St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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FOUL SHOT LINEUP St. Sebastian's vs. St. Lawrence's on our home grounds. Kickham shooting. contend with the presence of a rival Winter Sport, hockey, which was just being organ- ized at St. Sebastian's. As a result, the basketball squad found itself under the con- joined supervision of both Mr. Murphy and Fr. Collins who ably filled in when the coach had to direct the efforts of the icemen. Under their guiding efforts the School's quintet made notable progress and lived up to the promise engendered by the start we had made as freshmen. In molding a team for the 1943-44 season, our new mentor had the benefit of the ex- perience gained by players like Captain George Baker and Ed Murphy in the pre- vious campaign. He also had the asset of new talent which arrived in the persons of Dick Tonner, Ed Courtney, Bill O'Leary, Dan Sullivan, Frank Dermody and Bill Cryan. Practice began in earnest scarcely two weeks after the curtain had been rung down on the gridiron season. With the presence of a new coach and the introduction of new talent, competition for starting berths was unusually keen. The probation period came to an end by mid-December, and then it was seen that the following lads had won the nod: Sullivan and Tonner, forwards, Captain Baker, center, and Bob Baker and O'Leary, guards. Their status as regulars, however, was steadily challenged by Murphy, Courtney and Dermody among others. The schedule which had been arranged for our 1943-44 team was an imposing one, and provided quite a contrast to the humble beginnings of two years before. At that time our opposition was confined to thc intermediate teams of local parishes, now we were to take on top-flight prep school teams

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HHN His Eminence, the late Cardinal WArchbishop, purchased the property of the Newton Country Day School, Saint Sebastian's became heir to a magnificent gym. While this gym might be more properly termed a cage, it lends itself quite naturally to basketball play. The court surface is of peat which becomes hard and level when wetted down and rolled. It was natural then that Saint Sebastian's second venture into the domain of Sport should be basketball. Coach Duffy called for candidates and the response was promising. There followed several weeks of arduous practice lightened occasionally by inter-squad matches. After the prospects had been surveyed the Faculty Director of Athletics decided that a limited competitive schedule could be attempted. Since most schools did not sponsor a fresh- man quintet we were necessarily limited to meeting the intermediate teams representing local parishes. We can hardly say that the results of these contests exceeded our expectations. It may be said, however, that we gave a creditable account of ourselves against the Presentation Club, Saint Columbkille's, Saint Lawrence's and the Blessed Sacrament five. Our regular representatives were George Baker and Dailey, forwards, Ed Murphy, center, Kick- ham and Donahue, guards. Uniforms were also worn by Bob Baker, Barry, Carroll, Collins, Eastwood and Glasheen. Dailey was probably the most experienced hoopster on the squad and he and George Baker took turns in pacing our scoring efforts. G 1 l S The supreme effort of our new team was made against Presentation in a return game. An earlier contest had seen us following a good neighbor policy and submitting to a 22-12 defeat. The second meeting, however, found us thirsting for revenge, which we satisfied by a 19-16 triumph. Kickham, moved to a forward post for the occasion, more than rewarded the confidence placed in him by emerging high scorer of the day. His efforts were efficiently supplemented by George Baker and Dailey who also were major factors in the win. Similar exhibitions of sharpshooting and team play falthough not always crowned with the same successl convinced us that our first year's efforts had been in the right direction and that in future years the court game would bring its share of glory to Saint Sebastian's. The second year of our scholastic and athletic history coincided with the most critical period of the rationing program. The school is entirely heated by oil and it was thought that the most appropriate con- tribution we could make to the conservation of the precious fluid was the closing of the gym-a measure that would save thousands of gallons. Consequently, we were called upon to forego the use of the gym and its facilities. Sensing that a game of much more vital importance was at stake our compliance was prompt and willing. Junior year restored the court game to the list of our activities. In this second year of its existence, however, it was called upon to

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that had long been recognized as powers in basketball. The season began auspiciously enough when we managed to nose out Browne and Nichols in our own gym by a 26-24 margin. The game was a see-saw tilt which saw us match the Cambridge lads basket for basket in the first half, and then pull out in front in the second, although we had all that we could do to stave off their whirlwind rally in the final minutes. Feeling ran high in that contest, and our victory was in no small measure due to the ability of George Baker to cover effectively the efforts of Adler, the visitors' star. Our next three court appearances put us on the wrong side of the ledger, and we were unable to purchase triumph because of an insufficient number of Red and Black points. Belmont Hill was the first opponent to clip our wings, giving us the same bitter pill that we had administered to Browne and Nichols -a two point defeat. Even in defeat, how- ever, our Dick Tonner was the stand-out of the day, registering five baskets and pressing the visitors all the Way until the final horn certified their 19-17 triumph. When we took the floor again it was at Southboro against the formidable St. Mark's aggre- gation and when the hurricane subsided we were on the short end of the 78-20 score. We were simply outclassed, for Bob Baker's seven points constituted our best individual effort. On the eighth of February we enter- tained Weston High and dropped a 28-21 decision that could easily have been re- versed and converted into a win for us. On that day it was Dan Sullivan who paced the scorers with eight rallies, although Bob Baker was right on his heels with seven. We made the acquaintance of victory twice in our next four starts, sailing over Rivers 22-16 and revenging ourselves on Belmont Hill 32-30. The defeats came at the hands of Weston High again, this time 34-12, and Cambridge School Cfrom the same townj 56-18. The Rivers encounter allowed Dan Sullivan to chalk up exactly half of our points, although Tonner's nine greatly sup- plemented Sull's efforts. In the return engagement against Belmont Hill it was Dick's turn to be head man with fourteen markers. The season closed March 14th when Rivers submerged us 33-18. There remained only the Red-Blue game to be played off and the intramural contest proved to be the closest of the year. Ed Courtney's Reds finally emerged a battle-scarred 29-28 victor, but Ed Murphy's Blues made it a battle all the way. Dan Sullivan and Dermody were the sharpshooters for the plaque winners, While Bob Baker's twelve and Murph's eight highlighted the losing cause. The final whistle of the Red-Blue meeting found the hoop game a sturdy member of the sports circle at St. Sebastian's. The second quintet to represent the School had found victory rather elusive, but it had carried our banners into notable combat. The third season of basketball activity at St. Sebastian's found the hoopmen forced to compete for popularity with a brilliant hockey sextet that was gaining new laurels weekly. It was natural, then, that most of the new athletic material in the School PARDON ME! Tonner, Collupy and Dermody stretch for a rebound