Local Sports
Back in time: The 1953-54 and 1954-55 Gillespie basketball teams
This article was written by the late Andy Easton featured in Gillespie Area News in 2002, contributed to TheBenGilPost.com by Steve Joyce at the Gillespie Public Library
The decade of 1950’s produced some of the finest basketball teams to ever wear the orange and black for Gillespie High School.
For six of the ten years, the Miners had teams that won twenty or more games in a season. We also won six conference championships and five Macoupin County Tournament titles. Two teams that I would like to feature this week are the 1953-54 and 1954-55 squads.
The players on the 53-54 team were Chuck Baima, “Beaver” Brown, Lynn Hartweger, Bob Knopp, Gary Poole, Terry Sigman, BJ Smith, Jack Whitehouse, Darrell Duncan, Bill Lancaster, and Gene Martin. This team posted a season record of 24-5 with three losses at the hands of Litchfield who happened to import a player named Ron Purcell from Pinkneyville.
Purcell led Pinckneyville to a third-place finish in the state tournament during the 52-53 season and had led Litchfield to state in 53-54 where they lost to Barrinton in the opening round. Our three losses to Litchfield were 70-51, 77-67 and 64-51 in the regional. Who knows what the fate of the Miners might have been if Purcell hadn’t “moved” to Litchfield. Purcell was one of the best all-around players to perform in central Illinois.
“Beaver” Brown, Jack Whitehouse and Gary Poole returned as seniors for the 1954-55 season. Darrell Duncan and Stanley Runta were juniors and they were joined by an outstanding group of sophomores: Gordon Hartweger, Jerry Emmons, Bill Campbell, Larry Clark and Ronnie Price.
The 54-55 team finished the season with a 22-7 record losing to Alton (39-53), Collinsville (57-63), Springfield Cathedral (49-51), Edwardsville (39-53), Mt. Olive (45-47), Patoka (73-87) and Hillsboro in the regional championship 42-66.
We defeated East St. Louis 59-44. The Flyers were rated in the top 10 teams in Illinois at the time and were considered the best team in southwestern Illinois. The Edwardsville Tiger team featured Manny Jackson and Govenor Vaugn. These two great players would lead Edwardsville to a second place finish at the state tourney the following year and then go on to star for three years with the Fighting Illini. Manny Jackson now owns the Harlem Globetrotters.
The loss to Mt. Olive was an upset and enabled the Wildcats to tie us for the conference championship. Hillsboro featured an outstanding sophomore laden team. We beat them 50-48 during the season but they came back to knock us off 42-66 in the regional championship.
This season also marked the last basketball team that Adolph “Chief” Tenikat would coach at Gillespie. In four seasons, Chief’s teams would post records of 29-4, 16-11, 24-5 and 22-7.
Comments
The Gillespie High School baseball team earned another win on the season on Wednesday, March 27 by steamrolling Nokomis 11 to 3. Daniel Wolber gained the win on the mound for Gillespie, only giving up four hits, three runs, and striking out seven through five innings of work.
The Miners were the first to put a run on the board with a single from Bryce Buhs, Jack Kaylor, and Colin Griffith, each touching home plate.
Schuckenbrock showed up and showed out at the plate, going 3 for 3, with one RBI, a double in the second, and 3 runs scored. In the 9 hole, Sean Haywood went 2 for 2 with one run across and one base on balls. Hohnsbehn, Jesse Berry, Kaylor, Griffith, and Carson Hailstone each had a hit in their winning efforts.
The Miners had a total of 12 hits throughout the game.
The boys fell to New Berlin on Friday, March 29, with a final score of 1 to 3. Runs were hard to come by in this game, as the pitching staff on both sides was stellar. New Berlin put the first run on the board in the top of the first on a wild pitch, with the Miners scoring in the bottom of the first on a passed ball.
New Berlin took and kept the lead in the top of the second. Bixby earned the win on the mound for New Berlin, striking out 13 and walking one. Buhs took a loss for the Gillespie Varsity Miners.
Luke Schuckenbrock and Berry were alone in the hit column for the Miners, collecting two hits apiece.
The Miners will face off against Litchfield on Tuesday.
Comments
The Gillespie High School softball team faced Triad on Wednesday, March 27, taking the win, 11-0. Starting pitcher Emma Gipson had another strong showing in the circle. Gipson rang up 12 Triad batters, giving up only three hits and zero runs over five innings.
Ava Parish went three for three at the plate with a solo homer in the second inning. The bats were hot for Gillespie in this game with Sadie Sholtis going 1-2 with 3 RBIs, Lauren Bertagnolli going 1-3 with two runs scored, Gipson going 3-3 with 3 RBIs and one run scored, Paxton Reid and Macie Wright both going 2-3 at the plate, and Delaney Taylor going 1-2 with two RBIs. Wright also had an RBI in the win.
Delaney Hess holds the loss for Triad. She struck out one batter, giving up nine runs on ten hits. Gillespie had a total of 13 hits in their win.
Gillespie had stellar defense in this game, committing zero errors. Triad’s Green, Hagarty, and Feldma each got a hit off Gipson in their efforts against the powerhouse.
Gillespie earned another win over the Highland Bulldogs on March 28, a final score of 8-4.
Gipson came in clutch at the plate, knocking two over the fence and driving in four runs. Reid joined Gipson with a home run in the top of the third and Sholtis homered over the center field wall in the top of the seventh.
Parish and Bertagnolli went one for four at the plate, Parish scoring one run. Reid stood tall at the plate, going two for four in the game, with one RBI and one run scored. Wright had a strong showing, going two for four with one RBI. In the 9 hole, Taylor showed up and showed out, going two for three.
Gipson gained another win in the circle against Highland. She sat down six Bulldogs with a strikeout, giving up six hits and four runs in seven innings. Kaitlyn Wilson took the loss for the Bulldogs, giving up eight runs on eleven hits, sitting down eight with a strikeout. Mettler, Alex Schultz, Abby Shultz, Wilson, Ritz, and Becker got into the hit column for Highland.
Gillespie picked up two losses on the season this weekend on March 30. They fell 0-2 against Pleasant Plains and 1-2 against the Olympia Spartans.
The Miners were able to grab a win this weekend over the Havana Lady Ducks, with a final score of 6-2. Gipson had a strong showing in the circle, striking out 13 batters. She allowed only two hits and two runs in five innings.
Bertagnolli went 3-3 at the plate with 3 RBIs. Parish went 2 for 3. Gipson and Schuckenbrock went 1 for 2, with Gipson driving in two runs. Wright had one hit in the win with one RBI. Sholtis also had an RBI in the game.
Comments
The Gillespie High School baseball team defeated Auburn 18 to 10 on Tuesday, March 19. Daniel Wolber earned the win on the mound for Gillespie, picking up three strikeouts over two-thirds innings. Bryce Buhs started on the mound for Gillespie, striking out eight and giving up nine walks. Tristen Wargo gave a brief relief appearance on the mound for the Miners.
Runs were not hard to come by in this high-scoring game. Wargo, Luke Schuckenbrock, Jack Kaylor, Bryce Hohnsbehn, Bryce Buhs, Jaydon Baker, and Colin Griffith all produced RBIs at the plate. Berry was hot at the plate, going 4 for 4 with a home run to right field, 5 RBIs, and 2 runs scored. The team collectively produced 13 hits in the win.
The Miners fell to Columbia on Friday, March 22 in a 0-3 game. Kaylor recorded the loss for the Miners on the mound, pitching a total of two innings, allowing three runs and striking out two. Relief came in the form of Brody Shaw, throwing five innings, allowing two hits and no runs, and striking out one batter. Matthews earned the win for Columbia. The two hits of the night for Gillespie came from the bottom of the lineup in the 8 and 9 spots from DH Baker and Griffith. Wargo, Shaw, and Buhs each picked up a walk in the game.
Gillespie faced Riverton on Saturday, March 23, tacking on another win for the season with a final score of 6 to 0. Schuckenbrock pitched six innings for Gillespie, earning the win. Schuckenbrock surrendered five hits, zero runs, and collected six strikeouts.
Berry was dynamic at the plate, going 3 for 3 with 3 RBIs, 2 runs scored, and a base on balls. Wargo, Hohnsbehn, and Griffith tallied two hits apiece in the win. Schuckenbrock, Buhs, and Baker got a hit each on the night. Hailstone and Kaylor also recorded an RBI in the books. Wargo proved to be a menace on the base path with two steals. Bates took the loss on the mound for Riverton.
The Miners also faced Heyworth on Saturday in a nail-biting 3-1 victory. SP Tristen Wargo collected the win on the mound. Wargo gave up five hits and one run, pocketing four strikeouts in the game. Wolber stepped on the mound in a relief appearance.
Hohnsbehn put Gillespie’s first run on the board in the top of the first with a sac fly, which was swiftly matched by Heyworth in the bottom of the first to tie up the game. Runs were hard to come by on both sides of the field until the top of the sixth, when Gillespie scored two – one run coming off a single from Griffith.
Wargo, Buhs, and Griffith recorded two hits each in the winning efforts. Hohnsbehn and Berry put a one in the hit column. Wills took the loss for Heyworth on the mound.
The Miners face Metro-East Lutheran on Monday.
Comments
-
Community News4 weeks agoSchool district apparently eyeing food management service
-
High School Sports4 weeks agoAnother strong week for Gillespie softball
-
High School Sports4 weeks agoGillespie baseball steamroll Nokomis and fall to New Berlin
-
Community News7 hours agoSchool board approves elementary school principal’s retirement, accepts resignation of high school teacher/coach