Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 52, Number 44, Decatur, Adams County, 22 February 1954 — Page 9

HELLO FANS - WELCOME To DECATUR WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOURSELF IN OUR CITY DURING THE SECTIONAL AND MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN! UGHT AND POWER CITY OFFICIALS WATER DEPARTMENT DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Sectional To Open Here On Wednesday

Adams county’s top sports attraction, year in and year out, will open at the Decatur high school gym Wednesday afternoon at 1:15 o’clock, when the nine county ,’pams battle for the sectional basketball championship, now held by the Monmouth Eagles by virtue of their victory in the 1953 sectional. The dubious nonor of opening the tourney falls this year to the Decatur Yellow Jackets and Hartford Gorillas. Dubious is right, as the winner of this game faces the toughest tourney grind. The lour: ney opening victor must come right back at 8:15 o'clock Wednesday night, tangling with none other than the county champions, the Geneva Cardinals. Fans have not forgotten the startling upset pulled last year by Hartford, which, as a decided underdog, knocked off the thenchampion Yellow Jaokets in a first-round encounter. The second Wednesday afternoon game, scheduled for 2:30 p.m., may develop into one of the tourney's best. This battle matches a couple of rivals in the Decatur Commodores and the defending champion Monmouth Eagles. These teams met early in the season at Monmouth, with the Eagles squeezing through to a onepoint victory. The two lower-bracket games will be played Thursday night. The Berne Bears and Pleasant Mills Spartans match baskets in the opener, which also could develop into a hard-fought battle. In the Thursday nightcap at 8:15 p.m., the Jefferson Warriors and Adams Central Greyhounds will tangle. There will be no games Friday, with the day devoted to the distribution and sale of tickets for the Saturday semi-finals and final game to the fans of the four schools still left in the running after the Wednesday and Thursday encounters. Semi-finals will be held Saturday afternoon, with the first game at 1 o'clock sending the winner of the Commodore-JJonmouth game against the winner of the Wednesday night tilt. The Thursday night victors will clash in the second semi-final game at 2:30 p.m. The tourney championship will be determined in the final game, with the opening whistle at 8; 15 p.m. —Officiate for all tourney games, as assigned by the Indiana high school athletic association, will be Frank Carnes and Gene Davis, both of Muncie. The Decatur sectional winner will compete in the Fort Wayne regional tourney Saturday, March 6, at the Allen county war memorial coliseum. The Decatur champion will meet the winner of the Fort Wayne sectional in the first tourney game at 1 p.m., with the Garrett and Kendallville sectional champs playing at 2:15 o’clock. The afternoon winners will tangle at 8:15 p.m, for the regional crown. . ... 5 ~ The Fort Wayne regional champion will advance to the semifinal tourney Saturday, March 13, also at the Allen county coliseum. In this tourney, Fort Wayne and Muncie winners will clash at 1 p.m., followed by the Marion and Kokomo titlists. The tourney filial will be at 8:15 p.m. These three weeks of rugged play will reduce the original starting field of 751 teams to only the Big Four, who will battle for Hoosierdom’s most coveted sports crown at the Butler fieldhouse in Indianapolis Saturday, March 20. In the final tourney, the Fort (Turn To Page Twelve)

Entire Season Scores Listed For All Teams Results Os Entire Season Compiled For Tournament Scores, including the county and . holiday tourneys, for the 1953-54 season of the nine Adams county , teams, are as follows: (Saturday’s ' Berne J Roll game not included): YELLOW JACKETS . Y.J. 52, Geneva —76 i Y. J. 36, Bluffton .—— 48 Y. J. 44, Concordia 6'4 - Y. J. 59, Berne 51 I Y. J. 41, Fort Wayne South .. 65 i Y. J. 42. Warsaw 46. (overtime) . Y. J. 45, Columbia City -J— 63 Y. J. 45, Fort Wayne C. C. — 47 . Y. J. 49, Auburn -- 63 Y. J. 57, Fort Wayne Central 75 Y. J. 43, Huntington 65 Y, J. 52, Van Wert ----------- 44 Y. J. 67. -Kendallville —...-— 64 " Y. J. 54, Bluffton 55 . Y. J. 41, New Haven ... 51 Y, J. 46, Portland 76 : Y, J. 71, winchester 49 Y. J. 48. Garrett 58 Holiday Tourney Y. J. 39. Alexandria 54 Y. J. 55, Bluffton 52 | ADAMS CENTRAL A. C. 52, Geneva 62 A C. 55, Monmouth -------- 49 A. C. 58, Jefferson 46 A. C. 62, Pleasant Mills ------ 65 (overtime) A. C. 65, Hartford 48 A. C. 40, Lancaster Central .. 43 A. C. 66, Rockcreek 37 A. C. 54, Commodores „53 A. C. 44, Monroeville 56 A. C. 65, Jefferson ...Z. .. 50 A. C. 63, Jackson --r—. 67 A. C. 59, Bryant —— 67 A. C. 66, Hartford — 57 A. C. 69, Pleasant Mills 64 (overtime) A. C. 62, Commodores 56 A. C.. 50. Monmouth -— 65 A, C. 71, Chester Center —... 76 A. C. 55, Petroleum — 48 County Tourney A. C. 50, Berne 46 A. C. 50, Commodores 52. COMMODORES C 53, Pleasant Mills 40 C 39, Huntington Catholic — 60 C 51, Monmouth — 52 C 55, Monroeville 76 C 59, Anderson St. Mary’s ... 65 C 40, Chester Center .... 42 C 43, Hoagland - 44 C 47, Fort Wayne C. C. 69 C 53, Adams Central 54 C 60, Jefferson 52 C 60, Hartford — 40 G 55, Ossian 46 C 60, Marlon St. Paul _ ir _—42 C 67, Willshire 49 C 58,-Geneva 65 C 56, Adams Central — 62 C 59, Pleasant Mills ... 57 C 59, Lancaster Central 62 County Tourney C 45, Hartford 40 C 52, Adams Central 60 C 55, Geneva ... 64 MONMOUTH M 65, Hartford ——36 M 49, Adams Central —55 M 52, Commodores 51 M 79, Ohio City 50 M 51, Huntington Catholic ... 57 M 54, Rockcreek ,39 M 62, Hoagland * 47 M 73, Pleasant Mills -------- 57 M 70, Leo —SB M 58, Geneva — 53

M 49, Union 1 45 M 75, Roll— 46 M 59, Berne 58 M 71. Petroleum 48 M 56. Pleasant Mills 48 M 65, Adams Central 50 M 84, Pennville ... M 55, Harlan - 49 County Tourney M 75, Pleasant Mills 56 M 43 Geneva — — 48 PLEASANT MILLS P M. 40, Commodores 53 P. M. 42, Berne j 44 P. M. 55, Wrensl P. M. 79, Hartford 42 P. M. 61, Willshire 62 P. M. 65, Adams Central 62 (overtime) P. M. 65, Jefferson 45, P. M. 57, Monmouth -— 73 P. M. 68, Gray ... 35 P. M. 64. Geneva 62 P. M. 56, Willshire ----- 72 P. M. 70, Hoagland i- 48 P. M. 59, Bryant 56 P. M. 59, Geneva 70 P. M. 64, Adams Central .... 69 (overtime). P. M. 48, Monmouth 56 P. M. 57, Commodores 59 P. M. 82, Jefferson 55 County Tourney P. M. 56, Monmouth 75 GENEVA G 63, Jefferson — 45 G 62, Adams Central 52 G 46, Petroleum 38 G 70, Montpelier x 60 G 76, Yellow Jackets 52 G 54, Roanoke ... 58 G 72, Bryant — — 52 G 69, Lancaster Central 55 G 52, Hartford 45 G 65, Berne 63 G 53, Monmouth ... 58 G 62, Pleasant Mills 64 G 58. Poling 41 G 79, Pennville 57 G 7ff. Pleasant Mills 59 G 65, Commodbres 58 G 74, Albany —— 5 9 G 58, Ossian — 45 County Tourney G 73, Jefferson 53 G 48, Monmouth 43 G 64, Commodores .‘1 65 (Turn To Page Thirteen) I

Sectional Tournament Schedule WEDNESDAY 2:30 P. M/1 Commodores L . Monmouth J SATORDAY 1:00 P ’ M ’ WEDNESDAY 8:15 P.M., > | SATURDAY NIGHT I WEDNESDAY 1:15 P. M/iGCRGVII --_l 8:15 P.M. / Yellow Jackets J / \ — Hartford ' 7:00 P. M.j \ . I - - Derne / ) Pleasant Mills > A ™v ml u . . . . 25- --- — ' • 1 • * J ’’ THURSDAY 8:15 P. BL I J ‘ ' Jefferson Adams Central Officials: Frank Carnes and Gene Davis

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, February 22, 1954.

A HEARTY WELCOME from the Decatur Daily Democrat to the players, coaches, school officials and fans of Adams county to the Decatur sectional tourney. —oOo— THE 1954 SECTIONAL, will open Wednesday afternoon, itself a departure from previous years. And this year’s tourney looms as perhaps the most wide open as to potential champiorfs in the long years of the meet’s history. MOST OF THE FANS are counting out only two of the nine competing teams in pre-tourney speculation. These two are the Hartford Gorillas and Jefferson Warriors. But BASKETBAWL would like to* issue a warning here, too, merely by reminding the fans of that up- > set last year when Hartford eliminated the then defending sectional champion Decatur Yellow Jackets. BASED ON SEASON-LONG results, the outstanding favorites are the Geneva Cardinals, county tourney champions, and the Monmouth Eagles, champions of the 1953 sectional. But these two teams had tough struggles all season long with other teams in.the county so neither can be regarded as a shoo-in favorite to cop the bunting. BASKETBAWL feels, that the team which is UP, not just for one game, when fiff Upset could hippen any place along the rocky tourney road, but UP for three or, if necessary four games, will be the sectional champion. FAN REACTION to the IHSAA decision to drop the Tuesday night session here and change to a twogame Wednesday afternoon schedule, has not been too favorable. The IHSAA, apparently, is attempting to get away from too early a start in any sectional, hence he ruling to do away with any Tuesday night openings. BASKETBAWL has been hazarding a guess on tourney outcomes since the 1940 sectional here in Decatur. This guessing game includes not merely the eventual champion, but the winner in every game. Our average is pretty poor, about as low in proportion as the batting average of Lippy Leo Durocher when he was one of the major leagues’ top-fielding shortstops but couldn’t hit a lick. However, the fans apparently like to second-guess us, so here goes another poor effort. YELLOW JACKETS-HARTFORD — Both these teams have been down this year. But a considerably tougher schedule and the home-floor advantage inclines us to the YELLOW JACKETS. COMMODORES-MONMOUTH—Anything can happen when these two rivals get together. But the superior height and size, plus that defending champion angle, leads us to name (hesitatingly), MONMOUTH. (CONTINUED ON PAGE TEN)

Eligible Men Certified For Tourney Play 12 Men Certified Limit; Only 10 To Play In Sectional Each of the nine Adams county schools entered in the Decatur sectional Is permitted to certify 12 players. However, only 10 men are eligible to play, with the others scratched before the team’s opening game of the tourney. The team rosters, showing the year of each player in school, his height and weight, follow: COMMODORES Name Yr. Ht. Wt. York Sr. 5»8 141 E. Wilder Sr. 5-9% 160 Loshe Sr. 6 175 Kruse Sr. 6-3 190 C. VoglewedeJr. 5-11 175 Mowery 2- Jr. 5-10% 147 Murtaugh ... Jr. 5-9 140 J. Wilder So. 5-11% 160 Faurote ... So. 5-11 144 J. Voglewede So. 5-5% 120 Costello So. 5-8 130 Teeple Fr. 5-8% 130 PLEASANT MILLS L Nam< - Yr. Ht. Wt. L. Wolfe Sr. 5-11% 168 Ripley Sr. 5-11%. 163 Byer .1.3 t. 6-8 166 Bebout x- Sr. 5-7 122 Fox I—-- Sr. 5-7% 120 Frey ... Jr. 5-B*4 167 D. Roe— Sr. 5-10 145 D. Wolfe Jr. 5-10% 157 Myers Sr. 5-8% 145 Light — - So. 5-8 124 WlHiamson —Fr. 5-5% 124 R.—Roe Sr.. 5-9% 140 JEFFERSON Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Coblentz Sr. 5-8 140 Kuhn Sr. 6-2 165 Butcher Sr. 6-1 193 Hammitt Sr. 5-9 140 Miller ..’. Jr. 6 160 Wellman Jr. 5-9 160 Reef Jr. 5-8 140 LeFever Jr. 5-11 150 Keller - Jr. 5-10 160 1 Lehman— So. 5-10 160 Smitley — So. 5-8 150 Caffee ... So. 5-6 120 YELLOW JACKETS Name Yr. Ht. Wt Halterman Jr. 5-10 140 Pollock Sr. 5-9 142 Vetter Jr. 5-8 142 Neireiter - Jr. 6-2 175 McDougal Jr. 5-7 125 Hancher Jr. 6 160 Custer - Sr. 5-11 170 Strickler ....— So. 5-6 130 Baker Sr. C 150

DIAL 3-21-21 For fans unable to attend the Decatur aectional tourney, the Decatur Dally Democrat will provide the lateat scorea. A special telephone line has been installed at the gym and this office, with the score to be called to the office at the end of each quarter of every game. David Wood, Decatur school student, will be the Democrat special telephone operator in the office during the entire meet. DIAL 3-2121. Krick Sr. 6-2 170 Engle Sr. 5-10 140 EleyJr. 6 190 GENEVA Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Schisler - Sr. 6-1 170 Hanni Sr. 6-2 180 Macklin Sr. 5-9 170 Campbell'’-,-’. Jr. 5-11 159 T. Craig Jr. . 5-9 165 FenstermakerJr. 5-5 140 Long Jr. 5-9 160 Mathys Jr. 5-10 170 Tester-— Jr. 5-9 165 Burke So. 5-9 155 Parr - So. 5-9 160 D. Craig Fr. 5-9 160 ADAMS CENTRAL Name Yr. Ht. Wt. L. Egly Sr. 5-10 135 Heare Sr. 5-8 140 Nussbaum Sr. 5-6 135 Ross — Sr. 5-8% 135 Beer....— Jr. 6 158 Lehman ....Jr. 5-5% 130 Rowdon . —— Jr. 5-6 135 Baumgartner ... So. 5-8 < 140 Byerly So. 5-8 150 A. Egly So. 5-8% 150 Mitchell So. 5-11 180 Taylor So. 5-5% 140 MONMOUTH Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Bultemeyer Sr. 5-8 155 Harvey Sr. 6- % 180_ H. Myers —_ 5.-11170 Fuhrman Jr. 6-2 ‘ 160 Christianer Jr. 5-7 135 Gallmeyer Jr. 5-10 148 Schnepf —1 So. 5-10 140 Fuelling - So. 5-10 165 Witte —— So. 6-3 175 J. Myers Fr. 5-10 168* Brown ...' So. 5-10 169 KeneukeSo. -5-9 148 HARTFORD Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Anderson Sr. 5-10 145 tiiberstein Fr. 5-2 116 Fox So. 5-6 125 F. Graber Sr. 6 143 M. GraberSr. 6 155 Grogg - Sr. 5-4 135 Miller —— So. 6-3- 160 C. Stahly Jr. 5-9 140 D. Stahly Fr. 5-2 108 Wolfe — Sr. 5-6 140 BERNE-FRENCH Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Ehrsatn So. 5-7 145 Klrchhofer Jr. 5-9 145 (Turn To Page Thirteen)

Two-Bracket Tourney Plan Is Used Here Gives Opportunity For Fans To See Favorite Teams For the third consecutive year, the Decatur sectional fturney will be played under the two-bracket, one-site plan. This setup, used for the first time at tnd 1952 tourney, is devised particularly to provide an opportunity for more fans to see their own team in action during the sectional. A change in game times, however, was made this year by the Indiana high school athletic association. This year, the first tourney session will be held Wednesday afternoon, with the opening game at 1:15 o’clock. A second game will be played at 2:30 p.m., with the winner of the first afternoon game playing again at 3:15 p.m., Wednesday against the fifth team drawn in the pairings made last week by the IHSAA. In the two previous years/ one game was played on Tuesday night, and two on Wednesday night. As an example under the twobracket plan, practically all of the tickets |or the Wednesday sessions of the five-team bracket will go to the fans of the schools drawn In that bracket. Similarly, for the Thursday night bracket, practically all of the tickets will go to the fans of the four teams drawn in that bracket. A" ' Fans of the four teams rest in the running after the Wednesday and Thursday sessions will receive the bulk of the tickets for the Saturday afternoon semi-fin-als and Saturday night final. Distribution of . the tickets for the Saturday sessions will be de-, termined immediately after the Thursday night games. No games will he played Friday to permit distribution of tickets to the four schools still In the tourney. Previous Winners The Monmouth Eagles, who won their first sectional championship in history last year, will seek to repeat this week. Four of the nine schools have not won sectional titles. These schools are Adams Central, Decatur Catholic, Geneva and Jefferson. Winners of the 14 sectionals immediately prior to this year, with scores of the final games, ar6 as follows: 1940— Pleasant Mills 39, Kirkland 21. 1941 — Decatur Yellow Jackets 34, Pleasant Mills 32. 1942— Pleasant Mills 31, Decatur Yellow Jackets 18. 1943— Monroe 36, Decatur Yellow Jackets 18. 1944— Decatur Yellow Jackets 38, Berne 27. 1945— Berne 44, Monmouth 34. 1946— Berne 29, Decatur Yellow Jackets 28. 1947— Monroe 38, Kirkland 29. 1948— Hartford 42, Decatur ComJ modores 29. 1949— 'Decatur Yellow Jackets 56, Monroe 37. 1950— Decatur Yellow Jackets 58, Decatur Commodores 46. 1951 — Decatur Yellow Jackets 69, Hartford 40. 1952— Decatur Yellow Jackets 49, Pleasant Mills 46. 1953— Monmouth 55, Pleasant Mills 52. “ (Tara Ta Page Thirteen) .... . SECTIONAL ON RADIO Radio station WGL, Fort Wayne, with Len Davis at the play-by-play mike, will broadcast all games of the Decatur sectional direct from the gym, with the exception of the two u Wednesday afternoon tilts, for which air time could not be cleared. The Wednesday night game, the Thursday night contests, and the Saturday semifinals and final wifi be aired on WGL, 1250 on ths dial.