SECOND PLACE - A ttfed and bit disappointed McHenry High varsity basketball team accepts the second place trophy alter the completion of the Kankakee Holiday Tournament. Playing against one of the highest rated teams in the state, the Warriors lost by a score of 54-49. Waniws Surprise Peoria Central In Kankakee Finals Before Going Down 54-49 Hy Dick Hubbitt For lh« second lime in three years the McHenry Warriors wound up In second place in the Kankakee Holiday tournament. On Saturday night they were defeated by Peoria Central by the score of 54 to 49. In the opening round the Warriors edged University High of Normal in a double oVertime 67 to 61. On Friday they came from behind to defeat Bradley 68 to 60 in a game more close than the final score. Playing in the semi-final game Saturday afternoon against Brother Rice of the Chicago Catholic League, the Warriors again found them selves in a close ball game. The Warriors started off slow against Brother Rice, but midway in the opening period Steve Koerber took command of the offensive boards against the taller Crusaders, and the Warriors with 3 minutes remaining in the period led 15 to 8. But the Crusaders fought back to tie the score, only to see Koerber's rebound put the Warriors ahead 17 to 15 at the end of the period. The lanky junior center who had a fine tournament had 13 pts in the opening period. In the second period with Steve Kasprzyk and Terry Reilly hitting from the outside the Warriors increased their lead, and went off at the in termission with a 40 to 33 lead. Brian Lund's basket at 6:30 of the third period put the Warriors ahead 45 to 34, and it looked as if the Warriors were on their way to a big win, but after Tommy Ludwig's basket at the four minute mark made it 51 to 39, the locals hit a cold spell, and the Crusaders taking advantage, gamely fought back and narrowed the margin at the period to 55 to 49. In the final period Tom Stark's two quick baskets put the Warriors ahead by 8, but the Crusaders fought back to within 3, 63 to 60 with 4:44 remaining. Stark again hit two free throws and the Warriors led 67 to 60, but the pesky Brother Rice five just wouldn't quit and they came roaring back. Terry Reilly made 4 clutch free throws in the final 25 seconds that finally put the game out of reach of the Crusaders, and the Warriors found themselves in the championship game. Championship Game Peoria Central the pre tourney favorite had breezed its way into the finals by bowing over three opponents in easy fashion. Loser of only one game, and that to Peoria Rich- woods, the state's 4th ranked team, by one point, the Lions easily defeated Naperville in the semi-finals 69 to 49 with the regulars playing only about half the game. With the advantage of the easy afternoon game, plus the advantage of a two hour rest over the Warriors, many in the gym expected the Lions to literally blow the Warriors right off the court. Their shooting, passing, and quickness had the fans buzzing throughout the tournament. But the Warriors had other ideas and the spunky, aggressive crew of Ken Lud- wig, the darling of the fans put up a good fight, before going down to a five point defeat 54 to 49. Marty Zeller's basket at 7:30 put the Warriors ahead 2 to 0, but the Lions came back and grabbed the lead shortly thereafter. Kasprzyk's two free throws at 3:45 knotted the game at 8 apiece, and with 1:30 remaining Steve Koerber bucket put the Warriors ahead 12 to 10. But Banks and Hightower each with a basket, put the Lions ahead 14 to 12 at the end of the period. The gym was buzzing about the play of the Warriors against the heavily favored Peoria VALEER MEN'S & LADIES WEARHOUSE End-Of-Month Sale OFF VALEER PRICES ON ALL 'O JACKETS Just what he needs for Winter wear. These warm, versatile coats are available in both dress & casual styles. Big variety of the latest fashion styles. 20% LEISURE SUITS SPECIAL Double knit shirt jacket with placket pockets and contrast stitching. Available in navy, brown and^ forest green. Priced Right At Only '29 90 Valeer Men's & Ladies Wearhouse out WUCI •* m \ei« io to of- «tm Volo, III. ON RTE. 120 JUST WEST OF RT. 12 Plenty of Free Parking MONDAY THRU FRIDAY, 10:00 A M TO f :00 PM. , . SATURDAYS, 9 30 A.M. TO 3:tt P.M SUNDAYS l» NOON TO 100 Un«»mip ci«c FOX LAM team, and many felt that there may be an upset in the making. Midway ip the second period Zeller's two free throws brought the Warriors to within 5 as the Lions put on a shooting display in the opening minutes of the period to pull away to a 7 point advantage. But with Stark and Koerber hanging in there around the offensive basket, the Warriors gradually narrowed the gap, and Koer ber's tip at the buzzer brought the Warriors into a 30 all tie at halftime the gym went up for grabs. The Peoria writers at halftime couldn't believe that the Warriors could have hung in there for two periods and tied their mighty Lions. With both teams playing excellent defense the game slowed down to an old fashioned game of pass and cut for the basket. Because of the fine defense displayed by both teams, neither team could manage to score for a period of 2 minutes and 34 seconds, whereby Stark's basket put the Warriors ahead 34 to 33 at the four minute mark. The teams traded points until the closing seconds when the Lions got two quick baskets on a turnover and went ahead to stay 43 to 39 at the end of the period. The fitted period was more the same. The Lions seemed a kind of a daze, wondering what they would have to do to put the cruncher on the Warriors. Each team traded baskets throughout the quarter, but the Lions held on for 54 to 49 victory. Once again the Warriors, proved that they could play with the best. This was the same Peoria Central4eam you saw on T.V. last March in the Assembly hall in Champaign that took third place in the Class AA tourney. Four regulars returned to this year's ball club. From the reports I heard, many feel that this ball club is better, and they are awaiting their return match with Rich- woods in January. One Peoria writer felt that by tournament time the Lions may be the best team in the state. I would question that, but it is a good feeling to know that if Central is one of the state's better teams, our Warriors have nothing to be ashamed of in battling them down to the wire. Coach Bruce Boyle of Central told me after the game, that he was quite impressed with the McHenry team. He said, "After watchjng them play the first three games, and they didn't look that tough," I felt that we would easily defeat them". He went on to say, "They made a believer out of me, and it will take a fine ball club to beat therr^ in the future". With praise like that, all I can say is Warriors remember that statement the rest of the season. You proved yourselves to be a good ball club, and let's continue the fine play the rest of the season. BOX SCORE McHENRY fg ft Pf tP Zeller 1 0 0 2 Stark 3 3 3 9 Koerber 9 4 4 22 K Ludwig 0 0 3 0 Kasprzyk 5 3 2 13 T Ludwig 6 0 3 12 Reilly 4 5 2 13 TOURNAMENT ACTION - The McHenry Warriors came close to defeating Peoria Central in the final game of the Kankakee tournament last Saturday night. The Warriors stayed with or were ZELLER SCORES TWO - Marty Zeller, (50) scores a basket against Peoria Central in the finals of the Kankakee Holiday Tournament last Saturday night. Zeller had 8 points for the night with Koerber as high scorer with 19. Meyer 0 0 2 0 Stark 3 6 2 12 Lund 1 0 0 2 Koerber 9 1 1 19 K. Ludwig 1 0 3 2 Totals 29 15 19 73 Kasprzyk 3 2 4 8 BROTHER RICE Totals 18 13 14 49 Lyman 4 3 1 11 McKeon 0 4 1 McGovern 8 0 5 16 PEORIA CENTRAL McNamara 6 2 4 14 Ruffin 2 1 2 5 Henigan 3 2 0 8 Hightower 6 2 3 14 Hartman 1 1 1 3 Harper 4 0 4 8 Kladak 5 7 4 17 Pichford 1 0 3 2 Kladak Donaldson 4 0 4 8 Totals 27 16 19 70 Banks 7 3 4 17 McH. 17 23 15 18 73 Totals 24 6 20 54 BR 17 16 16 21 70 BR McH 12 18 9 10 49 McHENRY ft ft Pf tP PC. 14 16 13 11 54 Zeller 2 4 4 9 EARL WALSH This column might be termed "Picking Up The Pieces". So I Hear SPORTS EDITOR. After the Christmas whirl, we think back, then move ahead. Getting packages past the little woman in our house was tricky. Eddie Bimbo ..turned on Lawrence Welk for us on the Sunday night before Christmas, Thought we would be home in time, but time got away MR. DONUT N0W0PEN24HRS. 7 DAYS A WEEK! MR. D0NUT 1 RTE. 120 McHENRY MARKET PLACE c? MrtiSter Oowut SERVING HOT COFFEE and D0NUTS When one of the girls in the Plaindealer family has a bir thday, she bakes a coffee cake or some goodies for Wayne and the rest of us. Lori Wilhelm baked a coffee cake before Christmas that tasted for all the world like the kind Grandma Freund used to set before us When one woman was asked her occupation, she replied, "Household Engineer." A get together in the Ed and Margaret Datz home was one to be remembered Perfect Our little granddaughter thought Santa had to leave a gift for her under every tree in every house she visited. (Her average was good). rary the ahead of the Peoria team most of the game but lost 54-49. Warriors in action in the game are Ken Ludwig (10) Steve Koerber (52), Tom Stark (42) Marty Zeller (50) and Steve Kasprzyk (14). With George and Freund and Joe Etten^ Walshes had a fine evening at theGasthaus Lorelei (We call it the German Restaurant). Met a riumber of people we know and had a lot of fun as they switched from that HEAVY TRAFFIC - In the semi-final game at the Kankakee Holiday Tournament, the McHenry Warriors came out on top 73-70 against a strong Brother Rice team of Chicago. Tom Stark (43) attempts a shot as Steve Koerber (53) anticipates a rebound. "Kraut" music to Irish tunes for our benefit. Santa left a whole sled full of packages at the Daniel and Kathy (Blake) Orttel home and we were there for the fun. It was one of the busiest Christmas seasons of our lives. Now, we are ready to settle down and relax. We've had it! Relax - what are we saying?, These football bowl games are enough to make us dizzy. It's a disease common to males -- football seat. Read all about the Kankakee basketball tournament in reports from our ace sports writer. Dick Rabbitt. We feel real proud of the Warriors. They played their way into the finals and lost by only 5 points to the strong Peoria Central team Of course, you saw that "In Memoriam" from Biff Meyer in the last issue We could see the artistic hand of his wife, Esther, in the makeup So you think the Cubs will win a pennant in 1980, Eh, Biff7 Huh' The Sox will have two win ners before that time and will be on a rebuilding program. Since the Cubs backed up the truck, they haven't been able to shift into a forward speed. But, we have always said it would be nice to see an All- Chicago World Series You may be too young to remember, Biff, but they had to cancel the annual City Series. All the Sox pitchers had to do was toss their gloves out on the mound and those super Cub teams folded up like a tent. So -- Write again. So much has been done by so many for so many at Christmas time. Let's not forget those in need during the year Guess we will wrap up our resolutions in one good itention to do better in every way during '75. Have a gay time New Year's Eve. If you imbibe enough to feel brave and overly confident, let somebody else drive. -- And a happy and healthful New Year to all. TOMASELLO'S TNT LEAGUE December 26,1974 K Bradley 189, 213 - 542; C. May 171, 157, 198 -526; D Miller 170. 167, 156 - 493; J Schmitt 174, 166 -469; B Segermark 151, 161, 150 - 462; M Harmon 176; D. Mortell 174; C. Tancredi 168; M E Freund 167; L Wilhelm .166, L Jakaboski 162; I Stilling 159; F Krabbenhoft 155; D. Roberts 155; E Schaefer 154; M Wakitsch 153, 157; Sindy Rudolph 152; O. Hiller 11.2; C. .Justen o150 R.R. Converted: S. Foute 5-8 10; J Schmitt 6-7-10; H. Swanson 5-6-10 and 2-7; D. Roberts 3-10; E Whitney 2-5- 10; L La Bay 3-10 and 5-8-10.^