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MT. VERNON CAGE FANS WERE RIGHT TO CHEERWas a Long Wait Since 1931 When Coach Howard Ross, Bruce Tyler, Howard Miller, Raleigh Hughey, Clint Fleener and the Hicks Brothers,Fred and Owen, Brought Home the Sectional Bacon.Mt. Vernon basketball fans had a right to celebrate last*weekend. They had such a long wait for the opportunity.* • * *In fact, it was exactly 18years ago, around the Idesof March, that this city sent .last high school team tothe state—until now, that Is.♦ * * *It was the late Howard Ross who coached that fine 1931 team through the tournaments and up to Champaign.Six boys shared the major burden in carrying Mt. Vernon through the district tournament and sectional to the “Sweet Sixteen”. They were Bruce Tyler, Clint Fleener, Howard Miller, Raleigh Hughey and the Hicks brothers, Owen and Fred. Substitutes rounding out the tourney squad were Edro Snider, Norval Marlow, Walter Purcell and BasilMyers.They breezed through the district meet, toppling Sandoval, Patoka and Iuka, then whipping Salem in a hard fought final battle, 23-19.Underdogs At BridgeportThe Mt. Vernon club, then variously called the Rossmen, the “Orange Flames” and the Orange and Black, didn’t rate a chance from the experts to win the sectional at Bridgeport.Everyone, except Coach Ross and his boys, though Lawi'ence-ville, one of the great teams of that area, was a cinch to represent southern Illinois at Champaign.Mt. Vernon kept upsetting the dope bucket, though, winning a close sectional opener over Shel-byville and surprising everyoneto romp over Mattoon, 36-18 togain the championship round.* * * *Lawreneevil! breezed into the finals easily, with such great stars as the Weger brothers and Seaggs, a small but speedy guard, showing the way.Fans of those days remember1that the Lawreneevill folks, be-lieveing that their boys had thelchampionship game in the bag. arived at the Bridgeport gym before the title game with a huge horseshoe-shaped floral offering for their team.They figured it would be a nicegesture to present it to their Champaign-bound boys after the game.But Coach Ross and his team had different ideas.Great Championship GameThat championship battle was a honey, with the Orange Flames of Mt. Vernon providing the fireworks. The Rossmen jumped into a 10-2 quarter lead, Lawrenecville, great team that it was, bounced back in the second period to narrow the margin Id 12-6 at the half and out scored Mt. Vernon again in the third period, which ended 14-10.Mt. Vernon spurted in the final period to win going away, 21-12.The following week the Mt. Vernon squad headed for Champaign, accompanied by Head Coach Ross, Assistant; John Hall and F. F. Stables, coach of the1920 State champs.# * * • -In the first game of the tournament they were defeated by Harrison Tech of Chicago, 44-33. The firstquarter told the story, as the Chicagoans sailed into a 20-5 lead. Score at halftime • was 29-11 and at the threequarters 39-19.* ♦ * *A rousing rally in the fourth period by Mt. Vernon fell ten points short. In that last frenzied quarter. Bruce Tyler scored six points in one two-minute stretch.He wound up with 23 points,setting an ail-time scoring recordfor one state tournament game which stood for several years.Here’s how the Mt. Vernon boys scored in the “Sweet Sixteen” game:MT. VERNON (33)FG FT PF TPFleener, F, .......... 2 0 3 4O. Hlkks, F 10 2 2F. Hicks. F 10 12Tyler, C 11 1 2 23Marlow, G. ......... 0 0 0 0Miller, G............. 0 12 1Hughey, G. ........... 0 1 2 1
Newspaper Details
Mt Vernon Register News
Mt Vernon, Illinois, US
Mon, Mar 14, 1949
Page 5
Full Page
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Anonymous
KY, USA 11 May 2020
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