The Morgan School - Tower Yearbook (Clinton, CT)

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Z The basketball team this year brought to Morgan its third Shore Line championship in four years. This year's team holds the distinction of being the second of Morgan to go through a season without a loss in Shore Line competition. The iunior varsity also went through the Conference without a loss, the twin suc- cess making a first in Morgan history. When the boys turned out for practice in the fall, there were eight lettermen from last year's third place team and four of those were from the 1949 S. L. Champions and state finalists. The prospects were indeed quite bright. They started off by winning the first four games, even though hampered by minor iniuries and sickness. The most pleasant of those was the 67-20 defeat of Essex on their home floor to avenge the costly twin losses the year before. During Christmas vacation, the boys lost in a non-league game at Ellsworth. Returning to top form for the game that counted, they topped Saybrook, the de- fending champions. They continued their torrid pace through the Shore Line, sandwiching in a rough loss to St. Mary's in New Haven. The crucial test came two games later when Morgan played Saybrook on Saybrook's home floor. The boys were up for the game and showed that they had the stuff of which champions are mode in winning. Between the regular season and the state tourna- ment the team played host to the Melrose, Mass. team and were defeated in a hard-fought struggle. A home-and-home series with the Massachusetts team had been inaugurated the year before with the visit- ing players staying overnight at the homes of the home team. When the ratings came out for the Class S tourna- ment, Morgan was rated the best of the Connecticut small schools. They won their first game with Housa- tonic. In the next encounter, they met Bloomfield and were defeated by the underdogs in a hard-luck game. This was the second major upset which the victors had made. Anyone who saw the second half of that game would not for a minute suggest that the boys and their coaches did not deserve their hard- won laurels. They fought and played in the tradi- tional Morgan spirit to overcome a seemingly unsur- mountable half-time lead of Bloomfield only to lose in the final minutes. Citizens, merchants and groups in Clinton showed their appreciation by making it possible for the boys to receive sweaters and an overnight trip to New York. They were also feted at two banquets and awarded several trophies. The boys who received letters for this season's play were: Don Heser, Harold Wright, Ed McKinlay, John Johnson, seniors, Ben Brown, Otto Finkeldey, Bob Woodstock, .lim Eastland, Bill Haag, Louis Avery, iuniors, and Fred Gerl, freshman. Richard Wilcox was the manager. SCORES Morgan Alumni 41 Morgan 61 Old Lyme Morgan Griswold 43 Morgan 50 St. Mary's Morgan Old Lyme 27 Morgan 51 Essex Morgan Essex 20 Morgan 52 Saybrook Morgan Ellsworth 58 MOFQGH 62 MO0dUS Morgan Saybrook 39 Morgan 81 Durham Morgan Maadug 33 MOYQCIFI 50 GUilfOl'd Morgan Durham 21 Morgan 56 MGdiSOt'I Morgan Guilford 37 State Tournament: Morgan Madlson 32 Morgan 44 .. Regional Morgan 36 . Bloomfield

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