St Sebastians School - Arrow Yearbook (Newton, MA)

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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-

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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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BASKETBALL SUMMARY - 1947-48 Coach-VINCENT C. MURPHY Assistant Coacb - ROBERT HOGARTY Captain - HILTON COLLUPY '49 Managers--JAMES MALONE '48 and PARK HURLEY '49 SCHEDULE St. Seb. Opp Nov. 28 Sacred Heart of Newton . . . ...- 50 21 Dec. 5 St. Clement's ................... .... 2 6 24 12 Boston College High School ....... .... 2 9 31 19 Immaculate Conception QReverej .... .... 3 4 19 23 Sacred Heart of Newton .......... .... 4 3 20 jan. 8 Christopher Columbus .... .... .... 2 9 25 14 Middlesex School ...... .... 3 2 24 16 Rivers School ........... .... 3 8 39 20 South Kingstown, R. I. . . . . . . . 15 23 28 Newman Prep ....... .... 2 6 55 Feb. 2 Middlesex School .... .... 4 2 35 6 Lawrence Academy . . . .... 34 54 7 St. Mark's .............. .... 4 1 25 9 Walpole High School .... .... 3 7 36 11 Thayer Academy ......... ..,. 3 3 43 13 Our Lady's of Newton . .. .... 40 45 16 New Prep .......,....... .... 4 4 34 18 St. Charles of Waltham ........ .... 3 4 33 21 Hopkins Country Day School . . . .... 15 41 29 Our Ladyis of Newton ...... .... 3 7 30 March 9 Rivers School ................................ 33 31 13 Browne 8: Nichols ........................,... 31 33 Blues fHugh Bradshaw, Captainl 26, Reds QTom Hartnett, Captain, 18 AWARDS JACKETS LETTERS Hugh Bradshaw Charles Hearn William Brooks Francis Kett William Carey Hilton Collupy Thomas Hartnett Robert Kelly Andrew McAuliffe Joseph Shea James Malone Park Hurley LEADING SCORERS Brooks Bradshaw Kett Kelly Hearn Collupy Carey -ll 3 171 124 1 14 108 75 67 30 ll-