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cSunday, February 14, 1965Centraiia (111.) Sentinelo; catfig! Kgthi ; thr. •. ;vr •, •!watoad!ie*bugrrNiepNotes{%By Bill KiepoettertaitinBy Bill NiepoetterBack in 1939 the Centraiia Orphans. then called the Redbirds, started the season with a freshman in the starting line-up. It was still the time of comparative low scoring by the records showman failed to hit in double figures only once, in the second game of the year against Tay-lorville when he banged home seven,As a junior Eddleman's best teams as j night w as 42 against Vandaliawhile he also totaled 32 against Springfield, 30 against Beards-town and 32 against Salem and Pinckneyville. His 969 points for the year was a national record and put Centraiia on the sports map.His senior year found Centraiia playing six less games than the previous season but he still totaled 834 points. Only Mt Vernon, with Charley Moore doing the guarding, held him under 10. His highs were 44 against Benton and 41 agamst Freeport.Other big nights were 38 against31 against Harris-. •34 against Patoka. His senior year saw Centraiia win its last state title During one stretch of games during his junior and senior seasons Eddleman was in double figures in 56 consecutive games.Centraiia's record during Eddleman’s reign was 136 wins and 27 losses A state championship was included and a third and fourth place finish at Champaign.Mt. Vernon apparently had the most success in stopping Eddleman. His total points against Mt Vernon were 8. 8. 5. 8, 18, 21. 19, 13. 6. 15 and 21.Eddleman’s records have withstood the test of time for a quarter of a century here and it is doubtful if anyone will ever surpass his marks No other player has ever hit 40 points or more four timesketecthiofthedecaBefore that season was over Centraiia was the talk of the state and Dwight Eddleman, thefreshman, was on his way tobecoming a state and national sports celebrity.The Redbirds started slowly and not until the first game of the Pontiac Holiday Tourney did Centraiia hit over 30 points in a game. When the tournament started A.L. Trout’s club had 4-5 record. When the season ended in March Centraiia had a fourth place at state and Eddleman owned the tournament scoring record with 24 points in oneleifobl17anposewiinpoaswiS.'0game.Four years later Eddleman finished his prep career with 2.702 points which inducted a record-shattering junior year of 969. He averaged 21 ppg his senior year and 17 3 for four seasons.Rut that’s getting ahead of this yarn.Eddleman’s feats are more amazing when one looks through his individual game totals. Twice in four years he was held to two points, once by Nashville as a freshman and by Fairbury as a sophomore. The 24 points he scored at state against Champaign was his season’s high.As a sophomore he banged home 571 points after his first year’s 326 total. Included were the two-point night against Fairbury and 8 and 7 against Sando-dcv;H4.SIsAval in games in which he played^ere. score as many points, hadVernonBI better season, played as manyonly a short time Mt. held him to eight and those! games, been on more victorious were the only games under 10 teams and it is doubtful if any-A
Newspaper Details
Centralia Sunday Sentinel
Centralia, Illinois, US
Sun, Feb 14, 1965
Page 5
Full Page
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USA 10 Sep 2018
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