Posts Tagged basketball

1. George Buck, 2. Logan Benninghoff, 3. Billy Williams, 4. Bion E. Leech, 5. Luthar P. Shaffer, 6. Bob Gillespie, 7 Ray Leech, 8 Alex Orr, 9 Fred Foxall, 10 Mike Curran, 11 Edward Hildebrand, 12 Frank “Indian” Craig, 13 Harry Y. McCool, 14 Dave Carson, 15 Rex Piersol, 16 Herman Buck, 17 LeRoy Beatty, 18 Edwin “Shaggy” Logan, 19 Charles Keefer, 20 Charles Carson.

I have posted a number of pictures from older football teams from Ellwood City  and heard many stories of the great Shelby baseball teams and Shelby basketball teams but no one mentioned the 1906 Shelby Tube Mill Football Team (oops Foot Ball Team, in 1906 that was two words.)

    I have to thank Ms. Miriam Filer for taking the time to send me all of these pictures along with the story of the 1906 Shelby team that was another great team that before now, seems to have been forgotten and to be honest, great is not a strong enough superlative. The 1906 team beat teams such as Youngstown, Sharon and Butler by scores of 10-0, 27-0, 23-0, 21-0, 44-0. Franklin was the only team all season to score a point against our boys in a 5-5 tie; touchdowns then were only worth five points.

    The more recent photographs are from 1949 when ten members of the 1906 Shelby Team held a reunion dinner at The Fireplace but got together at Robert W. Gillespie Sr.’s home to share stories and catch up. Those attending the reunion included 1. Bion E. Leech, 2. Harry Y. McCool, 3. Logan Benninghoff, 4. Mr. Gillespie, 5. Luthar P. Shaffer, 6. Edwin Logan, 7. W.R. Williams, 8. Fred Foxall (manager), and 9. M. J. Curran. George G. Buck was also at the reunion but was not pictured. He must be the one taking the picture (?). Only four other members of the 1906 undefeated team were still living in 1949 but were unable to attend the reunion including Frank Craig, Herman Buck, Charles Carson, and Edward Hildebrand.

    I would like to thank Ms. Filer again and apologize at the same time. She had sent me these pictures in April of 2011 and I am just now (January 2012) putting these onto the site. I was very excited when I received these pictures especially since I had never heard of them and do not know how they were skipped.

   The City of Champions, Wampum Pennsylvania. In 1963, a banquet was held to honor a handful of the champions that have come out of Wampum including athletes and coaches. Seated in front from the left were Buzz Ridl, Basketball coach at Westminster College, and the famous basketball coach L. Butler Hennon who led Wampum to unimaginable success including numerous State Championships.

Standing from left to right were Major League Baseball player Harold Allen, basketball player/coach Ronald Galbreath, and one of Major League Baseball’s greats Dick Allen. All three athletes played for Coach Hennon at Wampum High School and Galbreath played for Ridl at Westminster College for perhaps one of the school’s greatest teams, the 1961-62 season.

    You might remember these pictures like they were yesterday if you grew up in Ellwood City a little under one hundred years ago. For the rest of us, these pictures are hard to imagine being from our town. As you can see through the progression these pictures were taken during the construction of the Shelby Social Club in 1916. I am going to try to have another post with the background zoomed in.

“In 1917, the National Tube Company (a subsidiary of United States Steel Corporation) opened a massive facility on the corner of Pittsburgh Circle and First Street that would bring recreational activities never even thought of in Ellwood City a reality. Designed as a clubhouse for the employees of National Tube, it became a recreational center for virtually all of the citizens of Ellwood City. The Shelby Social Club was home to an Olympic size swimming pool, a meeting room, a gymnasium, a six lane bowling alley, billiards, an auditorium, a soda grill, lounge room, cafeteria and a basketball court among other things.”

I know some of the automobile guys are disappointed but it looks like this was still in the days Ellwood City was train and horse n’ buggy days. The original picture (with simply the footer laid) has a wagon and team on the dirt path that is Pittsburgh Circle. As a matter of fact almost every picture has horse n’ buggies. People had to check on things back then too I guess.

The interior pictures are also very interesting to me. I have only been inside the old clubhouse since it has been remodeled a number of times to accommodate the multiple business it houses today. I am curious if the stage is still there and can only imagine the basketball that was played here. I would enjoy hearing more of your memories of the old clubhouse. Please share below or email to info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

      I recently attended an engagement where the speaker spoke on Ellwood City Area Athletics. Most of the presentation centered on baseball and football but the topic of basketball stirred up some conversation. It was suggested that Joedy Gardner was the most valuable basketball player in Ellwood City history. The speaker conceited that he may not have been the greatest in Ellwood’s history, though he was great, but the most valuable. He credited Gardner with changing the way the other schools around the area viewed Ellwood City Basketball.
A number of people have shared with us how good Joedy was, so if he wasn’t the greatest in Ellwood City history, who was? I guess that comes down to how old the person you are asking is.
Ellwoodians that are around the century mark remember players like Dip McDaniel, Merit Book, and Sing MacDonald as phenomenal players. Dip has been credited with getting people in Ellwood interested in basketball during his games at the Shelby clubhouse as these men played before Ellwood City even had a high school team. As a matter of fact, for the first fifty years of Ellwood’s existence, Dip was widely regarded as the greatest athlete to come out of our tube making town.
      Then that was about the time Joedy Gardner hit the scene. As mentioned above Joedy turned the tide for Ellwood from consecutive losing seasons to an actual contender. He starred at Lincoln from 1951 to 54 before playing on nationally ranked teams at West Virginia University.
      Dan Aloi is probably the other great basketball player to be mentioned in this conversation. Having ended his career in Ellwood with a number of records including single game scoring record, single season scoring record, and the career scoring record. He was also named to the National High School Boys Basketball All-American team in 1987.
However, if the conversation is about the greatest basketball player in Ellwood City history, you have to include Anne Malkowiak who graduated as the all time leading scorer in Beaver County, all time leading scorer in Lawrence county, the first boy or girl to score 2,000 points for Ellwood, and the all time leading scorer for Lincoln High School.
It is a tricky conversation to have as there are a number of reasons why it is difficult to compare these great players to each other. Not to mention whenever the conversations start to get heated, someone throws in the legendary Don Hennon whose 2,376* career points at Wampum from 1951-55 stood as the WPIAL record for 38 years (I added the asterisks because Don earned his points without the benefit of a three point line). As many of you know, the Wampum school district closed and is now part of Ellwood City and Mohawk so he might deserve to be added to this conversation. How good was Don, consider this, the 1958 he was selected for the Associated Press All-American team, along with future NBA stars Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, and Guy Roger.
      By default, if you are going to include Dr. Hennon in this conversation, I guess I feel inclined to also add Sean Miller to the mix. True he played his high school ball for his dad’s teams at Blackhawk High School, but he was born and raised in Ellwood City before moving to Blackhawk for his varsity years.
Okay, there you have it, who did I forget? I am sure you will point out great players I forgot like Joe Dougherty but I assure you it was not intentional. I am just going off of previous conversations/arguments I have had or overheard. Please feel free to correct me below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

We have received a number of team photographs from people who are curious if we can identify any of the players. Unfortunately we are not able to name but a few, but hopefully you might remember one of these teams. We are going to attempt to run this post once a month or so in hope that someone, somewhere, will say something similar to the Wurtemburg United Methodist Church softball team picture we posted awhile ago… “That’s my dad. The rest of the team is…” If you have any information on any of these pictures, please leave a message below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com 

The first picture is of the 1944 Industrial League Softball Champions. It appears that the picture was taken in front of the Shelby Clubhouse on the corner of First Street and Pittsburgh Circle. We know that Charlie Zona is one of those pictured here and Marty Tomei is pictured in the second row, third from the left, but we can not positely identify anyone else. If you recognize anyone, please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com 

The S.S.E. 1944 Softball Team. Among those pictured include coach Tom Reese and Charlie Zona. Frankie “Hooks” Lagana is the last one in the front row with the catcher’s mitt. If you recognize anyone else, please share.

This picture is of the 1945 Lawrence County Champions, the Ellwood City Boosters. It looks like this was also a softball league from the size of the balls in the mandatory pile in front of the players. JoAnn Miller Grejda contacted us and believes the gentleman on the left side in the white outfit is John Flanagan and six down from him is her father Al Miller. One of our local sports history experts, Bob Mallary, recognized the gentleman at the other end from John Flanagan as Elwin (Hink) Richards. If you know of anyone else that was on this team, please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com 

Here is another picture from Anita Zona-Peters that includes her father Charlie Zona, the 1950 Ellwood City USA 122- C.I.O. Labor Union’ team. Jack Snare is in the back row first one on the left. If you recognize anyone else here, please let leave a comment below. 

Pictured here is the 1949 City League Softball Champions, the United Nations Veterans of America’s team. Bottom row left to right; Jack Snare, Onorato “Russia” Funari, Bob Snare, Tony Pratt, Quido Antonelli, unknown and Marty Tomei. In the back row, first is Coach Joe Haydo, the third gentleman from the left is Russ Snare, the sixth guy is Jimmy Schialdone and the last man on the right is Coach Russell Butchelle.

Perhaps the most impressive picture Maria sent us of her father Chalie Zona is this picture McGlincy Studios took of the 1947 Pennsylvania Moose Softball Champions. In the first row Jack Snare is the first person on the left and the fifth from left is Sammy “Skit” Lagana. In the second row third from the left is Frankie “Hooks” Lagana and we are told that the top row includes the fourth person, Dominick “Beanie” Lagana and Marty Tomei is the sixth from left. Unfortunately we are unable to identify any of the players or anymore of those in the back row pictured with the team. If you can identify any of them, please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com 

Another picture of the S.S.E. softball team including Charlie Zona, except this picture is the 1943 team. We were kindly informed that the bottom row consists of left to right: unknown, Marty Tomei, unknown girl, Tony Pratt, and “Russia” Funari

We have additional unidentified team pictures that we will be posting soon including a couple High School basketball teams and a couple of teams from Wampum so please keep an eye out.

North Side School has by far had more memories shared on this web site than any other elementary school in the area. On the post North Side Elementary School Class Pictures, we had a number of people that shared their rich memories. Instead of writing my own post, I am just going to quote some memories and share some new pictures.

      Quoting R. Scott Mackey: “North Side Elementary was…in a time and place where fundamental values were taught both by rote and by example, and we who were fortunate enough to live within this atmosphere became better adults because of the association.”
-R. Scott Mackey: I recall having attended North Side Elementary from approximately October 1954 when I transferred into second grade from Hartman Elementary until June 1959 upon ‘graduation’ from sixth grade. I believe students rotated classrooms while teachers were stationary and taught either general subjects through grade four and their specialty subjects for grades five and six. The teachers I can recall from that era were:
Mrs. (Lorraine) Battersby (2nd grade), Mrs. Wilson (3rd grade),  Miss (Julie ?)Kelly (4th grade / Health), Mrs. (Estelle) Franz (5th grade / Geography), Miss Calvert (Art), Miss (Blanche) Shively (6th grade / Homeroom / English), Mr. (Joseph) Lanzi (6th grade / History / Geography), Miss (Josephine) Hartzell (Principal)
Beyond academics, the massive wintertime snowball fights between 5th and 6th graders which turned the grounds into a veritable war zone at lunchtime were most memorable.
-Jim Hardie: This time of the year brings back memories of the Christmas plays held each year by the N. S. pupils. It was always a time of excitement for not only the actors but also the audience. I remember one year when “Joseph” fainted and tumbled down on the manger propelling the baby doll “Jesus” to fly out of his bed and into the air. …
-Dave Larson: I remember…
- Saying the “Pledge of Allegiance” every morning
- Exchanging valentines…I must have given Brenda Snare at least a 1,000
- Snowball fights…back outside when the streetlights went on…to fight again!
- Going home for lunch…that in itself may have made the values take hold
- President Eisenhower’s photograph displayed proudly in your home room
I remember Mrs. Wilson. To this day I will never be caught without a handkerchief.
I remember Mrs. Calvert. How could you forget someone who told you that you could draw?
       Jim Hardie: Miss Calvert … I think it was this time (December) in 1956 when she had us all come to school in the evening to have a Christmas party. We met and walked around caroling for a while until we crossed the 5th Street Bridge and walked to our principal’s (Miss Hartzell) apartment. We started singing and she came out on her balcony to greet us. The snow began in earnest on our walk to her house and on our return everything was covered with a new layer of snow and the storm kept on all evening. The lights of the bridge were beautiful in their turn -of- the- century style covered with snow. Like a postcard.
-Chris Pavkovich: What a school! Floors that creaked, no air conditioning, and a gym that echoed to high heaven and flooded during rain spells. I remember the kick ball tournaments toward the end of the year, spinning on the merry go around immediately after lunch until we were sick, and the old basketball courts (at one time this was the place to play).
-Quoting R. Scott Mackey again: I offer my thanks to those now departed who provided the examples which we learned and by which we still live in the present day. Hopefully, we have all had the opportunity and the sense of responsibility to pass along those same values to the generations who succeeded us.
We all would enjoy hearing any memories you may have of attending North Side Elementary School. Please share your memories below or email me at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com.

      The 1964-65 Ellwood City Boys Basketball team not only sported the schools greatest uniforms, but also posted the best overall record in the history of Lincoln High School (18-4). The members of the record setting team included; front row, left to right, Darl Romanoski, Jim DeMark, Bill Donnelly, Chuck Hennon, and John Kolik; back row, the ledgendary hall of fame Coach L. Butler Hennon, Al DiFrischia, Bob Fusco, Tony DeLisio, Ernie Hemmerly, and Jim Yohe.

      The massive facility known as the Shelby Social Club or the Shelby Clubhouse was built only a very short walk from Shelby Works Park located on the corner of First Street and Fountain Avenue. Mrs. Thornhill shared with us that she remembers the park had an outside swimming pool, tennis courts, playground, a place to wash automobiles and a rooming house.
      The clubhouse on the corner of Pittsburgh Circle and First Street was home to an Olympic size indoor swimming pool, a meeting room, a gymnasium, a six lane bowling alley, billiards, an auditorium, a soda grill, lounge room, cafeteria and a basketball court among other things.  The one thing it was missing was a baseball field, but the tube mill already had one; Shelby Field in the Shelby Land Company’s Plan (later to become Ewing Park.)
      Situated directly beside the P.H.B.&N.C. trolley tracks (today Joffre Street) and Foch Street, the tube mill already owned perhaps the most popular recreation of the time, a baseball field.
      An excerpt from “Hack” written by Bob Boone; “People frequently walked far out of their way just to pass Shelby Field to watch Lew (“Hack” Wilson) bat out long home runs and slide on his belly around the outfield. Careful coaching from (Connie) Wardman combined with Lew’s natural talent produced a ten-year-old who played as well as boys many years older. Most of the adults who came to watch this talented youngster also noted that he did little to conceal his pleasure at playing before an audience.”
      When you combine the Shelby Clubhouse, Shelby Park, and Shelby Field; there is not a popular recreation that is not accounted for. The large recreational plan was all within walking distance of work at the tube mill and the employee’s homes in the Shelby Land Company’s Plan.
      We would enjoy hearing from anyone else that remembers Shelby Works Park. There is very little evidence of it’s existence today except this photograph that simply says “Ellwood City” across the back and the memories of but a few. Please share below or email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

We would like to thank Dave Patterson of Laurel, Maryland who sent us all of the newspaper clippings from the Wampum High Schools 1943 basketball season. The head coach of that season was the legendary Butler Hennon, but these were days when he was trying to turn the program around and scoring 50 points in a game was newsworthy stuff and 100 points was still unheard of. You may notice; that Wampum High is not the only school listed here that no longer exists.

Below, we have short excerpts from the games that season.

As per the custom then, the season started with the squad taking on the schools alumni team. The 1937-38 season started off pretty good with a high scoring 52-38 win behind Fiddell, Huffman, and Fontana’s combined 39 points. Up next for Wampum was an impressive win over Enon Valley 30-14, led by Fidell & Huffman.

Huffman was the hero against Evans City as Wampum rolled over Non-League rival Evans City High 43-20. The next game for the Wampum squad would be against Duffs College at Wampum.  Players from the Wampum team included Huffman, f; Kuiken, f; Frank, f; Davis, c; Douthett, c; Julius, g; Matthews, g; Hervatine, g; Ippolito, f; Pauline, g; Fidell, f; Ferrucci, c; Roberts, g; and Fontana, g

Shenango was predicted to win the section 20 Title, but they could not counter Wampum’s determination. “The East New Castle quintet” led 7-5 at the end of one and it was the Shenangoans still leading at half 15-10, The second half was a different story led by the defensive effort by Wampum’s Davis. Wampum had a third period 8-0 run and continued the clamp down into the final quarter to win the game 29-21. The victory was considered one of the biggest surprises of the season and crushed Shenango’s hopes of the title.

Traveling to Darlington High, the Wampum High School basketball team pulled out another victory behind Huffman and Fontana. Next up was East Brook High School “that found Huffman, Frank, and Davis back in the spotlight”. Wampum led 18-16 at the half and managed to hold on to win 40-33 in section play.

Against Rochester High School, the guards put up a brick wall that held Rochester to only eight field goals while “Flash” Huffman put up 22 points in a 26 to 20 victory.

Wampum surprisingly came closer to a section championship with an upset win over Mt. Jackson High School 31-22. Behind Huffman and Kuiken offensive and guard Davis’ tremendous defensive game, the “Hennonmen” grabbed the lead in the second period and never let go.

Next up was the Section leading Bessemer High cagers who were tied with Union. The “Wampumites” grabbed a slim order early in the game and managed to hold that lead throughout. In a very defensive game, the “Hennon machine” pounded out a 18-13 victory placing them in a deadlock for second place while Union secured first place in the section.

Wampum next traveled to Princeton High School but the game was never close. At the end of the first half, Princeton had only one point. Not one basket, one point. The final tally on that Friday night game was Wampum 52, Princeton 6.

Unfortunately, as the names and scores are correct, we only received clippings of games played in both the 1937-38, and the 1938-39 seasons. We can not tell which games took place which season and in what order. If anyone has Wampum High yearbooks from either year, we would appreciate any help. We placed these games in this order as it made it a little more fun than just reading random game articles. We hope you don’t mind.
If you may have more information on these games, or perhaps pictures of any of the players or games, please email us at info@ellwoodcitymemories.com

Additional names from Wampum that played in the 37-38 and 38-39 Alumni games were…
J. Scala, DeMark, R. Ferrucci, L. Ferrucci, N. Scala, Novaleski, Flumer, Marshall, and Fontana.

    As a senior for the Lincoln High School girls’ basketball team in 1989, Annie Malkowiak became the first area player, boy or girl, to crack the 2,000-career-points barrier. After her last High School game for Ellwood City, the future Lawrence County Historical Society Sports Hall of Fame member and California University of Pennsylvania sports Hall of Fame member, was the all time leading scorer for Lincoln High School and owned a number of records and honors. Annie’s trophy case included…

Modern Day Single Game Scoring Record – 59 points
Single Season Scoring Record – 773 points
Career Scoring Record – 2,368 points – Avg 26.3 pts per game
Mars Christmas Tournament All Star Team, Outstanding Defensive Player, and Tournament MVP
Pittsburgh Press All Section Team – Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Year
Pittsburgh Post Gazette All-Section Team – Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Year
Played in A.A.U. Junior Olympics in Miami, FL (Avg 10 pts/game)

Leading Scorer in Section 7 AAA Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Year
Three Years First Team All Section
Third Leading Scorer in WPIAL During Junior Year (26.2 pts/game)
All Time Leading Scorer in Beaver County
All Time Leading Scorer in Lawrence County
First Basketball Player (Boy or Girl) to Score 2,000 Points
All Time Leading Scorer for Lincoln High School

The associate director of athletic development at California University and assistant basketball coach for the Lady Vulcans and was formerly the head girl’s basketball coach at Uniontown and California high schools.

The Annie “MAC” (Master Any Challenge) Malkowiak Scholarship is awarded to a California University of Pennsylvania student who is involved in community organizations and has overcome challenges in his or her life.

       In his eighteen year coaching span here, the ledgendary coach Bill Spellman turned Ellwood City into one of the best High School teams in the area winning two WPIAL championships back when the league consisted of 130 teams as there were no separations based on school size such as single A, triple A, as it is today. His team barely missed a third title during his tenure on the final at at-bats in the final inning. 
       During Spellman’s final ten years, Ellwood City won the section title eight out of those ten years, won two league championships, finished runner-up once and reached the semi finals three other times. His career total of 320 wins and 87 losses gives him a remarkable winning rate of 79%. His teams compiled incredible records such as 23-3 (1962), 20-2 (1965). 27-2 (1968) 26-4(1969) and 30-7 (1971), winning sixteen games in a row that his final season.

Excerpt from Spellman: One Man’s Influence by Rev. John Zingaro
       “In that day, athletes tended to play two sports, sometime three. Many teens from the schools in the area who faced each other in football and basketball would also meet in baseball. Thus, stars from nearby towns like Joe Namath and Mike Ditka who gave Ellwood City headaches in the autumn and winter also played against the local boys in the spring. But, in the spring, schools which gave Ellwood City trouble in other sports met their match. Ellwood became a powerhouse in baseball. Playing against schools two to five times its size, Spellman’s teams rose to renown in the second largest high school league in the nation, the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL).
      A modest man, Spellman often gave credit to others. And rightly so. He knew how dedicated were many dads and moms in the steel town of Ellwood City – as well as those in its neighboring communities of Koppel, Wampum, Chewton, Wurtemburg and Ellport. They formed the foundation for the coach’s success by creating one of the nations earliest and best-organized sandlot baseball programs. But once the youths arrived at Lincoln High School, it was Spellman who took them to an even higher level.”
 

     The former Ellwood City YMCA was located at the site of the former Hazel Dell School on the corner of the College Street and Line Avenue. Area residents enjoyed a number of organized activities that the “Y” offered including basketball leagues, volleyball leagues, soccer, hockey, and many others. The Ellwood City Ledger pictures here were advertisements for new leagues that were starting at the YMCA. The first was for a new floor hockey league for children in fourth grade through sixth grade (pictured from left to right are Erich Weyant, Jeff Boller, instructor Vic Rangel, and Adam Musse). The second picture was for pre-school soccer using a nerf ball. Pictured from left to right are Damien DeCaria, Michelle Rocco, Michael Rocco, Vic Rangel (instructor) and Paul Weingartner. 
     It was reported in the Beaver County Times in May of 1984 that the Ellwood City Council conducted a hearing to air public views on a YMCA request for the borough to create a municipal authority to handle financing of a proposed $1 million structure.
        “The new facility would have replaced the Ellwood YMCA at College Street and Line Avenue permitting it to expand programs with plans that included the installation of a health center with steam room, Nautilus, sauna, whirlpool, exercise room, and weight room that were not available at the old location. The new facility would also permit an Olympic size swimming pool to replace a 3 by 12 foot diameter children’s pool. Regulation size basketball and racquetball courts would have also been installed.
      The new authority would have been in charge of handling funds from private donations that were to be used to pay for the new facility.”
    It was later reported in August 1984, the Ellwood City Council announced approval of leasing land in Ewing Park to the Ellwood YMCA as a locale for the new YMCA. Building upon the site would cost about $500,000 less than previously planned sites including in the US Steel Industrial Park. Council granted the YMCA a ninety nine year lease on the property at a cost of one dollar a year. The double tennis courts would have to be removed to build the building, but would be replaced.