Southside High School - Southerner Yearbook (Fort Smith, AR)

Page 86 text:

' mm L K 3:64 V5 M - us' 4 31 ' Nm P- , su fx- r ff as ws- ' fb C .5 M I . ...Sf 5. 57 11 '-5 ' fe 9 '49 'A WvuanUl0 ' 'Unv-

Page 85 text:

'. l aw' .. .. . -X M Q.: .,-.1 Standing on their feet, the Rebel fans gave the team support in the back and forth Conway clash on February 1. The home game ended in a 53-52 Rebel victory. Miclseason downfall hurts Rebs side from further action. Then South- side was literally snowed under and could not travel to Conway for the AAA-West Conference opener. Springdale came to Southside and shocked the Rebels 75-74, the winning points coming on two freethrows by Gary Apon after regulation time had elapsed. It was the first conference clash for both teams. Joe Bob Wise came out hot and never cooled off, winding up with 40 points for the night. He is the first Rebel to reach the 40 point mark since Jim Hamilton, now a Southside assistant coach, who hit 40 and 49 points during the 1969-70 sea- son. Leaving conference action for a short while the Rebels took on crosstown rival Northside for the first time, January 17. Southside came out fired up and led 28- 22 at the half. The Grizzlies charged ahead in the third quarter and held on for a 56-53 decision. Kent Brown paced the Southside scoring attack with 30 points in the contest. Ozark again frightened the Rebels but Joe Bob Wise hit ajumpshot to put the Rebels on top at the buzzer 59-58. Wise came through again when needed, scoring the winning basket as Southside upset the defending state champion Conway Wampus Cats 53-52, February 1. Southside went on to defeat Rogers and Russellville in AAA-West action be- fore coming across the number one ranked Fayetteville Bulldogs, February 11. The Bulldogs had a 23-0 overall record and rested atop the AAA-West with a 4-0 league ledger. The Rebels stood 14-6 for the season and held second place in the league. Fayetteville took advantage of a cold Southside third quarter to down the Rebels 66-57. Southside led at the half but the Bulldogs outscored the Rebels 12-2 in the third period. The Springdale Bulldogs edged the Rebels 77-73, February 15, at Springdale. Four Southside players scored in double figures led by Joe Bob Wise's 21 points. The loss left Southside with a 14-8 over- all mark and dropped the Rebels to fourth place in the AAA-West. Fm real proud of our boys. Theyive played together real well, commented fcontinued on page 831 81

Page 87 text:

, 9. it ' A . gainst Conway. J :gh in the azr senior Kent Brown frightj lzttle later a time-out is called fbelowj nd new strategy is discussed. Apparently he plans paid offas the Rebels won a otly contested conference game, 53-52, opes fora good bounce and a lazy basket. Rebels end season with 17-'IO record Coach Bateman. '4We've improved with each game this season. That was one of our goals when the season startedf' Another crosstown battle faced the Rebs. This time, however, the results were better for Southside fans. The Rebels used a third quarter surge to knock off Northside 65-49. Joe Bob Wise rolled up 26 points followed closely by Mark Alexander with 22. Second-ranked and unbeaten Fayette- ville saw their perfect record almost blemished by the Rebels, February 22. The Bulldogs barely pulled out a 67-65 win. N Homecoming saw the Rebels wind up the regular season by downing the Rogers Mountaineers 60-50, February 25. The game was not as close as the score indicated, because Southside frequently substituted throughout the second half using all fifteen varsity players. Southside finished 16-9 for the season and 5-5 in AAA-West conference action. The Rebels finished fourth be- hind Fayetteville, Springdale, and Conway. The AAA state tournament was next in line for the Rebels. The event was held on the University of Central Arkansas campus in Conway, February 28-March 5. It's the event every team looks for- ward to all season, Coach Bateman commented before the tournament. You Want to reach your peak just before it begins. I think we've done just thatf' Southside stopped the Jacksonville Red Devils 79-66 in the opening round, February 28. Kent Brown and Joe Bob Wise led the attack with 28 and 27 points respectively. Quarter-final action, March 1, pitted the Rebels against third-ranked West Helena, winner of the AAA-East. The Cougars eliminated Southside 72-58, behind All-American James Crockett's 30-point outburst. Texarkana, AAA-Central champion, won the tournament by defeating West Helena in the finals. The Rebels ended the year at 17-10, averaging 62 points per game offensively while holding their opponents to 56 points per game defensively. Joe Bob Wise was the Rebels' leading scorer with 515 points for the year, an average of 19 points per game. Kent Brown was second with 412 points, 15 per game. Jim Edwards had Southside's top shooting percentage, hitting 55? of his shots. Wise tallied 49'ZJ. Wise shot 77? from the free throw line to lead that category while Edwards hit 71'Z,. Wise also led the Rebels in the re- bounding department with 189. Mark Alexander pulled down 177 and late- season starter David Lafoon had 153. 83