Out of The Past
1960: The week Uniontown’s basketball program ‘came of age’ This was the week, way back in 1960 that you might say the Uniontown High School basketball program “came of age.”
The number “21” can have a deck of meanings, including reaching adulthood on the calendar and hitting the jackpot at a Las Vegas card table.
The Raiders did both, wiping out Hempfield, 71-40, in Section 2-A play and ran their winning streak to 21 games, including 12 section tests. The win also gave UHS a four-game section lead on Connellsville, a 54-38 winner over Penn Joint.
Even the weather that day got into the basketball theme with a high of 40 and a low of 29.
Uniontown made full use of its fast-breaking offense and harassing full-court pressing defense to lead 47-41, and then close with a 30-point rush in the fourth.
A dozen Raiders scored, led by Rich Curry with 18, Capt. Jim Jones and Ernest (Hurry) Epps 12, and Don Yates 10. Ron Willard had 12 for Hempfield.
Gordon Rennie (13) and Herb Ellis (12) led Connellsville, which trailed 10-8 at the quarter, then went up 24-20 at the half and never looked back.
-South Union (10-2) clinched at least a tie for the Section 11-A title with a 71-53 win over Carmichaels, while Point Marion (8-4) stayed two back with a 59-56 squeaker over Redstone. North Union kept a share of third, 63-51 over Fairchance-Georges, and German beat visiting Waynesburg, 73-59.
-South Union led 23-15 in the fourth to ice the win, paced by Dave Marovich with 17, Jim Stone 16, and Litman 13. Joe Burvan led the Mikes with 21. Point Marion offset a 22-23 deficit in baskets with a winning 15-10 edge on the foul line to nudge the Hawks. Buddy Quertinmont was high with 20, and Sargent had 15. For Redstone, Ron Taylor had 17, Brown 13, and Fred Mazurek 12. Bill Marshall’s 27 led German, with Washington adding 17 and Fronczek 14. Carmen Mancuso (15), Ken Milliken (14) and R. Milliken 12 led Waynesburg.
-Donora beat Charleroi, 58-46, to clinch first in Section 5-A, while Monongahela stopped Brownsville, 72-63, and Monessen nudged Bellmar, 67-60. Mon City went up for good with a 25-17 third, led by Bob Johnson with a game high of 40 on a 15-10 card. For Brownsville, DeWayne Cruse had 20, Brooks 16, and Swaney 13.
-The following day’s readings were a high of 37 and low of 34, with St. John’s making it hotter for Mapletown, 64-48. Chuck Yezbak was high with 16; Jim Sharp had 14, and Tom Gessner 13. Ron Giegan had 19 for the Maples.
-The Pittsburgh Golden Gloves Boxing Tournament was going on, and two boxers from Tommy Shaffer’s Boys Club of Uniontown advanced to the finals with victories in their respective classes. Porky Craggette, 160-lb. senior novice, kayoed Willie Stinson of Steubenville, Ohio, Youth Assn., while Billy (Tiger) Smith, 112-lb. junior novice, won a unanimous decision over Willie Bryant of Aliquippa CYO. Three boxers had previously advanced, Mike Hillman (118-jr. novice), Jimmy White (126-jr. open), and Bob Giachetti (135-sr. open).
-German decisioned Mapletown in wrestling, 45-11, with Barry Kerr (154), and Joe Gaydos (165) scoring first period falls, Gaydos the fastest of the night in :59. Don Check (103), John Hnottovange (180) scored second-period falls, and heavyweight Melio Sulipek, Mickey Dugan (112), Russ Riffle (120), Jerry Glitz (127) and Regis Contini (138). For Mapletown, Wallace (149) had a pin, and D. Kavlick (103) and Blumish (133) got decisions.
-Connellsville IC outlasted South Huntingdon, 83-74, led by Joe Beucher with 27, Logan 21, Pavlik 16 and Grego 10.
-The Fayette County Coaches Assn. completed plans for a Senior All-Star basketball game between the Section 11 Stars and a team from all the other county schools not in 11. Ken Misiak (Connellsville IC) and Lash Nesser (Uniontown St. John’s) were named county co-coaches, while Adam Donnelly (German) and Chuck Wyda (Point Marion) were to coach Section 11.
-At the end of the week, it was a high of 34 and a low of 20, and South Union became the first team to clinch a section title, 93-64 over Waynesburg, in Section 11. Icy roads held up Waynesburg’s arrival for the game, but once on the floor, SU made things hot, taking a 24-11 lead to start and closing with 32 in the fourth. For the Blue Devils, Fran Novak had 21, Kitman 19, Stone 18, Marovich 16, and Silbaugh 10. Ken Milliken led Waynesburg with 18 and B. Milliken and Mancuso had 12.
-Elsewhere in Section 11, Steve Kezmarsky and Harold Jones scored 14, and Patchen 10, as Fairchance-Georges stopped Carmichaels, 50-44. Gallette and Larue had 12 for the Mikes. Point Marion, led by Quertinmont with 20 and Sargent 11, pulled away in the second half to down North Union, 54-49. Larry Cindrich (20) and Thomas (15) led NU.
-Uniontown ran its streak to 22 games in an easy 93-46 rout of Penn Joint with 12 Raiders in the scoring column, led by Epps with 17, Paul Krieger 15, John Unice 12 and Yates 10.
-Greensburg thwarted Connellsville’s bid to stay close to the Raiders, with a 59-53 ambush. Tim Beeman (19), Rennie (14) and Bo Scott (13) led the Cokers.
-Jefferson ran away from Masontown, 81-41, in S-18, led by John Kepich with 26, Yasenka 18, Knapik 13, and Sellers 10. George Rantovich had a game high 25 for Masontown.
-And oh, the power of the spoken word! Connellsville IC led old rival St. John’s at the half, 33-27, with the game report noting “after a session with explosive mentor Lash Nesser during the intermission, the Jefferson Streeters came roaring back to forge a 52-48 lead into the fourth quarter. …” St. John’s won, 72-69, paced by Gessner with 26, Yezbak 20 and Sharp 16. For IC, Ron Grego had 21, Beucher 13, Childs 11 and Logan 10.
-Craggette and Giachetti got decisions and advanced to the Pittsburgh Golden Gloves finals, but Smith lost a split decision.
-And finally, Joe Cunningham of the St. Louis Cardinals, who battled Hank Aaron all season for the National League batting lead the previous year, signed a new contract, with a 6-G pay raise – for $30,000. Some of today’s pampered prima donnas aren’t worth half that much, and still pull down seven figures.
Remember!
Jim Kriek is a Herald-Standard columnist.