February 2, 1967 Shelton Mason County Journal | ![]() |
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Cli b Whip Wol F Fi L
I Bill Oickie's SIDELINE SLANTS / m ers ves or rst eague
A Successful Sfray Refurns :Y Shelton
quintet raced to a 71 to 53 win
Jerry Vermillion returns tomorrow
night to the stepping stone from which he
climbed 4 i/ years ago into college coaching
•.. Shelton gymnasium.
In the interim, since ending a four-sea-
son stint as basketball mentor at Shelton
high school, the last three of which repre-
sented the lushest period in Highclimber
hoop history, he has become firmly estab-
lished and thoroughly respected among his -
fellow practitioners of the cage art at the
collegiate front.
Tomorrow night he leads his fifth
t. Martin's maple court brigade "back
home" for his former sports neighbors
to look over as they play the host role
to the University of Alaska Huskies.
It is a treat Vermillion has accorded
Mason County basketball buffs each
year since his departure to the campus
at Lacey. It has been nothing short of
a treat for him, too, for his Rangers
(nee Saints) have yet to lose on the
Shelton maple.
They figure to keep that string intact
tomorrow, too, although the Huskies come
stoutly fanged and figure to be a serious
contender for the NAIA regional playoffs
this year, as do Vermillion's minions also.
St. Martin's basketball has come a long
way since Vermillion put his hand to the
helm in 1962, giving the one-time Orphan
Armies of Northwest college basketball a
stability and respectability it had never
before known. Vermillion's own satisfac-
tion with his role as a small college coach
makes for the stability. The respectability
comes from the solid improvement in the
record St. Martin's has shown under Ver-
million's coaching.
In the four years under his leadership
the Saints have won almost as many games
as they did in the ten years prior to his
advent at the school. In 1965 the Saints
earned a berth in the NAIA regional play-
offs, an achievement never before realized
at St. Martin's. That was St. Martin's pin-
nacle basketball season, a 19-10 mark, with
two of those deficit digits coming in the
NAIA playoffs, Further respectability ve-
cumulated last year when the Saints upset
small college power Seattle Pacific, which
was constructing the greatest season in its
history on the way to the NAIA western
finals.
Yermilli,on's won-and-lost record
since taking charge of the St. Martin's
basketball program is not, statistical-
ly, startling on the face of it, slightly
over the break-even point, but it's a
tremendous improvement over what it
was prior to his coming into the Saint
picture, when a winning season virtu-
ally escapes the memory of avid school
alumni, and achieved against generally
tougher competition. Vermillion has
been strengthening the St. Martin's
schedule slowly but surely just as he
has been beefing up the Saints' per-
sonnel through a recruiting program
which reflects his ability to persuade
quality prep grads to enroll at the
Lacey parochial institution of higher
learning.
Such an example is furnished in the
person of Terry Easter, this year's Saint
point-leader, whom Vermillion describes as
"a tremendous offensive player, the best
I've ever seen". Easter is the son of for-
mer big league baseball bomber Luke East-
er. Another example is Henry Kappezt,
last year's state high school scoring cham-
pion, and starting pivot man for Vermil-
lion, though just a freshman, until he broke
a leg recently.
Very likely tomorrow night could be
the last year Vermillion will bring his
Rangers (pardon, Saints) to Shelton, and
the last year the team will, in reality, jus-
tify the cognomen "Rangers". The ne'v
gymnasium, which is part of the all-pur-
pose pavilion nearing completion on the
St. Martin's campus, is expected to be ready
for play by next season. By then Vermil-
lion hopes the nickname "Saints" will be
fairly well established as a replacement for
Rangers, the nora-de-plume under which
St. Martin's basketball teams have traveled
JERRY VERMILLION
for several years while they wandered from
gym-to-gym, at whatever high school hap-
pened to be available, for their home games
to escape the infamous "phone-booth" gym
which has been the only playing floor on
t'te campu for years.
Anyway, Saints will be the name ere.-
blazoned on the St. Martin's uniforms to-
morrow night when the team trots out on
the Shelton gym floor.
Vermillion is a fellow who has ex-
perienced only a passing acquaintance-
ship with basketball failure. From his
firsthigh school days in Montana until
the present he has associated consist-
ently with cage success. His brief en-
counters with disappointment followed
immediately after taking on new
coaching assignments, when he inher-
ited material from his predecessors. His
initial season at Shelton, for instance,
netted a 5-14 record, but the next
three were 13-7, 15-3 and 14-5 with
finishes ef second (8-2 in Shelton's
last year in the Central League) and
two ties for first in the Seamount
league (11-1 with North Thurston in
1961 and 10-2 with Curtis and Fife in
1962). This was a 3-year mark of
42-15 (in league 29-5). No other three
years in Highclimber history ever
matched it.
St. Martin's won only four games his
first season with the Rangers, but the rest
have been in the black far enough to give
him an over-all winning record for the four
years. His own collegiate playing days
were at Gonzaga, where he held something
like 15 records at the end of his career and
the Bulldogs enjoyed outstanding success.
Some of his records still stand after 15
years of assault by some excellent players.
'Incidentally, Vermillion has succeeded
in adding Gonzaga to the Saint schedule
this year, plays Seattle Pacific in a home-
and-home series again, takes the Saints on
a repeat of their 1965 trip to Alaska for a
4-game tour, and next year has a trip lined
up to the Southwest which includes Pep-
perdine College in California and Nevada
Southern as he strives to hoist the Saints
ever higher on the collegiate basketball
plateau.
Yes, success is no stranger to Jerry
Vermillion, the handsome hunch-shoulder-
ed young coach who returns to Shelton
gym tomorrow evening•
To further success, we'd predict.
Catholics Undefeated In Church Loop Play
• Church League basketball
sprang into action three weeks
ago with seven teams reprc.
senting the league. Those teams
are; First Christian, Baptist,
Catholics, Methodist, Mt. Olive
Lutheran, Faith Lutheran and
Episcopal.
Thus far this season the Catho-
lic entry is the only undefeated
team as they undoubtedly hold
a detains€ion in .speed, height
and ability.
The Catholic team. is also an
entry in a league that accepts
a berth to state.
Sunday they took on a talent-
less team from Bremerton. Led
by guard Rick MComb and cen-
ter Jim Olson, the Catholic entry
raced to an early 38 to 14 half-
time lead. The two church stars
hit for 20 and 18 points, respec-
tively.
Second half action saw another
brand of ball played by one of
the Catholic reserves. Muscular,
Dave Mendenhall, playing in
his fir.st hame of the season,
potted 14 points as he played
King under the backboard. Men-
denhall, an ex-Highclimber tack-
le, kept the scoring spree alive
0wough a lot of the second half
as Coach James McComb de-
cided to give his church league
clowns a rest.
Rick Marshall, another tall
and lanky clown, showed m, uch
improvement in the second
half. He threw in 10 counters
for his .season's best.
The regular church league tip-
offs start at 6:30 every Tuesday
night with three different games
being played between starting
time and 9:30.
The price is right (FREE) and
the action is stimulating, so get
out and support the church of
your choice next Tuesday night.
over the South Kitsap Wolves
here last Friday as Coach Jack
Wright's team:registered its first
league win of the season.
Working against a zone de-
fense all week, Wright's forces
took the floor with a poise they
haven't shown all year.
The highlight of the game was
the offense Shelton's cagers put
together as every member of the
starting five used his efforts to
the best of his ability to show
quite an individual scoring
pttach.
South held its only lead of the
night as it opened the night's
scoring with a quick bucket by
Dan Miller.
After that it was Shelton all
the way though South did keep
the score within striking dis-
tance.
Pivot man Dave Bayley hit
the nets for Shelton's first score,
followed by Steve l_x)oney's out-
side set shot, after which Jerry
Sparks pumped in two quick
field goals to put the Climbers
out front 8 to 4.
After trading baskets back and
forth, Shelton held a slim 14 to
9 lead at the quarter break.
Second quarter action saw
Chief Clayton join the scoring
merry-go-round as Jerry Sparks
continued one of his best efforts
in a couple of weeks.
The fast-moving action ended
with Shelton walking off the floor
with a slim 28 to 24 lead as the
half-time buzzer sounded.
Second half action started with
the same type of ball control,
with both team sticking to the
same type of game strategy.
Dan Miller, a spunky Kitsap
guard, seemed to be holding the
game together for South as his
sharp outside shooting riddled
the nets all night.
Late in the third quarter, Shel-
ton's fast-moving ball control
started to hamper the WTolf zone
defend. After a South time out,
they came on the floor with a
man-to-man defense that allowed
Sparks, Clayton and Jan Donald-
son to go wild.
Donaldson made the scene
late in the second half but ap-
parently liked the Wolf defense
as he scored Seven quick points
in a row.
South remained close at the
quarter break as both teams
showed no signs of tiring.
The fourth quarter remained
much the same as the closing
minutes of the game drew closer
and closer. With about 2V2 min-
utes left on the clock a spark
hit the Shelton five that sent
them on a sudden ten-point spree
to give them a 12 point lead.
From there on it was down
hill all the way as they coasted
to their, first league win.
Game honors went to South
Kitsap's Dan Miller who burned
the nets for an amazing 28 points
Chief Clayton led the Shelton
five with 22 points and Jerry
Sparks came back to life with
19. Chris Close kept up his scor-
ing efforts with 7, but bettered
on the rebound end with 15 in-
dividual rebounds.
Center Dave Bayley had a
fairly good night from the field
also as he hit for 6.
VARSITY
SHELTON (71)
Clayton 23, Sparks, 19, Bayley
6, Close 7, I.z)oney 7, Donaldson
7, LaMarsh 2
SOUTH KITSAP (53)
Miller 28, Cressman 4, Nornen-
berg 6, Clark 4, Bulten 4, Frans-
worth 3, Laber 2
Climbers
Set For
Two Tilts
By TOM MARSHALL
• Highclimber hopes for a berth
in the state tournament brighten
as they face a doubleheader this
week.
Coach J a c k W'ight's forces
are working on the East Brem-
crton strategy this week as they
face the long climb up after
losing five straight league con-
tests.
• The Climbers are at full
strength now, though jumping-
jack Chris Close picked up a
shoulder injury this week in
turnouts.
Friday night the Climbers
battle with East Bremerton in
a grudge match over their first
meeting.
:If it picks up a win Friday,
then works on Port Angles Sat-
urday, Shelton could find itself
back in the running after five
weeks of frustrating losses.
Team merrbers are gaining a
lot of poise as they are starting
to believe in them:selves and
handle the ball with complete
confidence.,
Clayton and Sparks are back
in the groove while Bailey, Close
and Looney are starting to burn
the nets with perfection.
Close and Bailey are handling
the rebound chores with Sparks
and Clayton helping out when
needed.
Guard Steve Looney seems to
be handling the ball club with
a lot of poise and confidence as
Climber miscues and poor pass-
ing are dwindling down to
nothing.
A HUSTLING DEFENSE aided Shelton's ttighclimbers in
their first league win of the season, a 70-53 conquest of
South Kitsap, Friday night. Here Chief Clayton (24) and
Dave Bayley (40) close in on a South dribbler
reach shooting territory.
Scialabba's Troops
Clobber Hoquiam
• Wrestling Coach Roy Scia-
labba's warriors chopped down
a bunch of Hoquim Grizzlies here
last Mxmday nigh! as his
Climber forces pushed the Griz-
zlies to hibernation 37 to 13.
The Grizzlies salvaged only
three matches as the Climbers
picked up nine individual honors
five by pin, w'fth three in suc-
cession.
As the match got underway
both teams registered five points
apiece with forfeits in the 103
class and the heavyweight di-
vision.
Hoquiam, held their first and
only lead after the 114 pound
face off. Hoquiams Dan West
slid by Shelton's Curt Snitzer
with a two-point reversal late
in the third period to decision
Snitzer 6 to 4.
It didn't take Shelton long to
jump out front as an aggressive
Dan O'Neil toed charge of the
of the mat. The 120-pound grap-
pler wrestled his best match of
the year as he pinned Hoquiam's
Ben Thomas, 1:05 of the first
round.
Shelton held a slim 10 to 8
lead as the 129 class took over
the ring. With Shclton's Chuck
Thompson wrestling at his best
Hoquiam's 1Vfike Burgess found
himself on the short end of a
decision 8 to 1.
Little Mary Wilson proved
himself worthy of a varsity po-
,ition despite his size as the
Shelton grappler bounced his
man all over the mat for a five
point pin late in the first round.
Allen Tahja kept his winning
ways as the 140-pound class end-
ed in the first period with a Tah-
ja pin and the Shelton lead
boosted to 23 to 8.
Shelton fans saw one of the
most exciting ma.ches of the
evening as Muscleman Chris
Thompson took the ring. Wrest-
ling against a quick Hoquiam
opponent, Thompson was forced
to show his aggressive speed as
he pinned his Grizsly opponent
in 1:47 of the second round.
As the 156-pounders took over
the matt Shelton saw a much
improved Tom Adams throw his
man 11 to 1. Adams, who usually
runs out of gas late in the .econd
round, showed quite an improve-
ment in endurance as he went
the full three rounds with wind
to spare.
Scialabba's clutch man, Mark
Weston, wrestling in the 165-
pound class, had his hands full
of fighting Grizzly for three
straight periods as he tamed
his opponent 10 to 8 with a last
minute reversal.
,Karate man Don Armstrong
showed Shelton fans as well as
Coach Scialabba how to be ag-
gressive as he walked away with
a 10 to 4 decision.
Hoquiam picked up five count-
ers as Sheltons lWike Hopkins
was pinned in 1:23 of the first
period.
Shelton fans were let down in
the heavyweight division as Ho-
quiam's Milt McGuire couldn't
make the thatch for reasons un-
known.
VARSITY SUMML¥
103 ...... (H) won by forfeit
114 West (H) decision Snitzer
(S)
122 O'Neil (S) pin Thomas (H)
129- Thompson (S) decision
Burgess (H)
135 .... Wilson (S) pin Bitar (H)
140-- Tahja (S) pin Johnson(H)
147 ..... Thompson (S) pin Bennett
(H)
156 .... Adams (S) decision Logan
(H)
165 Weston (S) decision Shrau-
gcr
175 Armstrong (S) decision
Bohrnsen (H)
191- Snyder (I) pin Hopkins
(S)
Heavyweight Gunter (g)
won by forfeit.
NM Trips
SHS Jayvee
Wrestlers
• Shelton Jayvee wrestlers tra-
veled to North Mason last week
and fell at the hands of the
Bulldogs, 24 to 20.
North Mason picked up the
first three matches by decision
before Shelton's Ron Elson came
lhrough with a Shelton victory,
decisioning his North Mason op-
l)onent 13 to 6.
Steve Steinberg narrowed the
gap 29 to 8 when he picked up
a pin in the second round of
the 140 pound class. ii:::
Then Mary Wilson gave Shel- i:}
ton a slight 13 to 9 lead after
he picked up a pin in his division
The score changed hands af-
ter Wilson's pin when North Ma-
son picked up 15 quick points
on iw() pins and a forfeit.
With the score at 24 to 13,
I)on Armstrong and Dave Gun-
ter fought the last two matches
of the day but the twelve-point
lead was too much to overcome
even though Gunter pinned and
Armstrong decisloned.
Drive Defensively!
0
SHELTON'S Dave Bayley (40)fights for a
a South Kitsap caer during Friday night's
on the Shelton floor. In the background is the
era' Chris Close.
Page 12 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, February 2, 1967