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The PJS has a lot of coverage this morning of Eddie Mathews, his son Hank, and
the Limestone HS team as they head to state
the Limestone HS team as they head to state
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Matthews
Good article by Schwindenhammer, but one key Matthews family link to the State Finals was omitted. Don led the Spalding Irish to their first State Finals in 1950 or '51. They lost their first round game to Mount Vernon, the eventual State Champions. Thought it deserved a mention. -
Great article about Eddie and Hank. Has to be a great thrill for both of them to share this weekend since Eddie got to share a trip to the Tourney with his father in 1979 I think. Congrats to the both of you well deservered. Go Rockets.Comment
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were you there for that one TNel?? great memory...Originally posted by TNel View Post
In 1949 the powerful Mt. Vernon squad (everyone was 6-3 and way taller) won the title game over Hillsboro who were led by future Bradley star Leroy "Buzz" Ott who many know later became a local businessman in Peoria and just spoke at the post-season banquet a few years back and then just passed away..
1950 is the year you're thinking about - as the First round game at STATE was the Spalding loss to Mt. Vernon going for a repeat - 65-48.
Dick Estergard's Elgin squad also advanced to the Final Four & took 3rd place as Mt. Vernon beat everyone by 17-24 pts but the Spalding game was their closest...as Mt. Vernon repeated as single-class State Champs and were 33-0 UNDEFEATED.
Mt. Vernon still wasn't done - they made it back to state again in 1952 & took 3rd. That was the year Rob Judson's dad, Paul Judson, led tiny Hebron HS (enrollment 98 ) to the STATE TITLE over Quincy HS (enrollment 1035) ...then Mt. Vernon won the State Championship again in 1954 over Shellie McMillon's 31-1 DuSable squad.
In the 59 years since - Mt. Vernon has never again made it back to state.Comment
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I remember that Spalding team very well. Spalding went to Champaign the year before I started school there, 1950, and the year after I left, 1955.What part of illegal don't you understand?Comment
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Originally posted by tornado View Post
Wasn't there, but I listened to it on radio. Don was a local hero to a lot of us grade school basketball wannabees who were trying to replace our two-handed set shots with that new-fangled jump shot he seemed to have perfected. I was lucky enough to be a member of the next SI team to make it to Huff Gym (1955) ... the last year of the Sweet 16. We didn't fare any better than the 1950 team, losing by 2 to Lincoln in the first round. The Supersectionals began the next year.
Max Hooper was the stud on that 1950 Mt. Vernon team. And wasn't Eddie King a key member of that team?Comment
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Here's a FREE link if you want to watch the game LIVE - going on NOW
between Morgan Park & Limestone..
Off to a fast start - Morgan Park is already up 11-4 in the first 6 minutes..
\Morgan Park will never spark discussions about a shot clock - they run & launch within 5-10 seconds of every possession..Comment
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1st quarter score...
Morgan Park 11 - Limestone 6Comment
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Limestone down 28-18 at halfComment
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can't see Morgan Park losing to anyone -- too much talent --
now they're blowing Limestone out 65-34Comment
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Final 70-49Comment
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Eddie Mathews' Limestone Rockets played a fine game this afternoon and captured the 3rd place trophy..
kinda ironic that they actually ended up 3rd in their own conference but take third at state and may actually be the 2nd best team with only Morgan Park any better.Comment
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a great story about Eddie & Hank - sad it was buried so deep in this morning's sports section..
but I am embarrassed for our entire city that all those folks from out of town are waking up and reading such a whining sour-grapes rant on page 1 by Nick Vlahos...
that poo-poos any success any team had this weekend and compares it all to trash and it's nothing like the success of a team from almost 2 decades ago...
Like maybe they oughta just give tiny plastic trophies now because they aren't worth anything in his eyes nowadays...
fine - that's his opinion - but seriously - who put Nick in charge of IHSA so he could discount & negate all the hard work those kids & coaches did to get where they are...
sorry - it's an embarrassment - PJS shoulda buried that rant back where they instead buried the Mathews story..Comment
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Where'd you get that from? We didn't read the same article; I thought he pretty reasonably pointed out the differences between the Manual and Simeon runs. They are significant.Originally posted by tornado View Posta great story about Eddie & Hank - sad it was buried so deep in this morning's sports section..
but I am embarrassed for our entire city that all those folks from out of town are waking up and reading such a whining sour-grapes rant on page 1 by Nick Vlahos...
that poo-poos any success any team had this weekend and compares it all to trash and it's nothing like the success of a team from almost 2 decades ago...
Like maybe they oughta just give tiny plastic trophies now because they aren't worth anything in his eyes nowadays...
fine - that's his opinion - but seriously - who put Nick in charge of IHSA so he could discount & negate all the hard work those kids & coaches did to get where they are...
sorry - it's an embarrassment - PJS shoulda buried that rant back where they instead buried the Mathews story..Comment
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He is referring to this column on the front page of the PJS Sports section today-
Vlahos: Manual, Simeon not in the same class
IMO, it is a sour grapes, irrational, complaining column. He tries hard to twist facts to reassure himself and others that Manual's 4 straight championships were a much better accomplishment than Simeon's.
But, it's not like Simeon won in Class 1A, or some special category that allows weaker teams a chance to win. They won 4 straight in Class 4A, the largest and most competetive class in the state. That means every game was against Class 4A competition, not some of the easy romps teams might have gotten in the old 2 class playoff system.
And the fact that Simeon won every game by comfortable margins, while Manual's games were all close is made into a claim that their competition wasn't as good as Manual's. Apparently Simeon beat a bunch of nobodies on their way to 4 straight championships.
Funny that Vlahos never bothered to interview anyone connected to Simeon HS for comments.
Maybe you could claim that some of the lower classes are "watered down" but Class 4A still contains the best teams and the best players in the state. It is definitely not watered down. And Simeon played one of the toughest schedules any high school can play, despite the claims by the writer.Comment
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