A R.eview of the Basketball Season

IN this year's team, there is to be seen the foundation of the teams of future years. With but one veteran of last year's Varsity, the almost wholly green team made an exceptionally fine showing all through. It had its slumps as well as its more brilliant moments, and the heroic way in which it dragged out of the slumps wi ll not soon be forgotten, in fact the team will never be forgotten, for no Howe team with real fighting spirit ever is.

Deligiannis proved to be the mainstay of the team; he was also given the honor of captaining it. At running guard Skeeter did exceptionally well in helpin g to break up the opposing team's offensive when it got that for. Tubby Merton, playing at floor guar d got in so me fine footwork. In spite of hi s severa l poLLnds, between him and DeJigiannis, the matter of guarding was pretty well filled. Moi·gan, a rangy man, proved to be a fine center. Because of hi s hei g ht a nd canny eye for the basket his power was fully felt by the opposing teams. Morgan's "right-hand man," so to speak, was Bud Warren, also a tall boy. Buddy, wit h the help of "Red" Burt at left forwa1·d, was able to sink quite a few. All three of the e men wi ll be back again next year and naturally great things are expected of them. The so-ca ll ed "second string" proved to be exceedingly strong At center, there was Stoler, a strong defensive as well as offensive man. Holding down the forward positions were Wally Maner, an uncanny shot ; Clark, a very fast man. Both of these men were new to the team this year and the experience they have gained wi ll sure ly gain them a berth on next year's first team. At the guard positions, there were four excel lent men, Boyer, who wit h Schnack and Merton, s hift ed at first string guard, and Umphrey and Snarcy, two of the yo un gest and cleverest players on the team. A lthou g h Pearl had been s ick during the first part of the season, he finished strongly and strengthened the team considerably. It is easy to sec that with such good material there was a good deal of s hiftin g done. Every player was kept on the jump because of the keen competition A great amount of credit is due Coach Coomb for the fine team he turned out of comparative ly green men. It is a certainty that next year he may rightfully expect to have a team to send to the tournament of prep schools at the Univcr ity of Wisconsin.

The basketball season opened with a game with the A hley High School. Ashley had p layed eight games when we met them and it was to be expected that our lack of practice wou ld result in a dcfcnt. The second game occurcd after the Christmas holida y, with St. C harl es School at Co ldwat er. This proved a rather easy victory for the Howe ream.

Next, followed a practice game with the Sturgis Baptise team, a speedy aggregation composed large ly of members from the 1927 Sturgis High School team. They came to Howe and added another v ictory to our Ii t.

The Lagrange High School team was our next opponent. The game started off with a rus h and continued as a hard fought contest right up to the final whistle. The score was held even until within a few minutes of time. Then Howe suffered the misfortune of having a star center taken out and Lagrange forged ahead

Howe's traditional rivals were met in the fifth game. The team went ro Sturgis full of hope and confidence but we re unab le to put over the w innin g basket, all that wou ld ha ve been necessary to cinch a v ictor y after a hard , clean game. In the return game, however, the story was of a better hue , and with Sturgis on our home floor, the cadets were able to make it a tie series by winning through a safe margin.

Howe lo st the next two games. The first was with Ft. Wayne Central Catholic and the second with Lagrange High School. There was little humiliation in either defeat, howe ver, as the Ft. Wayne C. C. was a seaso ned aggregation of veterans and the Lagrange team was one with state c hampionship aspirations, wit h months of practice behind it. Then the losing streak was broken once more by a brilliant v ictor y over the fast Green and White team from Sturgis.

Angola, which by the way, qualified for the finals in the State Championship, came to Howe next with a team that worked like a perfect scoring machin e. With that sort of a combination to face, Howe entered the game with small c han ce of making any showing w hatever. They more than rose to the occasion, however, and after holding them to a tie score most of the first half, finished the game but little behind.

It is unfornwate that Howe was unable to meet Morgan Park. A game had been schedu led, but owing to a mi sundersta ndin g or a lapse of memory on Morgan Park's part, it had to be finally arranged as an aften10011 ga me The team started out early enough but the bus developed e n g ine trouble and they never arrived After waiting along the road for severa l hour s they returned to sc hool.