Leavenworth High School - Tech Liber Yearbook (Waterbury, CT)

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BASKETBALL

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VARSITY FOOTBALL This yeor's football team compiled a better record than any previous football team representing Leavenworth. The first four games were victories for the Techites, but then Wilby broke the spell. The Tracy men followed up with a tie and a win over Middletown and Naugatuck, but then the other inter-city rival, Crosby, pulled the upset of the season by winning l8 to 7 before a record crowd of l2,000 on Thanksgiving day. The team defeated such power-laden teams as Manchester H2-Ol, Commercial H3-73 and tied the all-powerful Middletown team C6-67, thus gaining the number three rating of Class B teams in the state according to the Waskowitz Trophy Ratings, Players named to All-City Team: Players named to All-Valley Team: Nick LaRusso Fullback Nick LaRusso Fullback Steve Perrone Quarterback Paul lannaccone Center Paul lannaccone Center Hank Rinaldi Tackle FOOTBALL ROSTER L.E. Bart Daly-Best pass-receiver on team and made many tackles. Al Caputo-Showed improvement throughout season and will star next year. L.T Frank Passerelli-The big man of the squad who cracked jokes during the time-out. L.G. Art Barstis-Next year's captain and a fine leader on the line. C, Paul lannaccone-Shifted from backfield and proved to be the out- standing defensive man. He was an All-City and All-Valley selection. RC. Ace Bernabe-Good lineman, excelled in Middletown game. L.T Hank Rinaldi--Made the All-Valley Team and opened and closed holes in the line when the occasion arrived. R.E. Buck Titor-Played good ball in Naugy game and will be back next year. QB. Steve Perrone--Quarter-backed the team for three years and in his senior year was an All-City selection. L.H,B. Joe Masotta-Played a great game for Tech all season until injured in Crosby game. He is a hard tackler. R.l-l.B. Ed Bowman-Made his best gains in the Crosby, Wilby and Middletown games. FB. Nick LaRusso-There is no need to repeat his Herculean deeds. We all hope he succeeds at Boston University. 1 LE., -1 Also Seen in Action Were: l-l.B. and FB.-Joe Mancini-A shifty back who made many first downs with another power, that of plunging. H.B. Don Martinelli-Showed to advantage at halfback and will be back next year. C. Rocco Nardiello-A capable replacement who played a brilliant game at Middletown. T. Charley Micalizzi-Played good ball under the lights and against Crosby, Leavenworth Football Scores Score Opponent Score Leavenworth I2 Manchester O fnightl Leavenworth I3 Commercial 7 lnightl Leavenworth 7 Hamden 2 Leavenworth 7 Weaver 6 Leavenworth 6 Wilby i2 Leavenworth i9 Naugatuck l 3 Leavenworth 6 Middletown 6 Leavenworth 7 Crosby l 8 Totals 77 64

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VARSITY BASKETBALL Basketball hit an all time high in Leavenworth this year with the team reaching the finals in the C.l.A.C. tournament and then bringing Waterbury its first New England Championship by winning three games in as many nights in the Boston Garden. The team also brought the Brass City its first Valley League title in seventeen years. At the start of the season the Tracymen won twelve games before being defeated in the second overtime game with Naugatuck, However, the team gained its revenge for this defeat by beating the borough combine KNO OVERTIMEI in the semi-finals of the C.l.A.C. tournament. Entering the Connecticut lnterscholastic Athletic Conference tourna- ment with a record of sixteen wins and two defeats, the Tech quintet was victorious over Windham High 57 to 34, Hartford Public 48 to 45, Naugatuck 47 to 43, but lost to Hillhouse of New Haven in the final contest 43 to 30. Leavenworth entered the New England tournament as the dark-horse and promptly downed the Rhode Island State champs from Westerly 40 to 39, while the Connecticut State champs, Hillhouse, were defeated in their opening game by Portsmouth of New Hampshire, 32 to 28. The next night, again in the Boston Garden, ortsmouth was the victim of Leavenworth by a 32 to 29 score. Saturday night, March 28th, was a History making night as far as Waterbury is concerned because on this night Leavenworth defeated the Massachusetts State Champion, Durfee, from Fall River, 5l to 44. Before this game Durfee had a victory streak of 22 games. It was the first time in the twenty-two year history of the New England tournament that a Waterbury team had won. lt also marked the fourteenth time out of a possible twenty-two times that the Nutmeg state has won this title. Leovenworth's Line-up JIM PIERSALL - L.F.-Jimmy was the outstanding scorer on the squad. In ten Valley League games he scored 99 points and in the other games on the regular schedule he cut the meshes for l3O more points. In the C.l.A.C. tournament he came through with 64 points in four contests and in the New England's he threw in 56 in three, including- his record breaking 29 against Durfee in the final game. He was named to the All-City, All-Valley, All-State and All-New England teams. ln conclusion I would like to quote ci line from a Durfee paper, Pierce all, with Piersall . JOHN MESSUP - R.F.-Though Johnny wasn't the team's high scorer, he was the third ranking Valley League scorer with II6 points. He finished the season with a 9.6 average per game and his work under the boards was invaluable. ln the New England tournament it was Johnny's last minute hoop that won the Westerly game and his fouls that put the Portsmouth game on ice . He also played brilliantly in the Durfee game. AL DOSTALER - C-Al felt a little out of place on the team at the beginning of the season, as he was the only one of the first five that didn't 'start' in l946. He ranked third in the scoring department of the team and was ninth in the Valley League with 77 points. He played his best games with Tech's arch-rival, Naugatuck, and in the New England tourna- ment. His highest scoring efforts were against Hamden's zone defense. BERNIE SHERWILL- RC.-Bernie was a great little play-maker for the team, but didn't receive the credit he deserves. He was outstanding in the two post season tournaments with his work off the backboards and in setting-up plays for his team-mates. Though small in stature, Bernie did a man-sized job all through the season and richly deserved the All-City selection. He also did his share of the scoring, making more than lOO points this season.