JCC Champs 50 Years Later

BY MIKE SOLOMON

In the Harrisburg Jewish community, any reference to 1972 should generally exclude mention of “high water marks”!! For a group of high school basketballers, Hurricane Agnes notwithstanding, 1972 was, indeed, a high water mark.

The team pictured here was the JWBMiddle Atlantic Region champion, which earned the boys the right to represent the Region in the JWB National Invitational Basketball Tournament. Along the way, this team won its Northern Section championship by beating JCC teams from Allentown, Reading, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Easton, and Hazleton. These victories earned the cagers a match up with Southern Section champ Washington, DC for the right to go to the national tournament. The Harrisburgers prevailed 81-61! At the Tournament, an opening round loss to New Haven, CT was followed by a win over Canton, OH, and a 4th place finish in an 8-team field.

Team member, Ron Gottlieb, now living in the Phoenix area, recalls how very prideful it was to represent the J.C.C. “Many hours were spent in that building on Front and Vaughn. Many of our parents were members in the early days of the 3rd Street location (now HMAC). Off the court, memories were made during the charter bus trips on I-81 and beyond - calling ahead to the fast food restaurants to get ready for our group, including cheerleaders, so they would have enough staff.”

“CYO-league teams would come to our place for games on Wednesday nights, which tuned us up for league play on Sundays – we seldom lost! Along with our Championship season came a lifetime of memories.”

Most team members remained close in the succeeding 50 years, and took the opportunity in September to reunite in Harrisburg. Sadly, their coach and one team member have died, and they were fondly remembered by those in attendance. The memories of the basketball glory days, however, won the evening as the tales of success grew a little larger as the evening wore on!

Pictured here are: Front Row (L-R) Coach Ted Vucenich (z’l), Richie Rockman, Ron Gottlieb, Rob Sykes, Ron Delamater, Andy Munter and Alan Sherman Back Row (L-R) Martin Grass, Murray Katz, Ben Starkman (z’l), Jim Melman, Mike Solomon, Ken Hurwitz

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Wear your favorite retro skating gear and come out to see all your camp friends! Sunday, October 30 |4 - 6pm Olympic Skating Rink, Enola

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