Special to The Star-Herald
During my research of 1,000-point scorers at Presque Isle High School, I encountered some interesting history. It was a pleasure to uncover data that substantiated the fact that Ralph Day, who played in the early to mid-1950s and Barney Smith in the 1960s, both attained the 1,000-point plateau.
Ralph, who played center, was an outstanding big man with a variety of moves and a devastating hook shot that also allowed him to set the single game scoring record of 46 points at PIHS. Smith was a point guard who attained the 1,000-point total without the benefit of the three-point line. It is also noteworthy that Day and Smith scored their 1,000 points while playing three years on varsity. It was rare, if ever, that a freshman would play varsity basketball in that era. Smith was an excellent perimeter shooter and very adept at successfully taking the ball to the basket against the taller opposition. Barney went on to play freshman ball at Duke University and started at second-base on the varsity baseball team for three years.
When addressing the high-point scorer in one game for Presque Isle High School, one name is overlooked. During the 1959-60 season, Kathy Ranney scored 56 points on Feb. 9 versus Limestone. That same season, Colleen Carter had scored 51 points for the Wildcats. At that time, the earlier version of girls’ basketball was played: two players for each team were positioned on each end of the court, and two players per team were allowed to play full court.
The Aroostook League
County basketball featured the Aroostook League for 35 years. The league was organized during the fall of 1925. During the first five years, Houlton dominated by winning four championships. Presque Isle, under Coach Bill Hanscom, started its long dynasty of title basketball during the 1930-31 season. During an 18-year span from 1931-1948, Coach Hanscom’s “Wildcats” won 13 Aroostook League titles and tied for two others, one State Championship, two Eastern Maine Championships and 16-tournament appearances.
During his 26 years as basketball coach, Hanscom attained a 350-155 record and became one of the most respected high school coaches in the state of Maine. After the 1948 season, other schools became more competitive as a result of good building programs. Fort Fairfield, under Coach Ken Clark, enjoyed several years of success in league play. The Tigers won the title in 1946 and tied for the title in two other years with Caribou and Presque Isle. Caribou won its first title in 1950 and just missed a second one in 1951.
From 1954-1960, Caribou was one of the most feared teams in the league under Coach Ed Walsh. In those days, many equated county basketball with Bill Hanscom and Ken Clark. Ralph Day, as mentioned earlier, held the league record for most points scored in one game that was broken by Paul Davenport of Houlton who scored 50 points versus Washburn in 1956. Pete Kelley of Caribou broke Davenport’s record by scoring 56 against Presque Isle during the 1957-58 season. Kelley also set the single-season record for most points scored in league games – 273 points – accumulated over 10 games. The Vikings also held the single-game scoring record of 112 points set in 1957.
The League folded with the advent of the Heal point system – designed to determine seedings and byes. The main purpose of high school ball, especially for L schools, was to make the tournament. In order to do that, they had to play the best schedule possible. The Heal System was implemented in 1948-49 for L Schools in Eastern and Western Maine.
During the 1940s and early 1950s, the County M&S tournament was held at the Cunningham School gymnasium. The Cunningham gym opened in October of 1939. The first game was between the 1939-40 team and the alumni. The “Cats” defeated the alumni 28-21 and were led by Gene Hunter. The gym was equipped with a new electric scoreboard that allowed names of players to be attached. The scoreboard cost $175. The gym also was equipped with glass backboards and what was then new, big-gym hardwood floor.
The first-regular season game was against Madawaska Training Normal School. The medium and small schools (M&S) primarily used the regional format to determine tournament qualifiers through most of the 1950s and early 1960s. Eastern and Western Maine were divided into four regions each, and two teams from each region would qualify for the tournaments. The M tournament was held at the Fort Fairfield Armory from approximately 1955-1959, and the S was held in Houlton. In 1960, the M tournament was played at the Aroostook State Teacher’s College (now the University of Maine at Presque Isle) gymnasium. The winner in each one of these tournaments would represent the county in the Eastern Maine tournament.
At that time, there were six Class M Schools: Aroostook Central Institute (Mars Hill), Ricker Classical Institute (Houlton), Ashland High School, Washburn High School, Mapleton High School and Sherman High School. There were also six S Schools: Danforth, Oakfield, Island Falls, Hodgdon, Bridgewater and Easton. County principals met at the end of the season to determine the tournament qualifiers and pairings by evaluating the merits of each school’s team. Four teams in Classes “S” and “M” would participate in the county tournament. The top two teams in each class would advance to the Eastern Maine tournament.
Presque Isle won its first League Championship in 1928 with a 9-1 record. They went on to dominate the league the next 20 years. They won 14 more championships during that period and amassed a record of 135-6 during those championship years. On a regional and state level, many of these teams had success.
The 1931 team advanced to the State title game by defeating Bangor 15-13 in the Eastern Maine final held in Orono. They lost the state championship 34-29 to South Portland in Lewiston. In 1932, led by Ralph Sweetser, Clarence Burnett, Harold Glidden, Verdelle Clark and Walter Shaw, they qualified for the tournament again. In the EM tournament, they defeated John Bapst, 30-24, Dexter, 24-17, and Winslow, 13-11. This set up their State Championship game with Portland at Orono. Presque Isle rallied late in the game and scored the winning bucket on a Clark’s basket after he had penetrated the Portland defense making the score 31-30. The State Champs traveled home by train and, upon arriving after midnight, were greeted by over 2,000 fans, which was followed by a reception at the Perry House. During this era, the Wildcats went on to the Eastern Maine Final three more times losing to Winslow, 36-28, in 1935, lost to Bangor, 24-22, in 1940 and again to Bangor, 31-24, in 1941.
The Easton Bears won the State “S” Championship in 1957. The “Bears” compiled a regular season record of 18-1. They entered the county tourney in Houlton as the top-seeded team, and defeated Sherman and St. Martin de Tours, which allowed them to advance to the Eastern Maine tournament in Bangor. They defeated Beals, 83-82, in an exciting quarterfinal game and then disposed of Carmel and Mt. Desert (79-75) to win the Eastern Maine Championship. Easton then defeated Rangely in the State Final, 66-38, to finish the season with an overall 24-1 mark. Barry Tapley, Mickey Perry, Russell LaPointe and Dale Grant made the all-tournament team. The team was coached by Frank Tapley. In 1958 and 1959, Easton advanced to the Eastern Maine only to lose to MDI both times by scores of 91-56 and 60-52, respectively.
Bridgewater Classical Academy also had a great deal of success in the mid-1950s winning two State Championships. In 1954, Bridgewater completed a perfect season going 24-0. They defeated Beals, 41-38, in the Eastern Maine Final, then defeated Standish, 45-43, to win the State Crown. Key members of the team were Leroy Hersey, Garth Stackpole, Ed Buckley, Gene McKeen, Harold Burtt and Dick Hersey. They were coached by Doug Harrington. The 1955 season brought another State Championship to Bridgewater while accumulating at 22-1 record. They captured the Aroostook Class “S” championship by defeating Island Falls and Easton. In the Eastern Maine tournament, they knocked off Millbridge, Monson and Freedom (39-36), which allowed them to advance to the State Final against Porter. They defeated Porter, 64-59, the final was played at the Donovan gymnasium in Waterville. Eugene McKeen, Garth Stackpole and Charlie Upton were named to the all-tournament team.
The 1957-1958 Caribou Vikings brought the county its first large-school title since the Presque Isle Wildcats had done it in 1932. The Vikings had a powerful starting line-up of Bob Cyr, Warren Sirois, Pete Kelley, Reggie Thompson and Gene Corrow. They entered the “Class L” tournament with a 16-1 record, averaging 80.2 points per game and allowing 58.4 points per game. In the Eastern Maine tournament, they defeated Skowhegan, 90-70, in the quarterfinals, Bangor, 62-57, in the semifinal, and Brewer, 83-72, in the final. They lost the State Championship game 83-70 to Portland. Kelley and Cyr were named to the All-County team, Kelley was also selected as the MVP of county basketball. The Vikings were coached by Ed Walsh.
During the 1960 Eastern Maine Class “S” quarterfinals, Easton guard Dana Connors (former Presque Isle City Manager) scored 42 points to lead Easton over Jonesport. Easton was coached by Jim Ugone and advanced to the Eastern Maine semifinal that year.
The 1958 season saw the resumption of the Presque Isle-Stearns rivalry. Coach Hanscom broke athletic ties with Stearns after their contest with them at Millinocket during the 1951-1952 season. There was apparent dissatisfaction with the unsportsmanlike conduct of Stearns fans and other incidences that occurred.
It is also important to note the existence of an Aroostook League for girls’ basketball. Though girls’ basketball was present in Aroostook County from 1901-1942, there were several years during this time that show no games played. Of the 26 years that games were played, Houlton dominated by winning 10 County Championships, including five consecutive seasons from 1938-1942. Presque Isle and Caribou each won five.
Thanks to the people at the Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library for their assistance in my research. Also thanks to Nate White’s “First Fifty Years of Basketball” and the Bill Hanscom scrapbooks. Next week’s article will summarize the seasons of the outstanding PIHS teams of the 1960s, as well as those from Easton, Mars Hill and Bridgewater.
FORGOTTEN TIMES
by Dick Graves
Jim Carter
Photo courtesy of Jim Carter
BILL HANSCOM, 1955.
