St Albans School - Albanian Yearbook (Washington, DC)

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70 THE 1940 ALBANIAN Front row, l. fo r.: Hannon, LeFevre, Schoenfeld. Hare, Terry. Second row. l. to r.: Chcwning. Crawford, H. B, Davidson, Bundy, Holmes, Trimble. Back row, l. to r.: Mr. Bassin, Luebben, Payne, Mr. VVagner. Basketball DEIKEK SCHOENFELD, Capfaiaz MR. A. XVAGNER T CARL LUEBBEN, Manager MR. BASSIN HIS winter St. Albans experienced its most successful basketball sea- son in four years. Although the team suffered eight defeats as against six victories, it lost two games by the narrow margin of two points. This improvement was due to the return of Captain Derek Schoenfeldg of Hannon, high scorer of last year's team, and of Hare, Holmes, and Terry. LeFevre, a newcomer, proved a valuable asset to the team by capably handling one of the vacant guard positions. Three of the Blues' most coveted victories were those over Boys' Latin, Gilman, and St. James. ln the Boys' Latin contest, the Saints played an aggressive game to win 23-17. ln the second period, the Blues scored eight points while holding their opponents to one, in the last half the Latinists rallied but could not overcome their host's lead. Hannon was high scorer with nine points. ln the second victory, the Albanites gained revenge for many previous defeats when they swamped Gilman 28-10 on the loser's court. During the second quarter, the Blues rolled up fourteen consecutive points for

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ST. ALBANS SCHOOL 69 ponents and avenged the 1-1 tie of the opening game. The result was never in doubt, St. Albans tallied twice in the first ten minutes. In the other two games of the season, the Blues trounced St. James 3-0 and 4-0. Only twice in the first game did St. James make serious threats to score. The more serious occurred when a forward dribbled within three feet of the Blue goal before Alexander snatched the ball from danger. Only by the quick action of the opposing fullbacks were the Blues prevented from making several more scores in the first half. In a return game, played on their own field, the Blues again out- passed and outdribbled a decidedly weaker opponent, and despite cold weather and pouring rain, they scored four goals and shut out their rivals. All the substitutes were used, and many showed much promise. This year,s team has undoubtedly been one of the best soccer teams to represent the School. It was strong in every department, and with the exception of the second Friends game, it never stopped playing the hardest and best soccer it could. Wingmen Trible, Cooper, and Sunday passed accurately to centermen Denit, Manger, and Dick Myers. Be- hind them the strong combination of Piggott, Cochrane, and Walker kept the ball in enemy territory. Captain Philip and Cousins aided goalie Alexander in many spectacular saves. Next year, with seven veteran lettermen graduated, Mr. Smith will have to build a new team. However, during the past season, many of the substitutes showed signs of developing into good players. Although St. Albans won fairly easily this year, Landon and Friends have been im- proving and promise to give the Blues a real battle next season. Landon .... . . tied Georgetown Prep tied Sidwell Friends won, Landon ..., won, Georgetown Prep won, St. James . , . won, Sidwell Friends won, St. James . . . won,

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ST. ALBANS SCHOOL 71 a comfortable lead. The reserves played the last half and increased the lead slightly. The most thrilling game of the year was the finale played at Hagers- town against St. James. St. Albans assumed a small lead at the beginning, but the home team, led by six-foot-three Stewart, cut the Blue advan- tage to one point at the half. With three minutes to play, St. James forged ahead and gained a five-point lead. Then the Albanites came to life and quickly scored three points. With but forty seconds remaining, LeFevre scored the tying basket, but missed a foul-shot attempt. During the tense extra period, the Blues scored five points to their opponents' two. The extra period, incidentally, was the third in four years between the two teams. The three hardest-fought battles were those with St. Paul's, Landon, and Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Although all three were lost, the Blues played their best basketball of the season before succumbing after fierce struggles. Their opponents were highly favored in each of the contests. Against St. Paul's, winner of twenty-seven out of twenty-eight games, St. Albans lost 29-22 to probably the best high school team in Baltimore. That the Blues were fighting against their celebrated opponents is shown by the fact that at the end of the first quarter St. Paul's led only 9-8. Although the eventual winners held a 17-11 lead at half-time, the team surprised their hosts by tying the score at 22-22 with three minutes to play. However, the superior height of the Baltimoreans enabled them to pull away and win. The Landon game proved to be another bitter struggle. The two teams were tied until the last two min- utes of the first half, when two succes- sive baskets gave Landon a 12-8 lead. A second-half rally gave the Saints a 16-14 advantage, but two baskets by Baker from mid-floor provided the winning margin for Landon. Terry and Hannon shared honors for St. Albans, while Amussen and Baker led for Landon. Not at all disheartened by this bitter defeat, the Saints played an excellent game against Bethesda-Chevy Chase. Sinking their long shots consistently for the only time during the entire season, the St. Albans players pressed their fa- vored opponents throughout the game. At the crucial moment, however, when Bethesda led 37-34 with three minutes 1 left, Hannon was carried from the floor l S