St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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found the range again, having to be content in the meantime with three successful free tries that gave them a 7-4 lead. In the second stanza, the Blues added slightly to their ad- vantage by dint of Bradshaw's three goals, although Charlie Hearn kept the Reds in the running with two swishes from the side that made the score 15-10. The Reds' luck failed to change in the second half and the best they could do was to keep the margin within respectable bounds until the final gong an- nounced a 26-18 triumph for the Bradshaw Blues. To earn his plaque, Hugh led both sides in scoring with 12 points, outscoring Hearn's 8 Red markers and the 5 tallies hung by his Blue mates, Brooks and Hilt Collupy, as well as the rival Kett. The 4 remaining Blue credits were the work of Bob Kelly, while the Reds closed their books with Ralph Donnelly's 4 and Dick Collupy's 1. The first round of tournament play found us opposing Rivers School on the floor of the Boston Garden in an afternoon contest that proved to be as thrilling as our first encounter with the same quintet earlier in the season. Stealing our usual thunder, the Chestnut Hill team scored on the opening tap to get away to a flying start and in short order they managed to extend their lead to 5-0. At that point, Brooksie dropped in a side set shot to start our offensive rolling, and Hilr Collupy followed with a lay-up after Frank Kett had worked a steal. For the rest of the quarter, close covering on both sides limited each team to one basket apiece, although Rivers was opportunist enough to convert free tries that gave them a 10-7 lead at the end of the stanza. When play was resumed, two quick goals on re- bounds by Frank Kett gave us the lead for the first time, and, although it was wrested from us for a brief moment, we had an 18-17 edge at half time, thanks to scores by Brooks and Collupy. To start the second half, the rival quintet duplicated its play on the open- ing tap of the game and the lanky Cronin deposited a register that put us behind again. Thereafter, the scoring in the third chapter was confined mostly to conversions of free tries and the fact that we added three single points to Kel's basket permitted us to come out of the chapter tied at 23-23. A fast break, with Bill Brooks tallying on the end of it, started off the final frame auspiciously enough for us, and by matching the enemy's success at free tries we were able to stagger through the greater part of the period in the lead. just before the automatic , how- ever, a hook shot by Walter Hewins gave Rivers a 29-28 margin until a conversion by Brooksie put us back on even terms. With the minutes ticking away, Hugh Bradshaw turned the tide in our favor by laying up a pass from Fish Collupy but Dermot Cronin equalized it to change the figures on the scoreboard to 31-31. Precisely fifteen seconds later, Hugh worked his way in under again to fluff in another goal that decided the fray for the Arrows. There still remained time for the Chestnut Hill team to threaten seriously, but, when a held ball resulted in a jump that Charlie Hearn tapped to Kel, the latter put on a beautiful freeze that killed the clock until the final buzzer sounded. The hard-won victory was most gratifying because it com- pensated for our defeat on Rivers' home court and, in addition, admitted us to the championship play-off the following Satur- day. In the computation of points, Brooks came out on top with 10, although he was hard pressed by Collupy's 9 which surpassed Bradshaw's 6 and the 4 apiece netted by Kelly and Kett. As opponents in the championship game, we drew a strong Browne and Nichols team that had won the right to meet us on the Garden court by defeating Middlesex School in the opening round. Realizing that the Arrows would have difficulty in breaking through the tall B8LN defense duo, the coaches had stressed set shooting and it was evident from the opening whistle that our success would depend on the effectiveness of that technique. After the left-handed johnson had put our rivals out in front with a quick basket, the Red and Black tried in vain to find an opening in the enemy zone and only after much handling did Frank Kett get away -I l29 1-

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hoop. With Kel handling the ball, Brooksie came in fast to take the pass and deposit it skillfully in the ring, giving us a 34-33 de- cision. Whatever the contest lacked in its opening stages it made up in the closing minutes, and we breathed a sigh of relief when the gong sounded. Besides winning the game for us, Brooks set the pace to register 14 points, Frank Kett hung up 10, while Bradshaw, Kelly, Hearn and Collupy finished in 4, 3, 2, 1 order. Our athletic relationship with Hopkins Country Day School of New Haven was extended to Basketball for the first time when they appeared on our cage floor to hand us a 41-15 defeat. Using a highly effective zone defense that proved tougher as the game went on, they capitalized on the play-making ability of their japanese defenseman, Nakaso, to overtake our 4-1 lead and remain in the saddle for the rest of the afternoon. Although Nakaso scored only 2 points himself, he con- sistently fed bullet passes to men that got free and during times out he traced the pattern of play on the dirt floor. The 6 points we registered in the first chapter was our best effort of the day and Frank Kett's 6 proved to be our best individual achieve- ment. Hilt Collupy and Charlie Hearn were responsible for 3 each, while Bill Brooks and Hugh Bradshaw had to be content with 2 and 1 respectively. The end of the season's long road was reached on Sunday, February 29th, when we opposed Our Lady's of Newton on the fioor of the Boston Arena as part of an all school- boy program. Hilt Collupy won the tap but travelling was called on Hugh Bradshaw's fine attempt and we lost possession. Shortly thereafter, Nally arched in a goal from quarter court, but Brooks matched it with a lay-up. Thus began a nip and tuck battle that found Our Lady's in front 10-8 at the quarter and 20-19 at the half. Offensively, Brooksie was our spark with five goals in the first two frames and defensively it was Hilt Collupy who took us out of danger time and time again by clearing our back- board. Almost as soon as the third period opened, Bradshaw sunk a free try to put us on even terms and, seconds later, Fish tapped in Hugh's rebound to put us out in front. There- after we were never headed, although our margin was slight enough to keep us anxious. When the third period ended, the electric scoreboard favored us 27-24 and in the final frame we gradually extended our lead until it reached 37-30 at game's end. One of the outstanding plays of the day occurred in the last chapter when Hilt Col- lupy roared down the floor on a break-away play, waiting artfully until the desperate rival guard had committed himself before passing to Bill Brooks who laid-up the tally. Three minutes before the contest ended, Hugh Bradshaw was banished for making the proper preparations to defend himself from a blow, and, when this technicality was called, St. Sebastian rooters felt that they had seen everything. In the emergency created by Hugh's absence, Tom Hartnett entered the fray and did a beautiful piece of relief work, teaming nicely with Charlie Hearn whose handling and passing was superb all day long. In the newspaper accounts next day, Brooksie's 16 was high, Fish's 9 second, Hearn's and Kelly's 4 third, while Kett and Bradshaw trailed with 2 apiece. After our triumph at the Arena, we were pleasantly surprised to be invited to partici- pate in the Class C bracket of the Private School Tournament together with Middlesex, Browne and Nichols and Rivers School. Since the tournament play was scheduled for March 9th and 13th, we were able to play off the inter-squad Red-Blue game in the meantime. Two Seniors, Hugh Bradshaw and Tom Hart- nett, were named the respective Blue and Red leaders, but, when the team lists were compiled, it was discovered that the prepon- derance of the Varsity strength was in the Blue ranks. Despite that fact, the traditional nip and tuck battle resulted with both sides covering very closely and anticipating the favorite techniques of each other. Bill Brooks put the Blues out in front with a basket set up by Hugh Bradshaw, but the first period was almost at an end before the same team -I 128 1-

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a shot from outside that swished through the strings to tie the score. Strangely enough, that was to be our sole achievement of the opening stanza, for we were not able to find the range again and we trailed 7-2 at the period's end. Bill Brooks brightened our prospects on the first offensive play of the second frame when he registered from the side, but the Cambridge lads were quick to get it back on Norbury's rebound tap. As play continued, the height advantage counted against us more and more and Browne and Nichols was able to rack up four more goals before the half, while our only solace was a Bradshaw lay-up and single point conversions by Collupy and Brooks. To make matters worse, a desperation shot by Nodbury, just before the buzzer, sent us off the floor on the wrong end of an 18-8 count. During the rest period, the coaches in- sisted that we were not breaking fast enough but instead were allowing the rival zone to form compactly before the ball was brought down. Despite attempts to capitalize on this advice, the third chapter proved little dif- ferent from the first two and our only chances to cheer came on widely separated baskets by Kett, one a set and the other a rebound, and on a successful free try by Hilt Collupy. In the meantime, B8cN increased its advan- tage slightly and the 24-13 score at the three- quarter way point seemed highly decisive. Consequent events, however, proved that the Arrows were still very much in the game. Starting slowly with the successful conversion of four foul shots, two each by Collupy and Brooks, St. Sebastian's refused to become dis- couraged, when these points were offset by baskets sunk by johnson and Allison. Work- ing with might and main to capture our rebounds, Fish was on deck to tap in two carom shots which, with the help of a single- ton by Kett, reduced our deficit to 29-22 as the automatic point was reached. From that point on, we applied more and more pressure. Bill Brooks suddenly caught fire and, after tapping in a rebound, he was so nettled by Norbury's quick duplicate of his own feat, -I 13 that he palmed off a long swish from the deep sideline that changed the scoreboard figures to 31-26. Next it was Charlie Hearn's turn to keep on the heat and he arched in a beauty practically from mid-court that served as inspiration for Hugh Bradshaw to match it with a side register that brought us within a 31-30 hair of the leaders. Time was rapidly running out and, when B8zN attempted to freeze, close pressing on our part drew fouls against us that our opponents prudently de- cided to take out instead of shooting. With seconds remaining to play, we made one last attempt at a quick-break pass the length of the court and, when the ball went out of bounds under the Cambridge hoop, posses- sion was awarded to our opponents under our basket. In the resulting confusion, a Blue rival, Riga, was left uncovered and it was an easy matter for him to drop in a goal that proved decisive. Still there was time for Bob Kelly to convert one free try to make it 53-51, and for us to wrestle desperately for possession of the ball under the enemy basket until the whistle sounded. Although our last period surge had just fallen short of success, it was a magnificent demonstra- tion of the never-say-die spirit that has always been characteristic of true champions. The eighteen points tallied by the Arrows in the final frame was their highest total in a single period for the whole season and it served as a fitting climax to the campaign of 1947-48. In the Sunday morning newspaper totals, Bill Brooks proved to be leading scorer once again with 9 points, although he barely nosed out Hilt Collupy's 8 and Fran Kett's 7. Hugh Bradshaw's swan song in an Arrow jersey yielded him 4 tallies to put him an octave higher than Charlie Hearnls farewell 2 and Bob Kelly's 1. In this fashion the most successful court season ever enjoyed by a Red and Black quintet was formally closed. With good reason the School is proud to herald their record of 13 victories and 9 defeats as one of the finest achievements that could be desired. Ol-