Watseka High School - Watchekee Yearbook (Watseka, IL)

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scored exactly twice as many field goals. On December 14, Watseka's old rivals, Sheldon, came to try and discourage the four game winning streak. Watseka disappointed them by beating them 57-45. McAnarney was high point man of both teams. The Warriors, sophomore, Frank Schaumburg, did an admirable job rebounding and shooting. The team took an easy win from Gilman on December 18. The Warriors' veteran center, McAnarney broke the school scoring record with a 40 point total. Frank Schaumburg was second with 11 points. During Christmas vacation the Warriors played Central and were beaten 56-48. In the Holiday Tournament at Rantoul, Watseka was dumped out of play by a 65-52 defeat at the hands of Saybrook. McAnarney and Hynd were high point men with 25 and 12 respectively. On January 8, 1954, the Warriors played Rantoul. The Rantoul team had most of its starting 5 back so the night was a little hard on VVatseka. The VVatseka team stayed close but in the final minute could not quite catch the Eagles. The Warriors tried hard but were beaten by a 53-47 score. That removed us from first place and put us in second. McAnarney was high man with 27 points for the night. Watseka played Hoopeston on january 15. The Warriors had a bad night. They played hard but lost 55-46. McAnarney had 25 points and the next high was Parkinson with 10. The game was hard fought from the beginning to the end. The next evening VVatseka was host to Onarga Military. The team played good ball and the scoring was well distributed. McAnarney with 20, Purkalitis with 12, and Bob Williams a sophomore had 11. The game ended in Watseka's favor, 59-41. That game broke a four game losing streak. Every player got in the game. On Ianuary 22 the Warriors played Cissna Park at Watseka. The game was hotly contested from the beginning. The Warriors pushed ahead and won 45-39. On january 25 the NVarriors entered the Iroquois County Tournament of 1954. They played Onarga High and won 50-42. McAnarney, Crice, Porter Martin scored 17, 7, 5 points respectively. This placed Watseka in a good position for the finals. The Warriors played Onarga Military on Thursday after beating Onarga High. The team came from 34-29 with 75 seconds to go to win 35-34. Parkinson, the Warriors' captain made four straight free throws. That made the 33-34. Then with about 2 seconds to go Parkinson fouled. The gun went off indicating the end of the game, but Onarga Military had 2 free throws and a chance to win. The Onarga Military guard missed both shots and Watseka won. This placed them in the semi-finals. The Warriors maneuvered themselves into a 10 point lead at the half. They played good hard basketball. With Frank Schaumburg, a sophomore, playing in his first county tournament, the fellow put in 13 points. McAnarney got 12, Parkinson got 10 and Bob Williams, another sophomore, in his first tournament got 8. The team pushed their lead to 53-33 by the time the final gun sounded. The boys really looked good. The next night was Saturday, January 30. They were entitled to play for the championship of Iroquois County. They played Buckley-Loda, their old rivals that Watseka won the tournament from in 1952-53. The game opened and Phil Grice broke fast and scored. From there on the Warriors were never passed up. By the time the gun sounded we were 5 points ahead and at the end of the game Watseka was leading 53-43. They played good basketball. McAnarney, Frank Schaumburg, Captain Parkinson, Bob Williams, Barry Hynd, and Philip Crice alternating, won the game. Frank came through with 22 rebounds and 15 points. He got almost as many rebounds as the whole Buckley-Loda squad put together, and McAnarney, high scoring senior center for the Warriors got 25 tallies. The whole team felt that if it had not been for every individual player, that they would not have gotten the second County Championship in a row. Good luck team of 1954-55. Letis bring the Horseshoe and the first place trophy home to Watseka again next year. 54

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1954 Eaalzeldell Seadan We They They Urbana .... . . . 42 46 Cissna Park . . 39 Hoopeston . . . . . 44 43 Onarga ......... . . . 42 Paxton ............. 58 47 Onarga Military 34 Onarga Military .... 56 33 Cissna Park ........ 33 Gibson ............ 45 41 Buckley-Loda ....... 43 Sheldon . . . . . 57 45 Pontiac . . . . . . 49 Gilman .... . . . 81 52 Paxton . . . 49 Central ..... . . . 48 56 Milford .... 29 Saybrook .... . . . 52 65 Gibson . . 41 Hantoul ....... . . . 47 53 St. Anne . . . 42 Hoopeston ......... 46 56 Rantoul .... 74 Onarga Military .... 59 41 The Watseka Warriors suffered a 46-42 defeat at the hands of Urbana in the first basketball game of the ,53-,54 season. The game, a very close and hotly contested game throughout, was the first showing of the Watseka team. Starting for Watseka were Hynd and Eastburr-1 as forwards, Captain Parkinson and Sorenson at guards and McAnarney leading scorer of the Warriors for two seasons at center. McAnarney was high scorer for the Warriors with 23 points. Ralph, a senior came in later and scored 7 points for the next high man. The Watseka High School basketball team played Hoopeston in the first Wauseca Conference game on December 1. The Warriors edged the Cornjerkers 44-43. The VVarriors led through the contest up to aboubril minutes left to play. Hoopeston tied it up, but the Warriors pulled through on two free throws by Ralph. The Watseka team center, Mick McAnarney, led thefteagn points with 18. Paul Sorenson had 11 and probably would have gotten mor ' points if he had not fouled out. Paxton was host of Watseka on the formerls floor. The Warriors took an early lead and held on to it during the complete contest. Barry Hynd and Paul Sorenson had 13 and 11 points respectively. When the final gun sounded the Warriors were leading 58-47. This game was their second XVauseca League.win in a row. The Warriors played Gibson on their home court in the third game of the Wauseca Conference. When the contest ended we were leading 45-41. The Warriors center, Mick McAnarney led the home team with 23 points. We gained a lead early and held it quite satisfactorily. They caught up in the second stanza but that was all. The following night after beating Gibson, the Warriors traveled -to Onarga to play Onarga Military for the fourth game of the Wauseca Conference. The Warriors gained an early lead and held it. VVhen the final buzzer sounded they were ahead 56-33. McAnarney scored 16 points, Sorenson 9, and Hynd 8. Watseka 53

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1954