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Eastern Illinois UniversityThe Keep
Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications
1978
The History of Basketball at Stonington HighSchoolJohn Anthony DeMichaelEastern Illinois UniversityThis research is a product of the graduate program in Physical Education at Eastern Illinois University. Findout more about the program.
This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Thesesby an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Recommended CitationDeMichael, John Anthony, "The History of Basketball at Stonington High School" (1978). Masters Theses. 3223.https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3223
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pdm
THE HISTORY OF BASKETBALL AT STONINGTON HIGH·SCHOOL
{TITLE)
BY
JOHN ANTHONY DEMICHAEL
THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN O'XJCATION
IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS
__ ...... ..-----�
·(�)
I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING
THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE
<a·- q-- 7o DATE
J.
THE HISTORY OF BASKETBALL
AT STONINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
BY
JOHN ANTHONY DEMICHAEL
B. S. in Ed., Eastern Illinois University, 1973
ABSTRACT OF A THESIS
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Education at the Graduate School
of Eastern Illinois University
CHARLESTON , ILLINOIS 1978
The paper consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory
chapter followed by six chapters on the coaching eras. Chapter 8 is
a summary containing recommendations and problems involved with writing
the thesis.
The chapters on the coaching eras are organized by coaches rather
than by decades or by any certain number of years. The number of years
covered in each chapter ranges from five to ten years with the exception
of Chapter 7 which spans twenty-one years. No more than three coaching
eras are included in each chapter. Chapter 2 includes the coaching eras
of Guy Lowry (1917-1924), Gladwin Gaumer (1925) , and Paris Loucks (1926).
Chapter 3 contains the coaching eras of Lloyd Becker (1927-1928), William
White (1929-1930), and George Harper (1931-1935). Chapter 4 includes the
coaching eras of Joe Wylder (1936-1941) and Fred Reuter (1942). Chapter
5 is the coaching eras of Von Armer (1943-1945), Harley Culberson (1946-
1949) , and Mike Corby (1950-1952). The coaching of Dale Fahsbender (1953),
Ralph Thompson (1954-1955), and Ralph Naylor (1956-1957) comprises Chapter
6. Chapter is the coaching era of Jack Dettro (1958-1978).
Each chapter is divided into single years. For each year there is
an introduction, a list of the scores for that year, and a summary of the
year. The list of scores also contains the date of the game and the site
of the game. Following the scores, the coach, the team won-loss record,
and the cumulative won-loss record of the coach is given. As a part of the
summary, the source of information for the scores of any given year is
identified. Immediately following the summary is a alphabetical listing
of the varsity players for that year.
The sources of imformation for the scores in each year were yearbooks,
newspapers, personal interviews, and scorebooks. Where possible, the
scores were c'ross-checked for accuracy. - �
The Decatur Herald was used as the
newspaper source. All past copies of the Decatur Herald are on microfilm
at the Decatur Public Library. Personal interviews were used as a source
of highlights of games and not for the actual scores of the games.
An appendix follows Chapter 8 . The appendix contains the years and
cumulative records for each coach while at Stonington High School. There
is also a page containing the cumulative record of Stonington High School
against each different school played. Finally there is a record page
containing all-time team, individual, and coaching records.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS jv
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION l
LIMITATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . • • . • . • • . . • . . . . . . . . . • . • • . . . . . . . . . 3
DEFINITION OF TERMS . . . . . . . • . . . • • . . . . . . • • . . • • • • . • • . . . • . . . 4
II. COACHING ERAS OF Gtrl LOWRY, GLADWIN GAUMER, PARIS LOUCKS . . 5
GUY LOWRY • • . . • • • . • • . . . . • . . • • . . • • • . . • . . . • . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
GLADWIN GAUMER . • . . . • • . . . ,. . • • • • • . • • . • • . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PARIS LOUCKS .- . • • . . . • • . • . • . • . . . • . . • • . . . • • . . • . . . . • . . • . • . • 15
III. COACHING ERAS OF LLOYD BECKER, WILLIAM WHITE, GEORGE HARPER 17
LLOYD BECKER • . . • . . • • . . • • • • • . . . • . • • . . • . . . • . . • · . . . • . . • • • . • 17
WILLIAM WHITE
GEORGE HARPER 24
IV. COACHING ERAS OF JOE WYLDER, FRED REUTER . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
JOE WYLDER . . . • • • • • . • • • . • • . . • • • • • . . • • • . . • . • . . . . . . . . • • • • . :2
FRED REUTER . • . • . . . • . . • . • • • . • • • • . . • . • . • . • • . • • • • : • . . . • • . • 43
V. COACHING ERAS OF VON ARMER, HARLEY CULBERSON, MIKE CORBY :. : 44
VON ARMER • . . • • . . . . . . . • • • . . . . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . • . . • • • . • . . • . 44
HARLEY CULBERSON . . • • . . . . . . . • • . . . . • . . . . . . . . • . . • . . . . . . • . . 5o
MIKE CORBY • . • • . . . . • . • • • • . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . . • . . . . • 58
�I. COACHING ERAS OF DALE FAHSBENDER, RALPH THOMPSON, RALPH NAYLOR • . • . • . . . . . . . . • . . • • • • • . . . . • . . • . • • . . . • . . • • . • . . . . . . . 64
DALE F AHSBENDER . . . . . . . . . . . . • • . • • . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . 64
RALPH THOMPSON . • • . . . . . . . . . : . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
RALPH NAYLOR 70
ii
VII. COACHING ERA JACK DETTRO . . . . . . . .. . .. ; • • . • . . . . . • • . . • • . • • . • . . 74
VIII. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . • . . 116
APPENDIX . • • • . • . . • . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . . • . . . . . • • . . • . • . . . . • . . . . . . . • . . . • . 118
COACHING RECORDS . . . . . . . • • . . . • • . • . ·• . . . . • . . . • . . • • . . . . . • . . • . . . 118
SCHOOL RECORDS . . . . . . . . • . • . • • . . • . • . • . • . . . . . • . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
WON-LOSS VS. OPPONENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . . . . • . • . . . . . . • • . • . . • • 120
REFERENCES . • . . • • • . • • . • . • . . • . . • . . • • . . • • • . . • . . . . • . . . . . . . . . . • • . . . • • • . • 121
VITA . . • • . • • • . . • • . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • • . . • . . • • • . • • • • • • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . • . • • • 124
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS '°
The author would like to acknowledge the support, encouragement,
and patience of his wife Linda. The author would also like to thank
Dr. Walter Lowell for his help and guidance in the preparation of this
thesis. Finally, the author would like to thank the many people who
provided data, either by personal interview or by granting the author
use of their yearbooks.
iv
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION
The people of Stonington take great pride in their high school
basketball teams. In the early years of the schools history, football,
baseball, and :track were the only sports offered at Stonington High
School. Even when the school fielded its .first team in 1916-1917, the
emphasis in terms of space given in the school yearbooks was on foot-
ball. However, as time went on the bu�dens placed on a small school
football program,· with regard to the number of players needed to compete,
began to take their toll. All: the while basketball was gaining popular-
ity.
No records have been kept on the high school basketball teams with the
exception of school yearbooks. Even then.
there were some years when no
yearbook was published. One of the objectives of this thesis is to
assimilate information from as many years as possible so as to establish
accurate records. ·
Another objective of this thesis is to recognize·the past achieve-
ments of all the players and coaches who were involved with basketball
at Stonington High School.
The paper consists of nine chapters. Chapter 1 is an introductory
chapter followed by six chapters on the coaching eras. Chapter 8 is
/ surumarial in nature containing recommendations and problems involved with
writing this thesis.
The chapters on the coaching eras a�e organized by coaches rather
than by decades or by any certain number of years. The number of years
1
2
covered in each chapter ranges from five to ten years with the exception
of Chapter 7 which spans twenty-one years. No more than three coaching
eras are included in each chapter. Chapter 2 includes the coaching eras
of Guy Lowry ( 1917-1924) , Gladwin Gaumer( l925), and Paris Loucks ( 1926).
Chapter 3 contains the coaching eras of Lloyd Becker (i927-1928) , William
White ( 1929-1930), and George Harper ( 1931-1935). Chapter 4 includes the
coaching eras of Joe Wylder ( 1936-1941) and Fred Reuter ( 1942). Chapter
5 is the coaching eras of Von Armer ( 1943-1945), Harley Culberson ( 1946-
1949) , and Mike Corby (1950-1952) . The coaching of Dale Fahsbender ( 1953 ) ,
Ralph Thompson ( 1954-1955), and Ralph Naylor ( 1956-1957) comprises Chapter
6. Chapter 7 is the coaching era of Jack Dettro (1958-1978).
Each chapter is divided into single years. For each year there is
an introduction, a list of the s cores for that year, and a summary of the
year. The· list of scores also contains the date of the game and the site
of the game. Following the s cores, the coach, the team won-loss record,
and the cumulative won-loss record of the coach is given. As a part of the
s ummary, the source of information for the s cores of any given year is
identified. Immediately following the summary is an alphabetical listing
of the varsity players for that year.
The s ources of information for the scores in each year were yearbooks,
newspapers, personal interviews, and scorebooks. Where possible, the
sco�es were cross -checked for accuracy. The Decatur Herald was used as
the newspaper s ource. All past copies of the Decatur Herald are on micro
film at the Decatur Public Library. Personal interviews were used as-a
source of highlights of games and not for the actual scores of the games.
An appendix follows Ch�pter 8. The appendix contains the years and
cumulative records for each coach whil.e at Stonington High School. There
is also a page containing the cumulative record of Ston:'. ·· · .:on High School
, •1inst each different school played. Finally there i�
itaining all time team, individual, and coaching reco: 3.
LIMITATIONS
�. ·.!cord page
3
Although the scores of the games for each year were cross-checked when
possible, there were some years when only one source was used to collect
data. In those years it was necessary to rely solely on information ob-
tained from the Decatur Herald because the scorebooks and yearbooks were
unavailable. As a result, there remained a possibility for error in the
data collected for those years. There exists the possibility of a mis-
print, tberepy causing an inaccurate score. Also, all ot the games for any
given year may not have been reported to the -newspaper, resulting in incom-
plete records for that year. The writer may have also overlooked or mis-
copied a score from the microfilm.
In some of the very early years from 1917-1924 the only source of
information was yearbooks. There were some discrepancies between the
score of the game in the athletics and the calendar of events sections
of the yearbook. In these few instances when there was no other source
for confirmation of either score, the score from the athletics section of
the yearbook was reported. That score may have been the inaccurate score.
The details of games obtained from personal interviews may not have
been completely accurate in every detail or not related to the writer in
the proper context of the events of a game.
4
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Won-loss rei::ord - The won-loss record of a team or a coaches cumulative
record is given with the number of games won fol�owed·by a hyphen anQ
the number of games lost.
Reds - The Reds was the nickname of Stonington High School until 1945.
Wildcats - The Wildcats was the nick.name of the Stonington High School
beginning in 1945.
The Red and ·white Book - This was the name of the Stonington High School
Yearbook until 1922.
Stony Echoes - This was the name of the Stonington High School Yearbook
beginning in 1925.
The Red and White Scrapbook - This was a monthly publication of the
students supported by a weekly collection from the students in years
when there was no yearbook published.
OT - overtime
Chapter 2
THE COACHING ERAS OF GUY LOWRY, GLADWIN GAUMER, AND PARIS LOUCKS
1916-1917
Introduction
�here were only six games on the schedule for the first basketball
season in Stonington High School's history. One reason for the small
number of games was the lack of an adequate facility for playing games
at Stonington.(48) Consequently, all but one of the six games played
by Stonington were played out of tovm. The only home game was played
at the Opera House on Main Street. ( 59)
Stonington Dec. 15 13 Morrisonville 22 Away Dec. 22 3 Assumption 7 0 Away Jan. 5 21 Morrisonville 20 Home Jan. 18 23 Pana 73 Away Jan. 26 5 Taylorville 70 Away Feb. 7 14 Morrisonville 19 Away
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 1-5 Coaches� Cumulative Record: 1-5
Summary
The Reds finished with a record of one win and five losses. One
of the more memorable experiences of the season came at Pana. The incident
had nothing to do with the game itself. With one of their starters Maynard
Samson ill, the Reds traveled to Pana. Because of ·the means of transpor-
tation of those times, it was sometimes necessary to stay overnight at
the site of the game and return home the following day. Such was the case
at Pana. There was a dispute ove:- which school would pay for Stonington's
lodging. In the end, Stonington paid for its O'WTI lodging. ( 48)
Horace Solliday was the lone senior on the squad.
Scores were taken from the 1917 Stonington Red and White Book.
Vars_ity Team Members : Donald Bowman Merrill Nebold Maynard Samson Horace Solliday
1917-19i8
Introduction
Dennis Sullivan Emmett Sulli-.· ·:: Merrill Tray�
Coach Lowry welcomed eight players for the new basketball season.
There were two returnees from last year's team.
Stonington Nov. 9 55 Edinburg 3 Away Nov. 16 14 Morrisonville 20 Away Dec. 7 25 Bethany 15 Away Dec. 14 8 Taylorville 25 Away Jan. 11 16 Arthur 26 Away Jan. 25 19 Morrisonville 30 Away
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 2-4 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 3-9
Summary
One of the highlights of the season was Emmett Sullivan's 19 points
against Edinburg in the first game of the season.(49) Another memorable
event was the blizzard that occured the night of the Arthur game. The
team was late arriving at Arthur and the game did not start until 10:30
that night.(49)
There was one very sad note on the season. James Peck, one of the
starters and the only senior on the team, died of blood poisoning in
December. ( 49)
The scores were taken from the l918·Red and White Book.
G
Varsity Team Members
Percy Burke Cecil Leach Cecil Livergood Merrill. Nebold .
1918-1919
Introduction
James Peck Harold Shrout Jesse Shrout Emniett Sullivan
7
Five men from last year's team came out for basketball. The new High
School under -construction was not yet completed. The team had to practice
outdoors as well as play all five of their games at the opponents gym.(50)
Stonington Jan. 10 33 Morrisonville 11 Away Jan. 24 17 Argenta 18 Away Feb. l 24 Bethany 29 Away Feb. 8 13 Nokomis 9 Away Feb. 14 14 Maroa 35 Away
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 2-3 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 5-12
Summary
The Reds matched their two wins of the 1917-18 season. Only the one
point loss to Argenta prevented Stonington from posting its first winning
season.
John Pendias, Emmett Sullivan, Cecil Leach, Merrill Nebold, and Conrad
Colbrook were the senior members of the team.
Scores were taken from the 1919 Red_ .and White Book .
Varsity Team Members Percy Burke Merrill Nebold .Kenneth Boyle John Pendias Conrad Colbrook Harold Shrout Cecil Leach Jesse Shrout Cecil Livergood Emmett Sullivan
I' '
Varsity Team Members
Percy Burke Cecil Leach Cecil Livergood Merrill. Nebold
1918-1919
Introduction
James Peck Harold Shrout Jesse Shrout EmIIiett Sullivan
7
Five men from last year's team came out for basketball. The new High
School under ·Construction was not yet completed. The team had to practice
outdoors as well as play all five of their games at the opponents gym.(50)
Stonington Jan. 10 33 Morrisonville 11 Away Jan. 24 17 Argenta 18 Away Feb. 1 24 Bethany 29 Away Feb. 8 13 Nokomis 9 Away Feb. 14 14 Maroa 35 Away
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 2-3 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 5-12
Summary
The Reds matched their two wins of the 1917-18 season. Only the one
point loss to Argenta prevented Stonington from posting its first winning
season.
John Pendias, Emmett Sullivan, Cecil Leach, Merrill Nebold, and Conrad
Colbrook were the senior members of the team.
Scores were taken from the 1919 Red .. and White Book.
Varsity Percy Burke .Kenneth Boyle Conrad Colbrook Cecil Leach Cecil Livergood
Team Members Merrill Nebold John Pendias Harold Shrout Jesse Shrout Emmett Sullivan
8
1919-1920
Introduction
The new High School was complE:tc.<i �nd Stonington had a new g�. Thi.s.
was also the first year Stonington entered a p·:>st season district tourney.
The schedule was also expanded to include eleven ga.mes.(51)
Stonington Dec. 5 10 Maroa 25 Home Dec. 12 20 ¥i0rrisonville 16 Away Dec . 19 23 Argenta 16 Home Jan. 2 28 Raymond 13 Away Jan. 9 20 Morrisonville 14 Home Jan. 16 43 Maroa 18 Away Jan. 30 12 Auburn 20 Away Feb. 19 34 Morrisonville 8 Home Feb. 26 34 Moweaqua 14 Home
District Tournament March 1-4 24 Morrisonville 20
9 Clinton 32
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 8-3 Coaches!: Cumulative Record: 13-15
Summary
The 1919-1920 season was a very successful one. Stonington enjoyed
its first winning season .-
The Reds defeated Maroa 43-18 after losing to them 25-10 in the season
opener .
Scores were taken from the 1920 Red and White Book.
Varsity Team Members Kenneth Boyle Percy Burke Bernard Livergood Elm.er Mcconkey
Tom Oseland Harold Shrout Jesse Shrout Monroe Solliday
9
1920-1921
The writer was unable to obtain any scores from the l� '0-1921 season.
He checked every issue of the Decatur Herald from November, �920 through �
March, 1921 but could find no Stonington High School basketball scores .
The writer also checked the corresponding dates in the Taylorville Breeze
Courier newspaper with similar results . Many of the players from the 1920-
21 team are deceased, However, the writer was able to contact Rueben
Solliday, a student.at Stonington High School in 1920-1921. Mr. Solliday ·
informed the writer he had no recollection of the basketball season of
1920-1921 primarily because he was not a member of the team. Mr. Solliday
also informed the writer that the Stonington High School did not publish
a yearbook in 1920-21.
10 1921-1922
Introduction
With an unsuccessful football season just passed, there was hope
the basketball team would restore some laurels to Stonington High.(52)
Hopes were dashed as the basketball team endured a disappointing campaign.
Dec. 2 Dec. 10 Dec. 16 Dec. 17 Dec. 22 Jan. 6 Jan. 11 Jan. 13 Jan. Jan. Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb.
21 22 31
3 4 7
11 15 24 25
Stonington 7 Moweaqua 11
20 Niantic 7 13 Maroa 35 13 Auburn 22 14 Assumption 33 15 Blue Mound 14 28 Blue Mound 2 15 Moweaqua 25 11 Assumption 25
9 · Mt. Olive 73 12 Taylorville 17 18 Assumption 21 16 Maroa 56
9 Assumption 51 2 Morrisonville60 7 Assumption 31
13 Morrisonville26 18 Decatur 20
District Tournament Feb. 27-March 2 7 Pleasant 20
Plains
Away Home Home Home Away Away Home Home Home Away. Home Home Away Away Away Home Home Home
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 3-16 Coaches': Cumulative Record: 16-31 *
*The record excludes the 1920-1921 season when scores for that season were unavailable.
Summary
The Reds played Assumption five times during the season. Although
the scores varied, the outcome of all five were the same, an Assumption
victory. Stonington ended the season with a twelve· game losing streak.
Al.l was not lost however, as Stonington defeated arch-rival Blue Mound
in both meetings.
11 The scores for the 1921-1922 season were taken from the 1922 Stony
Echoes.
'.,' · ··si ty 'l'eam Vince·:· ":'. !b.:
Members
Ches·· ::::�\,._ . . -�-=
Holl:. ;:i se
Kenn(· . , Hog:1.n
Floyd Husband Marcus Kelly Delbert Lawler
1922-1923
Introduction
Elmer Mcconkey William Prycznski
. John Sanders Ralph Sharrock John Tolliver
Tom Traughber
Five players from the 1921-22 team returned for the 1922-23 season.
Jan. 23 Feb. 1 Feb. 8
Stonington
10 10
9
Taylorville 19 Assumption 19 Mt. Auburn 10
Home Away Away
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 0-3* Coaches' Cumulative Record: 16-34**
*The author was able to find only three scores for the 1922-23 season. **Guy Lawry's
· cumulative record does not include the 1920-21 season when
scores were unavailable.
Summary
The three scores reported were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Varsfty TeaJn Lloyd Burdick Hunter Chapman Hollis Hise Marcus Kelly
Members Delbert Lawler Elmer Mcconkey Paul Sckowska Ralph Sharrock
1923-1924
Introduction
Coach Lowry had a talented group of underclassmen r�nort for �-
12
basketball. Paul Sckowska and Lloyd Burdick gave Stonington , siz�
as both were better than six feet tall.(54)
�tonington Dec. 7 6 Mt. Auburn 5 Away Dec. 18 18 Bethany 19 OT Home Dec. 21 24 Niantic 4 Home Jan. 4 17 Mt. Auburn 5 Home Jan. 9 21 Taylorville 25 Away Jan. 11 17 Mt. Pulaski 12 Home Jan. 18 25 Edinburg 3 Home Jan. 25 21 Litchfield 16 Away Feb. 1 lO Blue Mound 5 Away Feb. 8 17 Mt. Auburn 9 Away
Christian County Tournament Feb. 18-21 15 Pana 27 District Tournament March 6-10 33 Blue Mound 6 13 Bement 21
Coach: Guy Lowry Record: 9-4 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 25-38*
*The record includes no games fro�·1920-21 and thre� games from 1922-23.
Summary
The team posted a 9-4 record for the year. The outlook for the
future appeared bright as five of the nine varsity players were under-
classmen. The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Varsity Team Members . Lloyd Burdick Marcus Kelly Hunter Chapman Paul Sckowska Sherman Gillmore Ralph Sharrock Dwight Hammon Wayne Yoder Benny Hardsock
13 1924-1925
Introduction
The h�sketball season of 1924-25 was the dawning of a new age in
the histcJ
all tean. .
;1f basketball at Stonington High School. For the first time
:;ers wore the same kind of W1iforms, those being the first
ever purcha�ed by the school. The school also hired its first coach
whose job was to teach Manual Training and coach all sports. Until this
time, Guy Lowry had coached all sports at Stonington in addition to his
teaching and superintendent duties.(54)
The new coach was Gladwin Gaumer, who because of his first name,
preferred to be called G. Gaumer.(54) The new coach welcomed twenty-
three prospective candidates for basketball. The team had size, speed,
and experience.(54) In addition to the juniors and seniors, there was
a group of freshmen and sophomores known as the Five Horsemen· who
provided good·competition for the upperclassmen.(60)
Dec. 5 Dec. 12 Dec. 19 Jan. 10 Jan. 16 Jan. 23 Jan. 24
Jan. 30 Feb. 1
Feb. 11 1''eb. 14 Feb. 18
Stonington 31 10 33 33 31 21
Owaneco 8 Morrisonville 9 Morrisonville Raymond Moweaqua Mt. Auburn
6 7
12 14
56 Stonington
30
Edinburg Invitational Tournament
Edinburg Niantic
5 Jan. 26-28
Home Away Home Home Away Away Away
43 29
9 34
Christian 16 13 28 22
District 21 14
Warrensburg. Assumption Moweaqua
Tournament Feb. Pana Mt. Auburn Assumption Edinburg
Tournament Feb. 21-25 Sullivan Lovington
6 16
8 16 29
4-7 25
9 14 14
14 13
(First place) Away Home
Away Home Away
Stonington 24 20
8 Mansfield Decatur 26 (Second place)
Coach: Gladwin Gaumer Record: 18-3 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 18-3 '\!
Summary
There were many highlights of the season . The Reds : :·1ptured the
first Stonington Invitational Tournament . Another highli
guard Paul Sckowska1s perfect 3 for 3 shooting against Mo.
was back
1a. ( 54)
After taking the 4 :00 P.M. Puddle Jumper train to Mo1·. ':wnville
14
for a game the team defeated Morrisonville. The team then had to endure
a power failure and wait in the dark to catch the 12:30 A .M. return run
of the train.(54)
The Reds advanced to the championship game of the Decatur District
by defeating Sullivan, Lovington, and Mansfield . Stonington played
Decatur High for the title after having played the Lovington and Mansfield
games earlier the same day. The Reds jumped out to a first quarter lead
but were unable to match Decatur's depth and were defeated 26-8.(54)
Lloyd Burdick, the Red's 61 4" center, went on to play football
at the University of Illinois . Another senior, Sherman Gillmore, went
on to play basketball at Eastern Illinois State Normal.(l)
The scores were taken from the 1925 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Charles Boardman Lloyd Burdick Hunter Chapman Delmar Collenbarger Glen Davis
Team Members Sherman Gillmore Dwight Hammon Paul Sckowska Tom Slaughter Robert Traughber
1925-1926
Introduction
Four of last year 1 s starters graduated leaving new ·;'?ach Paris
Loucks with the job of rebuilding. Last year's coach Gladwin Gaumer
had moved on to accept a teaching job at Blue Mound.(54)
Stonington Nov. 24 12 Macon 27 Away Dec. 7 17 Mt. Auburn 10 Home Dec. 8 8 Maroa 26 Away Dec. 16 28 Blue Mound 14 Home Jan. 5 17 Mt. Auburn 15 Away Jan. 12 10 Lovington 28 Away Jan. 15 31 Bethany 34 Away
Stonington Invitational Tournament Jan. 22-23 35 Niantic 19 16 Nokomis 32 19 Mt. Auburn 17 19 Assumption 45 (Fourth place)
Feb. 2 24 Assumption 33 Home Feb. 5 17 Taylorville 38 Away Feb. 9 20 Lovington 33 Rome Feb. 12 14 Moweaqua 18 Home Feb. 17 17 Taylorville 42 Away Feb. 19 24 Bethany 21 Home
Christian County Tournament Feb.22-23 19 Assumption 28
Feb. 23 16 Macon 27 Away Mar. 2 23 Moweaqua 42 Away
District Tournament March 3-6 11 Macon 12
Coach: Paris Loucks Record: 8-16 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 8-16
Summary
15
Hunter Chapman was named as a second te8.Ill all-star at the Stonington
Invitational Tournament. The Reds failed to win the Stonington Invi-
tational as last year's team, but still managed to finish fourth.
The scores were taken from the 1926 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Members Che:. ·-=S Boardman Gail Markwell
Hur: . .:l' Chapman
Gle.� Davis Joe Emerson Dwight Hammon Cloe Hise
Wes Mason William McClain James Shotten Tom Slaught .:: 'f,
Rober� Traughber
16
Chapter 3
THE COACHING ERAS OF LLOYD BECKER, WILLIAM WHITE, AND GEORGE HARPER
1926-1927
Introduction
New coach Lloyd Becker welcomed back only one starter from the
1925-26 squad.
The Reds had an expanded schedule to include four tournaments as
well as fifteen regular season games.
Nov. 12 Nov. 17 Nov. 23 Dec. 6 Dec. 10 Dec. 17 Jan. 4 Jan. 7
Jan. 26
Feb. 2 Feb. 8
Feb. 18 Mar. 2 Mar. 4
Stonington 11 18 12 14 10 17 12
6
Edinburg 15 Edinburg 9 Morrisonville 19 Bethany 35 Mt. Auburn 9 Strasburg 8 Morrisonville 19 Blue Mound 7
Away Home Away Away Away Home Home Away
Stonington Invitational Tournament Jan. 14-15 22 Warrensburg 19 12 13 22
Edinbur.g 11 Bethany 33 ( Second place) Maroa 24 Away
Christian 19 17 14
County Tournament Jan. 28-29
13 15 18
Assumption 17 28
7 32 28 16
Owaneco 10 Rosamond 15 Taylorville 22 Morrisonville 22 (Fourth place) Assumption 14 Home Assumption 22
Tournament Feb. 11-12 Windsor Blue Mound Tower Hill Maroa Mt. Auburn Blue Mound
22 7
17 20
9 7
Away
District Tournament March 7-11 17 Argenta 22
17
18
Coach: Lloyd Becker Record: 12-14 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 12-14
Swmnary
·The 1926-27 season had a very auspicious beginning. Stonington
traveled to Edinburg not knowing there had been a dance on the floor
the previous night. As the Stonington players ran onto the floor som�
slipped and fell as a result of the slick floor.(41)
One highlight of the season was the Red's second place finish in
the Stonington Tourney. Three of the Stonington players were bestowed
individual honors. Kenneth Black and Glen Davis were named third team
all-stars of the Meridian Conference. Davis was also an honorable
mention to the All-Central team named by the Decatur Herald and Review
newspaper. Florian DeMichael was selected to the first team of the
Stonington.Tournament. (61)
The season's scores were taken from the 1926-27 Stony Ecpoes.
Varsity Team Members Kenneth Black Gail Markwell Glen Davis Florian DeMichael Cloe Hise
William McClain Earl White
1927-1928
Introduction
Coach Becker welcomed back Cloe Hise , William McClain, and Earl
White from the 1926-27 squad. There was no Stonington Tourney but the
Reds did compete in the County Tournament as well as the Assumption
Tourney.
Stonington Nov. 4 40 Owaneco 14 Home Nov. 11 ·31 Edinburg 19 Home Nov. 16 17 Edinburg 16 Away Dec. 7 43 Strasburg 10 Home Dec. 9 23 Niantic 16 Home Dec. 13 9 Assumption 19 Away Dec. 16 24 Mt. Auburn 10 Away Dec. 21 13 Mt . Auburn 11 Home .Jan. 6 12 Blue Mound 21 Away Jan. 7 29 Niantic 12 Away Jan, 13 5 Bethany 19 Home .Jan . 17 15 Blue Mound 27 Home Jan. 20 21 Morrisonville 22 OT Away
Christian County Tournament Jan. 26-29 29 Morrisonville 24 16 Pana 27
Feb. 3 23 Morrisonville 28 OT Home Assumption Tournament Feb . 10-11
27 Moweaqua 30 16 Macon 23
Feb. 17 21 Bethany 23 Away Feb. 24 25 Assumption 28 Home Feb. 27 23 Rosamond 43 Away
District Tournament March 5-9 8 Clinton 30
Mar. 13 13 Rosamond 18 Home
Coach: Lloyd Becker Record: 10-13 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 22-27
Summary
After winning seven of the first eight games, Stonington lost
twelve of their final fifteen games.
The team had some unusual experiences traveling to two of their
games. The Reds Yere twice victim to poor traveling conditions. The
19
20
cars used to travel to Niantic had to pushed a good deal of the way
because of muddy roads. ( li2) Mud also. forced the team to travel to Bethany
by way of Decatur on a train thereby pushing back the starting time of
the game to 10:00 P.M.(62) The team stayed all night at Bethany return-
ing home by rail the next morning.(62)
The. scores were taken from the 1927-28 Stony Echoes.
Beaty,
Varsity Clarence Beaty Lloyd Buis
Team Members
Allen Crist Tullio DeMichael Cloe Hise
1928-1929
Introduction
Crist, DeMichael, and White were ..
Kenneth Kerwin Hardin Markwell William McClain Elmo Traughber Earl White
the returning players
from the 1927-28 squad with which new coach William White could build
a team.
Nov: .. 24 Nov. 30 Dec. 7 Dec. 14 Dec. 21 Jan. 4 Jan. 8 Jan. 11 Jan. 18
Feb. 1 Feb. 5
Feb. 15 Feb. 19 Feb. 22 Mar. 1
Stonington 13 Owaneco 21 Away 33 Owaneco 16 Home 17 Morrisonvi·lle 18 Home 21 Edinburg 10 Home 24 Morrisonville 15 Away 25 Edinburg 17 ·Away 30· Blue Mound 7 Home 11 Asssumption 23 Home 17 Macon 22 Away
Christian County Tournament Jan. 26-30 18 Taylorville 41
8 Assumption 43 Away 20 Strasburg 12 Home
. Assumption Tournament Feb . 8-9 24 Ramsey 32 l� Macon 26 12 Macon 23 Home
7 Bethany 27 Home 12 Rosamond 27 Away 26 Mt. Auburn 14 Home
District Tournament March 5-8 12 Macon 27
coach: William W11ite Record: 8-12 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 8-12
Summary
One of the more memorable games of the season was with Macon.
Stonington lost 22-17 with Earl White scoring fifteen of the seventeen
21
Stonington points. (3) White, however, missed the Assumption game because
of disciplinary action and Stonington lost 43-8. (4)
Several members of the squad had to play consecutive games with
Macon on February 8 and 15 with very sore arms because they had received
small pox vaccinations. ( 5 )
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Varsity JGhn Bandy
·Fred Bandy Harold Beaty Albert Bollinger Robert Cahill Allen Crist
Team Members Tullio DeMichael Orval Moore Sherman Taylor Earl White
1929-1930
Introduction
Prospects for a successful season appeared good with the return
of seven members of last year's varsity squad.
Nov. 23 Nov. 30 Dec. 6 Dec. 13 Dec. 16 Dec. 20 Jan. 4 Jan. 7 Jan. 8 Jan. 11 Jan. 14 Jan. 18 Jan. 21
Jan. 28 Jan. 30 Feb. 7 Feb. 11 Feb. 14 Feb. 21 Feb. 25 Feb. 28
Stonington 34 LaPlace 5 Home 13 09onee 11 Away 12 Morrisonville 11 Away 25 Mt. Auburn 8 Home 17 Owaneco 14 Away 27 Bethany 15 Home 31 Owaneco 5 Home 37 Rosamond 19 Away 29 Moweaqua 16 Home 36 Tower Hill 17 Home 11 Tower Hill 9 Away 21 Mt. Zion 8 Home 23 Moweaqua 29 Away
Christian County Tournament Jan. 23-25 20 18 14 28 20 33 23 20 27 23 28
District 12
Owaneco Assumption Taylorville Niantic Morrisonville Blue Mound Mt. Zion Mt. Auburn Decatur "B11 Blue Mound Bethany
Tournament March 6-9 Clinton
13 28 1 5 {Fourth place) 21 Away 10 Home 15 Home 19 Away
8 Home 20 OT Home 12 Away 16 Away
13 OT
Coach: William White Record: 21-4 Coaches' CU.I:lulative Record: 29-16
Summary
Stonington enjoyed one of its most successful seasons with the
22
1929-30 squad compiling a 21-4 record. It was the first twenty victory
season in the school's history. The Reds breezed· through the regular
season with a 20-1 record but didn't fare as well in tow.·naments.
One of the most unforgettable games of the season was a 27-20
overtime victory over the Decatur Reserves. With four starters Crist,
23
DeMichael, Bandy, and Bu.:: ·:.ooking on from the bench because of missing
school that day, Stoning· . played Decatur even through regulation time.
Wi.th Decatur's varsity coach Gay Kintner looking.on, Coach White inserted
his four benched regulars for the overtime period . DeMichael and a
Decatur player 'Jere ejected in the first minute of overtime for rough-
ness but Stonington went on to win 27-20.(42)
Stonington and Blue Mound began play for the Blue Stone Trophy.
The trophy, furnished by the fans, would go to the first team to win
five games from the other . ( 42 )
The scores were taken from the 1930 Red and White Scrapbook.
Varsity Team Richard Armstrong Fred Bandy· John Bandy Harold Beaty Albert Bollinger
Members Lloyd Buis Allen Crist Tullio DeMichael Norman Markwell Orval Moore
1930-1931
Introduction
New coach George Harper had five players from last year ' s team returning
for the 1930-31 season.
Stonington Dec. 4 26 Mt. Auburn 11 Home Dec. 12 20 Morrisonville 19 Home Dec. 16 21 St . Teresa 10 Away Dec. 18 28 Owaneco 9 Home Dec. 19 20 Blue Mound 18 Away Dec. 23 21 Tower Hill 19 Away Jan. 9 20 Bethany 22 Away Jan. 16 13 St . Teresa 11 Home Jan. 17 12 Illiopolis 28 Away Jan. 23 27 Morrisonville 19 Away Jan. 27 14 Blue Mound 19 Home
Assumption Tournament Jan . 29-Feb. 2 19 Assumption 21 28 Mt . Zion 11 24 Assumption 21 17 Findlay 18 - oT (Fourth place )
Christian County Tournament Feb. 6-7 21 Assumption 16 22 Edinburg 17 22 Taylorville 18 (First plac e )
Feb . 13 23 Bethany 16 Home Feb. 14 37 Mt . Auburn 7 Away Feb. 18 15 Illiopolis 16 Home Feb. 20 19 Assumption 24 Away Feb. 27 21 Tower Hill 14 Home
District Tournament March 2-6 12 Decatur 36
Coach: George Harper Record : 16-8 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 16-8
Summary
The 1930-31 season turned out to ba a banner one for Stonington
High School . The team finished with a 16-8 record.
The Reds finished fourth in the Assumption Tourney as they were
defeated in overtime 18-17 by Findlay. However , the highlight of the
season came the next week at the Christian County Tourney. Stonington
played a favored Taylorville squad for the championship. With Norman
Markwell hitting six of eight shots in the sec·::nd half, Stonington
25
ca.me from behind to register a 22-18 victory . � Fred Bandy was selected
to the first team of the tournament all-star - . (6)
Stonington was eliminated from · the Distr:i 'rourna.ment by Gay
Kintner' s Decatur squad in a memorable game. .�t.onington was being
soundly beaten and had four players fouled out with all other players
ineligible to play because of the substitution rules of that time when
a Stonington player was ejected for roughing up Decatur ' s Ray Rex. This
meant Stonington had to play the remainder· of the game with four players.
Seeing this, Coach Kintner removed one of his players so that the game
could be finished with four players on each tea.m. (7 )
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Varsity Richard Armstrong Fred Bandy John Bandy Lucian Collenbarger Max Larrick
Team Members Norman Markwell Orval Moore Bert Ogden Lester Pollock Andrew Ritchie
2 6
1931-1932
Introduct ion
The 1931-32 season was a rebuilding year for Stonington because
only two lettermen returned from Coach Harper ' s successful 1930-31 team.
Stonington Nov. 25 8 Owaneco 16 Home Dec . 4 12 Harvel 10 Home Dec . 8 7 Mt . Auburn 6 Away Dec . 11 9 Bethany 38 Home
Dec . 16 7 Macon 26 Home Dec . 18 10 Morrisonville 31 Away Dec . 22 14 Warrensburg 17 Home Jan . 5 8 Assumption 29 Away Jan . 8 17 Mt . Auburn 15 Home Jan . 13 8 Morr isonville 14 Home Jan . 15 10 Bethany 35 Away Jan . 20 12 Illiopolis 52 Away Jan. 22 12 Rosamond 13 Home Jan . 26 11 Blue Mound 23 Home·
As sumption Tournament Jan . 29-30 10 Owaneco 21
Feb. 2 11 Macon 18 Away Christian Collllty Tournament Feb . 4-5 15 Owaneco 26
Feb . 9 8 Blue Mound 15 Away Feb . 12 15 Assumption 17 Home
Feb . 17 16 Illiopolis 14 Home
Feb. 19 10 Warrensburg 27 Away Feb . 24 10 Edinburg 23 Home
District Tournament March 1-5 11 Maroa 21
Coac h : George Harper Record: 4-19 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 20-27
SUIDIIlary
After winning two of the first three game s , the Reds suffered a
stretch of games where they lost fourteen of fifteen games going on to
finish with a 4-19 record.
One of the highlights of the season was a 16-14 upset of Illiopolis
on a basket by Earl Krieger in the last thirty seconds of the garne . ( 8 )
Illiopolis had beaten Stonington 52-12 earlier in the year .
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald .
Varsity Team Members Roy Allen Berle Beaty Robert Beaty Rex Brown Kenneth Coffey
Roy Corzine Lucian Collenuarger
1932-1933
Introduction
Earl Krieger Max .Larr:lck Bert Ogden
Carroll Peabody Scott Ih tchie
Halden Traughber
The team o f 19.32-33 looked forward to improving upon its 4-19 mark
of last year . Coach Harper had a number of players with varsity
experience.
Stonington Dec. 2 15 Owaneco 23 Home Dec. 7 29 Edinburg 4 Home Dec . 9 7 Bethany 25 Away Dec . 13 18. Illiopolis 19 Away Dec. 17 17 Taylorville 18 Home Dec . 20 33 Blue Mound 22 Away Dec. 29 28 Morrisonville 29 Away Jan. 3 18 Macon 19 Away Jan . 10 21 Kincaid 13 Away Jan. 13 24 Moweaqua 19 Away Jan . 18 23 Morrisonville 24 Home
Christian County Tournament Feb. 2-4 7 Taylorvill e 36
Feb. 7 10 Illiopolis 24 Home Feb. 10 13 Bethany 19 Home Feb. 14 21 Rosamond 23 Away Feb. 21 34 Moweaqua 28 Home Feb. 24 17 As sumption 27 Away Mar . 1 26 Kincaid 9 Home
District Tournament March 6-9 23 Macon 25
Coach : George Harper Record: 8-13 Coaches ' Cumulative Recor d : 28-40
27
Summary ·
The Reds showed signs of being a good team but had trouble winning
the close games. Five games were lost by a point and two more by two
points .
Stonington ' s upset of Macon moved the Reds into second place in the
Meridian Conference. (9)
One of the more disappointing losse·s was a two point loss to
Macon in the District Tourney. Stonington blew a four point lead in the
last two minutes. (10)
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Varsity Robert Beaty Rex Brown Kenneth. Coffey Jack Cook
Team Members Tom Doyle Loren Larrick Carroll Peabody Norman Sckowska
1933-1934
Introduction
With a large number of returning players , C.oach Harper had a team
with experience.
Stonington competed in the County Tourney but did not compete in
the Assumption Tournament as they had done in years past .
Stonington Dec. 4 20 Owaneco 31 Home Dec. 5 9 Mt . Auburn 10 Home Dec . 8 20 Taylorville 42 Away Dec . 12 11 Clinton 31 Away Dec . 15 15 Blue Mound 14 Away Dec . 19 7 Moweaqua 27 Away Dec. 22 20 Macon 16 Home Dec . 28 5 Tay�orville 36 Home Jan. 3 5 · Mt. Auburn 15 Away Jan . 5 20 Bethany 18 Home Jan. 9 16 Owaneco 23 Away Jan. 12 24 Morrisonville 17 Home Jan . 16 23 Illiopolis 18 Away Jan. 19 34 Macon 18 Away Jan . 24 10 Assumption 21 Away Jan. 26 12 Clinton 26 Home
Christ ian County Tournament Feb. 2-4 15 Pana 20
Feb. 6 18 Bethany 27 Away Feb. 9 25 Blue Mound 27 Away Feb. 13 16 Moweaqua 19 Home Feb. 16 22 Morrisonville 24 Away Feb. 23 7 Assumption 13 Home Feb. 27 11 Illiopolis 30 Home
District Tournament Feb. 28-March 2 20 Maroa 25
Coach: George Harper Record: 6-18 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 34-58
Summary
The season was an up and down one for Stonington. After losing
the first four game s , the Reds went o n , in one stretch, to win four of
six games and climb into first place _in the Meridian Conference . ( 11)
29
The· suc c e s s was short lived as Stoninston proceeded to lose the last
ten games o f the season.
The aforementioned losing streak was almost b�·oken in a game at
Morrisonville as· Stonington scored 14 o f their 22 poir!ts in the last
period to fall two points short 24-22 . (J.2 )
The Reds captured the Blue Stone Trophy by virtue o f their Yictory
over Blue Mound.
Dec . Dec . Dec . Dec. Dec . Dec. Jan .
Jan . Jan.
Jan. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb . Feb . Feb. Feb. Mar . Mar .
Varsity Team Members Robert Beaty Loren Larrick Robert Brauer Carroll Peabody Rex Brown Homer Phares Olin Coffey Dwight Pollock Harold Deibert John Pollock Tom Doyle Leno Tabacchi Keith Kincaid Halden Traughber
1934'-1935' .
Introduction
Seven player s returned from last year ' s varsity squad .
Stonington 6 1 3 Edinburg 2 3 Home
7 9 Decatur 1 9 Home 8 16 Mt . Auburn 17 Away
14 19 Morrisonville 17 Home 15 17 Raymond 29 Home 2 0 24 Blue Mound 48 Away
4 8 Edinb't�rg 1 8 Away 5 28 Mt . Auburn 9 Home
10 26 Macon 32 Home Meridian Tournament Jan. 22-25
6 O\o/'aneco 13 2 5 1 4 Morrisonville 25 Away
1 1 9 Pana 41 Away 6 15 Assumption 33 Home 8 22 Blue Mound 32 Home
1 2 1 2 Moweaqua 17 Home 15 5 Owaneco 19 Away 19 13 Moweaqua 34 Away 2 2 8 Assumption 33 Away
1 20 Raymond 40 Away 6 20 Niantic 10 Home
30
District Tournament March 7-11 9 Dec a turn 55
Coach : George Harper Record : 3-18 Coaches' Cumµlative Record: 37-76
Summary
The Reds finished the year with only victories over Morrisonvill e ,
Mt. Auburn , and Niantic . This was the first year that a Meridian
Conference Tournament was held .
31
This was Coach Harpe r ' s last season as Stonington. High ' s basketball
coach.
The scores were· taken from the 1935 Stony Echoes .
. . Varsity Lawrence Allen Sam Boldini Olin Coffey Harold Deibert Tom Doyle
Team Members Pete Marucco Keith Peabody Dwight Pollock John Pollock. Robert Smith Halden Traughber
Chapter 4
THE COACHING ERAS OF JOE WYLDER AND FRED REUTER
1935-1936
Introduction
Coach Joe Wylder had most of the players from the previous year
returning for the 1935-36 season. Coach Wylder was looking to improve
upon the 3-18 record as he embarked on his first year of coaching at
Stonington.
Stonington Dec. 3 27 Rosamond 24 Home Dec. 6 20 Edinburg 11 Home Dec. 10 20 Owaneco 23 Away Dec. 18 15 Morrisonville 23 Home Dec. 20 21 Blue Mound 20 Away Jan. 3 21 Mt . Auburn 28 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan. 8-12 12 Asswnption 18
Jan. 14 43 Owaneco 19 Home Jan. 21 29 Mt. Auburn 19 Home
South Fork Tournament Jan . 16-18 49 Morrisonville 18 24 Mt . Auburn 18 28 Harvel 24 ( First plac e )
Christian County Tournament Jan . 30-Feb . 1 13 Taylorville 49 27 Ball Twp . 8
Feb. 3 28 Illiopolis 35 Away Feb. 7 49 Blue Mound 17 Home Feb. 8 25 Macon 36 Away Feb . 11 26 Rsaroond 21 Away Feb . 14 16 Macon 27 Home Feb . 19 31 Morrisonville 30 Away Feb. 21 18 Illiopolis 20 Home
District Tournament Feb . 26-28 37 WilliaJnsville 18 22 Riverton 25 39 Pawnee 12 ( Third plac e )
Regional Tournament March 4-5 18 Riverton 23
Coach : Joe 'dylder Record: 14-11 Coaches' Cwm..:.lative Record: 14-11
Summary
Coach Wylder ' s first year was a successful one as the tea� posted
a winning record for the first year since 1931-32 .
The . Reds captured the South Fork Tourney as well as finishing
third in the District Tournament. That year the top three tea.ms in the
District qualified for the Regional Tourna.ment . ( 13) R iverton defeated
33
Stonington in the semifinals of the District and then defeated Stoni.ngton
again in the first round of the Regional .
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald and the 1936 Stony
Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Sam Boldini Olin Coffey Harold Deibert Maggio Marucco Pete Marucco
Keith Peabody John Pollock Dorris Robinson Robert Smith Leno Tabacchi
1936-1937
Introduction
Coach Wylder had six of his top ten ball players b;:: \: for duty in
1936-37 season . The Reds hoped to improve upon the fourteen victories
of last season.
Stonington Nov. 24 47 Edinburg 1 5 Away Nov. 27 19 Palmyra 23 Away Dec. 1 35 Rosamond 14 Away Dec. 2 47 Harvel 21 Away Dec. 4 27 Mt. Auburn 9 Home Dec . 8 9 Illiopolis 26 Away Dec. 11 22 As sumpt ion 12 Home Dec. 16 20 Morrisonville 28 Away Dec. 18 4 0 Blue Mound 25 Home Dec. 23 50 Owaneco 17 Home Dec. 29 25 Palmyra 31 Away Jan. 2 16 Kincaid 31 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan. 5-8 26 Moweaqua 28
Jan . 12 50 Owaneco 22 Away Jan . 19 25 As sumption 26 Away Jan. 22 27 Illiopolis 23 Home Jan. 26 20 Kincaid 16 Home Jan . 29 34 Edinburg 17 Home
South Fork Tournament Feb. 3-5 33 Harvel 28 11 Mt . Auburn 17 24 Owaneco 19 ( Third place )
Chri stian County Tournament Feb. 2-5 29 Mt. Auburn 22 30 Owaneco 10 22 Morrisonville 24 35 Assumption 23 ( Third plac e )
Feb . 9 34 Rosamond 24 Home Feb. 12 36 Blue Mound 18 Away Feb. 17 34 Morrisonville 20 Home Feb. 19 31 Mt . Auburn 11 Away
District Tournament Feb. 24-27 61 Owaneco 16 27 Nokomis 28 60 Blue Mound 24
Regional �ournament March 3-6 24 Witt 26
Coac h : Joe Wylder Record : 20-13 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 34-24
34
Summary
Coach Wylder's 1936-37 sq_uad had a very successful season as they
finished third in the South Fork, Christian County, and District Tourna-
ments. The third place finish in the District enabled Stonington to
qualify for the Regional Tournament for the second year in a row.
Witt ended the Red ' s season with a 26-24 victory in the Regional
but not before Stonington gave Witt a scare. Trailing by seven points
going into the final q_uarter, Stonington made a furious comeback that
fell two points short as Stonington outscored Witt 11-6 in the final
quarter . ( 14)
The scores were taken from the 1937 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Sam Boldini Pat Coady Olin Coffey Walter Dexheimer James Heninger
Members Maggio Marucco Pete Marucco John Pollock Dorris Robinson Robert Smith
35
193'(-1938
Int1 'iction
With eight players graduatiL 'm last year ' s team theYe were many
positions to fill in this year 1 s "
·' . However , in the= last two years
the junior varsity teams were urn:t· ated . ( 63) Coach Wylder was blessed.
with a great deal of height with iour of the first five players six fee�
tall or more. (15)
Stonington
Nov. 19 30 Edinburg lli Home
Nov. 23 18 Mt . Auburn 14 Away
Nov . 30 37 Palmyra 18 Home
Dec . 3 22 Illiopol i s 20 OT Away
Dec . 7 25 Blue Mound 21 Home
Dec. 10 26 Harvel 17 Away
Dec. 14 37 Morrisonville 21 Home
Dec. 17 30 A s sumption 20 Home Dec. 21 36 Owaneco 17 Away
Mreidian Tournament Jan . 5-8 30 Macon 17 20 .Moweaqua 27 33 A s sumption 22 ( Third place )
Jan. 11 35 Findlay 22 Home Jan. 14 24 Macon 19 Away Jan. 18 22 A s sumption 21 Away Jan. 21 48 Rosamond 25 Home Jan. 22 40 Edinburg 18 Away Jan. 25 32 Mt . Auburn 25 Home Jan. 28 40 Kincaid 25 Home
Chr i stian County Tournament Feb. 1-4 53 Rosamond 10 46 Owaneco 13 26 Kincaid 17
Feb. 20 Taylorville 33 ( Second place )
8 34 Illiopolis 22 Home Feb. 11 30 Blue Mound 18 Away Feb. 15 38 Rosamond 19 Away Feb. 18 4 5 Morrisonville 11 Away Feb. 21 31 Findlay 21 Away Regional Tournament F'e b . 24-28
30 Tri City 32
;oach · J · oe Wylder Recor d : 26-3 Coache s ' Cumulative Rec ord : 60-27
Summary
The 1937-38 season was a highly successful one. Up to that point
in the history of basketaball at Stonington High School, the team set
37
records for raost victories in a season and. for highest -.rinning p(;rcenta;�e .
The team was undefeated in all non-tournament regular season games . Jl_ll
three losses carne in tournament play .
One of the bi€:rnest games occured i� the semifinals of the Meridian
Tourney when Stonington met Moweaqua . Both tea.ms were unbeaten and the
game pitted Stonington's size against Moweaqua ' s 'speed and quickness . ( 16 )
On that occasion, speed and quickness prevailed as Moweaqua handed
Stonington their first loss of the season 27-20 .
Even though the team had a very good season, with the first Meridian
Conference Championship in the school ' s history, the season was not with-
out its disappointments . Stonington did not have to play in district
competition but advanced directly to the Decatur Regional Tournament .
Their first opponent in the tourney was Tri City, the winner of the
Niantic District { l7 ) The game looked like it belonged to Stonington as
they outscored Tri City for three quarters 27-19 . However, Tri City
mounted a comeback in the final quarter to tie and then go ahead to win
32-30.
Jim Heninger won the Meridian Conference scoring title amassing
131 points in 11 conference games . ( 19)
The scores were taken from the 1938 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Louis Briggs Gorden Peabody Lawrence Cowell James Peabody Francis Crown Walter Dexheimer Robert Graham James Henineer Dale Larrick
Dorris Robinson Russell Yates Lyle Young Maurice Young
1938-1939
Introduction
The 1938-39 season was a rebuilding one for Coach Wylder and 'his
Stonington Reds . Seven players were gone from the record setting 1937-38
team.
Stonington
Nov. 29 21 Illiopolis 28 Away Dec. 2 34 Owaneco 18 Home
Dec . 6 7 Mt . Auburn 12 Home Dec . 9 22 Illiopolis 24 Home Dec . 13 25 Rosamond 21 Away Dec. 14 26 Palmyra 47 Away
Dec . 16 26 Morrisonville 15 Home Dec. 20 24 As sumpt ion 32 Away
Dec. 23 27 Blue Mound 30 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan . 4-7 26 Assumption 40
Jan . 10 30 Assumpt ion 34 Home
Jan . 13 26 Kincaid 49 Away
Jan . 17 24 Morrisonville 28 Away
Jan. 20 32 Macon 16 Away
Jan. 24 29 Edinburg 15 Home
Jan. 27 14 Mt . Auburn 19 Away
Christian County Tournament Feb . 4-7 17 Kincaid 40
Feb. 7 28 Rochester 19 Away
Feb. 10 18 Blue Mound 19 OT Home
Feb. 14 31 Rosamond 41 Home
Feb. 17 22 Harvel 36 Away
Feb. 21 67 Macon 21 Home
Regional Tournament March 2-5 19 . Cerro Gordo 29
Coach: Joe Wylder Record: 7-16 Coac hes1 Cumualtive Record: 67-43
Summary
The 1938-39 team could not overcome the short comings in .experience
as the team compiled a 7-16 record.
Maurice Young was a standout scorer. for the team. He scored 37
points in the final Meridian Conference gume t o cop the conference
38
scoring title. ( 20) H i s 37 points was also a conference record for· most
points in a game as well as a school record for points in one game . ( 64 )
The scores were taken from the 1939 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Members Richard Akins Robert McCormick Tom Bro'm Junior 0 ' Dell Jack_ Coffey Gorden Peabody Pat Doyle Paul Solliday Billie Eubanks Dwight Woolhouse Lear Godbey James Woolhouse Ira Hall Rus sell Yates LaVerne Johnson Lyle Young Julie Lorenzini Maurice Young Andy Marucco
39
1939-1940
Introduction
Seven of the nine letterm'en from the 1938-'39 squad were on the
1939-40 team. The Reds figured to improve upon last yea.r ' s record.
Stonington Nov. 28 30 Edinburg 24 Away Dec . 1 29 Rochester 15 Home Dec . 5 40 Owaneco 9 Home Dec . 8 27 Sullivan 37 Home Dec . 12 56 Illiopolis 27 Home Dec . 15 23 Moweaqua 32 Away Dec. 19 42 Morrisonville 30 Home Dec. 22 27 Rosamond 33 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan . 3-6 26 Blue Mound 23 29 Findlay 27 25 Assumption 34 28 Morrisonville 31 ( Fourth place )
Jan. 9 28 Blue Mound 21 Home Jan . 1.2 30 Moweaqua 29 Home Jan. 16 26 Mt . Auburn 21 Home Jan . 19 39 Macon 28 Home Jan . 23 27 Morrisonville 49 Away Jan. 26 41 Illiopolis 25 Away
Christian County Tournament Feb. 3-6 35 Rosamond 33 21 Assumption 19 27 Morrisonville 32 ( Second place )
Feb. 10 40 Edinburg 18 Home Feb . 13 38 Rosamond 25 Home Feb. 17 29 Blue Mound 27 Away Feb. 20 32 Mt . Auburn 27 Away Feb. 23 38 Harvel 34 Away
District Tournament Feb. 25-28 17 Niantic 18
Coach : Joe Wylder Record : 19-8 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 86-51
Sununary
The 1939-40 season was another success for Coach Joe Wylder. The
40
team finished third in the Meridian Conference and fourth in the Meridian
Tourney as well as second in the Christian County Tourney.
Morrisonville turned out to be a nemesis for the Reds . After beating
Morrison\· .klle 42-30 in their first meeting, Morrisonville went on to
defeat Stonington three straight tim� s . Once in regular seaso!l play ,
once for third place in the conference tourney , and once for the
championship of the county tourney.
The scores were taken from the 1940 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Richard Akins Ray Johnson Jack Coffey Bill Klay Jack Crist Junior Kline Ben Doyle Julie Lorenzini Billie Eubanks Andy Mar.ucco Art Gebhart Bob Smith Lear Godbey Paul Solliday Joe Graham Richard Yates Ira Hall Russell Yates Laverne Johnson Maurice Young
Introduction
Coach Wylder had a total of six lettermen back from the 1939-40
team. Coach Wylder possessed one of the tallest players in the state
in 6 1 11" Bill Klay.
Stonington Nov . · 27 21 Edinburg 20 Away Nov ... 30 32 Mt . Auburn 14 Home Dec . 3 33 Macon 18 · Home Dec . 6 44 Illiopolis 18 Home Dec. 10 50 Owaneco 17 Home Dec . 13 30 Moweaqua 32 Away Dec . 17 36 Blue Mound 26 Away Dec . 20 20 Sullivan 38 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan . 2-5 29 Tower Hill 42
Jan . 10 38 Morrisonville 30 Home Jan . 11 37 Mt . Auburn 20 Away Jan . 14 33 Tower Hill 47 Away Jan. 17 31 Owaneco 33 Away Jan . 21 23 Illiopolis 22 Away Jan . 24 37 Harvel 18 Home Jan . 27 39 Blue Mound 24 Home
41
42
Christian County Tournament Feb. 1-4 16 Rosamond 28
Feb. 8 22 · Findlay 35 Away Feb. 11 32 Edinburg 28 Home Feb. 15 16 Assumption 24 Home Feb. 18 26 · Morrisonville 30 Away Feb . 22 21 Argenta 26 Away
Regional . Tournament March 3-7 32 Cerro · Gordo 36
Coach: Joe Wylder Record: 12-11 Coache.s ' Cumulative Record: 98-62
· Summary
The 1940-41 season was proof of what illness , injury, and ineligi-
bility can do to what promised to be a very solid team. After winning
eight of the first ten games ,. Stonington won only four of the remaining .·
thirteen games. Russell Yates , Stonington ' s center , graduated in the
middle of the season . (65 )
Once again Stonington did not play in the District Tournament but
advanced directly to the Regional Tourney to play Cerro Gordo. With
guards Andy Marucco and Julie Lorenzini out because of illne s s , Stonington
had their season end. (65 )
The scores were taken from the· 1941 Stony Echoes.
Var.sity Team Members Phillip Buckmire Julie Lorenzini Jack Crist Andy Marucco Art Gebhart Robert Smith Lear Godbey Paul Solliday Ira Hall Richard Yates Bill Klay Russell Yates
43 1941-1942
Introduction
!'few coach Fred Reuter had a total of three lettermen with which
to build a team. The number of lettermen would have been higher , however ,
Lear Godbey and Jack Crist joined the Army in October . ( 6 6 ) Godbey was
last year ' s le�ding scorer . ( 65 )
Stonington Nov. 28 24 Mt. Auburn 23 Away Dec . 5 14 Macon 54 Away Dec. 9 25 Illiopolis 40 Away Dec . 12 30 Tower Hill 54 Away Dec. 16 23 Mt . Auburn 14 Home Dec . 19 26 Blue Mound 37 Home Dec . 20 25 St . James 34 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan. 4-7 27 . Illiopolis 39
Jan. 10 25 Rosamond 53 Away· Jan. 17 31 Blue Mound 27 Away Jan. 24 36 Findlay 46 Home
Christian County Tournament Feb. 3-6 16 Edinburg 28
Feb. 15 34 Edinburg 40 Home Feb . 19 32 Harvel 29 Home Feb. 22 18 Assumption 31 Home
District Tournament Feb. 26-March l 14 Tri City 61
Coac h : Fred Rueter Record: 4-12 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 4-12
Summary
The team couldn ' t overcome the loss of some key players as the team
suffered through a 4-12 season. Stonington defeated Mt . Auburn twice
and Blue Mound and Harvel for their four victories.
Varsity Team Members Dale Blakeman Bill Hartel Brad Bollinger Junior Crist Joe Doyle Bill Emmerling Art Gebhart Ira Hall
Leonal Lemaire John Nolen Robert Smith Keith Young Kenneth Young Allen Younl�er
Chapter 5
THE COACHING ERAS OF VON ARMER , HARLEY CULBERSON, AND MIKE CORBY
1942-1943
Introduction
New coach Von Armer had most of last year ' s varsity squad returning
for duty in the 1942-43 season . Stonington hoped to improve upon last
year ' s 4-12 record.
Under coach Armer , Stonington had an expanded schedule of twenty-
three regular season games plus the Meridian , County , and District ·
tournament s .
Stonington began play in a new gym that had been constructed at
the grade school . (7 5 )
Stonington Nov. 17 32 Nov. 20 27 Nov. 23 43 Nov. 24 26 Dec . 1 25 Dec . 2 4 4 Dec . 5 36 Dec. 8 41 Dec . 11 31 Dec. 15 16 Dec . 18 28
Meridian 25
Jan. 12 40 Jan . 15 37 Jan. 19 44 Jan. 22 38 Jan. 23 31
Edinburg Maroa Mt . Auburn Rosamond Macon Cerro Gordo Illiopolis Tower Hill Decatur 11B11 Moweaqua Blue Mound
Tournament Jan. 7-9 Macon Illiopolis Rosamond Tower Hill Mt . Auburn Decatur 11B11
Christian County Tournament Jan. 33 Rosamond
44
2 3 Away 38 Away 28 Away 24 Away 32 Home 30 Away 31 Away 32 Away 28 Away 33 Away 24 Away
41 29 Home 25 Home 20 Home 19 Home 45 Away
26-28 23
1�5 Stonington
32 Kincaid 34 31 Morrisonville 23 (Third place )
Feb. 3 4 1 Morrisonville 29 Away Feb. 5 37 Blue Mound 20 Home Feb. 9 38 Findlay 20 Away Feb. 12 74 Edinburg 15 Home Feb. "1 6 42 Assumption 25 Home Feb. 17 27 Kincaid 25 Home Feb. 19 47 . Moweaqua 22 Home
District Tournament Feb. 23-26 .
42 Latham 21 28 Niantic 34
Coac h : Von Armer Record : 22-7 Coache s ' Cumulative Record : 22-7
Swnmary
Coach Armer enjoyed a successful initial campaign at Stonington as
his squad finished at 22-7 for the season . . The team was the champion of
the Meridian Conference by virtue of their 47-22 win over Moweaqua in
the regular season finale . ( 21)
There were some outstanding individual performances as Charles Crist
scored sixteen of his team ' s thirty-three points as Stonington beat
Morrisonville for third place in the Christian County Tourney . ( 24 )
Keith Young made eight of nine first half shots in Stonington ' s 38-20
victory over Findlay . ( 25 ) Three days after the Findlay game Crist hit
for 25 points and Young for 24 points as Stonington demolished Illiopolis
74-15 . ( 26 ) The 74 points was also a school record for most points in a
game .
The scores were taken tro n the Decatur Herald.
Varsity Team Members Dale Blakeman Bernard Peabody Charles Crist Connie Yates Art Gebhart Keith Young Leonel Lemaire
1943-1944_
Introduction
Keith Young was the only letterman on the squad frc:1 the 191�2-4 3 "
team . Coach Armer , however, hoped to build a team f·r, .�'.: some talented
underclassmen.
Stonington Nov. 16 30 · � 1rrisonvill '"2 Away Nov. 19 51 ·� . Auburn 32 Away Nov. 24 29 ,-�osamond 47 Away Nov. 26 23 St . Teresa 42 Away Nov. 29 30 Macon 39 Away Nov. 30 39 Illiopolis 33 Away Dec. 1 57 Edinburg 19 Home Dec . 3 30 Illiopolis 34 Home Dec . 7 33 Tower Hill 18 Home Dec . 10 28 Assumption 50 Home Dec . 14 32 Moweaqua 34 Away Dec . 15 35 Macon 31 Home Dec. 17 15 Blue Mound 50 Away Dec . 21 21 St . Teresa 50 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan. 5-8 32 Tower Hill 3 3
Jan. 11 27 Moweaqua 40 Away Jan . 12 47 Maroa 22 Home Jan . 14 46 Edinburg 27 Away Jan. 18 25 Blue Mound 50 Home Jan. 19 22 Rosamond 27 Home Jan. 21 36 Mt . Auburn 29 Home
Christian County Tournament Jan . 26-29 63 Owaneco 13 37 Rosamond 23 27 Mt . Auburn 15 26 Kincaid 42 ( Second place )
Feb . l 46 Morrisonville 38 Home Feb. 4 41 Blue Mound 53 Home Feb. 8 40 Findlay 36 Home Feb. 9 36 Niantic 34 Home Feb. 11 33 Kincaid 48 Away Feb . 15 28 Assumption 68 Away Feb . 18 27 Moweaqua 24 Home Feb . 19 25 Blue Mound 42 Away Feb .. 21 27 Moweaqua 40 Away
District Tournament Feb. 23-25 25 Macon 21 15 Blue Mound 21
Coac h : Von Armer Record : 16-20 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 38-27
46
Summary
Stonington compiled a 16-20 record for the season. The team' s top
achievement of the season was a second. place finish in the County
Tournament .
47
Keith Ycu�g and Bill Emmerling were the top scorers of the team. ( 53 )
Young hit a career high 31 points against Maroa . ( 53 )
In one of the most memorable games o f the season , Stonington
traveled to Blue Mound to face their arch rivals . Keith Young was
ejected in the first half by the referee s . In the minds of the Stoning-
ton fan s , the ejection was not warranted. Bill Emmerling also fouled
out in the first half much to the chagrin of Stonington fans . Blue
Mound went on to swamp Stonington 50-15. After the game a group of
irate Stonington supporters chased the referees off the floor . The
referees took refuge ina second floor room where they remained until
it was safe to leave . ( 4 4 )
The scores were taken from the 1944 Red and White Scrapbook.
Varsity Richard Allen Ralph Blair Robert Covington Joe Doyle Bill Emmerling
Team Members Roy Klay John McAvoy John Nolen Clarence Woods Keith Young
1944-1945
Introduction
Coach Armer had only two members of the 1943-44 tew� returning.
Roy Klay was the only player with considerable varsity experience .
Stonington Nov. 18 14 Morrisonville 47 Away Nov. 25 25 Mt . Zion 35 Home Nov. 28 30 Illiopolis 36 Away Nov. 29 28 Kincaid 4 5 Home Dec. 1 27 Macon 56 Away Dec. 5 41 Tower Hill 19 Home Dec. 8 30 Assumption 55 Away Dec. 12 29 Moweaqua 20 Away Dec. 13 38 Mt . Auburn 21 Home Dec . 15 26 Blue Mound 50 Away Dec . 19 23 Mt . Zion 46 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan . 4-7 25 Assumption 45
Jan. 9 31 Illiopolis 21 Home Jan . 12 36 Rosamond 30 Home Jan. 16 48 Tower Hill 21 Away Jan. 19 25 Macon 41 Away
Christian County Tournament Jan . 24-26 22 Assumption 45
Feb. 1 21 Morrisonville 40 Home Feb. 2 31 Blue Mound 35 Home Feb. 6 28 Findlay 42 Away Feb. 7 39 Edinburg 29 Home Feb. 9 20 Niantic 53 Away Feb . 13 33 Assumption 62 Home Feb. 16 45 Moweaqua 30 Home
District Tournament Feb. 20-23 36 Macon 54
Coach: Von Armer Record: 8-17 Coaches' Cumulative Record : 46-44
Summary
Coach Armer's team suffered through an 8-17 season but some young
players gained some needed experience . This team was primarily a junior
laden team.
One of the highlights of the season was Roy IG.ay ' s 23 points
48
against Macon in the District Tournament . ( 27 )
The school changed its team n�ckname from the Reds to the Wildcats .
The name was changed because of' the Communistic connotations of the
word "Reds" . ( 7 5 )
The scores were taken from the Decatur Herald.
Va�sity Team Memb�:r s Loren Allen George Blakeman Robert Covington Jim Darnell Ray Fischer
7om Godbey y Klay
· Moore .. :� ck Smith
49
50 1945-1946
Introduction
New coach Harley· Culberson had all the ingredients for a successful
team. The 1945-46 squad had a great deal of size and the needed experi-
ence in varsity competition. Roy Klay , Stonington ' s 6 ' 6" cent er ,
returned for a third year of varsity duty . ( 2 )
Stonington Nov. 13 41 Edinburg 29 Away Nov. 17 44 Morrisonville 24 Home Nov . 24 67 Mt. Auburn 9 Home Nov. 27 47 Rosamond 36 Home Nov. 28 33 Macon 38 Away Dec . 1 35 Kincaid 4 5 Home Dec . 4 71 Illiopolis 21 Away Dec. 8 63 Moweaqua 37 Away Dec . 11 43· Blue Mound 35 Away. Dec . 12 49 Findlay 36 Home Dec. 15 56 Tower Hill 32 Away Dec . 18 48 Morrisonville 3 5 Away Dec . 22 50 Raymond 39 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan. 3-7 51 Maroa 14 4 4 Assumption 33 31 Macon 30 ( First place)
Jan. 8 81 Illiopolis 25 Home Jan. 11 40 Edinburg 20 Home Jan . 12 46 Rosamond 4 3 Away Jan . 1 5 60 Tower Hill 33 Home Jan. 18 54 Niantic 24 Home Jan. 19 42 Macon 4 9 Home
Christian County Tournament Jan . 23-26 42 Morrisonville 36 50 Edinburg 40 38 Kincaid 56 ( Second place )
Jan . 30 70 Mt . Auburn 24 Away Feb. 1 56 Blue Mound 41 Heme Feb . 4 54 Assumpt ion 31 Away Feb. 7 4 4 Findlay 42 Away Feb . 8 46 Niantic 37 Away Feb. 14 55 Assumpt ion 25 Home Feb. 18 51 Moweaqua 31 Home
District Tournament Feb. 24-28 55 Tri City 40 38 Latham 32 27 Macon 22 (First place)
Stonington Regional Tournament March 3-6
38 Cerro Gordo ld�
Coach: garley Culberson Record: 31-5 Coaches1 Cumulative Record: 31-5
Summary
The 1945-46 team was the most successful in terms of games won ,
winning percentage , and tournament championships in Stonington High 1 s
history . The team also scored a. s.chool record 81 points against
Illiopolis . In addition to all the team accomplishments , Roy Klay
also broke the single game scoring mark with a 47 point performance
against Illiopolis . ( 67 )
Stonington and Macon split four games during the season. Macon
won both regular season games , but Stonington came back to avenge their
first loss with a one point victory in the championship of the Meridian
Conference Tournament . Stonington then came back to defeat Macon for
the District Tournament Championship . The District title was the first
in the school ' s history.
The scores were taken from the 1946 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Loren .Allen George Blakeman Richard Covington Jim Darnell Raymond Fischer
Tom Godbey Roy Klay Ralph Moore Ralph Myers Dick Smith
51
1946-1947
Introduction
Coach Culberson had five 'of the top ten players from his record.
setting 1945-46 squad returning.
Nov. 12 Nov. 16 Nov. 19 Nov. 20 Nov. 23 Nov. 30 Dec. 3 Dec. 4 Dec. 7 Dec. 10 Dec . 11 Dec . 14 Dec . 17 Dec . 18 Dec. 21 Dec . 22
Jan. 11 Jan. 18
Feb. 2 Feb . 5 Feb. 9 Feb. 12 Feb. 13 Feb. 16 Feb. 19 Feb. 20
Stonington 50 Edinburg 20 35 Pawnee 27 42 Mt. Auburn 19 49 Morrisonville 32 48 Rosamond 38 65 Illiopolis 16 26 Macon 29 40 Kincaid 68 56 Tower Hill 54 Assumption 52 Moweaqua 32 Blue Mound 40 Decatur "B" 44 Findlay 53 Rosamond 43 Edinburg Meridian Tournament Jan . 3-7 42 Tower Hill 37 Macon 33 Blue Mound 38 Tower Hill 42 Macon
Christian County Tournament Jan . 29 Kincaid 58 Mt . Auburn 28 Witt 35 Findlay 60 Illiopolis 40 Assumption 53 Moweaqua 28 Witt 47 Blue Mound
District Tournament Feb. 23-26 67 Mt . Auburn 36 Macon
22 32 41 38 50 30 43 32
22 34 4o 42 36
24-28 49 36 42 34 16 33 26 48 42
33 42
Home Home Home Away Away Away Away Away Home Home Awo.y Away Away Home Home Away
( Second place ) Away Home
Away Away Away Home Away Home Home Home
52
Coach: Harley Culberson Record: 22-10 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 53-15
Sununary
Although this season was not as successful as last , the season
was still a very good one as the team posted a 22-10 reco·· d . .Just as
in the 1945-46 season , Macon handed Stonington their fire� �atback
after Stonington had won its first six game s .
�tonington fell to Blu<= Mound in . the championship game o f the
Meridian Tournament as the Wildcats tried for a repeat title.
The Wildcat s were eliminated in their quest for another district
tournament title by Macon . The team finished with a l0-4 conference
record.
The scores were taken from the 1947 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Tea1:-i Members George Blakeman Halden IG.ine Morris Brown Fred Newcum Richard Covington Ralph Myers Don Emmerling Gerald Roth Tom Godbey Dick Smith Adolphe Jouglet
53
1947-1948
Introduction
George Blakeman along with Morris Brown and Halden I".'line comprised \;
the trio of varsity returnees for Coach Culberson. Blake::nan was a
regular as a sophomore and a junior.
Stonington Nov. 18 27 Edinburg 22 Away Nov. 21 38 Morrisonville 35 Home Nov. 22 57 Raymond 23 Home Dec . 2 63 Illiopolis 33 Away Dec . 5 32 Macon 3 3 Home Dec . 6 65 Tower 30 Home Dec . 9 38 Assumption 25 Home Dec . 10 31 Moweaqua 25 Home Dec. 13 32 Blue Mound 34 Away Dec. 16 41 Findlay 43 Away Dec. 17 37 Raymond 30 Away Dec . 20 38 Warrensburg 37 Home Dec. 21 60 Tower Hill 32 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan. 2-6 35 Assumption 31 62 Tower Hill 32 39 Macon 42 ( Second plac e )
Jan. 10 24 Moweaqua 33 Away Jan. 13 47 Mt . Auburn 32 Home Jan. 20 28 Edinburg 22 Home
Christian County Tournament Jan . 22-26 61 Edinburg 44 39 Kincaid 49 22 Morrisonville 32 ( Fourth place)
Jan. 29 59 Blue Mound 27 Home Feb. 6 3 5 Assumption h 5 Away Feb. 9 39 Moweaqua 45 Away Feb. 17 47 Mt . Auburn 43 Away
District Tournament Feb. 20-24 30 Warrensburg 36
54
Coach: Harley Culberson Record : 17-10 Coaches' Cumulative Record: 70-25
Summary
The Wildcats started fast by winning seven of the first eight
games and ten of the first thirteen. Of those three losses two were
by two poirits and one. by one point.
For the third year in a row Coach Culberson ' s team advanced to
the final of the Meridian Tourney. However , for the second year in a
row Stonj.ngton finished second as Macon edged Stonington 42-39.
Stonington ·had a 6-6 conference re·cord but an 8-0 n1.��1-conference
record.
The scores were taken from the 1948 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Members George Blakeman Mick Emmerling Morris Brown Pat Howard Bennie Carpenter Adolphe Jouglet Dick Dechert Halden Kline Rich Dunbar Harold Lawler
55
5G
Introduction
Coach Culberson had only four players with varsity '; .. perience
returning which meant the 1948-49 season would be a �ebuilding one.
Stonington Nov. 17 46 Edinburg 43 Home Nov. 20 40 Mt. Auburn 37 Home Nov . 21 41 Illiopolis 29 Away Dec. 1 30 Macon 47 Away Dec. 4 45 Tower Hill 26 Home Dec. 5 27 Assumption 28 Home Dec. 8 40 Moweaqua 38 Home Dec. 11 40 Blue Mound 47 Away Dec. 15 50 Findlay 57 Away Dec. 18 35 Warrensburg 61 Away Dec . 19 54 Tower Hill 38 Away Dec . 22 34 Macon 49 Home
Meridian Tournament Js.n. 4-a 36 Macon 49
Jan. 12 52 Edinburg 47 Away Jan . 15 38 Raymond 36 Home Jan. 22 37 Mt . Auburn 43 Away
Christian County Tournament Jan . 25-29 44 Assumption 59
Feb. 3 46 Mt . Zion 47 Home Feb . 6 35 Blue Mound 32 Home Feb. 7 43 Assumption 47 Away Feb. 10 43 Moweaqua 53 Away Feb. 13 45 Morrisonville 54 Away Feb. 16 52 Niantic 82 Away
District Tournament Feb. 19-23 56 Mt . Auburn 44 29 Warrensburg 60
Coach: Harley Culberson Record : 10-15 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 80-40
Su.nunary
The Wildcat s , in a rebuilding process , had to endure a 10-15 season .
Several of the losses were by small margins .
Harley Culberson closed out a very successful coaching stint at
Stonington . His teams compiled an impressive 80-40 record over the
four years of his coaching. His 1945-46 team was the first in history
to win a District Tournarnent .
Varsity Team Members Don Blakeman Adolphe Jouglet Morris Brown Harold Lawler
· Bennie Carpenter Gene Coffey Dick Dechert Rich Dunbar
Nuel Myers Bill Puckett Ray Traughber ·
The scores were taken from the i9l19 Stony Echoes .
57
1949-1950 58
Introduction
New coach Mike Corby had eight of the . top ten players fro .. tn last year ' s squad returning, including Adolphe Jouglet , a four year varsity member.
Stonington Nov. 16 42 Mt . Auburn 33 Horne Nov . 23 48 Niantic 41 Away-Nov. 26 36 fv'iacon 37 Home Nov. 30 43 Tower Hill 42 Away Dec . 2 27 Assumption 20 Home Dec . 6 45 Moweaqua 4 1 Hotne Dec . 9 32 Blue Mound 33 Away Dec . 10 46 Illiopolis 42 Away Dec . 13 39 Kincaid 5 3 A"1ay Dec . 16 50 Edinburg 30 l:Iome Dec . 17 57 Strasburg 49 Horne Jan . 5 47 Tower Hill 32 Horne
Meridian Tournament Jan. 8-12 34 Assumption 32 39 Findlay 36 44 Macon 38 ( First Place )
Jan. 16 32 Macon 39 A"1ay Jan. 19 49 Edinburg 43 Away-Jan . 23 46 Mt. Zion 41 Home Jan . 26 45 Morrisonville 40 Home
Mid Plains Tournament Jan. 30-Feb. 3 60 Raymond 41 53 Mt . Auburn 61 52 Kincaid 30 ( Third Place)
Fel:i. 7 52 Assumption 47 Away-Feb. 10 43 Moweaqua 39 Away-Feb. 14 44 Morrisonville 46 Away-Feb. 17 h5 Mt . Auburn 43 A"1ay
District Tournament Feb. 23-24 58 Mt . Auburn 45 49 Assumption 36 ( First Place )
Regional Tournament March 1-3 45 Kincaid 34 46 Pana 42 42 Taylorville 66 ( Second place)
Coach: Mike Corby Record: 24-7 Coaches ' Cumulative Reccrd: 24-7
Summary
)·Eke Corby ' s first year was a very successful one . The Wildcats
were cha.r.ipions o f the Meridian Tournrunent as we),l as . the District
TournaJUent .
In the District final , Stonington outscored Assumption 16-2 in the
second quarter and went on to win 49-36. This was only the second
district championship for Stonington . ( 2 8 )
After defeating Kincaid in the opening game of the Regional ,
Stonington upset Pana 46-42 as Bennie Carpenter tallied 21 points . ( 29 )
The Wildcats verE' then eliminated from tourney play as Taylorville
defeated Stonington for the cba.�pionship of the Regional .
Varsity Team Don Blakeman Bennie Carpenter Gene Coffey Leon Coffey Dick Dechert Rich Dunbar
Members Adolphe Jouglet Lyle Klay Nuel Myers . Norman Taylor Ray Traughber Vernon Yates
The scores were taken from the 1950 Stony Echoes
59
60 1950-1951
Introduction
Five lettermen , led by 18:st year ' s leading :scorer Bennie Carpenter ,
returned to try and repeat the success of the 1949-50 team.
Stonington Nov. 21 71 Mt. Auburn 25 Home Nov. 27 33 Niantic 54 Away Dec . 1 43 Macon 41 Home Dec . 5 69 Tower Hill 43 Away Dec. 8 38 Assumption 15 Home Dec . 9 39 Moweaqua 51 Away Dec. 12 47 Blue Mound 54 Away Dec . 15 58 Findlay 48 Away Dec . 16 39 Morrisonville 41 Home Dec . 19 72 Edinburg 38 Home Jan. 5 60 Strasburg 65 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan. 8-12 74 Tower Hill 36 49 Blue Mound 47 37 Macon 57 ( Second place)
Jan . 16 63 Tower Hill 38 Home Jan . 19 54 Macon 82 . Away Jan . 23 64 Mt. Zion 56 Home Jan . 27 64 Edinburg 43 ,Away
Mid Plains Tournament Jan. 30-Feb. 2 42 Assumption 34 53 Edinburg 23 39 Morrisonville 37 ( First place)
Feb . 6 81 Illiopolis 74 Home Feb . 9 48 Blue Mound 59 Home Feb . 10 56 Assumption 53 Away Feb . 1.3 59 Moweaqua 56 Home Feb . 16 63 Mt . Auburn 29 Away
District Tournament Feb. 20-23 61 Edinburg 42 65 Rochester 51 37 Blue Mound 44 ( Second place)
Coach: Mike Corby Record : 20-9 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 41�-16
Summary
Coach Corby ran his coaching record at Stonington to 44-16 with
another twenty victory season.
61
Stonington captured the Mid Plains Tournament, but were thwarted
in their attempts to repeat as champs of the Meridian Tourney. Macon
defeated the Wildcats in the championship game of the Meridian Tournament
and Blue Mound defeated Stonington in the championship game of the District.
In the District , Bennie Carperter scored 27 po�nts against Edinburg . ( 30 )
He followed that performance with a 23 point effort in the semifinals
against Rochester . ( 31)
The scores were taken from the 1951 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Don Blakeman Joe DeMichael Fred Brown Chester Hodges Bennie Carpenter Richard Stahr Lloyd Clark Lyle Swigert Leon Coffey Norman Taylor Richard Corby Vernon Yates
l951�1952 . .
Introduction
62
Eight of the twelve varsity players returned for tr. � 1951-52 season . ·
This wa.s Don Blakeman ' s fourth year as a varsity player ,
Nov. 12 Nov. 16 Nov. 19 Nov. 23 Nov. 27 Dec. 4 Dec. 7 Dec . 8 Dec . 11 Dec . 14 Dec . 18 Jan. 4
Jan. 15 Jan . 18 Jan . 22 Jan . 25
Feb . 5 Feb. 8 Feb . 12 Feb. 15
Stonington 63 5 3 65 60 5 5 50 53 60 7 6 83 56 5 6
Meridian 52 49
Mt . Auburn 29 Niantic 49-Macon 64 Tower Hill 18 Assumption 58 Maroa 39 Blue Mound 54 Findlay 77 Morrisonville 56 Edinburg 49 Strasburg 72 Tower Hill 43
Tournament Jan. 7-11 Assumption 46 Illiopolis 48
Home Home Home Home Away Away Home Away Home Home Home Away
39 Blue Mound 40 ( Second place) 46 Macon 50 50 Mt . Zion 53 56 Edinburg 42 52 Illiopolis 47
Away Away Away Away
Mid Plains Tournament Jan . 28-Feb . 1 4 4 Morrisonville 38 53 Kincaid 67 51 Raymond 4 5 4 5 Blue Mound 49 5 3 Assumption 49 50 Moweaqua 48 68 Mt. Auburn 48
District 4 4 54
33 52
(Third plac e ) Away Home Rome Away
71
Tournament Feb . 26-29 Edinburg Moweaqua Macon 55 ( First place )
Regional Tournament March 3-6 51 Kincaid 61
Coach: Mike Corby Record : 20-10 Coaches ' Cumualtive Record : 64-26
Summary
Stonington had their third twenty victory season in a row as Mike
Corby ended his coaching career at Stonington wHb an im:r-ressive 64-26
record . He remained at the school ir• ?..dministrative position , ( 69)
The Wildcats placed second in thr: . . ::idian !'ou:rnrunent and third
63
in the Mid Plains tournament . Stonin{;ton captured the District Tourna.me�1t
title for a third time as they defeated. Macon 71-55 in the championship .
game .
In the semifinals of the District , Stonington played Moweaqua .
The Wildcats trailed Moweaqua 52-48 with 35 seconds tq play , Stonington
rallied to tie the game , and with 8 seconds remaining , Don Blakeman
made a shot to give Stonington the victory 54-52 . ( 32)
The team also established a school record for most points in a
game with an 83-49 victory over Edinburg.
The scores were taken from the 1952 Stony Echoe s .
Varsity Team Members Kenny Adams Don Blakeman Fred Brown Lloyd Clark
Richard Corby John Curtin
Joe· DeMicbael
Chester Hodges Jack Kerwin Richard Stahr Lyle Swigert
Chapter 6
THE COACHING ERAS OF DA�E FAHSBENDEI< , P..ALPU THOMPSON , AND RALPH NA'ILOR
1952-1953
Introduction
New coach Dale Fahsbender faced a rebuilding year as he had only
two member of the previous year ' s varsity returning . Only one playe r ,
Fred Brow n , had any sizeable varsity experience .
Stonington Nov. 18 38 Mt . Auburn 4 4 Home Nov. 22 29 Macon 4 0 Away Nov . 29 51 Tower Hill 50 Home Dec . 6 32 Rochester 49 Away Dec. 9 63 Moweaqua 64 Home Dec . 13 64 Blue Mound 68 Away Dec . 16 4 4 Findlay 65 Away Dec. 17 69· Morrisonville 5 8 Home Dec . 20 66 Edinburg 71 Home Jan . 3 4 4 Strasburg 61 Home Jan . 6 67 Macon 79 Home Jan. 7 66 Rochester 52 Home
· Meridian Tournament Jan. 10-14 57 Blue Mound 56 47 Illiopolis 67 60 Tower Hill 48 (Third place )
Jan. 18 47 Illiopolis 54 Home Jan. 21 47 Edinburg 55 Away
Mid Plains Tournament Jan . 24-28 56 Kincaid 80
Feb. 2 71 Assumpti,on 63 Home Feb. 5 63 Moweaqua 85 Away Feb. 6 55 Tower Hill 5 6 Away Feb. 9 66 Blue Mound 72 Home Feb. 12 66 Assumption 68 Away Feb. 19 78 Mt . Auburn 65 Away
District Tournament Feb. 22-26 66 Blue Mound 72
Coe.ch : Do.le Fahsbender Record: 7-18 Coach<:.:s ' Cumulative Record : 7-18
64
Sununary
Dale Fahsbender ' s first and only year at Stonington ended with a
1-18 record.
The Wildcats edged Blue Mound in the opening game of the Meridian
Tournament . After being defeated in the semifinals by Illiopolis �
Stonington came back to win third place by beating Mt. Auburn Go-48.
The scores were taken from the 1953 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Lowell Beck Jim Meridith Tom Black Carroll Myers Fred Brown Jack Pile Dale Downs Carroll Curry Jack Kerwin
Bob Taylor Cloyd Staples Ronnie Turner
1953-1954
Introduction
Ralph Thompson took over .a team with eight .'of the top eleven
players returning ) hoping to improve upon last year ' s 7-18 record.
Stonington Nov. 19 58 Mt . Auburn 38 Away Nov . 23 38 Macon 76 Home
Nov. 30 62 Tower Hill 55 Away Dec . 7 4.7 Rochester 4 5 Home Dec . 10 57 Moweaqua 60 Away Dec . 14 56 Blue Mound 79 Home Dec . 17 46 Findlay 60 Home
Dec . 18 64 Morrisonville 50 Away Dec. 21 56 Edinburg 59 Away Jan. 4 55 Strasburg 96 Away Jan . 7 42 Macon 62 Away
Jan. 8 56 Rochester 63 Away Meridian Tournament Jan. 11-15
55 Blue Mound 69 Jan. 18 55 Illiopolis 58 Away Jan . 21 43 Edinburg 58 Home
Mid Plains Tournament Jan. 25-29 49 Coffeen 53
Feb. 2 54 Assumption 50 Home Feb. 5 53 Findlay 50 Home
Feb. 6 64 Moweaqua 58 Home
Feb. 9 52 Asswnption 61 Away Feb. 12 54 Blue Mound 10 Away
Feb. 19 49 Mt . Auburn 45 Home District Tournament Feb. 22-26
13 Rochester 61 46 Blue Mound 64
Coach: Ralph Thompson Record: 9-15 Caoche s ' Cwnulative Record: 9-15
Summary
Although the team improved its record from the 1952-?3 season,
their record was still something less than successful. The team won
only one tournament game , that being a 73-61 decision over Rochester .
The team did finish strong by winning five of the last ei ght game s .
The scores were taken from the 1954 Stony Echoe s .
66
Varsity Team Members Tom Black Charles Brooks Chuclc Coffey Carroll Curry Dale Downs Bob Dunbar Jim Meridith
I,eslie Nolen Jack Pile Leroy Stivers Bob Taylor Ronnie Turn(; � Dick Wattelet Carroll Myers
Intrqduction
Coach Thompson carried fj_fteen players on his varstty squad fo:;- the
1954-55 season, Of the fifteen, ten were members of the 1953-54 te:am .
The Mid Plains Tournament was replaced on the schedule by the
Morrisonville Tournament.
Nov . 20 Nov. Dec . Dec .
27 1 4 8 Dec .
Dec . 11 Dec . Dec . Dec . Dec . Jan . Jan . Jan .
15 18 19 22
5 8 9
Jan . 19 Jan . 22
Feb. 3 Feb . 6 Feb. 7 Feb. 10 Feb. 13
Stonington 68 49 56 60 46 67 73 48 77 67 58 58 72
Meridian 55 51 51 72 58
Mt . Auburn Macon Tower Hill Moweaqua Blue Mound Findlay Nianti c Morrisonville Macon Edinburg Findlay Illiopolis Rochester
Tournament Jan . 11-15 Blue Mound Assumption Tower Hill Asswnption Raymond
27 62 61 38 61 68 OT 88 55 65 48 74 60 46
53 OT 53
Home Away Home Home Away Away Away Home Home Home Away Home Home
66 67
(Fourth plac e ) Away
69 Home Morri sonville
60 Tournament Jan. 24-28
73 69, 88 72 85 52
Raymond Moweaqua Assumption Edinburg Blue Mound Mt . Auburn
70 75 76 73 76
District 81 64
Tournament Feb. 23-27 Rochester Blue Mound
75 OT 72
Away Home Away Home Away
Coach : Fred Thompson Record: 11-15 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 20-30
Summary
Coach Tbompson ' s coaching career at Stonington ended with a
1954-55 season record of 11-15. Even thou�h the team ' s record was some-
w!:!at disappointi!'lg r;onsidering the number ol' :!.etter:nen oi: the te9...1Jl ,
68
the se1: •. :.�n \.las not wi.tr�ou.t high1ights . The �-lildcs:ts upset arch rival
Blue Mound 55-53 in overtime ;in toe OJ?ening round of the MericliE<.n
Tom·ney . (.33) Stonington went on to finish fourth in .the tourney .
The scores -..-iere taken from the 1955 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Bob Ada.ms Tom Black Chuck Coffey Carroll Curry Dale Do¥ms Bob Dunbar Jim Heath Tom Marucco
Members Jim Meridith Leslie Nolen Jack Pile Terry Poiriez Leroy Stivers Ronnie Taylor John Tabacchi Dick Wattelet
1955-1956
Introduction
New cc::).ch P.alph ·Na�flor had only nine members on his first tear.i
at Stonington. 'Eight of these players were on the 1954-55 team, however
few had extensive exper).ence in varsity competition.
Nov. 21 Nov. 28 Dec. 2 Dec . 5 Dec . 9 Dec . 12 Dec . 16 Dec. 19 Dec . 20 Jan . 2 Jan . 6 Jan. 9 Jan . 10
Jan. 20 Jan . 23
Feb . 4 · Feb. 7
Feb. 11 Feb. 14 Feb. 17
Stonington 71 Mt. Auburn 91 54 Macon 56 60 Tower Hill 79 58 Moweaqua 66 50 Blue Mound 67 35 Findlay 58 46 Niantic l�2 57 Morrisonville 59 59 Macon 73 34 Edinburg 61 59 Findlay 70 49 Illiopolis 73 57 Rochester 54
Meridian ToUTnament Jan . 12-16 50 Macon 67 65 Assumption 10 53 Raymond 66 Away
Morri sonville Tournament Jan . 25-29 49 Kincaid 98 62 Moweaqua 66 64 Edinburg 71 66 Assumption 46 54 Blue Mound 91 58 Mt . Auburn 65
District Tournament Feb . 24-28 67 Macon 69
Away Home Away Away Home Home Home Away Away Away Home Away Away
Away
Home Home Home Away Home
Coach: Ralph Naylor Record : 3-21 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 3-21
Summary
Stonington nuffered its fourth losins season in succession as the
Wildcats struggled through a 3-21 season. Stonington defeated Niantic ,
Rochester, and Assumption for their victories .
The 98 points scored agninst Stonington when Kincaid beat Stor.ington
70
by a Stonington team.
The scores were taken from the 1956 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Bob Adams Tom Marucco Charles Brooks Chuck Coffey Bob Dunbar Jim Heath
Leroy Stivers John Ta.bacchi Dick Wattelet
71
1956-1957
Introduction
Bob Adams , Bob Dunbar , and Tom Marucco were the only returnee$
for Coach Naylor.
The Kincaid Tournament replaced the Morrisonviile Tournament on
the schedule.
Nov. 16 Nov. Nov. Nov. Dec. Dec . Dec . Dec .
· Dec . Jan. Jan.
20 23 30
4 7
11 14 18
4 8
Jan. 22 Jan. 25
Feb . 5 Feb . 8 Feb. 12 Feb. 13 Feb . 15 Feb. 19 Feb. 22
Stonington 49 50 54 60 49 62 50 55 67 62 54
52 28 54 59
Meridian
Edinburg Macon Tower Hill Moweaqua Blue Mound Findlay Morrisonville Macon Assumption Illiopolis Rochester
Tournament Jan . Assumption Tower Hill Mt . Auburn Ra�ond
53 56 3 5 52 5 5 5 5 72 67 54 53 51 14-18 . 48 41 72 85
Kincaid Tournament Jan. 28-Feb. 1 51 41
52 52 72 44 55 65 42
50 District
Edinburg Moweaqua Edinburg Assumption Blue Mound Mt . Auburn Niantic Findlay
Tournament Feb. Tower Hill
73 56 74 75 57 71 52
25-Mar . 1 69
Home Away Home Home Away Away Horne Horne Home Home Home
Away Home
Away Away Away Horne Away Home
Coach: Ralph Naylor Record : 7-17 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 10-38
Summary
Ralph Naylor ended his tenure as basketball coach at Stonington as
his 1956-57 team posted a 7-17 record . The Wildcats put together a
modest four game winnning streak in midseason and were 7-6 at the tine.
72
The team then proceeded to lose all of the re!ilaining twelve ga111e s . The
season marked the fifth straight losing season for Stonington.
The scores were taken from the 1957 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Bob Adams Bob Dunbar Bill Beck Fred Letcher Tom Bollinger Gary Brown Roger Coffey
Tom Marucco Ralph Stevens
73
Chapter 'T
THE COACHING ERA OF JACK DETTRO
1957-1958
Introduction
Bob Adams and Tom Marucco returned for their fourth year as varsity
basketball players . New coach Jack Dettra hoped to put Stonington back
on the winning track after five straight losing seasons . The team
possessed a great deal of experience as seven players returned.
Nov . 12 Nov. 15 Nov . 19 Nov . 22 Nov. 26 Dec . 3 Dec. 6
Jan . 7 Jan. 10 Jan. 17
Jan . 28 Jan. 31 Feb. 4 Feb. 7 Feb . 11 Feb. 14 Feb . 18 Feb . 21
Stonington 67 65 70 50 68 61 59
Meridian 56 38 55 70 57 48
Four Star 65 52 70 69 66 76 42 66 65 75
District 47 78 65
Edinburg 53 Niantic 69 Tower Hill 50 Blue Mound 59 Maroa 42 Findlay 53 Morrisonville 41
Tournament Dec . 9-13 Blue Mound 54 Illiopolis 32 Tower Hill 40 ( First place ) Illiopolis 66 Rochester 67 Mt. Auburn 46
Tournament Jan . 24-25 Assumption 47 Edinburg 50 ( First place ) Raymond 53 Moweaqua 49 Edinburg 56 Assumption 61 Blue Mound 55 Mt . Auburn 58 Macon 70 Findlay 55
Tournament Feb. 26-28 Moweaqua 4 5 Edinburg 65 Tower Hill 60 ( First place )
Home Home Away Home Away Away Away
Home Away Home
Ho rue Home Away Home Away Away Home Home
Stonington Regional Tournament March 5-8
62 Pana 74
Coach : Jack Dettro Record: 22-7 Coache s ' Cumulative Record : 22-7
Swnmary
Jack Dettro ' s initial season as coach at Stonington was a rousing
success. The team compiled a 22-7 record v1hile winning a record three
tournament title s . The Wildcats c aptured the Meridian Tournament by
hitting 22 of 43 shots in the championship game against Tower Hill . ( 3l�)
Stonington competed for the first time in the newly organized Four Star
Tourney. Stonington , Assumption, Edinburg, and Mt. Auburn comprised the
four team field. The Wildcats beat Edinburg 52-50 for the title as Bob
Adams made two free throws with 28 seconds to go to provide the margin
75
of victory . ( 35 ) Stonington defeated Moweaqua and Edinburg in the DistTict
to earn the right to play Tower Hill for the championship. In the semi-
final game against Edinburg , Tom Bollinger scored 33 points . ( 36 ) Stoning-
ton then defeated Tower · Hill in the championship game for the school ' s
fourth District championship .
The regular season scores were taken from the 1958 Stony Echoes .
The post season tournament scores were taken from the Decatur Heral d .
Varsity Team Bob Adams Bill Beck Gary Brown Tom Bollinger Larry Dooley Fred Letcher
Members Tom Marucco Bill McChristy Dean Tabacchi Ralph Stevens George Thomason Richard Thompson
1958-1959
Introduction
Coach Dettro had three players tha"t were regulars or:. "·'·.he 1957-58
team as well as four others that ;.;ere on the 1957-58 team .
Nov . 11 Nov. 18 Nov . 21 Nov. 25 Dec . 2 Dec . 5
Dec . 16 Dec . 17 Dec . 19
Jan . Jan. Jan .
6 9
16
Jan . 27 Jan. 30 Feb. 3
Feb. 6 Feb . 10 Feb. 13
Feb. 17 Feb. 20
Stonington 56 Edinburg 40 64 43 63 52 52
58 65 38 66 66 78 67 611 58
60 60 70 73 75 78 72 43 83 55 67
72 5 3
Tower Hill 71 Blue Mound 68 Morrisonville 64 Findlay 46 Morrisonville 65
Meridian Turnament Dec . 8-12 Tower Hill 47 Findlay 5 5 Blue Mound )46 ( Second place ) Macon 81 Tower Hill 50 Asswnption 51 Illiopolis 40 Rochester 48 Mt . Auburn 47
Four Star Tournament Jan. 22-24 Edinburg 49 Mt . Auburn 52 Assumption 64 (First place ) Illiopolis 50 Moweaqua 68 Edinburg 60 As sumption 67 Blue Mound 51 Mt . Auburn 57 Macon 68 Findlay 52
District Tournament Feb. 25-27 Rochester 63 Morrisonville 83
Away Home Away Home Home Away
Home Home Home Away Home Away
Away Away Home · Away Home Home Away Away
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 19-9 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 41-16
Summary
The Wildcats did n ' t quite duplicate the feats of the 1957-58 team.
Stonington was defeated by Blue Mound in the championship game of the
Meridian '1.'ourney . '.L1he team did, however , win a second straight Four
Star Tourney. The touTnament changed to a round robin format . t-iorrison-
77
ville ended Stonington ' s season one game s hort of twenty victories as they
defi=ated the Wildcats 83-53 in the semifinals of the I?istrict 'I'ournarnent .
The scores for the regular season were taken from the 1959 Stony
Echoes. The score for the post season tournament was taken from the
Decatur Herald.
Varsity Team Bill Beck Ronnie Beck Tom Bollinger Larry Dooley Bob Emerson Pat Emerson
Members Roy Erbes Fred Letcher Bill McChristy Bruce Robinson Dean Tabacchi George Thomason Richard Thompson
1959-1960
Introduction
The 1959-60 team had eight members of the previous year ' s squad .
The Four Ste.r changed to its original format of 1957-58 i n which there
would be just a serr.ifinal and fi nc.l round of the tournament .
Nov . 10 Nov. 17 Nov . 20 Nov . 24 Dec . 1 Dec . 4
Dec . 15 Dec . 18 Jan . 5 Jan . 8 Jan. 12 Jan. 15
Jan . 26 Jan. 29 Feb. 2 Feb . 5 Feb . Feb . Feb. Feb.
9 12 16 19
Stonington 67 Edinburt::.
Tower Hill 51 52 74
Home A'v1ay Home Awa.y Away Away
67 57 56 59 5 3
64 87 53 49 5 5 67 65 63 7 5
8 3 75 80 77 75 68 5 3 6 5 67 72
5 5
Blue Mound Moweaqua 70 Findlay 7 3 Morrisonville 6 6
Meridian Tournament Dec . Assumption Illiopoli s · Blue Mound Macon Assumption Illiopolis Rochester Tower Hill Mt . Auburn
Four Star Tournament Jan .
7-11 44 68 66 ( Second 5 5 48 66 69 41 39 22-23 64
plac e ) Auay Away Home Away Hone Home
Assumption Mt . Auburn Illiopolis Moweaqua Edinburg Assumption Blue Mound Mt . Auburn Macon Find.lay
5 5 ( First plac e ) 73 Home
Home Away Home Away Away Home Home
District Tournament Feb . Kincaid
73 74 66 75 48 61 74 2 OT
23-26 60
Coach: Jack Dettro Recor d : 16-10 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : 57-26
Summary
Blue Mound defeated Stonington for a second straight time in tile
championshin oi t:he Meridian Tournament . The game also mc.rked the third
Year in a row that Stonington had played in the championship game .
The Wildcats won the Four Star Tournament for the third year in a
row.
In one of the most exciting games of the season, Stonington lost
in two overtimes to Findlay 71i-72 . Findlay rs victory was accomplished
despite a 33 point performa:-. ·:iy Larry Dooley. ( 37 )
The scores were taken _ . the 1960 Stony Echoes and the Decatur
Herald.
Varsity Team Members Russell Beard Melvin Hodges Ronnie Beck Kenneth Ladage Larry Dooley Fred Letcher Bob Emerson Bill McChristy Pat Emerson Roy Erbes
Bruce Robinson George Tabacchi
79
1960-1961
Introduction
Coach Dettro ' s 1960-61 team had seven varslt.y returnees , includi!1�
three year Yarsity playe!" Larry Dooley . Stonington hoped to improve
upon last year ' s 16-10 record.
Stoni�gton Nov . 8 73 Edinburg 76 Away Nov. 15 80 Niantic 74 Away Nov . 18 78 Macon 63 Home Nov . 2 2 67 Morrisonville 82 Home Nov. 29 59 Bl'\.le Mound 70 Away Dec . 2 71 Findlay 65 Home
Me!"idian Tournament Dec . 5-9
75 Tower Hill 4 5 59 Assumption 49 62 Maroa 42 63 Macon 56 ( First place )
Dec. 13 93 Moweaqua 79 Home Dec. 16 70 Macon 72 Away Jan. 3 79 Blue Mound 56 Home Jan. 6 58 Lovington 52 Away Jan . 10 69 Bethany 6 6 Away Jan. 13 77 Edinburg 66 Home
Four Star Tournament Jan . 20-21 74 Edinburg 54 65 Assumption 5 3 ( First place )
Jan. 24 89 Illiopolis 57 Away ·Jan . 27 92 Tower Hill 51 Horne Jan. 31 71 Assu.'Ylption 70 Home
Feb. 7 93 Mt. Auburn 57 Home Feb. 10 60 Moweaqua 56 Away Feb. 17 62 Maroa 66 Horne
District Tournar:1ent Feb. 22-26 64 Rochester 45 64 Kincaid 67
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 20-6 Coaches ' Cwnulative Record : 77-32
Summary
Coach Dettro enjoyed another successful season as the team compiled
a 20-6 record . Playine for the fourth year in a ro� f�·- a Meridian
80
Tourney Charnpior1shi p , Stonincton ::lefentecl rr.acon 6:1-56 to r; j v e Coach Dcttro
a second Meridian To11rney title. The Wildcats also won the Fou:c Star
Tournament for the fourth st:caight year .
Stonington ' s hopes for a Meridian Conference title were spoiled
as Maroa defeated the Wildcats 66-62 in the final regular season game .
'rhe Wildcats established a new r-ecord for team .poi!1ts in a game as
they defeated Moweaqua 93-79. The team ca.tne back later in the season
to equal the record as they defeated Mt . . Auburn 93-57 .
The scores were taken from the 1961 Stony Echoes and the Decatur
Herald.
Varsity Team Members Russell Beard Kenneth Ladage Ronnie Beck Randy Merris Larry Dooley Bruce Robinson Pat Emerson Dale Sloan Melvin Hodges Lloyd Summers
81
Introduction
A ne·;1 ac . )n to the High School buildinF:; was com:ple r.: d . The new
structure ir:c2..�·.:1ed a new gynmasiwn. ( 71) Coach Dettro 's s c · : inclL:ded
six member:; of the 1960-61 team.
Nov. 1 Nov. 14 Nov. 17 Nov . 21 Nov. 28 Dec . 1
Dec . 12 Dec . 15 Jan . 2 Jan. 5 Jan . 9 Jan. 12
Jan . 23 Jan. 30 Feb. 6 Feb. 16 Feb. 20 Feb. 23
Stonington 81 Edinburg 57 56 Macon 46 62 Niantic 90 66 Morri sonville 56 59 Blue Mound 58 71 Findlay 50
Meridian Tournament Dec . 4-8 59 Lovington 42
104 Tower Hill 50 48 Bethany 51 65 Niantic 7 6 (Fourth 72 Moweaqua 50 65 Macon 10 53 Blue Mound 45 19 Lovington 48 83 Bethany 77 76 Edinburg 69
Four Star Tournament Jan. 19-20 76 Mt . Auburn 63 58 Assumption 54 (First 69 Illiopolis 52 65 Assumption 58 61 Mt. Auburn 71 56 Maroa 5 5 65 Moweaqua 42 87 Tower Hil� 42
District Tourna.'!lent Feb . 28-March 2 11 Edinburg 64 53 Morrisonville 49 (First
Regional Tournament March 6-9 59 Pana 48 5 5 Taylorville ?9
Home Away Home Away Home Away
place ) Away Home Away Home Home Away
place ) Home Away Away Away liome Away
plac e )
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 22-6 Coache s ' Cumulative Record : 99-38
Summary
For the fifth year in a row the Wildcats captured th� Four s:.a.r
82
Tour�ament as they defeated AsGumptio� 58-54 . Stoningto� placed fou.rt�
in the Meridian Tour:iament but established a new school record for te6J71.
point3 in a game with c>. 104-50 triurJph over To\ler Hill_.
Stonington won a fifth Di�trict Tournament despite losing Russell
83
Beard, one of the terun ' s leading scor in the first game of the D:i.styict
due to a sprained ankle . ( 38 )
The scores were taken from the 1962 . Stony Echoes and the Decatm.·
Herald .
Varsity Team Members Russell Beard Melvin Hodges Bill Buzan Kenneth Ladage Roger Dowdy Dean Lahue Pat Emerson Dave McChristy Ozzie Heming1·;ay Dale Sloan
Lloyd Summers
Introduction
Coach Dettro hoped to make it three twenty victory seasons in a
row as he had four players returning from the 1961-62 team. Dave
McChristy, 6 1 3" junior center was one of the teams leading scorers last
year as a sophomore . ( 3 9 )
Stonington Nov . 13 79 Edinburg 57 Away Nov . 20 7 3 Niantic 52 Away Nov. 27 55 Morrisonville 46 Home Nov . 30 52 Blue Mound 4 5 Away Dec . 1 63 Macon 60 Home Dec . 4 61 Findlay 51 Home
Meridian Tournament Dec . 10-14 52 Assumption 39 52 Findlay 49 62 Bethany 41 63 Maroa 50 (First plac e )
Dec . 18 77 Moweaqua 59 Home Dec . 21 64 Macon 63 Away Jan. 8 72 Blue Mound 73 Home Jan. 11 65 Lovington 52 Away Jan . 15 51 Bethany 64 Away
Four Star Tournament Jan. 18-19 75 Mt. Auburn 55 70 Edinburg 60 (First place )
Jan. 22 86 Edinburg 69 Home Jan. 29 77 Illiopolis 43 Away Feb. 5 73 Assumption 55 Home Feb. 12 76 Mt . Auburn 37 Home Feb. 15 . 72 Maroa 53 Home Feb. 19 56 Moweaqua 65 Away Feb. 22 73 Tower Hill 36 Home
District Tournament Feb. 27-March 1 66 Assumption 60 63 Blue Mound 61 (First place )
Regional Tournament March l+-7 61 Macon 68
Coach : Jack Dettro Record: 23-4 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 122-42
Summary
.Just as in 1957-58, Coach Dettro ' s Wildcats of 1962-63 won the
Meridian Tourney, the Four Star Tourney , ond the District
Four Star champion:.;hip was the sixth in a row. The Dis tr� ··
wa�. the second in �� row and sixth in the school ' s hist.ory. 'i'he Wildcats
were also co-champ.:. · ::: of the Meridian Conference with Bethan:-,r . ( 4 7 )
The scores wer !:en from the 1963 Stony· Echoes and the Decatur
Heral d .
Varsity Team Members GaJ·J Dooley Dean I,ahuc Dw�.ne Downs John Marucco Jim Edwards Dave McChristy Carl Garwood Ken Robinson Ozzie Hemingway Lloyd Summers
Steve Younker
86
Introduction
Dave McChristy, last year ' s leading scorer , along with Gary Dooley ,
John Marucc o , and Steve You:lker returned for duty in the 1963-64 season .
Stonington Nov. 12 58 Edinburg 38 Home Nov. 19 54 Niantic 46 Home Nov. 26 61 Morrisonville 48 Away Nov. 29 41 Blue Mound 34 Home Nov. 30 6 5 Macon 52 Away Dec . 3 63 Findlay 58 Away
Meridian Tournament Dec . 9-13 64 Findlay 48 48 Blue Mou..1d 53 56 Moweaqua 62 ( Fourth place)
Dec . 17 50 Moweaqua 48 Away Dec . 20 62 Macon 48 Home Jan. 7 51 Blue Mound 70 Away . Jan . 10 86 Lovington 56 Home Jan . 14 73 Bethany 89 Home
Four Star Tournament Jan . 17-18 . 57 Assumption 54
69 Mt . Auburn 52 ( First place ) Jan. 21 76 Edinburg 73 Away Jan. 28 75 Illiopolis 38 Home Feb . 4 55 As sumption 46 Away Feb. 11 62 Mt . Auburn 52 Away }'.'eb . 14 69 Maroa 54 Away Feb. 18 47 Moweaqua 49 Home Feb. 21 121 Tower Hill 48 Away
District Tournament Feb. 25-28 94 Tower Hill 66 58 Kincaid 53 57 Blue Mound 53 ( First plac e )
Regional Tournament March 2-6 61 Moweaqua 42 52 Assumption 47 55 Shelbyville 51 (First place )
Sectional Tournament March 10-13 50 Hillsboro 62
Coach: Jack Dettro Record : 24-6 Coaches 1 Cumulative Recor d : 146-118
Summary
The 1963-6!i season \.las another hi.:;hly successful season for Coach
Dettro ' s Wildcats . This team accomplished a feat that no other team up
to that point had accompli shed . Tha:t was to win the Regional 'l'ourney
and advance to the Sectional Tournament. \;
Stonington won the Four Star Tournament for the seventh time in the
seven yesr history of the tourney .
The Wildcats also set a new school record for most points in a,
game with a 121-48 victory over Tower Hill. In that game , the lights
on one end of Tower Hill ' s gym were out . After much discussion on what
could be done , Coach Dettro volunteered to take the dark half of the
gym for the first half . ( 43 ) The dim lights seemed to have no adverse
affect on Dave McChristy as he scored a career high 43 points . ( 4 0 )
Stonington shared the Meridian Conference title for the second
87
year in a row. This year Stonington shared the title with Blue Mound . ( 47 )
The scores were taken from the· 1964 Stony Echoes and the Decatur
Herald .
Varsity Jim Bilyeu Dave Buchanan Gary Dooley Carl Garwood Randy Johnson
Team Members George Letcher John Marucco Dave McChristy Ken Robinson Fred Sckowska Steve Younker
88 1964-1965
Introduction
Three starters , John Marucco, Steve Younker, and Ker: '� . . obinson :c-eturne1
from the record setting 1963-64 team. Gone however were the two tallest
players Dave McC hristy and Gary Dooley. McChristy and Dooley were the
leading scorers from last year ' s team.
Nov . 17 Nov . 20 Nov. 24 Dec . 1 Dec . 4
Dec . 14 Dec. Jan. Jan. Jan.
17 4 7
11
Jan . 18 Jan. Feb . Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb. Feb.
25 1 8 9
11 15 18
Stonington 57 44 83 43 58
72 33 52 61 50 61 83
53 83 68 77 62 79 90 70 80 60
Meridian
Four Star
Morrisonville Blue Mound Edinburg Macon Findlay
Tournament Dec . Tower Hill Blue Mound Moweaqua Macon Blue Mound Lovington Bethany
Tournament Jan . Assumption Edinburg Edinburg Illiopolis Assumption Mt . Auburn Niantic Maroa Moweaqua Tower Hill
64 77 70 65 70 7-11 54 69 68 54 71 70 63 14-15 7 5 66 (Third place) 63 44 75 54 64 57 76 44
District Tournament Feb. 21-25 56 Assumption 61
Home Away Home Home Home
Home Away Home Away Away
Away Away Home Home Home Home Away Home
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 12-11 Coaches ' Cumulative Record : l58-59
Summary
Stonington won eight of their last ten games to again finish with
a winning record of 12-11. For the first time Stonington failed to win
the Four Star Tournament. However, Stonington did score a major upset
as they traveled to Bethany and beat them 83-63. In that ga.":le John
Marucco scored 25 points and Steve Younker scored 35 point s . ( 4 5 )
The scores were taken from the 1965 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Scott Batty Jim Bilyeu Carl Garwood Bill Graham Randy Johnson George Letcher
Team Members John Marucco Dave Peabody Butch Poiriez Ken Robinson Fred Sckowska Steve Younker
89
1965-1 966
Int:i:ocluction
This was a rebuilding y�ar for Coach Dettro as only 0�e player "IG
returned from the 1961.i-65 squad . There were two seniors , one junior ,
and eight sophomores , and two fr�shmen on the varsity squad .
Stonington Nov. 17 56 Morrisonville l.i 5 Nov . 20 l.i 7 Blue Mouncl 75 Nov . 21.i 5 9 Edinburg 5 7 Dec . 1 4 9 Macon 7 4 Dec . 4 58 Findlay 84
Meridian Tournament Dec . 7-11 ·62 Maroa 70
Dec. 18 53 Moweaqua 82 Dec . 21 45 Macon 94 Jan . 8 li 3 Blue Mound 64 Jan . 11 51 Lovington 64 Jan . 15 50 Bethany 81
Four Star 'I'ourn<!.I!lent Jan . 18-19 44 Assumption 62 67 Edinburg 71
Jan . 22 76 Edinbui·g 73 Jan . 29 64 Illiopolis 43 Feb. 5 64 Assumption 52 Feb. 12 46 Mt . Auburn 50 Feb. 13 76 Roche ster 78 Feb. 15 48 Maroa 6 9 Feb. 19 5 4 Moweaqua 82 Feb . 22 71 Tower Hill 69
District Tournament Feb. 25-March 1 51 Kincaid 52
Away Home Home Away Home
Away Heme Away Home Home
Away Home Away Away Home Away Home Away
Coach : Jack Dettro Record: 6-16 Coache s ' Cumulative Record : 164-75
Summary
Starting four sophomores and one junior Coach Dettro had his only
losins season thus far at Stonington . Highlights of the season were
upsets of Illiopolis and Asswnption. The Wildcats were beaten by only
one point in the District Tournament as K.i.ncaid beat Stonington 52-51.
Kincaid was heavily favored in the game. ( � 6 )
90
;
The scores were taken from the 1966 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members Scott Batty Bruce LaBrec que Charles Bernard Pat Marucco Steve Defoor Tony DeMichael Tom Doyle Jeff Embry Rich Covington
Tim Harucco Mike Mateer Gary McPeek Tom Traughber
91
1966-1967
Introduction
A)..l but two playe:cs returned for the 1966-67 season . Four of the
five starters returned . In addition, two junior trar'!sfer�, Eill CJ.a.1·k
and Joe Curt in, ba--re the team great clepth of personnel . The Wildcats
figured to improve upon last year ' s 6-16 record.
Stonington Nov. 12 87 Niantic 55 Home Nov. 16 60 Morrisonville 50 Home Nov. 19 52 Blue Mound 58 Away Nov. 23 88 Ed:i.nburg 58 Away Nov . 30 4 5 Macon 42 Home Dec . 3 105 Find.lay 48 Away
Meridian Tour:i.e.ment Dec. 6-10 84 Niantic 41
- 58 Lovington 51 57 Illiopolis 5 5 29 Macon 36 (Second place )
Dec . 17 44 Moweaqua 53 Home Dec . 20 71 Edinburg 44 Home Jan . 7 70 Blue Mound 52 Home Jan. 10 50 Lovington 60 Away Jan. 14 45 Bethany 60 Away
Four Star Tournrunent Jan. 17-18 62 Assumption 51 63 Edinburg 37 (First place )
Feb. 4 67 Assumption 52 Away Feb. 11 70 Mt . Auburn 65 Home Feb. 12 62 Niantic 59 Away Feb. 14 72 Maroa 57 Home Feb. 19 52 Moweaqua 59 Away Feb . 20 74 Illiopolis 91 Away li'eb. 21 70 Tower Hill 61 Home
District Tournament Feb. 24-28 72 Edinburg 44 59 Kincaid 5 5 42 Blue Mound 34 (First place )
Regional Tournament March 3-7 52 Taylorville 51 54 Pana 78
Coac h : Jack Dettro Record: 21-8 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 185-83
92
Sturunary
Stonington improved their record t o 21-8 for the 1966-67 season.
The Wilclca.ts won the Four Star Tournament: and finished sec ond to !-fa.con
in the Meri dian Tournament. Stoningtoc had· upset Macon E:�i·lier in the
season in a defensive strug8le.(46)
Stonington defeated their rivals, the Blue Mound Knights, for the
championship of the District Tournament. It was the eighth District title
for Stonirigton.
In the first e;ame of the Regional , Stonington played Ta.ylorvl .lle .
The Wildcats trailed by nine points with 2 minutes and 45 seconds t o gc
but made a f'urious comeback to win 52-51. ( 4 6 )
The scores were taken from the 1967 Stony Echoes.
Varsity Team Members
Charles Bernard Bill Clark Rich Covington Joe Curtin Tony DeMichael
Bruce LaBrecque Pat Marucco Tim Marucco Jeff Thomason Tom Traughber Gene Vincent
94
1967-1968
Introduction
Tom Traughber was the only st.arter from last year ' s squad that was
lost by graduation . In addition to having four starters returning, Coach·
Dettra also had five more players from an undefeated junior varsity team
of 1966-67.
st.onington Nov. 21 7 0 Niantic 55 Away Nov. 28 89 Morrrsonville 43 Away Dec . 1 81 Blue Mound 59 Home
Meridian 'I'ournament Dec . 4-8 71 Moweaqua 55 84 Lovington 42 74 Blue Mound 39 (First Plac e )
Dec. 12 97 Edinburg 47 Home Dec . 15 82 Macon 32 Away
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 26-30 53 Concord
Triopia 42 69 Chatham-
Glenwood 79 Jan. 3 59 Moweaqua 56 Away Jan. 6 89 Edinburg 56 Awa.y Jan . 9 69 Blue Mound 4 0 Away Jan. 16 72 Lovington 4 4 Home Jan. 19 58 Bethany 51 Home Jan . 26 110 Illiopolis 55 Home Jan. 30 58 Assumption 47 Home Feb. 2 119 Mt . Auburn 49 Away Feb. 6 69 Niantic 54 Home Feb . 9 82 Maroa 44 Away Feb . 13 65 Moweaqua 38 Away Feb. 16 75 Tower Hill 57 Away Feb . 23 75 Findlay 53 Home
District Tournament Feb . 26-Mar . l 98 Edinburg 50 91 Blue Mound 63 87 Pawnee 63
Regional Tournament March 4-7 85 Nokomis 65 72 Taylorville 52 58 Shelbyville 63 (Second Place)
Coach : Jack Dettra Record: 27-2 Coach ' s Ctunulative Record: 212-85
The 1967-68 team had the highest winning percentage of any team in
the school ' s history. Only the 1945-116 team had more ·wins .
A milestone in Coach Jack Dettro 1 s coaching career was reached as
he gained his 200th coaching victory in a grune with Assumption . There
was a celebration held in Coach Dettro ' s behalf at the Holy Trinity
Catholic Church ' s Hall following the game. ( 4 6 )
The Wildcats won the Meridian Conference a s well a s the. Meridian
Tournament. The Wildcats had an 11-0 Conference record.
Stonington competed for the first time in the Waverly Holiday
::i.ment . 'rhe Wildcats "7ere eliminated in the quarter final round by
C11a t;ham Glenwood 70-69.
95
The Wildcats breezed to a ninth District Tournament Championship by
beating Pawnee 87-63. The Wildc·ats hit a sizzling 60% of their shcts . ( 1� 6 )
Behind a 35 point scoring effort by Joe Curtin, Stonington defeated
Nokomis 85-65 in the first game of the Regional Tournament. The Wildcats
next played Taylorville and defeated them by a 72-52 score . The Wildcats
then faced Shelbyville for the right to meet Stephen Decatur in the
Springfield sectional . The Wildcats were favored but Shelbyville eliminat-
ed Stonington 53-48 in a very disappointing game.
The scores were taken from the 1967 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
Charlie Bernard Bill Clark Rich Covington Joe Curtin Ton.)r DeMichael
Bruce LaBrecque Pat Marucco Tim Marucco Jeff Thorr.ason Gene Vincent
Introduction ·
Rich Covington, Bruce LaBrecque and Gene Vincent were the only
returnees from the highly successful 1967-68 team. Of the three, only
Rich Covington was a starter , however, LaBrecq�e and Vincent had some
experience at the varsity level . Joining those three were players from
a 16-2 junior varsity squad .
Nov . 22 Nov . 26
Dec. 10 Dec. 1 3
Jan . 3 Jan . 7 Jan . 10 Jan. 11 Jan. 14 Jan . 17 Jan . 24 Jan . 28 Jan . 31 Feb . 4 Feb. 7 Feb. 11 Feb. 14 Feb. 21
Stonington 61 72
Blue Mound 60 Morrisonville 4 3
Meridian Tournament Dec . 2-6 66 Macon 44 81 Blue Mound 62 55 Findlay 36 ( First Place )
Away Away
86 Edinburg 48 Away 72 Macon 54 Home
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 26-30 83 Franklin 63 86 Jacksonville
Routt 41 65 Pawnee 42 70 Chatham-
73 57 73 66 8 5 5 8 89 94 87 86 74 8 3 8 6 64
Glenwood Argenta Blue Mound Warrensburg Moweaqua Lovington Bethany Illiopolis Assumption Mt. Auburn
96 ( Second Place) 36
71 60 72
Niantic Maroa Moweaqua Tower Hill Findlay
District Tourna.�ent Moweaqua Assumption Pawnee
47 57 49 69 36 64 63 60 57 54 52 63 5 5
24-28 58 47 56 (Fir' st Place)
Regional Tournament March 3-7 66 Shelbyville 5 4 60 Taylorville 69
Home Home Home Away Away Away Away Away Home Home Home Home Home Away
96
Coach: Jack Dettro Record : 28-2 Coaches Cumulative Record : 240-89
Summary_
Coach Dettra added another Meridian Conference title, Meridian
Tourney title, and District Tournament Championship in 1968-69 �s the
Wildcats posted a 28-2 record . The team set a record for the highest
winning percentage. Stonington also placed second in the Waverly
Holiday Tournament .
For the second year i n a row the Wildcats posted a perfect 11-0
conference record.
The scores were taken from the 1968 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
Bruce Briggs Rich Covington Charles De Foor Mike De Michael Roger Dooley Gary Fulk Paul Gebhart
Bruce La Brecque Mickey Moffett Fred Roth Gene Vincent Mike Wingler Gary Younker
91
1969-1970
Iutroduct iori
Stonington retained two starters along with six other members fr0m
the 1968-69 team. Mike De Michael and Charles DeFoo·r were the returning
starters .
Stonington Nov. 18 19 Morrisonville 64 Holl!e Nov. 21 38 Blue Mound 48 Home
Meridian Tournament Dec . 1-5 57 Macon 42 56 Maroa 52 46 Blue Mound 44 { First Plac e )
Dec . 9 5 5 Edinburg 49 Home Dec . 12 56 Macon 44 Away
Waverly Holiday Tournament 72 Girard 59 51 Athens 43 60 Ashland 57 50 Ma.son City 82 { Second Place )
Jan . 2 5 5 Argenta 4 0 Away Jan . 6 4 5 Blue Mound 68 Away Jan . 9 7 5 Warrensburg 73 Away Jan. 10 62 Moweaqua 47 Home Jan . 13 75 Lovington 52 Home Jan . 16 81 Bethany 60 Home Jan . 23 60 Illiopolis 34 Home Jan. 27 64 Assumption 49 Home Jan. 30 61 Mt . Auburn 64 Away Feb. 3 61 Niantic 53 Away Feb. 7 55 Maroa 39 Away Feb . 10 62 Moweaqua 23 Away Feb. 13 60 Tower Hill 53 Away Feb. 20 60 Findlay 57 Home
District Tournament Feb. 23-27 76 Mt . Auburn 63 74 Pawnee 40 54 Edinburg 42 { First Plac e )
Regional Tournament March 2-6 50 Blue Mound 73
Coach: Jack Dettro Record : 24-5 Coaches ' Cumulative Record: 264-94
99
Summary
'rhe Wildes.ts won �-.1::ir third c0nsecutive Meridian Tourney as '.·rell as
their fourth consecutive District Tournament as Coach Dett.ro en.joyed. hj a �
foui·th consecutive twenty-win sea.son . Also, Stonington placed second in
the Waverly Tournament for the second year in a row.
The scores were taken from the 1970 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
David Blakeman Bruce Briggs Charles De Foor Mike De Michael Roger Dooley Micky Moffett
Mark Ringler Fred Roth Curt Swigert Mike Wingler Jim Wiseman Gary Younker
1970-1971
Introduct.ion
Charles De Foor headed a list of seven returnees from the 1969-70
sq_uad.
There was one schedule change this year . The Meridian Conference
Tournament was to be held later in the seasou rather than in December .
Nov. 17 Nov . 24 Dec . 1 Dec . 4 Dec . 11 Dec . 15 Dec . 18
Jan. 5 Jan. 9 Jan. 12 Jan. 15 Jan . 19 Jan . 22 Jan. 23
Feb. 2 Feb. 5 Feb. 12 Feb. 19
Stonington 65 Morrisonville 32 84 69 72 80 69 50
74 77 54 60 54 55 87 72 82 53 82
81 59 94 98 62 76 56
102 84 81
Mt. Auburn 48 Assumption 53 Edinburg 55 Macon 53 Warrensburg 64 Blue Mound 52
Waverly Holiday Tournament De . 26-30 Winchester 55 New Berlin 58 Jacksonville 45 Athens 52 (First Place ) Blue Mound 53 OT
Moweaqua 43 Lovington 46 Bethany 55 Pawnee 69 Illiopolis 57 OT Argenta 65
Meridian Tournament Jan. 26-30 Bethany 49 Maroa 61 Findlay 78 (Third Place ) Niantic 77 Maroa 67 Tower Hill 57 Findlay 60
District Tournament Feb . 22-26 Morrisonville 64 Kincaid 62 Mt . Auburn 62 ( First Place)
Regional Tournament March 1-5 Blue Mound 51� Rochester 60
Away Home Away Away Home Home Away
Home Away
· Away Home Away Away Home
Home Home Home Away
58 72 55 Shelbyville 72 ( Second Place )
Coac h : Jack Dettro Ri:cord: 25-6 Coaches 1 Cmnulative Record : 289-99
ioo
Summary
The season of 1970-71 was another very succes sful one for Coach
Dettro . After fiQi s hing seconQ .the previous two . years , Stonington won
the Waverly Holiday Tournament . In addition to the Waverly Tourn3..�ent
title, the Wildcats placed third i n the Meridian, and won the i)istrict
101
Tournament for the fifth year in a row. Stonington also advanced to the
championship game of the Regional Tournament .
Varsity Team Members
Bruce Briggs Charles De Foor Roger Dooley David Downs Joe Mateer
Joe Mc Christy
Phillip Myers Steve Myers Mickey Moffett Mark Ringler Curt Swigert Fred Roth
The scores were taken from the 1970 Stony Echoes .
1971-1972
Introduction
Coach Dettro faced a rebuilding year as all of last year ' s starters
had departed.
This was the first year of Class A or Class AA State Tournaments .
All teams now began tournament play at tl�e Regional Tournament.
Stonington Nov. 16 62 Morrisonville 58 Home Nov . 23 84 Mt . Auburn 56 Away Nov. 30 85 Assumption 67 Home Dec . 3 90 Edinburg 62 Home Dec . 10 72 Macon 65 Away Dec . 21 53 Blue Moun d · 60 Home
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 27-31 81 Northwestern 62 44 Auburn 59
Jan . 4 51 Blue Mound 66 Away Jan . 11 94 Lovington 66 Home Jan . 14 57 Bethany 50 Away Jan . 18 69 Pawnee 58 Home Jan . 21 55 Illiopolis 67 Home Jan . 22 59 Argenta 39 Away
Meridian Tournament Jan . 25-29 64 Assumption 61 52 Maroa 78 44 Blue Mou.'1d 56 ( Fourth Place )
Feb. 1 84 Niantic 79 Away Feb. 4 47 Maroa 56 Away Feb. 8 57 Moweaqua 5 5 Home Feb . 11 85 Tower Hill 62 Away Feb . 12 64 Decatur
Lakeview 75 Away Feb . 18 74 Findlay 54 Home
Regional Tournament Feb. 21-25 87 Edinburg 46 57 Rochester 85
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 16-9 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 305-108
Summary
The Wildcats posted anothe:c winning season although Coach Deti..ro
had his string of twenty-win seasons snapped at five . "I:
The team' s only trophy of the year was a fourth place trophy in
the Meridian Conference Tournament.
The scores were taken from t�e 1971 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Member s
Jim Blakeman Bob Smith Don Burkhart Curt Swigert Pat Hancock Rod Tarr Joe Mateer Mike Vincent Joe Mc Christy Clay Winn Kevin Peabody Chris Young Tim Roth
103
104
1972-1973
Introduction ""'
Curt Swigert returned for his fourth year as a. Yarsi".:y team
member. Three starters returned for duty in 1972-73 .
Stonington Nov. 21 96 Mt . Auburn 41 Nov. 28 78 Assumpt ion 65 Dec . l 57 Blue Mound 40 Dec. 8 84 Macon 57 Dec. 11 76 Edinburg 66 Dec . 1 5 87 Kincaid 61 Dec . 18 71 Morrisonville 61
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 26-30 70 Pleasant Plains45 65 Jacksonville 5 7 56 Mason City 67 73 Auburn 7 5 (Fourth Plac '.�
Jan. 2 61 Blue Mound 51 Jan. 9 100 Lovington 50 Jan. 12 80 Bethany 52 Jan. 16 70 Argenta 57 Jan. 17 56 Pawnee 69 Jan. 19 54 Illiopolis 47
Meridian Tournament Jan. 22-26 7 9 Macon 56 77 Assumption 52 53 Niantic 68( Second Place )
Jan. 30 71 Niant ic 45 Feb. 2 73 Maroa 59 Feb. 6 69 Moweaqua 47 Feb. 9 79 Tower Hill 59 Feb. 16 45 Findlay 59
Regional Tournament Feb. 19-23 60 Pawnee 56 80 Rochester 84 40T
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 21-6 Coaches CUlllulative Record :
Home Away Away Heme Away Home Away
Home HoI!le Awa'./ Home Away
326-114
105
Summary
The 1972-73 Season was another very successful one for Stonington
High as the team posted a 21-6 record.
The Wildcats placed second in the Meridian Tourney and fourth in
the Waverly Tourney and were champions of the Meridian Conference . ( 4 7 )
Stonington was eliminated from the Regional Tournament by Rochester
in an unforgettable game . The score was tied at 63 at the end o f
regulation time. The score was tied at 69 after the first overtime and
at 75 and 77 at the end of the second and third over time s . Rochester
outscored Stonington 7-3 in the fourth overtime to gain the victory. ( 7 4 )
The scores wer·e taken from the 1972 Stony Echoe s .
Varsity Team Members
Pat Hancock Joe Mateer John May Neil Moffett Ted Roth Tim Roth
David Solliday Russ Summers Curt Swigert Rod Tarr Clay Winn
1973-1974
Introduction
Only three players returned from the 1972-73 varsity squad. none
of the three were starters from last year. Seven of the twelve varsity
players on the 1973-74 team were sophomores .
Stonington Nov. 23 44. Morrisonville 67 Home Nov. 27 83 Mt. Auburn 40 Away Dec . 4 74 Assumption 62 Home Dec . 7 48 Blue Mound 54 Home Dec . 11 56 Edinburg 48 Home Dec . 14 65 Macon 68 Away
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 26-30 62 Athens 51 58 Mason City 63
Jan. 8 50 Blue Mound 62 Away Jan . 1 5 81 Lovington 51 Home Jan . 18 46 Bethany 53 Away Jan. 19 82 Argenta 59 Away Jan. 22 70 Pawnee 75 Home Jan . 25 78 Illiopolis 71 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan . · 28-Feb . l 56 Assumption 40 59 Findlay 70 46 Blue Mound 71 { Fourth Place)
Feb . 5 45 Niantic 65 Away Feb. 8 61 Maroa 46 Away Feb. 11 69 Kincaid 83 Away Feb. 12 80 Moweaqua 47 Home Feb. 15 66 Tower Hill 65 Away Feb . 22 44 Fi ndlay 61 Home
Regional Tournament Feb . 25-Mar . 1 49 Edinburg 48 52 Raymond 67
106
Coach: Jack Dettro Record: 12-13 Coaches Cumulative Record : 338-127
107
Summary
Coach Dettro suffered only his second losing season as the �973-74
team finished 12�13 .
The Wildcats did claim fourth place in the Meridian Conference
Tournament.
The scores were taken from the 1973 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
Dan Callan John May Brad Clark Andy Moffett Fred Curtin Neil Moffett John Kastelic Rick Powell Rick Klay Ted Roth Doug Likes Tim Vaughn
1974-1975
Introduction
Three starters returned from last year ' s team as Stonington tried
to improve upon the 12-13 record of 1973-74 .
Nov . 22 Nov . 26 Dec . · 3 Dec . 6 Dec . 10 Dec . 13 Dec . 19
Stonington 62 67 57 50 73 60 58
Morrisornrille Mt. Auburn Assumption Blue Mound Edinburg Macon Kincaid
61 66 41 77 72 48 71
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec . 58 Girard 53 66 Kincaid 68
Jan. 7 52 Blue Mound 72 Jan . 14 52 Lovington 53 Jan. 17 54 Bethany 83 Jan. 18 64 Argenta 53 Jan. 21 55 Pawnee 60 Jan. 24 85 Illiopolis 56
Meridian Tournament Jan . 27-31 46 Macon 38 55 Bethany 85
Feb . 4 72 Niantic 54 Feb. 7 58 Maroa 52 Feb. 11 100 Moweaqua 87 Feb. 14 70 Tower Hill 47 Feb. 21 74 Findlay 57
Regional Tournament Feb . 24-28 70 Rochester 73 30T
Away Home Away Away Away Rome Home
26-31
Home Away Home Home Away Away
Home Home Away Home Away
Coac h : Jack Dettro Record : 14-9 �oach ' s Cumulative Record : 352-136
Summary
The Wildcats finished the re�tlar season with five straight
victories to record a 14-9 season .
'fhe Wildcats reached the 100 point mark against Moweaqua 3.S Ted
Roth scored 35 point s . ( 55 )
108
As in 1972-73 Stonington met Rochester in the Regional Tournament .
Once again Rochester was victorious as they defeated Sto!"!ingtor. 72-70
in three overt:i.me s . ( 5 5 )
The scores were �aken .from the 1974 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
John Blakeman Dan Callan Mike Gideon John Kastelic Rick Klay
Steve Klay Doug Likes Rick Powel Emilio Planas Ted Roth
109
110
1975-i976
Introduction
John Kastelic and Andy Moffett returned as third year starters
along with four others who had also been three: year varsity members .
Stonington Nov. 21 71 Morrisonville 59 Home Nov . 25 8 5 Mt . Auburn 55 Away Dec . 2 49 Assumption 56 Home Dec . 5 69 Blue Mound 61 Home Dec . 9 77 Edinburg 63 Home Dec . 12 82 Macon 61 Away Dec . 18 81 Kincaid 61 Away
Waverly Holiday Tourne.ment Dec . 26-31 93 Waverly 53 74 New Berlin 81
Jan . 13 72 Lovington 64 Home Jan. 16 51 Bethany 80 Away Jan. 17 57 Argenta 58 Away Jan. 20 68 Pawnee 60 Home Jan. 23 .85 Illiopolis 76 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan. 26-30 63 Illipolis 61 39 Bethany 50 75· Blue Motmd 78 ( Fourth Plac e )
Feb. 3 91 Niantic 36 Away Feb. 6 70 Maroa 47 Away 'Feb . 10 92 Moweaqua 49 Home Feb . 13 82 Tower Hill 74 Away Feb. 17 " 61 LS.Lue i•iound 76 Away Feb. 20 47 Findlay 51 Home
Regional Tournament Feb. 23-27 71 Raymond 64 62 Pawnee 48 78 Edinburg 62 ( First Plac e )
Sectional Tournament Feb. 2-5 53 Mt. Pulaski 66
Coac h : Jack Dettro Record: 18-9 Coach ' s Cumulative Record: 370-145
Summary
The Wildcats became only the second team in the school ' s history to
advance to the Sectional Tournament as they defeated Edinburg 78-62 .
Fred Curtin scored 21 points and John Blakeman scored 2t1 point::; . ( 56 )
Stonington was eliminated in Sectional play by Mt . Pula.ski by the
score of 66-53. Mt . Pulaski was th'e eventual State Class A Champicn.
The scores were taken from the 1975 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
Brian Abshire John Blakeman Dan Callan Fred Curtin John Kastelic Rick IG.ay
Doug Likes Ralph Mateer Andy Moffett Kevin Moffett Rick Powel Tim Swigert
111
1975-1977
Introduction
No starters returned from the 1975-76 squad. Ho·.
112
:· , John
Blakeman "saw extensive play during the latter part of · :ie 1975-76 season.
Nov . 19 Nov . 23 Nov. 30 Dec . 3 Dec . 7 Dec . 10 Dec . 14
Jan . 15 Jan . 19 Jan . 21
Feb. l Feb . 4
Feb . 8
Feb. 9 Feb. 11 Feb . 1 5 Feb . 16
Feb. 18
Stonington 51 Morrisonville 4 2 78
70 5 5 77 63 77
61 73 51 80 65 56 64
70 77 59 74 61 60 67 51 72 73
56 42
Mt . Auburn 5 5 Assumpt ion 44
Blue Mound 72 Edinburg 67 Macon 89 Kincaid 53
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec. 27-31 New Berlin 52 Northwestern 53 Franklin 73 Virden 89 ( Fourth Place )
Argenta 59 Pawnee 67 Illiopolis 7 5
Meridian Tournament Jan . 24-28
Tower Hill 40 Bethany 79 Niantic 48
Maroa 80 Moweaqua 66
Lovington 67 Tower Hill 3 5 Blue Mound 75 Bethany 51 Findlay 48
Regional Tourrunanet Feb . 21-25 Moweaqua 47 Raymond 61
Away Home Away Away Away Home Horne
Home Away Away
Home Home Away Away Home Home Home Away
Coac h : Jack Dettro Record: 14-12 Coaches Cumulative Record: 384-157
Summary
Stonington finished fourth in the Waverly Holiday Tournament in one
of the highlishts of the season.
The Wildcats were beaten 79-77 by Bethany in the Meridian Tourney
des�ite � 42 point scoring effort by John Blakeman . ( 57 )
The scores were taken from the 1976 Stony Echoes .
Varsity Team Members
Brian Abshire Dennis Beard John Blakeman Tim Bollinger David Cook Steve Curtin
Brian Embry Chuck Guthrie Mike Jacobs Ralph Mateer Kevin Moffett Tim Swigert
113
1977-1978 114
Introduction
Cea.ch Dettro had three starters, Joh� Blakeman , Kevin �'::>ffet t , an.
Ralph Mateer back from the team of 1976-77 .
Stonington Nov. 22 60 Mt . Auburn 50 Away Nov . 29 56 Assumpt ion 66 Home Dec . 2 43 Blue Mound 7 3 Home Dec . 9 67 Kincaid 60 Away Dec . 20 64 Morrisonville 63 Home
Waverly Holiday Tournament Dec. 26-30 62 Pawnee 89 . 64 New Berlin 63 65 Athens 54
52 Jacksonville 47 ( Consolation Championship) Routt
Jan . 6 66 Edinburg 71 Home Jan . 10 88 Lovington 70 Home Jan . 13 54 Bethany 72 Away Jan . 14 74 Niantic 67 2 OT Away Jan . 17 65 Pawnee 88 Home Jan. 20 74 Illiopolis 67 Home
Meridian Tournament Jan . 23-27 57 Niantic 53 50 Assumption 52
Jan. 31 77 Niantic 50 Home Feb. 3 48 Maroa 72 Away Feb. 7 85 Moweaqua 65 Home Feb. 10 84 Tower Hill 69 Home Feb . 11· 37 Macon 54 Away Feb. 14 59 Blue Mound 87 Away Feb. 17 77 Findlay 7 5 Home
Regional Tournament Feb. 20-24 64 Macon 62 54 Assumption 69
Coach: Jack Dettro Record : 15-11 Coache s ' Cumulative Record: 399-168
Summary
The Wildcats finished the season with a 15-11 record . The team showed
great poise and desire as they pulled a couple of games out in the last
minute of play. Against Morrisonville the: Wildcats trailed by five points
115
with less than a minute to play. Morrisonville missed sooe free throws
which enabled Stonington to pull the game out 64-63 . Against Findlay,
Stonington trailed by ten points in the waning minutes of the game aP.d
won on a basket by Kevin Moffett with two seconds left . It was the first
time Stonington had led since early in the game .
One of the highlights of the season was a victory over Illiopoli s .
Stonington, playing without their center Ralph Mateer, faced a front line
of 6 1 7" , 6 1 4 " , and 6 1 3" with no player of their own more than 6 1 111 tall.
Stonington won by playing a sagging defense and some hot outside shooting
by John Blakeman who tallied 36 points.
The scores were taken from the 1977-78 scorebook.
Varsity Team Members Dennis Beard Chuck Guthrie John Blakeman Brian Embry Tim Bollinger Mike Jacobs Joe Callan Ralph Mateer
. Tom Covington Kevin Moffett Steve Curtin Rusty Reed Dean Downs
Chapter 8
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
There has been a total of fifteen different basketball coaches at
Stonington High School in the sixty-two years of basketball . Coaching
tenures ranged from the one year of Gladwin Gaumer , Paris Loucks , Fred
Reuter , and Dale Fahsbender to the twenty-one years of Jack Dettro.
Jack Dettro is the winningest coach in the history of basketball at
Stonington High School with a total of 399 wins.
Stonington has won a total of 867 games and lost a total of 612
game s . Included in the 867 victories were twelve District Tournament
Championships and two Regional Championship s . In addition, Stonington
has won eight Meridian Conference Tournament s and eight Meridian Con
ference Championships .
The following is a list of recommendations to the school and anyone
undertaking a similar research subj ect .
1 . Before undertaking such a proj ect , one should make a thorough check
of the available sources of data.
2 . A schedule with time budgeted to the project on a regular systematic
basis should be mad e .
3 . A list of items t o be accomplished for each time increment o f re
search will be very helpful.
4 . A record of data already gathered should be kept to eliminate
duplicated effort .
5 . More time should. be allowed for gathering information from newspapers .
116
6 . Finding data for earlier years will usually be more time consuming
and harder to find than data for more recent year s .
7. A list o f que stions for personal interviews should b e p'epared s o �
that everything can be accomplished in one interview. Such a list
will not only save t ime but al.so save money if the interview had
to be conducted by long distance telephone .
8 . Information gathered by personal interviews should be checked and
verified when possible .
9 . A dictionary should be available at all times when writing of the
thesis begins.
10. Better records should be kept at Stonington High School with each
scorebook from year to year being systemat ically filed.
117
11. Records for trac k , baseball , and golf should similarly be recorded.
12. With the advent of girl ' s athletic s , all records for girl ' s sports
at Stonington High School should be kept .
13 . A parallel study of the Stonington High School track or baseball
teams should be made to establish accurate records for those sports .
14 . A smnma.ry and list of games for each succeeding basketball season
should be added to this the s i s .
118
AP�ENDIX
Coaching Records "e
Wins Losses Perc entage Guy Lowry 25 38 , 390
Gladwin Gaumer 18 3 , 850
Paris Loucks 8 16 , 333
Lloyd Becker 22 27 , 4 4 0
William White 29 16 , 64 0
George Harper 37 7 6 , 320
Joe Wylder 98 62 � 610
Fred Rueter 4 12 , 250
Von Armer 46 44 . 510
Harley Culberson 80 40 , 667
Mike Corby 64 26 . 7l0
Dale Fahs bender 7 18 � 280
Ralph Thompson 20 30 � 400
Ralph Naylor 10 37 , 210
Jack Dettro 399 167 ,700
9CHOOL RECORDS
Team
Most points in ga.I:'.e , 121, 1964 vs. Mt . Auburn Most wins in season, 31, 1946 Fewest losses in season , 2 , 1968 and 1969 Highest winning percentage, . 9301 1969 , 28-2
Individual
Most points in game , Roy Klay , 47 , 1946 v s . Illiopoli s Dave McChristy, 4 3 , 1964 1 v s Tower Hill John Blakeman , 42 , 1977 , vs. Bethany
119
120 CUMULA�IVE RECORD VS. OPPOUENTS·
W-L W-L
Edinburg 94-18 Decatur "B" 2-2 Mt . Auburn 87-18 Latham -i-0 Assumption 71-59 Winchester 1-0 Tower Hill 59-13 Pleasant Plains 1-1 Blue Mound 59-80 Waverly 1-0 Morrisonville 56-43 Mt . Pulaski 1-1 Moweaqua 54-�8 Frankli!l 1-1 Illiopoli s 47-24 LaPlace 1-0 Macon 4 3-63 Oconee 1-0 Niantic 34-12 Tri-City 1-2 Findlay 34-24 Concord Triopia 1-0 Rosamond 22-10 Ashland 1-0 Maroa 22 -17 Sullivan 1-2 Owaneco 20-11 Mansfield 1-0 Bethany 18-26 Cerro Gordo 1-3 Lovington 1$ -7 Williamsville 1-0 Kincaid 15-23 Ball Township 1-0 Rochester 14-10 Auburn 0-5 Pawnee 11-6 Lakeview 0-1 Raymond 10-8 Mason City 0-3 Argenta 9-3 Virden 0-1 Harvel 8-2 Decatur 0-5 Warrensburg 6-5 Coffeen 0-1 Mt. Zion 5-3 Hillsboro 0-1 Jacksonville 4-o Chatham. 0-2 Athens 4-o Arthur 0-1 Strasburg 4-4 Clinton 0-5 Palmyra 3-3 Mt. Olive 0-2 New Berlin 3-1 Ramsey 0-1 Taylorville 3-19 Windsor 0..:1 Shelbyville 2-2 Bement 0-1 Girard 2-0 Witt 0-3 Pana 2-8 Riverton 0-2 St . Teresa 2-0 St . James 0-1 Nokomis 2-2
121
REFERENCES CITED
1 . Crist,. Allen , personal interview, December 28 , 1977
2 . Culberson, Harley , personal intervie�, April 14 , 1978·
3 . > Dec atur Herald , January 19 , 1929,. p . 8
4 . Decatur Hera.ld , February 2 , 1929, p.10
5 . , Dec atur Herald , February 16 , 1929 , p . ll.
6 . Decatur Herald , February 8 , 1931 , p . 14·
7 . Dec atur Herald , March 3 , 1931 , p . 12
8 . , Decatur Herald, February 18 , 1932, p . 10
9 . , Decatur Herald, February 18 , 1933, p. 14
10. Decatur Herald , March 7 , 1933 , p . 18
l l . ' Dec atur Heral d , January 20 , 1934 , p . 1 6
1.2. ) Decatur Heral d , February 17 , 1934' p . 1 6.
1 3 . ' Decatur Herald, February 2 3 , 1936, p.14·
14 . ' Decatur Herald , March 4 , 1937, p . 18
15 . Decatur Herald, February 3 , 1937 ' p.18
1 6 . ' Decatur Herald , January 6 , 1937 , p . 18
17 . , Dec atur Herald , March 3 , 1937 ' p . 17
18 .. ) Decatur Herald , March 4 , 1937 ' p . 18
19 . ) Dec atur Herald , February 22 , 1937 , p . 18
2 0 . , Dec atur Herald , February 22 , 1939, p . 20
21. , Decatur Herald., February 20 , 194 3 , p . 32
22. , Decatur He:-ald , February 21 , 194 3 , p . 32
2 3 . , Dec atu r He�ald, .January 2 9 , 194 3 , p . 3l
24 . ' Decat11r Herald, January 29, 1943 , p . 32
2 5 . , Dec atur Heral d , February 1 0 , 194 3 , p . 34
26. _,
Decutur Hc:rnld , }�ebruary 13, J 9 h 3 , p . 20
27 . ' Decatur Heral d , February 21 , 1945 , p . 30.
28 . , Decatur Herald , February 2 5 , · 1950 , p . 21
29. ' Decs.tur Herald , March 3 , 1950, p . 22
30 . ' Decatur Heral d , February 22 , 195 1 , p . 31
3 1 . Decatur Herald , February 2 3 , 1951, p . 30
3 2 . ' Decatur Heral d , February 2 9 , 1952 , p . 31
3 3 . ' Decatur Herald , January 1 2 , 195 5 , p . 20
34 . , Decatur Herald , December 14 , 1957, p . 16
3 5 . , · Decatur Herald , January 26 , 1958 , p . 21
36 . Decatur Herald , February 28 ' 1958 , p . 21
3 7 . , Decatur Herald , February 2 0 , 1960 , p . 22
38 . , Decatur Heral d , March 2 , 1962 , p . 16
3 9 . ' Decatur Herald , February 25 , 1962 , p . 17
4o . , Decatur Herald , February 22 , 1964 , p . 17
41 . DeMichae l , Florian , personal interview, December 3 0 , 1977 ·
42 . DeMichael , Tullio , personal interview, February ·24 , 1978 .
43 . Dettra , Jack, personal interview, March 27 , 1978 .
44 . Doyl e , Joe, personal interview , January 24 , 1978 .
45 . Maruc co , John , personal interview , April 2 9 , 1978 .
46 . Marucco , Pat , personal interview, April 23 , 1978 .
' Meridian Conference Records , program from
48 .
t:: -..
.:\
4lst annual Meridian Conference Tournment .
' Red and White Book, athlet ic s section , 1971 .
' Red and White Book , athletics section, 1918 .
Red and White Book, athletics section, 1919.
, -Red and White Book, athlet ics section , 192.0 .
' Red and White Boo k , 1922 , p . 43
Red anc. \foi.te Scranbook, 1 944 , p . 51
122
5 4 . Schowska, Paul , personal interview, December 30, 1977 .
5 5 . , Scorebook from 1974-75 season.
56. Scorebook from 1975-76 season.
5 7 . , Scorebook from 1976-77 season .
58. , Scorebook from 1977-78 season.
5 9 . Solliday, Horac e , personal interview, Dec ember 28 , 1977.
60. �������-' Stony Echoes, athletics section, 1�2 5 .
61 . , Stony Echoes, athletics section, 1927.
62. , Stony Echoes , athletics section , 192 8 .
6 3 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1938 .
64 . Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1939.
6 5 . Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1941 .
66 . , Stony Echoes, athletics section, 1942 .
67 . , Stonv Echoes , athletics section, 194 6 .
6 8 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section , 1948.
6 9 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1953.
7 0 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section , 1954 .
71 . , Stony Echoes , athlet ics section, 1962 .
7 2 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1964 .
7 3 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1966.
74 . , Stony Echoes , athletics section, 1973 .
7 5 . Young , Keith, personal interview, April 28 , 1978.
l�.3_,.
12�
VITA
The writer was born in Taylorville , Illinois on September 1 5 , 1950.
He attended Stonington Community Unit #7 Schools for the duration of
his primary and. secondary education. While in high school the writer
earned four varsity letters in baseball , three varsity letters in bas
ketball , and two varsity letters in track. Upon graduation from Stoning
ton High School in 1968 , the writer entered Eastern Illinois University
where he majored in Mathematics and Physical Education . He was a member
of the varsity baseball team at Eastern Illinois for four years as well
being a membe� of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Phi Epsilon
Kappa . He g-raduated from Eastern Illinois in 1973 and accepted his
present position at Stonington Jr . -Sr . High School. He is employed as
junior high mathemati c s teacher and coach of junior high basketball
as well as high school golf and baseball coach. His 1977-78 Class A
junior high school basketball team captured the Illinois Elementary
School Association Class A State Basketball Tournament.