St Josephs Collegiate Institute - Star Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

Page 114 text:

fl' ' ii-K dans a iff +A x cp Y ,kr 'Nik J .55 Basketball T 21, . fam: F. 111- . oidz, Hehrr. A. Illig Kg: lgorigo, Krysinski F1 h b k t St joe's Neumann ' - Wh. Miller M' mn' A scramble under t e as e , . - - v ui-ray. BASKET Thanksgiving: turkey and basketball! Two weeks after the last football game, the athletic director had all shoulder pads, jerseys, etc. safely on their way to the cleaners and those leather spheres commonly called hasketballs all shined up and ready for the initial practice session. Under the critical eye of coach Frank Schi- avone, a record turnout of almost one hundred boys melted quickly to a squad of sixteen aspiring basketeers. At first appearance the task of defending the championship won last year did not look very promising. Only Captain Frank Illig, his brother Al, Dave Hoen, Harry Kerr and john Krysinski remained of last year's team and Captain Illig alone had been an important member of that winning combination. Mr. Schiavone appeared undaunted, however, and went about shaping the raw material of the team with the same quiet instruction and uncanny judgment that had brought two championships to the school in his three year tenure as coach. The schedule called for three games before Christmas, so the practice sessions were very long and very strenuous. Things finally did get under way on the twenty-third of December with St. Joe's journeying to Lackawanna to meet Our Lady of Victory. staunch supporters of the team did not think that we were capable of retaining the Bishop Burke Trophy and concerned themselves more with predicting how many games we might win rather than in what position we might finish the season. Thus with the qualifications of a b1ack- horse outfit the Maroon opened defense of the Western New York Catholic High School Basketball League Championship. sT. Joes-33 o. L. v.-zo Our Lady of Victory, always hard to beat on their own court, put up a stiff battle and at half- time the score showed the Saints ahead by only one point, 13-12. At this point, however, Al Illig entered the fray and dropped in nine points to spark a ral1y that put the game on ice. Bill Sullivan and Capt. Bucky Illig contributed eight and seven points, respectively, toward the win. ST. jOE'S-35 AQUINAS-22 The second game, a non-league contest, proved to be easier than expected. Highly-rated Canisius had been hard pressed to down the Flower City aggregation, 45-42, but a tight zone de- fense limited Aquinas to a minimum of points from the floor. Ahead by a basket at halftime, St. Joe's pulled away to a 13-point lead with the third quarter spurt again evident before the re- serves came in. Captain Illig was high with twelve points, while brother Al netted six. 2' ST. jOE'S-19 NEUMANN-30 The Neumann game was a repetition of the first two fracases with St. -1oe's enjoying a 22-13 advantage at halftime and a comfortable 33-16 lead when the reserves entered at the fourth quar- ter mark. It now became evident from experience, observation and reports, that Canisius, Holy Angels, and St. Francis of Athol Springs were the powers in the league and that most probably they Bill O'Connor 'N

Page 113 text:

raced 20 yards to pay dirt. The kick was wide as had been Aquinas, and the game was all even, but St. Joeis was on the march. Threatening throughout the third quarter, they finally came through when Illig passed to Measer on the vis- itors' 20. Lombard and Kerr pounded to the two and Bielman took it over. The coaches, the fans, but mostly the players, went wild with delight! ST. JOE'S-39 NICHOLS-6 The traditional clash with Nichols was hard fought, but a rout for the Maroon. Early in the contest John Bielman scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 15-yard slash off tackle. In the second quarter he went 40 yards through guard. The Saints shifted into high gear in the third stanza, tallying four times, when Kerr pulled down a Nichols aerial and sped 55 yards, Bucky Illig passed 50 yards to Bielman and 25 to Measer, and then running 55 yards off tackle to complete our scoring. Bielman plunged for one extra point and Lyons kicked two. Bob Cleary scored for Nichols late in the contest against our second team. ST. 1012's-39 AMHERST-0 The Maroon gridders completed their first un- defeated and untied season in over twenty years by crushing Amherst Central with great ease and precision. John Lombard ran 19 yards for a starter in the first period. In the second, Bucky Illig hit Dave Measer with 28 and 60 yard aerials for two more and right guard Al Illig intercepted a pass and went 20 yards to paydirt just before the half ended. Lombard ran the third quarter kickoff back 80 yards for a score and in the last quarter, Illig passed to right end Paul Warthling for the final six points. Thus ended a triumphant season, and thus ended the illustrious high school football careers of twelve seniors: Bucky Illig, Dave Measer, Ray Jacobi, John Bielman, Herb Mann, joe D'Amato, Earl Kumpf, James Haren, Ed Ketterer, David Hoen and co-captains, john Lyons and Harry Kerr. A ' . n 'mebsquad practice se ' ssion at Delaware Park. Bielmann gains behind good interference. ov '4 ' 'mnP' scrimmage line, St Joevs Amh ' ' ' CBT.

Page 115 text:

Illig snags 3 rebound- The St, 1065-Canisius game starts- BALL would hnish the season in that order. The team wondered where they would fit in while the highly excitable fans had already stopped guessing at how many games we would win and started talking about another champion- ship. ST. jOE'S-38 ST. MARY'S DEAF--20 Our fourth outing was an easy win, enjoyed at the expense of a weak St. lV1ary's quintet. Although the team was never in real trouble, flashy ball handling and sharp cutting forced the first stringers to play a de- fensive game throughout most of the first quarter. As the younger and less experienced five tired, however, St. Joels pulled away, holding a 22-11 advantage at halftime. The second team ran the lead to 33-15 before the third stringers entered, matching an opponent's five points with a like amount to clinch the game, 38-20. Al Illig again led the Saints with six baskets. ST. jOE'S-39 ST. MARY'S, FALLS-25 Win number five, marking the initial contest of our first major road trip which was to bring us into con- tact with Aquinas, Holy Angels and Canisius on rival courts, was another breeze. Seven men, led once more by A1 Illig with twelve points and Dave Hoen with ten, set up a 38 point barrage which proved too much for the Blue and White. sr. 1012's-19 AQUINAS-25 Round one of our trigonous week saw the Maroon five start slowly and never quite pick up enough momentum. Although the first quarter whistle blew with St. Joe trailing 7-3, a sustained bombardment of the Aquinas basket produced enough points to force a halftime tie at 11-all. But where there should have been a third quarter spurt, only two foul shots were advanced to match four baskets dropped in by the home-town boys. Spirited play during the last stanza served to leave us an additional two points in the hole and the final score stood at Aquinas: 25, St. joe's: 19. On the trip home, the bus reverberated with the much repeated figures: 11 out of 14 and 13 out of 16.', The first is the number of foul shots Aquinas made, second is the number we didn't make. ST. jOE'S-22 HOLY ANGELS-28 On the ropes and breathing hard, we were no match for a strong rival who were hepped up for the game. Early in the game it became apparent that the Blue and White were out for their first win over St. joe's in five years and that they were well prepared to exact the victory. Throwing in difficult long shots while the Saints were missing lay-ups and free throws, Holy Angels extended its two point half-time advantage to 21-15 late in the third quarter. From this time in, St. joe's manag- ed to match their opponents, basket for basket, but the six point deficit proved too large to over- Bill Sullivan U'