Rice High School - Edmundian Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 117 text:

THAT'S JOE MURPHY, above, sandwiched between two Power players-' all fighting for a rebound. Power, led by No. 25, a skyscraper too tall to stop, won this one 73-55. Murphy played his usual rough THIS ACTION CAME in the Power game also. Three Ricemen--Sullivan, Robinson and 0'Neil, above, go atler the elusive ball during some first half action. Rival coaches remarked that Rice had the most spirit of any team they had encountered. MORE FLOOR ACTION, below, this time against La Salle. Neil O'Neil and Pete Danois battle it out with two La Salle players in an action that resulted in a jump ball. La Salle took this one Sl-45. Later, playing one ot the best games of the season, Rice lost another closer one to La Salle, 7l-70. Irish pull some surprises JOE MURPHY lhalf-hiddenl and John Robinson tangle with St. Helena's for o rebound, at left. Moving in is Neil O'Neil l30l. The St. Helena team took this one 78-60, but talented John Robinson cost them 20 points in one of his best games. THE WHOLE TEAM gets into this scramble against St. Simon Stock. Below, Rodriquez and Danois are on the floor, Owen Leonard is bending over the pile while Tony Bonilla lrightl and Tony Giangrasso lleftl move in. Rice won 51-39.

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TWO JUNIOR MEMBERS of the Varsity squad, Rogelio Rodriguez and Pedro Danois, stretch their fingers over the ball before the Power game. Danois was a first-stringer this year. A terrific competitor, he should be one of the big names in the league next season. Tile Mount St. Michael game at the 69th Regiment Armory, which the Mount won, 64-40, brought the 57-58 season to a close. Although the Raiders dropped the maiority of their games C6 wins--T3 lossesD, they pulled some of the biggest upsets and near- upsets of the year by downing such power- houses as Manhattan Prep C71-69D and All Hallows Q91-90D and losing by narrow mar- gins to LaSalle C71-7Oj and Cardinal Hayes C59-575. Cther victories were scored over Dubois C5l-501 Cathedral C48-All D, St. Simon Stock C5l-391 and Xavier C7l-691 The small ten-member squad saw plenty of action all season long. The team had, in fact, what almost amounted to a ten-man first string. The three top players, pointwise and playwise, were John Robinson, Neil O'Neil and Joe Murphy. Their individual scoring records, as well as those of the others, are given elsewhere on these pages. Senior Joe Sullivan and classmates Tony Giangrasso saw action in every game and contributed many points and fancy plays. Juniors Pete Danois, Charlie Novak, Rogelio Rodriguez, Tony Bonilla, and Manny Torrado all had a good season and should be out- standing next year. Senior Owen Leonard's after-school iob forced him to drop basketball in mid-season. He was replaced by Joe Dechiaro who saw some action in the later games. ln their first year of play in the newly- organized CHSAA league, Rice did not antici- pate a winning season. The competition was simply too tough. They did succeed, through phenomenal upset victories, in becoming one of the most feared teams in the league. Much of the credit is due to the capable coaching and hard work of Mr. Sullivan whose fighting spirit made Rice the most hard fighting team in the league. Despite a losing season, Rice can be proud of the players themselves-the men who fought for the Green and Gold. AN AERIAL VIEW OF THE GAME-OPENING iump ball finds John Robinson tapping to Joe Murphy lNo. 36l. Rice upset the cadets from Xavier 71-69 in one of those last second thrillers that the Irish became famous for. Pete Danois is No. 32. Behind Xavier's No. 3 is Neil O'Neil and No. 28 is .lee Sullivan. The small ten-man squad saw plenty of liar ity lla ketlia RICE'S CAPABLE COACH, below, Mr. Arthur Sullivan, delivers some half- time pointers to his charges before they take the floor again against All Hallows. No. 27 is Tony Bonillap No. 29 is John Robinson. Inside them are Pete Danois and Owen Leonard. Mr. Sullivan has been the Rice coach for five years. A Doctor of Philosophy from Fordham Uni- versity, he teaches at St. .lohn's University. The upset victories his team scored this season have made him one of the most respected coaches in the league. action in all the games. Qi sf-

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HARD-FIGHTING IRISHMAN Joe Sullivan, at far left. In 13 games he scored 92 points. In left center, Owen Leonard, who played for Rice in the early part of the season. At near left, John Robin- son, season's top scorer with 272 points in only l5 games. JOE MURPHY'S 6'3 FRAME proves too small against the taller La Salle center, below. That's Robinson and Danois moving in for the expected tap. Murphy missed only one game, scored in 17 games with a high of 23 against All Hallows, He'lI play next year in zollege. T,-.. 5- Jen-.. Hr r NEIL O'NElL, above, another top scorer and play- maker, soars high between two St. Helena's players. Neil scored ten points in this game. He played and scored in every game with a season high of 26 against All Hollows. JUNIOR CHARLIE NOVAK at left, looks for a receiver as he attempts to pass off against La Salle. Novak, who was one of the best shots on the team, scored l4 points in this tilt. A sprained ankle kept him out of action for some games, but he scored 82 points in 9 games. He'll be tops next year.