Saint Michaels College - Hilltop Yearbook (Colchester, VT)

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Frosh Basketball l FRESHMEN BASKETBALL Kneeling L-R.-Siroco, O'Connell, Kateley, Bogan, Catina. Standing-Flynn, Managerg Stapleton, Farley, Brunton, Duffy, Vrooman, Provost, Guter, Coach. FTER having had a successful football team the Frosh came up with an equally success- ful basketball squad. Under the watchful eye of Coach Steve Guter, the team improved with each game. Despite their lack of height they came through time and again against taller opponents, due mainly to the backboard play of their springy guards. Led by the slick ball-handling of jim Farley and the sharpshooting of Bob Kateley, Pete Meurer, jim Duffy and joe Brunton, the Frosh got ,off to a fast start and clinched the Vermont State Freshman Championship early. The initial game of the season was experimental all around as Coach Guter juggled his squad fre- quently, looking for a smooth-working combine. The Burlington YMHA made a good game of it but the Frosh outclassed them, 48-36. Apparently Steve found the right combination in the RIC game for the Squires ran away with it, 72-33. It was in this contest that Bob Kateley and Jim Farley established themselves as the stars of the team. In the next game they met a team that towered over them on the floor but not on the score. Burlington YMCA had some boys on the court who at times showed flashes of brilliance and in the opening quarter they looked as if they might give the Squires their first drubbing. However, they could not match the speed of Farley and Co. and were outscored, 67-46. The Vermont Kittens, who had beaten every- thing in sight up to this point in the season, fell prey to the classy SMC yearlings, 60-39. With an amazing passing attack and some excellent play under the baskets by Kateley, the Squires soon proved that they were not to be denied. Traveling to Middlebury, the Squires over- turned the applecart on that squad also. The boys in blue played a good, fast game but even so, they could not catch up to the Purple cagers.

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At Middlebury the Knights lost their scoring eyes entirely until, in the closing minutes, they went on a wild splurge and took over the lead. They were unable to hold it, however, and the Panthers scored a 55-52 upset victory. After a 39-37 overtime loss to Amherst the boys finally got back into the win column with a 57-28 win over Norwich. This win was easy but very ragged. Burzenski again topped the scorers with a high of 17. A confident and highly rated Clarkson squad was swept off its feet by a revitalized St. Michael's team, 60-34. From start to finish, the Purple made it evident that they were boss. Markey and Bur- zenski led the scoring with 15 and 13 points respectively. The Hawks of St. Anselm's flew in sporting an average of 75 points per game and a record blemished by but one defeat. Due to a 27-point evening by Teddy and a fine offensive and defen- sive game by Billy Hart, the Hawks flapped out minus a few pin feathers. Every man on the team turned in an excellent performance in this game. Final score, 63-49. Running up their highest score of the season and setting a new conference record, the Knights trampled Norwich, 85-52. They were never in any danger whatsoever in this contest as Burzenski and George Kruse found the range for 20 and 16 points respectively. A repeat performance of their victory over the Hawks of St. Anselm's proved that the first one was no fluke. The final score was 83-69. Bur- zenski, Markey and Hart scored 24, 18 and 17 with Hart's speed again being the deciding factor. In the New Hampshire game Big Teddy put on a one-man scoring exhibition to lead the Knights to a 78-61 win. Teddy wound up the game with a total of 50 points which he looped in from all angles. In the A.l.C. contest the Knights racked up a neat 55 points in the second half, setting a torrid pace that the Aces could not come close to matching. The hnal score read 78-61. A complete reversal of form caused the boys to drop a dull and ragged game to the Eagles of Boston College in the Beantown Arena. It was the big game of the year and a good crowd fol- lowed the squad to cheer them on but stayed to see them drop slowly behind and lose by a -14-36 score. Burzenski led the Knights' scoring efforts with a total of 10 points. After this loss the Knights came back to de- feat Middlebury, 55--123 Williams, 63-52, and Clarkson, 71-60, all in one week. With this siz- zling string of victories immediately preceding the Vermont game hopes for a win over the arch- rivals soared to a new high. There were no aches and pains hampering the squad as it took the court, they were in top condition, but through some strange quirk of fate they played one of their poorest shooting games of the season. They controlled the game almost from start to finish, constantly demonstrating their ability to crack the Vermont defense. But despite a multitude of chances, they were unable to find the hoop. Mean- while, Eddie Kotlarczyk, the Cats' mainstay, was going wild. He scored 19 points before being re- moved on fouls. Billy Hart had 14 points for the Knights but he could not win the game alone. Big Teddy Burzenski, who needed only 16 points to tie the Green Mountain conference record, was effectively tied up by Al Neimann. Thus a nip- and-tuck ball game was lost in the last quarter of play, 52-43.

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At the final whistle the Squires were leading by 20 points, 71-51, and were going away. On the 22nd of january the Squires met Bur- lington YMHA in a return game and that tall group of tossers really pressed the hilltop quintet this time. Throughout the game they stayed within striking distance and only a sudden rally in the last minute gave the Frosh a ten-point mar- gin, 67-57. Tangling with the Norwich Frosh in the prelim to the varsity game, the Purple yearlings saw the chance to run up a score and took ad- vantage of it. Witli the second string in most of the last half they still managed to rack up a 72-40 win. In their second encounter with Rutland junior College the Frosh concentrated on developing a passing attack and, although they could have scored at will they eased up on their outclassed opponents, beating them neatly, 61-23. Vermont junior College came within 23 points of victory as they fioored a hard-fighting, never- say-die squad. They were after the ball every minute of the game, but after the first quarter their heads were spinning so from the passing ofifensive of the Squires that they were never a threat. The final score, 71-48. In the big Norwich gym the Squires found room to move around and they ran the Soldiers ragged. In this game they played one of their finest defensive games of the season. They held Norwich to 24 points while they were finding the range for 71. Vermont C. had another go at the Squires on the 16th of February, but were even less suc- cessful than the previous time. The Purple tossers ran up their highest score of the season, 83 points, and right from the start they made VJC wish they had never walked onto the court. The first half of the game against Middlebury at Memorial Auditorium was a nip-and-tuck battle but then the Middlebury team cracked. They be- gan to shoot off balance, to let the ball go from mid-court and to throw more passes to the Squires than to their own men. Final score, 66-44. In a brilliant 75-53 defeat of the Vermont Kittens, the Squires wound up an undefeated season. Their fast style of play and their excel- lent passing attack wore Vermont into the boards early and they maintained control of the game throughout. Bob Kateley was the season's high scorer with 223 points, followed by Farley, the sparkplug of the team, with 124. These two boys and perhaps some of the others will see considerable action with the varsity next year. Their scoring punch will add strength to a strong club. l Y l