Reading Memorial High School - Pioneer Yearbook (Reading, MA)

Page 31 text:

Reading H igh School - - - Class of 1937 BASKETBALL Front row: Richard Merrill. John Devaney. Roy Dole. Rack row: Leslie Gilman, (manager), Henry Skane, George Radulski, Theodore Haselton, Mr. Althoff. had won the League Championship. This has certainly been rated as the best season ever to be had at our school. Some of the typical sights of the season were the sen¬ sational dashes and spectacular shots by “Bud Merrill in collaboration with Skane’s trick faking; the intricate plays developed by Radulski at pivot with Merrill and Skane as forwards; the clever guarding by led Hasel¬ ton and “Tige” Devaney varied by Ted ' s long shots from the middle of the floor and “TigeV fast dashes through the opponents ' defense, and last but not least Roy Dole ' s right-hand corner shots. Donald Burhoe 37 BASKETBALL CHATTER Our amiable captain, “Tiger ' sure brought his team along the a enue of real first class basketball, eventual!) annexing the Middlesex League title. Howling fans tagged a peerle» name on the team—- none other than the “Flying (Quintuplets. What a moniker! Did they look like a bunch of babies? During basketball season. “Bones’ Skane kept warm on cold and raw days In breaking out in a new suit of “long undies (red at that». By the way Hank, how is the green grass on the corner of Bancroft and Middlesex Avenue? “Ted Haselton, our huge and snappy guard, fell before the blonde charms of a certain pretty “lassie from the Highlands. We must not forget Roy Doles famv shots from the floor that converted a loss into a win. Roy played good ball all the year and tame through nicely in the pinches. Our tall, blonde, captain-elect, Fran Ihornton i sure a lady’s man. He possesses that certain something which makes a woman’s heart pop after she takes her first look at him. W hat is it, Frannie? “Bud Merrill, high scoring star of the team, has got his eye on a certain war in the farway sticks of Martin ' s Rond. Or is it “Waugh, Bud; seemingly 1 can t remember, so you will have to let us in on the secret. Dick Pierce, the tallest man on the team, during the course of a game, found time to catch up on some of the sleep that he had missed the night liefore. Coach Althoff bought oranges for the squad, and after the half was over, the players dashed down to the locker room only to find that the oranges had disappear¬ ed. The solution to the case of missing oranges can easily be solved by asking the respective managers namely Gilman and Madden. Bert Legg, diminutive captain of the second team, was noted as being the wild man of the squad. Bert was heard to reply after a foul had been called on him for hipping a big fellow, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. Ask “Bones” how the new play was created. Prob¬ ably he won ' t tell you, but 1 will. It seems that the “Love Bug’ had bitten Bones ' to such an extent that he was in a fog all the day. A play was started. Bones cut the wrong way, shot, and made a basket, still being in the fog. This error of his resulted in creating a new play called the “double ring which proved to be a big w inning factor during the season. 1 clone with the fondest memories of a wonderful and successful season. 1 hope that next year and the years to come our school will produce another team and win another championship such as “Tige and his “boys did. Lawrence O’Brien ’37

Page 30 text:

Reading High School Class o F 19 3 7 BASKETBALL Perhaps the outstanding sports achievement of the past year produced by the High School is the Middlesex League Championship Basketball Team, commonly known as the “Flying Quintuplets” or Five Star “Fina¬ lists.” Although each player was a star in his own po¬ sition, the players showed no unnecessary individualism when co-operation was needed. In short, the successful season was a result of what is commonly known as team¬ work. Coach Althoff devoted much of his time into developing this teamwork, and as a combination of in¬ dividual stars co-operating as parts of a well oiled ma¬ chine, the fellows were able to score almost a point a minute in eleven consecutive victories and in the ten league games to tally 322 points to 179 for their op¬ ponents. Three members of the team finished in the first ten in the league’s individual scoring with “Bud” Merrill topping them all with 111 points, George Radulski placing sixth with 61 points and “Bones” Skane tenth with 43. The three greatest threats of the season were Reading’s ancient rivals: Belmont, Lexington, and Wake¬ field. In the season’s opener our team captured a close victory from the fast Alumni team. Our team showed that it had power and speed enough to campaign through the schedule with a lot of power. Score 32 to 27. Punchard met with a suffering defeat as “Tige” and his boys hit their stride and won by a lopsided score of 61 to 12. In a well matched game against Lexington our team kept up the pace and knocked off the “Minute Boys” by the score of 24 to 18. The team was clicking well by this time, so the five went down to Stoneham and gave the opponents a mere drubbing of 40 to 10. Wakefield, as our guests, threw a scare into the team, but again pitting their forces the fellows won by a score of 28 to 18. The team traveled over to Winchester and knocked ’em from wall to wall and walked away with the score of 40 to 15. So far our team had not suffered a defeat, and the highly rated Belmont team came to engage in a game of skill and wits. “Bud Merrill’s dashes and quick shots featured in the win for R. H. S. This game proved to be the turning point of the season, and the team had its eye on capturing the league title. Score 36 to 12. In a return match with Stoneham the local boys kept on their relentless pace to conquer the competing team by a 35 to 14 score. The second game with Winchester proved to be a tough one, but still our boys came through with a win of 29 to 23. The Alumni figuring to break the win streak of the team met defeat in a fast, close game by a score of 31 to 25. The second game with Lexington was the one that decided the League Championship and also proved to be one of the most thrilling games of the season. This game was unusual because Lexington was the first team to get a lead over Reading since the season began, and this gave the team a set-back. The first two periods saw Lexington get a lead of 8 to 6, to which they added on in the third period a 12 to 7 advantage. About the middle of the third period it became evident that Cap¬ tain Devaney was worried about the score, when he sank a long shot from the side, and then a few plays later he dashed down the floor and quickly tossed the ball into the basket which with a foul shot by Merrill tied the score. Aroused by their doughty captain’s re¬ markable burst of speed, the rest of the boys started goin’ to town with Radulski pouring 6 points through the hoop while Skane threw in four more. Merrill add¬ ed the four final points on fouls, while Ted Haselton stretched his huge form in front of Lexington’s big threat and wouldn’t let him get a shot. Score 27 to 14. After winning the championship, the team kept the slate clean by defeating Wakefield despite a riot and two overtime periods. Ted Haselton’s decision shot and Roy Dole’s winning points featured in this historical battle. Score 31 to 27. In the final game of the season our team went to Belmont for a last glorious battle to defeat B. H. S. to the tune of 32-28. After completing an undefeated season, Reading consequently became a candidate with Natick for the famous Tech Tourney where eight teams fight it out to decide the eastern state champs. The game with Natick was played on neutral grounds at Watertown. Both teams played excellent defensive games, but Natick slightly outplayed Reading on the offensive and defeated us by a close score of 12-11. This yegr was the first time in ten years that R. H. S.

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Reading High School Class o F 19 3 7 FOOTBA LL—1936 Front row: Roy White, Earle Van Horn, Earl Delong, Edson King, Henry Perkins, George Radulski, Coach Batchelder, John Eisenhaure, Theodore Haselton, James Lawler, Francis Thornton, Robert Skane, John Devaney. Second row: Walter Doucette, John Donovan, Clarence Meuse, Henry Phillips, Kenneth Spellman, Arthur Beaudoin, Donald Burhoe, Nelson Burbank, William Davis. Back row: Russell Gavin, Lloyd Chisholm, Albert Dinsmore. Gilbert McQuesten, Richard Stratton, Robert Wakeling, Ralph Pomeroy, Lester Dobbins, John Beaudoin, Spencer Robbins, Ralph Keating, Arthur Rees, Wilfred White. BASEBALL—1937 Front row: Frank Dinsmore, Donald White, Stewart Ferriera, Richard Austin, Francis Brennan, Lawrence Winn, Cleveland Blaisdell. Second row: Austin Bennett, Gordon Hill, James Lawler, Theodore Haselton, George Radulski, John Devaney, Brendon Hoyt, George Madden, Raymond Doane. Back row: Coach Batchelder, Alfred Burbine, Donald Miller, Henry Perkins, Philip Wakeling, Albert Dinsmore, Ralph Keating, Leslie Gilman.