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I4THE REGISTER NEWSMT VERNON, ILLINOIS*MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1951..........RamsLoseThriller To ,WinOnFromRocks*ImmSECOND STIRRING OF TOURNEY TOPIRAMS - ROCK ISLAND , .tMWM®Mt, V«rnon lt;T1 Rock Island lt;?0»r« Ft Tn Fa Ft t»y-C'S'StIII* ,4I IROCK ISLAND FOR THIRD1IgSPORTING DAZEJOHN HACMWAY0 0 0T1 ?14■all*Relaxed Vernois Squad Trails by 7 Points With 3? 2Minutes to Ploy—Captain Joe Johnson SparksAttack in 71 to 70 Triumph,1College BasketballsIt was iuckvmaybe Hebron—tRams saved the j their young livessong.Tremendous wiCji*tinswanNATIONAL C ATHOLICTOURNEYN.B.A. StandingsBy Assocmted Pr**sSI NO HI 1 LTSK wCoach Stan n, *•a*strtAdt i tu'u tor Sat* Z!ham-1- tak-eat a’0. for64'***New YorkSt.shipFr*■ t **INATIONAL A M TOl RN F\ntaIIJ! €*~SStu.T41Fi(c*18 6t\mhin * *—** *,Force Ml»v4 AMin(Minnseries, Syn i S v r a 2-1).•a pol is 1 polls 1-0).sion i 1-1). Indianapolis ; best-of-thst-71ise vvS4. Philadelphia 73 is best-of-three series11 ionS VITRO 4\ SPhiladelphia 1CKRF SI LTSracS95, ■-urday night in Huff gyi paign as they staged a : mg finish to overhaul fine Rock Island team third place in the state tourney.As a result, the Rams brought home a fine trophy to show theirhundreds of admirers and had the — — -satisfaction of knowing they nad . f ,^,/4 ... .. ... .MT. VERNON BEATSbattle to the great Quincy five.The consolation game—the pre-lim to the Hebron-Quincy finale of the 1952 Sweet Sixteen—was a bar- j rel of fun for the Rams.Only a few hours before they j were crving as the* left the U. of Illinois gym floor after their stirring fourth quarter rally failed, bv a whisker, of upsetting favored Quincy.Mt Vernon fans, who stayed on Saturday night to cheer the Rams on in their effort for third place, j soon found that the youngsters have the faculty of bouncing back..The game was 30 seconds olo j when Jim Stokes hit on a 20-footer.: Captain Joe Johnson patted him j »n the shoulder and Jim and Joe itood for a moment and grinned i# each otherThe tremendous state tournament pressure was off and the Rams, relaxed and ea-s, were off and running in their final game together as one of Mt, Vernon’s great prep teams.Rock Island, a fine team which some considered to be the best in the tournament, had a great night too but the Rams seemed destined to win. Smiling and patting each other on the back all the way, the Rams took an 18-11 lead at the quarter and were on top at the half 34-33.In the third period Coach Chang-; non sent in his second five and they fared well with the Rock Island club. The Ram first team reentered the game with five and one halt minutes left in the last quarter and Mt. Vernon trailing 59-60.They had a tough time getting going again and Rock Island built; up a 70-63 lead with three and one-half minutes left. jThat’s when the Rams sung their •wan song the championship way.Don McCann rebounded one in, |Mose Stokes counted a couple offree throws and McCann hit a 15 foot jump shot. That made the •core 70-69, Rock Island leading, and only 45 seconds of the game leftThe 45th annual showdown for the Illinois prep basketball crown became history about 10:30 lastSaturday night• # *The lights of1Huff gymnasium were cut off on another classic of the Sweet Sixteen and the echoes of three*furious days of cheering, crying, running, shooting — and praying —were stilled . . , The guys with the whistles had finished their Job . . . ’Die guys w ho scribble therecords of Illinois state tournaments of past and future were ready to go to work . . ,Just as baseball fans of the nation rehash the thrills of WorldSeries battles for months after thefinal out, Illinos cage followers left Champaign on Saturday night or Sunday morning with enough 1952 round-ball memories to spark many an interesting conversation . . .* t * *We heard several fans, who had been on hand from first to last, remark: “Gosh, this has been a long tourney. Seems like I’ve been here two weeks at least ... Itsaid one by-championshipnutty so noisily,”stander after the game . . .Well, some day when VVoodlawnWaltonville. Bluford or Dahlgrenwins a state title, their people willhave a perfect right to go nutty for awhile . , , Arid, if they’ll let us, we’ll go nutty with ’em****** * *• *Sporting Daze never brags Much . . . But, since we always hear about it when we guess wrong, we now get cocky and refer all doubting Thomases to last Friday’s paper . . . (Look around, it’s in the house somewhere . . ,Maybe !n that basket over there under those potato peelings . , . It ya’ can’t find it. give us a ring and well trot one out to thehouse , . .)In the column of Friday — written Thursday night after we had seen all teams in the first roundwe picked the remaining seven games on the button . . , For that, we should win the golden pot or some other fitting memento w aich we might treasure in ouradvancing years We«• •were criticized uponre-turning home for picking Quincy over Mt. Vernon . . . We seriouslyCLOSE AND ALMOST—Mt. Vernon’s Rams, battle-tested as No.*4lt;basketballteam flt;Stokes, liams, Ar. *■Front, L-KDon MI:iann.rt Avant, Don; Captain Joe Johnson, Mose Stokes, Mak Mannen, Jim :ilt; k. L-R: Jerry®Tom Kryger, Roger Kdmison, Jerry Wharf in, Coach Stan Changnon. (Pavledes Photo)Mattcon Drops M-O-V Franchise-S3ADECATLTuciated Fr*111.. Mar[ Afterj MissisLeasetD\*• *\Iidt11 were1at hevON BLUE DEVILS BROUGHT THE CROWDS UPseemed longer than usual to us,too . . . We can think of no logicalreason for this unless it would be the barrage of close ball games . . . One battle after another hang-ing in balance in the final minutes or seconds, of play ... And friends, as you well know, you can live a long time in a few minutes in thoseclose ones ... 1* • • •What were the top thrills of the 52 tourney ? Everyone will have his or her own answer to that one . . . For Mt. Vernon fans, thevictory over Pinekneyvillc and thesensational last-quarter comeback which almost sidelined the big Quincy team will probably be the long-remembered moments . , . The amazing Rams gave the crowds a thrill-per-session , . .Tal king Changnondoubt tl it the Rams in Champaign saw a Regia ter-News beforeSaturday’s game . . . Even if they did, we are even more certain thatour guess on the outcome meantlittle or nothing to them in their determination to win . . . We tried to pick the games the way w«honestly thought they'd go — nothow we hoped they’d go .It all simmers down to the fact that in a column like this you write as close to the truth as you can ami nearly always lose friends. Or you fudge on the facts andwin friendships galore . . . We likefriends but dislike balderdash(crap) even more ... All of whichmakes for a trying situation• * * #* ** «lt;* # #VY-idsU -Jiedto £iseason.Theto leagman ofleague• utram je pr Beilmee ttaoTil■ 1 areMat toon u said Hoffm Decatur,ext ftI L4.1o*•1d•Tack Davis of Pinckneyville falls backwards and is about tohit the court after retrieving a rehound in quarter-final game ofIllinois State high school basketball, IitakftChampaign, 111.tourney (March 21) at Teammate Warren Talley (23) is at left. Mt. \ernon players are Mose Stokes (second from left)McCann (behind Davis). Mt. Vernon won, 55 to 51..N I f |XV t. iHai-Leading 45 to 35 with sevenminutes to plav, the Quincy BlueDevils apparently felt victory wasassured over the Mt. Vernon Ramsin last Saturday’s semifinal.The big Quincy club launched a stall. It was almost fatal to the favored Devilsand gave Mt. Vernon its chance to stage the mostthrilling comeback fight ofthe *52 Sweet Sixteen finals.Quincy left its pattern of play and started a stall.The Blue Devils managed to hold the bail for about one minute, | then Mt. Vernon got possession:The final Associated Press prep fxill before the tourney had 'emranked (1) Hebron, (2) Quincy,(3) Mt. Vernon . . . We wrote in a with Coach Stanley column last week that we ‘‘weren’tyesterday after the I in love with the AF poll, but itteam had been welcomed home j has almost made a believer out ofwith a parade and gathering of us . . .tans at the gym. we came away | That 1-2-3 finish above is another example of what we meantwith the idea that Stan's pride in 'and Don(AP Wi rephoto)asure I Young a j Other ; cennes, j cities, Mt. V 1 ville and Pae.i€*a.LIncit*iv e II». *\nDan-*Rock Island went into a stall but Jim Stokes stole the bull and drove in to score the winning basket with 25 seconds left. The Rams came off the boards with a rebound and controlled the ball until the final gun.It was a rousing finish and a fitting climax to a great season for the 1952 Rams.Amazing was the fact that the Rams had beaten a team which had the hottest shooting night ofany team in the entire tournament. The Rocks shot .517 from the field and the Rams were not far behind, with a .455 average.The Rams hit their best free throw average of the tournament at. the same time, 11 out of 16 chances.Joe Johnson was high point man, with 17. Jim Stokes had 15, brother Mose 15, Don McCann 8 and Mak Mannen 7.Sophomore Albert Avant contributed six points to the Mt. Vernon total in the brief time the second team saw action.1■MlPeoria WinsAAU Tourney8y Associated PressDENVER, March 24 — Champion Peoria and the three other top teafris in the 45th National AAU Basketball Tournament headed today for Olympic tryouts inNew York City and Kansas City this week.The Illinois Caterpillar Diesels: bagged their first AAU championship Saturday night by surprisingthe favored Bartlesville, Okla.. Phillips 66’ers, 66-53, in the tourney finals.When the smoke of battle had cleared, Quincy was the winnerBut not before the Rams had rallied to take the lead twice and forced the Devils to come from behind as the crowd roared in one of the tourney’s most exciting final minutes.Paced by the rebounding of Charles Fast, Bruce Brothers and)! -Jack Gower, the big Quincy club i “ iiU s * had held a lead over the Rams j K * most of the way.The Devils were in front 14-12 at the quarter and 30-26 at the halftime break. After three stanzas it w^as 42-35 with the Quincy attack picking up momentum.and went to work.Mo**e dropped a one-hunder from the side. Thompsona free pitch for Quiney. butMcCann hit from 25 feet.With the press on, Mannenstole the hall and scored. Jim Stokes oopped in a 20-footer*Mannen got a drive-in when Joe Johnson swiped a pass.Johnson and Thompson swapped free throw's, but the Rams forged ahead with 2H minutes left on McCann’s jump shot from theside.With txth teams pressing, the lead changed hands twice on free throw* exchanges. Mt. Vernon wasi withhis *d2 squad went mighty deep . . . Great Mt. Vernon teams havescored some great victories in pastseasons ... It must be fairly ad-imi 11 edeven at this late datethat when the ‘52 campaign started, hopes were not too high among many loyal Ram rooters for aI state tourney bid . . . Fortunately,that spirit didn’t touch the Rams who were doing the Job . . .It was a campaign of tough bail games . . . There were a few-soft touches, but there w'ere bumps, knocks and thrilling 1 battles to the finish . . . When the ‘52 Rams went to the Sweet Sixteen with a brilliant 29-3 record,. . . And th its eight straight years(every year that there has beena pUlt t.1 i* either the No. 1 orNo. 2 team has grabbed the titleAin’t too badi* • **It was surprising, though, that so many sportswriters gave up onHebron after watching the Green Giants in their first game . . , Too rageed, not enough polish,” mans said , . . The Judson boysare good, but that big Schulz is too clumsy . . .**They forgot that Schulz was 6-10, and any high school player who is 6-10 and not blind or badlylt;1Hminute to• * #Mak Mannen was playing his best rebounding game of the year in teaming with Mosestokes to battle the tallQuincians for the rebounds. But the Rams were falling: back.In the first 20 seconds of the I fourth period. Brothers hit a jump shot and converted a foul shot to make it 45-35. At that pointThe lead held until 20 seconds were left. Thompsondribbled half the length of thefloor and popped In ,a jump shot. That basket ended the fighting drive of the Rams.Quincy intercepted a pass and stalled. Jim Stokes was ejected for a “flying tackle” foul with 10 seconds to play and Mak Mannen drew his fifth personal with two seconds Gower and Thompson added the final two Quincy points on freethrows.Brothers poured through 22. points to lead the Quincy attack, 1 Dtey had^ what it takes, in ourFor Mt. Vernon, Mannen had I3»Mose 12 and McCann 11.to beat Quincy in the finals* • • •When the Rams won in ’49 and‘50 they gt t congratulatory telegrams from here, there and every-wroto g■MMJudson Boys RepresentChamps on AII Tourneythey were battle-tested . . . Thev j crippled, is quite capable of break-knew what it meant and what it ‘ in8 things wide open if the notion took to grab the close ones . . # stnkes^him . . . Apparently it For our money — “gallant” — *cnulz ... He got 24 pointswas the word for the Rams at Champaign ... An overtime triumph against Kankakee . . . Victory over tough, determined andfavored Pinckneyville . . . The greatest charge and stirring rally of the tourney before falling to the sky-scraping Quincy Blue Devils . . . Then a comeback win over Rock Island in a consolation game that usually finds teams playing with little or no heart . . .That long, rough road led to 32 We'd like to put in our wordwins, 4 losses and No. 3 team in of praise for the manner in w'hich the state of Illinois ... In all the tickets were handled by Mt. sincerity we write this about the Vernon schoolmen this year . . . ‘52 Rams: Change No. 3 to No. 1 We wxm't say there w'eren’t any or No. 26 — no difference ... * squawks or no scalping from Mt.Vernonites . . . That w-ould require miracles, and they are scarce this year . . . We do say complaints seemed to be at a minimum and it was a job well done0 0 0 0Mt. Vernon’s cheerleadine gals. . . Maybe none of themessages came from Hebron, butwe hope some of the Mt. Vernon digmtari. s sec fit to wire the little tow n up north ... Or maybe sendcondolences to Fville*m**Bruce Brothers Lone Unanimous Choice, Bill Ridley Run-nerup; Guard Dick Thompson of Quincy Is Fifth Man; Jim Stokes on Second Team; Mose, McCann, Mannen Get Honorable Mention,By Atioci*tclt;i Pr««lt; team and their pool points: For-CHAMPAIGN, 111., Mar. 24, ward Merrell Clark, Rock IslandThe Judson twins, Paul and Phil, (39); Forward GeoriZiFunk, Pe-?represented Hebron’s title winners oria Manual (22); Center Carl Cainon the Associated Press All-Tour[nament team in the Illinois PrepUen, Rock Island (29Freeport (37); Guard Jerry Han-and GuardIA SLICETHE HOGCoach Stan Changnon holds the third-plaidt the gvin here yesterday as he is congrat ulated bv* Lutv Hawkins who of ceremonies for the Rams' welcome homeb u t‘We didn’t get the wholewe brought home some slices,” said the Ram coachiitittrophyn i asteris timeBasketball finals.Bruce Brothers, Quincy’s brilliant center, was the only player to get unanimous backing from the 43 sports writers and broadcasters voting In the poll. Brothers also was a member of the All-Star first team last year.Bill Ridley, Taylorville’s remarkable guard, received 84 of a possi-1 Lawrencevllle; Mak Mannen, Mt. ble 86 points. Paul Judson had 68; Vernon; Dale Schasker, Freeport; and Brother Phil 45.Rounding out the first team was Guard Dick Thompson ofWe liked the way assistant Coach Harold Hutchins put it yesterday . . . Said Hutch: “Whenthe chips were down, these kids arose to the heights . , . They played their greatest ball under the tourney pressure ... It takes championship heart to do that..• t • •VVOODLAWN WINS STATE TITLEWe’d like to see that headline sometime — but chances are we never will . , . The law of averages is too tough a nut to crack more than once in a blue moon Hebron cracked it last Saturday night . . . We don’t know when, if ever in our time, the moon will be blue again . . .It is next to impossible to mold a state championship team in Illinois from a school with an enroll-• • #• 00almost got left out of the weicome-home celebration yesterday . . . We don’t know the cheerette* personally, but they’ve done a whale of a job in cheering the Rams at home and away this season . . . Their precision work in sparking the yells at Champaignwas a sight io make any Mt. Ver- (non fan proud , . .* * * *Win, lose or draw the tourneywas a success for us . . . We got a shirt back which was borrowed from us in 1949 . . , Mr. Leo (Bub)Martin of Waltonville, we thank you . . .(Pavledes Photo)Quincy, with 43.Players chosen on the secondJim Stokes, Mt. Vernon, (28).Other players receiving votes:. 4UCharles Fast, Quincy; Bob Page, rr|5nt qf less tnan 100 students,Madison; Jack Gower, Quincy; Don ?k°ut hoys . . . But the one-McCann, Mt. Vernon; Harvard j u)*a-milIion time came along . . .Schmidt. Kankakee; Mose Stokes, Loach Russ Ahearn got theMt, Vernon; Don Wiibrandt, He- u^tenal at little Hebron, he didbron; Ike Wright, Jacksonville; hie job, and they went all the jCharles Thomas, Rock Island; Bill way * * * first school in all jWilliams, Jacksonville; Tom Kelly, state tournament history to rusefrom a District meet to a Statetitle . . . It’s the all-time Cinderella story of Illinois basketball* * * *OLD NEWSPAPERSFOR SALESc BIINm Ei* •Bill Schulz, Hebron; Ron Viskozki,Taylorville; Ron Pursell, Pinckney- jville; Phil Harvey, Quincy; Sharm We picked Woodlawn for an ex-Scheuerman, Rock Island; Warren ample in the above headline be-Talley, Pickneyville; Larry Brey- cause it is a school in our areafogle. Lawrenceville; Clarence I with an enrollment of about 100,Burks, Champaign; Elmer Griffin, a few- more than Hebron can claimKankakee, and Champaign.Loren Leach,* •■M.II W.I I I nilNCAA Playoffsk'W«dYEA. RAMS A view of the stage at the gym yesterday afternoon as Mt Vernon fans rathermthe parad*. Guard Don Martin was talking to the crowd at the time the picture enappLto welcome the team. The assembly fol-(Pavltdss Photo)By Associated PressSaturday’s QuarterfinalsSt. John’s 64. Kentucky 57 Santa Clara 56, Wyoming Illinois 74. Duquesne 68.Kansas 74, St. Louis 55.Saturday’s Consolation GamesN. C. State 69, Penn State 60. Dayton 77, Princeton 61. Oklahoma City 55, UCLA 53. Texas Christian 61, New Mexico A M 44.Tuesday’s Semi-I inal ScheduleAt SeattleSt. John’s vs. Illinois.Santa Clara vs. Kansas.(Winners play for championship Wednesday at Seattle; losers play for third place.). Hebron fans went nuts on the floor of Huff Gym Saturday night when the title was bagged . . . They report that the few persons who were left up in Hebron went nutty, too . . .“I’ve never seen a crowd go soWILD COON CHASE COON DOG SHOWTo be held at north end of Mt. Vernon lt;ilv Park MARCH 27, 28 and 29 \1 MGIIT by Jefferson County Coon Club,Dogs entering the show must b*entered by 6:00 p. m. March 27.Entry fee—$1.00. Dogs to enter Wild Coon Chase must he entered bv 7:00 p. m. March 27. Entryfee $3.00.$100 FINAL Coffee and sandwiches—every on*is welcome.COY FLOTA, SecretaryUH• • •DR. PEPPER. PLE(PEPPER IS DIFFERENT—DISTINCTIVEIt’S not derived from any single source — it’s a balanced combination of many fine things from many different place*. Dr. Pepper is not a copy or duplication of any other drink. It’s an original. Dr. Pepper peps you up when you feel low— gives you new energy—zip and go. Give Dr. Pepper the testIt’s the pleasant way to help you keep your spirits bright and alert. And remember—no other drink picks you up lik* Dr Pepper. It is truly a ‘lift for life*.
Newspaper Details
Mount Vernon Register News
Mount Vernon, Illinois, US
Mon, Mar 24, 1952
Page 6
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