Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 55, Number 47, Decatur, Adams County, 25 February 1957 — Page 9

Here's to good sportsmanship and-— MAY THE BEST TEAM WIN DECATUR CITY OFFICIALS ■ ' — . r i,, /, ; <■<.. • ,

PlayToOpen W ednesday In Sectional

The leading sports attraction in Adams county, year after year, is the annual sectional tourney, which will open at the Adams Central gym at Monroe Wednesday night at 7 o'clock. And the Monmouth Eagles, sectional champions for the past four seasons, will put their hopes for a record fifth consecutive title on the line in the tourney opener, when they tangle with the most-favored Decatur Yellow Jackets. The Eagles equaled a record previously held alone by the YelloW Jackets, when Monmouth scored its fourth tourney crown in a row last year. The second game Wednesday night, at approximately 8:15 o’clock, will pit the Pleasant Mills Spartans against the Berne Bears, winners of tiiis year’s county tourney. The first round of play will be completed with two games Thursday night. In Thursday’s opener at 7 p.m., the Geneva Cardinals will meet the host Adams Central Greyhounds. The Thursday session nightcap, at 1:15 p.m., will send the Decatur Commodores against the Hartford Gorillas, one of the state’s winningest quintets with only one defeat for the entire season, that loss suffered in the final game of the county tourney to Berne. Closing of the Jefferson township high school last year after the close of school, cut the field in the local sectional to eight teams, eliminating the Wednesday afternoon session which had been necessitated in earlier years. Under the two-bracket setup, there will be no games in the Adams Central sectional, with that day devoted to distribution of tickets to tiie four schools still in the running for sectional honors. The Wednesday night winners will battle in the first semi-final contest at 1 o’clock Saturday afternoon, followed by the Thursday night winners at 2:15 p.m. The Saturday afternoon victors will meet at 8:15 p.m. Saturday for the tourney championship. Officials for all games, assigned by the Indiana high school athletic association, will be John Hilligoss and Frank Tiernan, both of Richmond. Herman Frantz, Adams Central principal and tourney manager, has named two Adams Central teachers as other officials. Tom Adler will serve as official scorekeeper, and Douglas LeMaster will act as official timekeeper. The Adams Central sectional winner will compete, as usual, in the Fort Wayne regional tourney at the Allen county war memorial coliseum Saturday, March 9. The local winner will meet the Fort Wayne sectional winner in the regional opener at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 9, followed by the winners of the Kendallville and Churubusco sectionals. The afternoon victors will meet at 8:15 p.m. for the regional crown. The Fort Wayne coliseum will also be the site for one of the four semi-state (formerly semi-final) tourneys, on Saturday, Match 16. The Fort Wayne regional winner will battle the winner from the Elkhart regional at 1 p.m., followed by winners from the Marion and Kokomo regionals. The final Continued On 5-A TOURNEY ON RADIO Radio station WGL. Fort Wayne will broadcast all seven games of the Adams Central sectional tourney, starting with the opening game at 7 o’clock Wednesday night. Len Davis will be at the microphone for the play by play accounts of all games, with Bob Storey doing the color at time out and between period times. WGL is 1250 on the radio dial.

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

Entire Season ‘ Scores Listed / For All Teams Results Os Entire Season Compiled For Tournament Complete season scores for the eight Adams county high school teams, including the county and holiday tourneys, for 1956-57, are as follows: ADAMS CENTRAL A.C. 55, Geneva <2 overtimes) 56 AC. .56, Hoagland — -.'62 A.C. 54, Monmouth ... 18 A.C. 56, Pleasant Mills 54 (2 overtimes) A.C. 65, Lancaster ----- 67 (2 overtimes) A.C. 65, Huntington Twp 54 A.C. 61, Commodores - 76 A.C. 63, Chester Center 67 (overtime) A.C. 51, Berne — 58 A.C. 79.’Ossian (overtime) 72 A.C. 61, Bryant — —— ® A.C. 60, Commodores 80 A.C. 52. Hartford ... 73 A.C. 51, Union Center 49 A.C. 54, Pennville — 58 A.C. 46, Monroeville 41 A.C. 88, Petroleum — 63 A.C. 72, Bluffton 85 County Tourney A.C. 57, Berne .. 65 BERNE B 47, Pleasant Mills 41 B 48. Dunkirk 46 B 82, Portland 53 B 62, Concordia 67 B 44, Hartford 50 B 40, Yellow Jackets .... 69 B 75, Lancaster Central 41 B 58, Adams Central 51 B 31, Geneva — 51 B 51, Warren - 43 B 52, Leo 55 B 62, Angola - - 63 B 68, Monmouth --- 46 B 51, Ossian ... 53 B 69, Bluffton 67 B 42, Redkey (overtime) 44 B 61, New Haven 68 County Tourney B 65, Adams Central — 57 B 39, Geneva 36 B 49, Hartford 40 COMMODORES C 49, Hartford 58 C 52, Monroeville 44 C 66, Monmouth (overtime) 64 C 55, Hoagland 58 C 63, Rockcreek 51 C 56, Huntington Catholic — 44 C 76, Adams Central »*<■«»«>* 61 C 74, Marion Bennett -——— 51 C 89, Pleasant Mills — 77 C 88, Anderson St. Mary’s .. 76 C 70, Willshire 71 C 80, Adams Central 60 C 52, Clear Creek 53 C 51, Geneva - 58 C 90, Pleasant Mills 74 C 72, Andrews -— 58 C 57, Madison Twp. 50 C 60. Harlan -— 73 County Tourney C 49. Hartford - 56 GENEVA G 56, Adams Central 55 (2 overtimes) I G 78, Petroleum 38 G 64, Yellow Jackets . 76 G 61, Montpelier 76 G 61, Roanoke 50 G 82, Bryant — 72 G 59, Hartford 11 G 51, Berne ’—.a. 31 G 63, Pleasant Mills 52 G 49, Monmouth (2 overtimes 47 G 57, Pennville 49 G 62, Lancaster Central —— 69 G 63, Warren 62 G 58, Commodores — 51 G 59, Albany 55 G 81, Redkey 58 G 64, Ossian ........... 53 G 78, McKinley __2 -63 ■- - - >4 . • - i

County Tourney G 59, Pleasant Mills 57 (2 overtimes) G 36, Berne 39 Hartford H 58,’ Commodores 49 H 46, Pleasant Mills 45 H 55, Rockcreek 34 H 89, Ohio City..— 56 H 70, Bryant 47 H 50, Berne —44 H 57, Chester Center 45 H 77, Geneva 59 H 76, Redkey 57 H 61, Monmouth 38 H 54, Pennville 44 H 63, Madison Twp. 48 H 73, Adams Central 52 H 66, Roll 59 H 70, Ridgeville 45 H 61, Lancaster Central .— 59 (2 overtimes) H 66, Poling 39 H 67, Petroleum - 28 County Tourney H 47. Monmouth 41 H 56,Commodores ———— 49 I H 40, Berne —— 49 MONMOUTH M 38, Adams Central 54 M 40, Yellow Jackets 56 M 64, Commodores 66 (overtime) ■ M 49, Huntington Catholic —56 M 56, Hoagland 58 M 41, Rockcreek —43 ; M 62, Pleasant Mills 60 M 67, Bryant — - - 50 M 48, Union (Hunt.) 49 , M 38. Hartford 61 M 47,Geneva (2 overtimes) 49 M 46, Berne — — 68 M 53. Monroeville 41 M 53, Lancaster Central — 81 M 44, Hoagland ......— —- 57 M 43, Leo —- 70 M 42. Harlan 62 M 49, Montpelier —- — 64 County Tourney M 41, Hartford 47 PLEASANT MILLS P.M. 41, Berne 47 P.M. 71, Wren 51 P.M. 45. Hartford 46 P.M. 59. Willshire 55 P.M. 54, Adams Central —— 56 (2 overtimes) P.M. 60, Monmouth ... 62 P.M. 68, Wren 41 P.M. 57, Petroleum 51 P.M. 77, Commodores -80 P.M. 52, Geneva -63 P.M.62, Willshire —. 78 P.M. 60, Ohio City - 71 P.M. 59 Harlan — 67 P.M. 74, Bryant - 79 P.M. 55, Convoy — - 44P.M. 74, Commodores . —— 90 ContlmiNMl On 4-A

Sectional Tournament Schedule WEDNESDAY 7:00 P.M. Yellow Jackets\. Monmouth J SATURDAY 1:00 P.M.I I . \ WEDNESDAY 8:15 P.M.] / \ Pleasant Mills I j Berne I Saturday 8:15 p. mJ . 1.•— ■ / \ ——«— \ ’ THURSDAY 7:00 P. M.l ( ; Geneva . \ ] Adams Central j SATURDAY 2:15 P. MJ I l ' I / --- — > . - , » • - — — T T X- ■ ; | ( • THURSDAY 8:15 P. M 3 1 Commodores 1“ 1 OFFICIALS: John Hilligoas and * Hertford Richard Tiernan. • - r ‘ ’ * » .. . o r ~ ‘

Decatur, Indiana, Monday, February 25, 1957.

HEARTIEST of greetings from the Decatur Daily Democrat to the players, coaches, school officials and fans of Adams county on the eve of dhother sectional tourney. —oOO""" 1 " THE 1957 TOURNEY will be held at the Adams Central gym; for the third year in a row, opening Wednesday night, and it promises to be another sizzling affair, with most of the eight teams figured to have a chance to take all the marbles come Saturday night about 9:30 o’clock. CLOSING of the Jefferson high school last May reduced the number of entrants in the sectional to just eight teams, also eliminating the need of that nightmare Wednesday setup, when a team winning the first tourney game was forced to come right back again the same night. —4 oOo— AS THE PATTERN of play grows more involved year after year, so does the element of picking a favorite team become more confusing each season. Based solely on the season records of the eight competing teams, a look at the record would seem to establish the Hartford Gorillas as the outstanding favorite. However, the Gorillas looked anything but good in the 1 county tourney even in winning their first two starts, and then were handed their first season loss in the tourney final by the Berne Bears. —oOo—— ■, . EVER SINCE the sectional was confined to the Adams county teams (1940) BASKETBAWL has printed his predictions on the outcome of each game in each sectional. Only twice has the writer picked every winner (last year was the second time) although the eventual champion was selected on several occasions. So here goes with another game-by-game guess : 000 - YELLOW JACKETS-MONMOUTH — The Eagles have won the title four years in a row, but lost their entire starting five from that championship squad, so it’s the YELLOW JACKETS. 000 PLEASANT MILLS-BERNE—The Bears won the county tourney and sport a much better season record than the Spartans, although the latter have two of the county’s top scorers in John Frey and Jerry Williamson. It must be BERNE. —oOo— GENEVA-ADAMS CENTRAL — The Greyhounds have had a rough season, while the Cardinals, with a fin.e 15-5 record, have been strengthened in the last few games with the return of Larry Hunt, a regular from last season. We’ll pick GENEVA. —oOo— COMMODORES-HARTFORD —The Gorillas, with the county’s best overall record, hold two victories over the Commodores for the season, and the Commodores have apparently gone far back from their fine early season form. It’s HARTFORD. Continued On 5-A

Jackets Lead In Sectional Championships Two-Bracket Plan Again In Use For Sectional Tourney As the Adams county teams prepare tor the J 957 sectional tourney opening Wednesday, the Monmouth Eagles have a chance, although considered remote, to set a * new local record by winning their fifth consecutive sectional championship. Last year, the Eagles won their fourth in a row to match a record set by the Decatur Yellow Jackets, from 1949 through 1952. The Jackets, however, are well out in front with 10 sectional crowns, including one won at Fort Wayne in the years the Adams county teams were split, two playing at Fort Wayne and the others at Bluffton. The Berne Bears tfre second in line with six championships, followed by Memmouth with four, Pleasant Mills with two and Hartford with one. In the years preceding the formation of the Adams Central consolidated school, Monroe won three sectional crowns and Kirkland one. Three teams have yet to win their first tourney title, Geneva, Adams Central and the Decatur Commodores. This week’s tourney will be the third in a row at Adams Central, starting in 1955 after construction of the consolidated school. And it will be the sixth consecutive year the tourney has been operated under the two-bracket setup, designed particularly to provide an opportunity for more fans to see their favorite team in action. Under the two-bracket arrangement, practically all of the tickets for the Wednesday night session will go to the fans of' the four schools in the upper bracket. Likewise, for the Thursday night bracket, practically all of the tickets will go to the tans of the four teams drawn in the lower bracket. Backers of the four teams left in the running after the Wednesday and Thursday sessions, will receive the bulk of the tickets for the Saturday semi-final and final sessions. Distribution of. tickets for the Saturday sessions will be determined immediately after the Thursday night games. No games will be played Friday to permit distribution of tickets to the four schools still in the tourney. — Winners of the local sectionals since 1940, and the scores of the final games, are as follows: 1940— Pleasant Mills 39, Kirkland 21. 1941— Decatur Yellow Jackets 34, Pleasant Mills 32. 1942— Pleasant Mills 31, Decatur Continued On S-A

PHONE FOR SCORES The Decatur Daily Democrat will provide scores of the sectional tourney for fans unable to attend the games or obtain accounts via radio. A special telephone has been installed at ' the press table at the Adams Central gym and scores will be called directly to this office at the end of each quarter. Through cooperation of the Citizens Telephone Co. and the Daily Democrat, the scores will be recorded on the special news service of these two companies. Dial 3-2171 for up to the minute scores. Miss Gwen Hil>yard, of the Daily Democrat staff, will operate the wire recorder. NearHaifOf Certified Men Are Seniors • Adams County Teams Will Be Hard Hit By Graduation Losses Nearly half of the players certified by the eight Adams county high schools for play In the sectional tourney this year will be lost by graduation next spring, a perusal of the certified player list reveals. This survey shows 45 seniors on the eight squads out of the total of 96 certified, 12 by each team. , Hardest hit via the diploma route will be the Geneva Cardi- ; nals, who have eight seniors listed on their roster. Next in line are . the Decatur Yellow Jackets and ; the .Berne Bears, each with seven t seniors. The Adams Central Grey- . hounds will lose exactly half of i their sectional squad, while the . Pleasant Mills Spartans and Hartford Gorillas have five listed. The Decatur Commodores have i only four seniors certified and the ; defending champion Monmouth Eagles only three. From the standpoint of regulars, ; the Berne Bears and Pleasant Mills Spartans have the heaviest losses, with both quintets graduating their entire starting lineups. Geneva, with eight seniors, loses four regulars, and a fifth.member,. Steve Baumann, was playing regular until Larry Hunt returned to the squd after the county tourney. Tom Stuber, junior guard, is the only returning regular. Adams Central numbers four of its usual starters among the graduates, with only Gary McMillen back next year from the first five. The Decatur Yellow Jackets lose three mainstays, Tony Kelly, Stan Kirkpatrick and Gene Baxter, with Bob Banks and Larry Moses of the starting five members of the junior class. Hartford also has three, regulars in the senior class, Dean Stahly, Bob Biberstein and Larry Gene Dubach, with Roger Moser and - (Coßtlaurd ob Pair Fltp)

SECTION TWO

Eligible Men Are Certified For Sectional 12 Men Certified By Schools, 10 To Play In Any Game Each of the eight Adams county schools enteredln the Adams Central sectional is permitted to certify 12 players. However, only 10 players may participate in any one game. The team rosters, showing the year of each player in school, his height and weight, follow: YELLOW JACKETS Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Dellinger So. 5-6 130 Kelly . Sr. 6-2 185 Moses Jr. 5-11 150 Banks — Jr. 6 160 Dorwin Sr. 6-1 175 Kirkpatrick Sr. 6-1 170 Baxter - Sr. 5-11 168 Reinking - Sr. 6 155 Shraluka Sr. 6-1 110 Shraluka a So. 6-1 170 Hutker .... Jr. 5-11 160 Gould — Sr. 5-8 145 PLEASANT MILLS Name Yr. Ht Wt. Frey Sr. 5-10 146 Williamson ..... Sr. 5-9 159 Myers Sr. 5-11 161 ' KJ Sr-! Irwin So. 5-6 136 I Snyder So. 5-6 155 Johnson Jr. 5-8 125 Hawkins Jr. 5-7 169 L. Brunner Jr. 5-8 121 D. Brunner Fr. 5-6 130 Butter Fr. 5M 135 u MONMOUTH Name Yr. Ht. Wt Bittner 1. Sr. 5-9 167 Hildebrand Sr. . 5-10 175 Menter ——l Sr. 5-11 169 Boerger Jr. 5-9 154 Brandt Jr. 6-1 218 Bulmahn Jr. 6-2 148 Fuelling Jr. 5-8 146 McDougall Jr. 5-11 147 Myers Jr. 5-11 134 Blakey Fr. M 136 Keuneke Jr. 5-11 136 Hoffman So. 6 163 HARTFORD Name Yr. Ht Wt Stahly Sr. 5-9 Iff Biberstein Sr. 5-8 1® L. G. Dubach .. Sr. 6-1 135 Grogg Sr. 5-9 141 L. L. Dubach .. Sr. 5-9 148 Moser Jr. 6 190 Moeschberger Jr. 5-10 152 Lehman Jr. 6 132 Bixler So. 5-10 in Pharr So. 6-1 161 Herman ir. 5-11 145 McCUne ........ So. 5-8 126 GENEVA Name Yr. Ht ZWL Nevil Sr. 6-2 185 Craig Sr. 5-11 ITS Hunt Sr. 04 Or: Baufnan Sr. 5-5 140 Amstutz Sr. 5-8 160 Branstetter, .... Sr. 6-2 160 Hofstetter Sr. 5-10 165 Yoder Sr. 6-1 155 Dull .... Jr. 5-10 165 Stuber .......... Jr. 5-9 150 Biery So. 5-9 145 Tester — So. 5-8 145 COMMODORES Name Yr. Ht. Wt. Beal Jr. 5-5 130 Ford .... Sr. 5-5 135 Hake Jr. 5-11 140 Heimann Sr. 6 155 Kable Jr. 5-10 100 Kohne Jr. 5-9 150 Litchfield Sr. 5-9 145 R. Meyer Sr. 6-3 175 T. Meyer —— Jr. 5-11 150 Reed ....... Jr. 6 IS Schultz So. 6-2 165 Wilder So. 5-8 140 - BERNE Name Yr. Ht Wt Whitehurst Sr. 6 180 Schug Sr. 5-11 156 Dille Sr. 6-2 170 Beaty Jr. 5-8 130 '-I Liechty Sr. 5-9 135 A. Yoder Jr. 1 5-9 136 T. Yoder Jr. 5-9 130 Winteregg —— Jr. 6-1 150 • 7 Continued On S-A ■