Senior Year Basketball Season
The basketball season was upon us. Both girls and boys teams were anxious for the season to start.
If you remember both the girls and boys teams our sophomore year did not win a game. In fact the teams were so bad that the scores were not put in the annual. The girls would be coached by Lee Hurlburt and were coming off a 10 win 8 loss season. The boys would be coached by Wally Parman and would be coming off a 7 win 10 loss season. Both teams showed considerable improvement our junior year.
The girl’s team would be led by forwards Jane Hatteberg, Jane Stauter, and Nancy Seagren. The guards who would see the most playing time would be, Linda Seagren, Darla McManus, Kathy Delano and Lillian Hatteberg. The team would be young with only two seniors on the team.
The boy’s team would be very senior laden. Seniors would be Chuck Orr, Pat Murphy and I. Gerald Johnson a junior would see considerable playing time and have a nice year. We would rotate between sophomores Tim Bramble and Marshall ( Cazzie) Enderlin for the other starting spot. Doug Krutchen and Don Darling would also see playing time.
Our first game was scheduled at home against Palmer. The girls won their game in a thriller 71 to 70. Jane Hatteberg had 32 points, Jane Stauter had 30 points and Nancy Seagren had 9 points. Linda Seagren had 7 rebounds to lead the guards.
The boys won their game 93 to 37. We were ahead at the end of the first quarter 27 to 5. Coach Parman had instilled a new pressure defense which we pressed the whole game either using a zone press or going man to man. Palmer was no match for our pressure defense and our shooting. I had 32 points and 20 rebounds, Gerald Johnson had 21 points and 4 assists. Chuck Orr had 17 points and four points and Pat Murphy had 12 points and 6 assists. Marshall Enderlin had 4 points; however, he had 11 rebounds in his first varsity appearance.
Our next game was Rembrandt at home. The girls lost 62 to 59. A bad third quarter cost us the game. Jane Stauter had 23 points, Jane Hatteberg had 16 points to lead the scoring.
The boys won their game 75 to 54. Again our pressing defense led to some easy lay-ups and denied Rembrandt the ability to get good shots. I had 34 points to lead the scoring. Marshall Enderlin had another good night scoring 16 points. Chuck Orr had 12 points.
Our next game would be our first game on the road as we would travel to Lytton to play them. The girls lost their game 72 to 66. The game was close all the way and we certainly had our chances to win. Jane Hatteberg had 28 points, Nancy Seagren had 19 points, Jane Stauter had 17 points and Elaine Schoon had 2 points.
The boys won their game beating Lytton 69 to 41. The game was never in doubt; however, the Lytton team used a box and 1 defense on me limiting me to 15 points. By doing that however, they opened up the opportunities for our other players and Chuck Orr led us with 26 points. This one always has bothered Chuck as the article in the Fonda Times spoke more on how their defense stopped me than talking about the great game Chuck really had. So Chuck, GREAT GAME!!!!
Our next game was on the road at Havelock-Plover. The girls lost their game 66 to 61. The boys won their game 82 to 50. I had 27 points and 23 rebounds. Gerald Johnson had a nice night with 23 points and 22 rebounds.
Next game was against Marathon in Fonda. The girls lost their game 74to 47. The boys won their game by the score of 76 to 27. I had 30 points and 19 rebounds. Chuck Orr had 15 points and Gerald Johnson had 9 along with Marshall Enderlin. At this point in time the girl’s team had one win and 6 losses and the boy’s team was undefeated with 5 wins.
The next test would be a big game for the boys. We would be playing an undefeated Cedar Valley team led by 6’8” junior center Dennis Siefkes.
The girls again lost 55 to 51. Still have close games, just not playing well enough to win them.
The boy’s game was a very good game. Our team now would also be without senior Pat Murphy who would be dismissed from the team for smoking. Sophomore Tim Bramble would now get his first start. We lost the game 77 to 68. Siefkes had 43 points to lead Cedar Valley. I had 31 points to lead our team. We fell behind 17 to 5 in the first quarter. Coach Parman called time-out and told us we were too tight and that there were no 12 point plays. We would have to get back into the game two points at a time. The halftime score was 27 to 25, Cedar Valley. Our pressure defense made it very difficult for Cedar Valley; however, once they got the ball over half court we just could not stop Siefkes. Gerald Johnson at 6’ had the duty to try to stop him and no matter what we tried it just did not work. We were still close at the end of the third quarter and were behind by only 4 with a couple of minutes to go. Cedar Valley shot their free throws well and we just couldn’t connect so we lose the game. We are now 5 wins and 1 loss.
Our next game is at home against Northwest Webster, another good team. The girls lost their game 55 to 47. Much the same story for the girls, close, yet still losing.
The boys will lose 78 to 77 in a thriller, which to this day we all agree we got a very poor call late in the game. We were ahead 77 to 76 with about 30 seconds left in the game. Chuck Orr had the ball and decided to drive to the basket. He was fouled on the play, however, the referee did not make the call and the ball was stripped from Chuck with Northwest Webster now in possession. Northwest Webster called time out to design a play for their star David Anderson. The ball came to Anderson in the corner, I was guarding him. He took the shot which I partially touched making the shot miss the basket. Gerald Johnson came down with the rebound only to be hit by Marshall Enderlin, causing him to lose the ball. Jack Zimmer from Northwest Webster picked up the loose ball and made it with 3 seconds left in the game. I got a shot from about 30 feet which didn’t even hit the rim. We lose. Heartbreaking. We were now 5 wins and 2 losses going into the Christmas break. The girls were 1 win and 7 losses.
During Christmas break the gym would be open for us to come in and shoot and play. Some of the former players who were still around would come in and we would scrimmage them. It was usually good competition and a way to play to keep yourself in shape and to play against someone you didn’t play against every day in practice.
The second half of the season was upon us. Our first game after Christmas break would be against Marathon on the road. The girls would lose their game 69 to 62. The girls played hard and gave an excellent effort. Still having the same problem of winning the close games.
They boys game was much different with us winning 99 to 23. If I remember correctly we were ahead something like 35 to 0 at the end of the first quarter and 57 to 7 at halftime. It was not a very good game as Marathon was awful. The reserves played most of the game. It would be a good tune up for our next game with Cedar Valley who is still undefeated.
The girl’s game was not close at all with our girls losing 69 to 47. The boy’s game was much different. We were to play a triangle and 3 against Cedar Valley and Dennis Siefkes with Gerald Johnson guarding him from behind and I would be in front of him. We held Siefkes to 11 points which would be his season low; however, we still lost the game 53 to 43. With the slow down play Cedar Valley would just pass the ball around our zone defense until they got the shots they wanted. We expended some much effort on defense that our offense did suffer. Gerald Johnson had a good night with 17 points and 12 rebounds; I had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Our next game was against Crestland of Early. This was an important game to me as all of my mother’s family was from the Early area and would be attending the game.
The girls finally got a victory beating Crestland 57 to 52. Was nice for them to get another victory. Our game was never in doubt as we won convincingly 84 to 53. I had 33 points and 21 rebounds, Chuck Orr had 20 points and Gerald Johnson had 13 points. Marshall Enderlin continued to improve and chipped in with 12 points. Tim Bramble had a nice game at point guard having 9 assists for the evening.
Next up for us was a trip to Palmer. The girls lost their game 67 to 59. Back to the same pattern as most of the year. Close, yet, just can’t win the games. The boy’s game again was no contest as we won 91 to 42. Gerald Johnson had his best night of the year with 34 points. I had 23 points and 16 rebounds and Chuck Orr had 18 points. We were just too good for the Palmer five. Our record at this point of the season was 8 wins and 3 losses.
Our next game was against Pomeroy at Pomeroy. The girls won their game with their best offensive performance of the year winning 86 to 70. Our girls were still playing hard and were finally starting to see the results of their efforts. The boy’s game was an easy 93 to 50 win for us. We were ahead 60 to 24 at halftime and the reserves played most of the second half. Chuck Orr had another good night with 28 points, I had 21 points and Gerald Johnson had 13 points. Our next game would be an important contest with the Northwest Webster team that had beaten us by one point right before Christmas.
Our girl’s lost their game 74 to 55. The boys contest was much closer. Northwest Webster would win the game 68 to 63. It was a very cold January night. They put us in a classroom to dress and use for halftime. It was so cold in the room. I also played that night with a 101 temperature. It was a close game all the way. I would end up with 18 points and 15 rebounds, Chuck Orr would have 16 points. Playing Northwest Webster was frustrating as I still think that man for man in each position, we were better, yet, we just could not beat those guys. They played hard and were good competitors.
Our next game was at Rembrandt. The girls would lose their game 72 to 30. Our game as a much lower scoring contest as we won 49 to 37. Rembrandt used a slow-down strategy against us. I had 16 points to lead the team in scoring. However, I had a lousy night shooting free throws as I think I missed 6 for the night.
Our next game would be a trip to Newell. Newell was someone we loved to beat and they enjoyed beating us as well. The two schools now have merged and have enjoyed much success, yet, in 1968 this was not the case. Newell was a very big yet slower team. Their front line averaged over 6’5 inches which was very hard for us to overcome.
The girls would win their game 84 to 69 as Nancy Seagren had 32 points, followed by Jane Stauter with 28 points and Jane Hatteberg with 24 points. The guard play was terrific with Darla McManus having 6 steals in the game.
The boy’s game was a much different story as we lost 78 to 65. Newell employed a zone defense which pushed us farther away from the basket. Our attempts to get the ball inside didn’t work as well as hoped and we became a totally outside shooting team. We had an awful second quarter and were behind at halftime 39 to 29. We played worse in the third quarter and were behind 61 to 42 going into the fourth quarter. A nice fourth quarter made the score to be closer than it really was. Chuck Orr had a nice night from the perimeter scoring 24 points. I had 15 points on a very lousy shooting night. Newell shot 47 per cent from the field and we shot 33 per cent. The made shot 13 more free throws than we did and made 8 more free throws than us.
Our final home game would be against the Havelock-Plover team. The girls would finally win a close game outscoring the Havelock team 61 to 58. Jane Hatteberg and Nancy Seagren both had 21 points and Jane Stauter had 19 points. In the guard court Linda Seagren has 12 rebounds to lead the team.
The boy’s game was won handily 82 to 40. In our final home game, I had 28 points and 12 rebounds, Chuck Orr had a nice night with 17 points and 8 rebounds and Gerald Johnson had 19 points with 19 rebounds. It was a very nice way to end the season with both teams winning their final home game.
Both teams would have two games left with the girls losing to Pocahontas 105 to 53 as Pokey was led by first team all-state forward Evon Almquist. We would lose the Saturday night game as well by a score of 76 to 57. We were just never in the game.
The girls would lose to Manson 77 to 63 in the first game of the sectionals and the boys would lose to a strong Alta team 80 to 64. We played Alta at their place, we got within 2 points with about 4 minutes to go. We made a couple of mistakes and Alta shot free throws the rest of the game and made them. We were 8 for 16 from the line and Alta was 28 out of 30. Alta was led by a very good player name Mike Binder who had 26 points. I led the scoring for our team with 24 points.
Coach Parman also made a very unusual decision for this game. Our second leading scorer on the team, Chuck Orr, did not start the game. Chuck had started every game his junior year and senior year to this point. This decision was costly as Chuck only scored two points for the game and we lost some senior leadership. Disappointing to all of us as seniors.
For the year the girls ended up with a 5 wins and 14 losses. The boys would end up with 11 wins and 7 losses. Honors for the boy’s team would be. John Tischer and Gerald Johnson first team all-conference. Chuck Orr would be selected to the second team all-conference.
Season leaders for the boy’s team would be:
John Tischer- 22.7 points per game, 15 rebounds per game, 4 assists per game
Chuck Orr- 16.3 points per game, 5 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game
Gerald Johnson- 14.8 points per game. 15 rebounds per game, 2.4 assists per game
Marshall Enderlin- 7.4 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game
Tim Bramble- 4.9 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, 4.6 assists per game.
As a team we averaged 74.9 points a game and gave up 53.6 points per game.
The last big athletic season is behind us. The reality of soon we will be graduating is now upon us and our thoughts are turning to what will we be doing in the fall.