Shell Lake High School - Lakonian Yearbook (Shell Lake, WI)

Page 39 text:

0lfl,l l'lal'l'l2l'l t Lille Thub athub thub a thub 900 hearts beat heavuly ln unlson whsle l8OO hands, clammy with sweat were wrung together an anxlety The Lakers here In the middle of tournament play were up to their old trucks agaln The prevnous evening they had patrons gaspung for breath as they squeaked by Birchwood an the opening round 3l 29 Now they were ln the second round with Mmong and again lt was the same old story A certain Mr Kremer hotter than desert sands was tossmg Mmong baskets with abandon and making lnfe IH gen eral miserable for coach Ellls Axon s boys Yet dlsplaylng the tenaclty whlch marked their drave to the conference tltle the Lakers overcame the torrld shooting of Mr Kremer and forged ahead as the game drew to a close The packed gym was electruc wxth tensuon whnch periodically burst forth In thunderlng vocal eruptnons The Lakers were ln command by four points and try :ng to retaxn possesslon of the ball for the remalmng few seconds Hearts which had beaten heavll were sent to throbbing luke kettledrums when this same hot shoot mg Mmong guard got his mltts on the sphere and let The crowd, as one was on nts feet shrnekmg luke mad The perfectly arched shot parted the net medlately a chorus of moans and groans rose up from Shell Lake supporters Up nn the corner the score board flashed Shell Lake 36 Mmong 34 The clock showed a couple of seconds remammg Shell Lake threw It In from out of bounds the buzzer sounded and the Blugolds were In the finals Hopes soared for a successful tntle defense a tltle earned the preceding season at the expense of the locals arch rlval Cameron s Comets lt goes wxthout saynng that the Blugolds pitted once more against Cameron at Cameron came from behmd a seven point, fnrst quarter defnclt to ellmnnate the Comets In convnncmg fashnon 27 23 The thlrd tournament crown In the school s has tory was safely tucked away Coach Axons Cm derella cagers had come through A tournament won by a total of eight points The fans had their thrulls the Lakers a trophy Though the finals were held at Cameron this year the Chamber of Commerce Harry our janitor, the band and numerous other committees patched In and supplled the Shell Lake subdlstrlct with all the color musnc and other accommodatlons needed nn this yearly cage spectacle

Page 38 text:

Ucforioud unior arfiifg Whulc the Blugolds varslty once agaln roamed the champuon shlp hlghroad the Junlor Varsnty decuded to submlt to the trtle craze and sample llttle of the same They dad so In no uncertaun terms Thelr record reads eleven wnns one loss ln carvlng out vuctorues over Mxnong Clear Lake Spooner Turtle Lake and Cameron on a home and away basls and over Clayton on one occasnon they rolled up 287 polnts to thelr opponents 223 Many of these lads wall move up the ladder to the ranks of the varsity ln making thas transutlon thctr ablllty galned under regular game condutnons nn B team ball wall form the bulwark of strong qumtets Clgetif , .lI'l'l0l l 0ll! if Ctfdlf There exists an old axlom IH basketball which says good players start young The game today fast and complex affords llttle opportunlty for late begnnners Mudget basketball tor elghth graders on down ands the younger set ln gumpxng lnto the basket ball swum Tnus season s won l lost 6 record was not too Impressive from a wln loss standpolnt But these asplrnng young gentlemen were late ln cormng Graduation to hugh school level had left nts scars The healung run Its course Then they became adjusted to each others play and began to click They were cast ln the role of the underdogs In the annual Cumberland Mldget tourney Nonetheless the Blu gold midgets bowled over Cameron 33 to 8 nn the first game then battled a hlghly touted Cumberland aggregation tooth and nall be tore bowing 23 l8 an the tltle battle These lads are all comets and bear watching N 7 0 o ' ' ' ' process did not take place until the regular schedule had nearly 34

Page 40 text:

CL QI' galil .CJ-l lfl5f Esgm The Lakers grrdlron champlonshrp won In l945 was srgnlfucant un the fact that nt was more than just a league tntle It represented the dawnnng of a new era rn Shell Lake athletic fortunes the trtle drought had ended and the Blugolds were on the threshold of athletuc success For an the three years to follow the Lakers were to capture fave basketball trtles two tournament and three conference whsle during the same period annex l5 football vrctorues out of 23 games played over the th ee year span What has preczprtated thus ram of success? No doubt there are a number of contrnbutvng fac tors Better than average maternal flne playing faculutres and coachnng all have played a role When It comes to the very dlfflcult task of coach :ng the two gentlemen pnctured above have earned tcp brllnng They are the mam cogs nn thus school s athletlc machine lt has been thenr gurdnng hand at the helm of the Lakers whsch has steered them to vrctory after victory Athletes aren t the only students recexvzng tutoring OO from these two men Both have to sngnal time out from duties of the sports world to engage an class room nn structuon Mr Hartwug wlth classes rn scuence physucs and chemistry Mr Axon wnth English and hnstory Both are natnve sons of Shell Lake thenr lnves also parallel an two other respects They are graduates of the same college Superior State Mr Axon nn 38 Mr Hart wng rn 41 Lnkewnse each served a term nn the Unrted States Navy as an officer for the duration of the war Perhaps their coachmg ablllty ns no better rllus trated than durnng the past basketball season Mr Axon wrought somethnng of a coaching mnracle as he drove hrs supposed punchless Lakers to loop and tournament tutles Not to be outdone Mr Hartwug drrected the Junior Varsrty to eleven wnns agaunst one lone defeat an un precedented record an B team competutnon for thus school The current wrnnrng ways of the younger lads adds a rosy hue to Shell Lake s cage future Thus school IS nndeed fortunate ln havrng athletlc Instructors the calibre of these two men Under their capable mentoring and barrxng the unforeseen the ban ner years In local sports should contlnue unabated On the fuelds of frrendly strufe are sown the seeds that In later years and on other fuelds wall bear the fruuts of victory General Douglas MacArthur dlg s s s ,Q - -n i lli , -Qi , 1 QQ ' 531. l 2 V1 ,rss-' ax gulf' - .- 'Q' tg ' 4 f 4 I Q -uh' QAN l f 59. 'hm' -3 X v s .ul J L . P . A A ' ,3 A I . 2 . I . . . I 1 ' , I . , , , . . 1 - , . . , . , , , , , I - l I . 1 ' 1 . . . - . o o 11 - . . - 7 . . . . H- I ' O S I I t . 11 . 'Bl ' !:. ' -A Q 36