CLINTON — We were all quite young back when the Irish of St. Mary’s won the 1953 State Basketball title. So was Bob Brookes, narrator of a film which now resides at both the Carnegie Library and at the Clinton County Historical Society Museum.  Brookes is currently still active in his 80s, and the “boys” are all retired leaders in their respective communities.  They recently came together as a class.  These men and women are still close and it was this closeness which brought them through a tough season

Like many of you, I’ve seen the film several times.  Also, I was there that night-— thanks to Lyman and Eulanee Wareham, who transported me along with their three sons — Jim, Jack, and young Jerry — to the game.  Jerry, who now lives in Ohio with his wife, Anne Hogan Wareham, just made and donated several DVD copies of the game to us.  We so appreciate the Wareham family’s many kindnesses over the years.  (Jerry’s mother, alive and well in Davenport, will soon celebrate her 100th birthday!)  

I looked at the film again the other night, and many new thoughts came to my mind.  Besides team members’ gangling youth and energy, it was apparent that they were quick, determined, and had a deep sense of purpose about them.  They were a great group, but suffered through an up and down season… in which they won neither the Ilowa League Championship nor their own Diocesan Tournament.  The Irish nearly even lost their sectional title to Lyons, and only a last-second ‘Hail Mary’ shot by Dick Lingle saved them.

After that, they defeated the likes of Marion, Sioux City, Waterloo East, and Roland… all in tight, hard-fought games.  Hank Dihlmann very ably described all the games on KROS.

Normally, I’d recall the game as the 13-year-old eighth-grader that I was; but, on this recent occasion, I watched it as an ex-coach, an historian, and a friend of most of the participants… and I saw some different things.  Most notable, was the determination of this group who’d been season-hardened through playing tough teams and who’d grown a lot under the tutelage of “rookie coach” Lou Galetich, who had just graduated from St. Ambrose and who had not, himself, been a great athlete.  He was, however, brash and gutsy, and he exuded those qualities, which were probably about the best things those boys could absorb at the time.

In the championship game with Ottumwa, they were up against a large school that had won its conference handily.  They were tall and strong, but not as quick.  Ottumwa had already defeated a GREAT Clinton High team, led by Chuck Vogt and Kenny Ploen, in an overtime thriller.  (A junior on that team was local attorney, Dick Farwell.)  Later, in college, he, Gary Thompson, and Chuck Vogt played in an historic game for Iowa State against Kansas with Wilt Chamberlain, and they administered the team their only loss while “Wilt the Stilt” played there.

St. Mary’s had squeaked out a close victory over Roland — led by Iowa high school phenom, Gary Thompson.  Then, on the night of the championship, Clinton took third place by annihilating Roland by a huge score.  It looked bad for the Irish.

Nevertheless, from the outset of the championship, it was evident that the Irish were quicker, gutsier, and more determined than their opponent.  The game seemed strikingly old-fashioned, as I watched this time.  The deliberate style and one-handed moving set-shots looked strange.  Real jump-shots had not become standard as yet — where the player jumps to the apex and only then releases the ball.  Surprisingly, Dave Junker and Jim Hyde had terrific shooting games — unexpected, because St. Mary’s tall front line (Dick Lingle, George and Tom McAndrews) usually did most of the scoring.  The tall Ottumwa team was expecting that and, boy, were they surprised.  Jim Hyde was the leading scorer for the very first time.

The front line, though, showed extreme physicality in out-rebounding the bigger Ottumwa boys.  Lingle had many terrific blind passes, as did Jim Hyde.  George McAndrews showed a leadership presence that inspired everyone.  He was not particularly graceful, as the tallest man on the team, but he was sure-handed with the ball on rebounds and also in doing something we don’t ordinarily see a center do — in fact, many coaches won’t allow it.  That is, he dribbled after getting a rebound; he did not always look for someone to pass to.  George would take off up the court with four rough deliberate dribbles, as quickly as possible, in his fashion.  When he crossed the time line, he stopped and looked for one of the ball handlers — Junker, Hyde, or Lingle.  The teams were all superb ball handlers, who displayed many passes before finally going for the basket.  All of that, seemingly, tired the Ottumwa team.   They couldn’t set up their press, and it allowed the Irish to flow smoothly into their offense.  This was excellent coaching and tremendous (for high school) listening and accommodation by the team.  These were mature boys whose later lives would also exhibit this quality.

One factor worth emphasizing is that St. Mary’s had a terrific bench, who — although they didn’t play much — took the first string to task on many occasions during practice, as did the River Kings who would often scrimmage with them.

That 1953 event was one of the best sports stories, if not the best, in Clinton history.  It was not until Clinton High won the 1992 Basketball Championship (another article)  that anyone even came close…  although St. Mary’s would have several other noteworthy successes along the way.  This game illustrates a clear transition between the slow tradition of basketball in the 1940s and the new dynamic, quick game of the modern era.



Sources:  Archives of the Clinton Herald; Lauren Hyde; DVD copy of the 1953 film, donated by Lyman Wareham’s son- Jerry Wareham… available now at the Carnegie Library and/or the Clinton County Historical Society Museum.