 58-40. The Thunderbirds arrived in the Southland intent on capturing the San Bernardino lnvitational Tournament. Last year they took a second plaeeflosing out to Wlodcsto in the final game. 51-47. This time the 'Birds ran rough- shod over Chaffey 65-45, San Bernardino 60-52, and River- side 64-48 to take all honors and first place. One more warm-up game before league play started found the T-Birds knocking over the Naval Air Station Hellcats 59-51 at the Air Base court. Arriving on the Modesto .lC campus, the Thunderbirds left an impression to be remembered as they completely overwhelmed the Pirates 78-41. Coach Rockwell cleared his bench in an effort to keep the score down.

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1 Spirited cheerleaders Yvonne Smith, Nina Susana Doug Garrison, and ,lim Kreihel produced noise and enthusiasm. The Roekmen went Bear Cuh hunting in Santa Rosa and carrie hack with the hides they wanted, 74-47. ,loe ,lohnson's 22 tallies led the onslaught. Another big one against the CCSF Hams saw the 'Birds out on top 55-51. However it looked had for the East Bayers until the arrival of the tradition-earrving liass drum, pictured on page 55. The booming sounds of the dflllll, which lieeanie known all over the league. pieked up the T-Birds and pushed them to victory. Four of the Oakland starters hit for double figures. Hawkins led the Captain Wfayne Olson accepts his team trophy from smiling Bill Rockwell at the liar-ketlrall Award Uinnt r way with l8. Another rout was on the agenda for the 'I'-Birds as they found the scrappy San filateo Bulldogs no match and muzzled them T8-51. The st-oring was evenly distributed with Ed fStork1 Donahue getting l6 points and 15 re- bounds. Revenge was on the mind of the VQVCC Comets as they visited the Nlerritt Gym in an effort to derail the unde- feated express of the Blue and Colders. The surprising play ol' lioh Laird and Steve Higgins. plus the usual good George Spowart presents the First Plat-e Trophy to the team for is inning the l95T San Bernardino Invitational Tournament in December. E 1 1 K '11 X Q, Qjv V V' :ig , 1 J t 5 f an 3' F1 P 11 , t tl s , V '-7, ..,- XYIP3 v 1,s .1 si'