Out of The Past
1960: Raiders’ run ended by Farrell; South Union’s halted by Midland An old newspaperman once observed about writing columns that “the birth of an idea is the most painful experience known to man,” to which many of us in the profession will echo “amen!”
Ideas for columns such as these will many times be the result of long thoughts, and sometimes even longer sweats. But then there are other times. Like a few days ago when a reader was commenting on the column appearing here last week about the 1960 Uniontown basketball team and its long winning streak.
Then he asked “But what did Uniontown and South Union do after that, when they got into the playoffs?”
Told we didn’t follow the season that far, he replied, “Why don’t you go back and see. You might get another column out of it.”
Bingo! So, thanks to a curious reader (and a Uniontown basketball fan!), we decided to pick up this week where last week’s roundup left off.
On the final night of regular season action, in that long ago February of 1960, Uniontown made it 23 in a row, winning 97-46 over Greensburg with 12 of 14 players scoring.
Coach Abe Everhart’s Raiders warmed up with a 22-10 quarter lead, and closed with a 34-7 run in the fourth, paced by Mike Golden (14), Jim Jones (12), Joe Andrews (11), and Don Yates (10).
The same night, Norwin outlasted Connellsville, 69-52, with Bo Scott scoring 17 and Frank Shedlock 14 for the Cokers.
-Rostraver beat Scottdale, 78-49, to finish first in 11-A, two games ahead of Mount Pleasant Ramsay, which was ambushed by Dunbar Twp., 81-77. Tom Fant set a DT scoring record with 19-4-42, plus 15 rebounds, breaking the old record held by Jerry Doyle. Bob Oravetz, who went on to star at Westminster then later come back to coach at Mount Pleasant, led Ramsay with 12-7-31.
-West Newton beat Perry-Lower Tyrone, 57-53, to clinch 17-B honors, and Connellsville IC beat Masontown All Saints, 97-64, led by Joe Beucher with 25, Ron Grego 22, Logan 18, and Childs 10. Francis Blout had 26 for All Saints.
-Section 11-A champ South Union finished 12-2, downing cross-town rival North Union, 52-41, as Jim Stone scored 14 and Dave Marovich 10. Larry Cindrick led NU with 11. Carmichaels got its first win, 64-62 over Redstone, in double overtime as Steve Galatic clinched the win with two free throws. Fred Mazurek (21) tied the game in the first OT with two free ones. Waynesburg nipped Fairchance-Georges 62-59 in overtime, led by Ken Milliken, Carmine Mancuso and Bob Rohanna with 10 each. Harold Jones had 17 for FG.
-The playoffs got under way with Uniontown drawing a first-round bye, then meeting the winner between Kittanning (Sec. 1) and Rostraver (S-10). Back in those days, only the section winner went to the playoffs, unlike today where everybody but the janitor advances.
-Coach Marty Fagler’s South Union charges nipped Donora in the first round, 47-46, on Jim Stone’s free throw with: 47 left. Stone had 17 and Litman 11, as SU built a 39-35 edge after three. This set up an all-Uniontown doubleheader at the Pitt Fieldhouse, with SU playing Midland and Uniontown taking on Rostraver. UHS was the only unbeaten team in the WPIAL, and was heading to the Fieldhouse for the sixth year in a row.
-For one night, Uniontown was going to be a “Basketball Mad” town, with the twin bill at Pitt, and St. John’s playing St. Vincent Prep for the Diocesan League championship. They tied for first with 5-1 records.
-Midland ended South Union’s season, 62-38. The first half was close, but Midland’s height took over in the second half and turned the game their way. Litman (13) and Stone (12) led SU.
-Uniontown made its WPIAL debut with a 74-69 win over stubborn Rostraver. RHS led at the quarter, then, the group that the game reporter referred to as “the Uniontown Riot Squad” took over and scored 30, to lead 43-28 at the half, and the Raiders went on from there, led by Ernie Epps (15), Don Yates 14, Dick Curry 11, and John Moorman 10. Willie Ross, later a standout at Duquesne, had 19 for Rostraver.
-St. Vincent held off a last period rush by St. John’s to win, 62-58, and clinch the Diocesan League title. The Eagles trailed 57-41 into the fourth, then rallied for a 17-11 edge, only to come up short. Tom Gessner had 31, Chuck Yezbak and Bill Sharp 10 each, for Lash Nesser’s charges.
-Uniontown then stopped Midland in overtime, 60-56, in the semi-finals, and would play Farrell for the championship, the latter downing Stowe, 66-42, in the other bracket. The game report on the UHS win noted “probably the biggest single factor in the game was the defensive play that forced each team to veer violently from recent scoring percentages. Play under the boards was rough, and at times violent, as the big men of the two clubs tried to eliminate the smaller competition from the important area below the banking boards.”
After an 11-11 tie, UHS went up 27-23 and 42-40 at the stops, and Midland coming on 12-10 in the fourth to evoke a 52-52 tie. Curry hit two free ones to start the overtime, and late in the period Andrews and Morganosky scored on lay-ups for a 58-54 lead. Yetso tipped one in for Midland, but Curry offset it with two more on the line to clinch. Curry scored 13 and Jones 11.
-That set up a final, not only between Uniontown and Farrell as teams, but also a matchup of two of the greatest basketball minds the WPIAL has ever seen – Abe Everhart (UHS) and Eddie McCluskey (FHS). Uniontown’s starters were Rich Curry, Speedy Epps, John Unice, Joe Anderson, and Jim Jones. Farrell countered with Brian Generalovich, Willie Somerset, Willie Alford, Lou Mastrian, and Paul Kudelko. Uniontown made a game effort, but a bad shooting fourth quarter cost them, and Farrell won 59-54, snapping the Raider string at 25. A 25-20 lead in goals by the Steelers, offset Uniontown’s 14-9 edge on the line. Farrell led at the quarters, 20-15, 37-32, and 49-48. UHS cut the gap to one, 53-52 in the fourth, on Curry’s two free throws, but Farrell stayed just out of reach. For UHS, Moorman and Jones had 11, Andrews 8, Epps and Yates 6, Curry 5, Morganosky 3, Golden and Braxton 2, and Unice and Kreiger 0. Alford had 14 for Farrell, Kodelko 13, Mastrian 10, and Generalovich, a future star at Pitt, also had 10.
With this loss, Uniontown’s WPIAL title deficit was extended to 34 years. Not since back-to-back wins in 1925 and 1926 had the Raiders earned top honors. But that frustration would end two years later.
Remember?
Jim Kriek is a Herald-Standard correspondent.