Omaha daily bee., 1917-01-14
SMALL TOWN FLOOR
FIVES SHOW SPEED
Sutton, Swanton, Friend, Arl-
ington and Wilbur Qiunts
Upset Early Dope.
CENTRAL STILL FAvORITE
BY KARL LEE.

Small basket ball occupies
the limeight in early season play
in Nebraska and bids fair to continue
to hold sway through the season un-
less the big town teams show i'm
provement. The dope gives Sutton.
Swanton, Friend, Arlington, Newman
Grove and Wilbur preference over
big town opponents. Beatrice, Co.
lumbus and Fremont were among
the big leaguers" who fell before
battering rains of the "bushers."
A majority of the teams Of the
state have heard the cry of battle.
Right off the reel the Queen City fell
before Wilbur, % to q. Remembering
that Beatrice lost FIVE games during
the season last year and then copped
the title at the tournament, silence
should be the watchword after such
mishap But the defeat becomes
more alarming when it is discovered
that Swanton, an unknown FIVE, de-
feated Wilbur easily by score OF
so to Is. This Swanton five will be
the real dark horse OF the season since
her schedule is not overly interest
ing The, team has scored two VIC
tories besides the Wilbur win.
Fremont is Weak.
Fremont will hardly line up strong
considering the defeat Of 50 to 81 ad-
.ministered by Arlington. A second
thought brings 10 mind the fact that
the Dodge lads are entering the COM
petitions with only single veteran
back, this one being Captain Gardiner.
The team backfred during vacation,
however, winning easily over North
Bend, Is to =. Kearney's victory
over Shelton, 4 to IS, and that OF
Commerce High over Genoa, 20 to
", were the only other indicators
of the holidays. Both teams boast
probably gain considerable headway
before stopped in the fight for the
title.
Figuring championship dope OH a
basis of real leaders the lineup is
little changed. Central continues the
strong favorite. Lincoln has placed
a team of heavyweights in the field
Pillard and Cypreanson. tackle and
fullback on the foot ball squad, are
at forward and guard. Albrecht and
Brian are at center and forward.
Geneva has a bid equal. if not sur
passing, that of the Capital City FIVE,
while local fans would not be a bit
surprised to see Coach Patton's Pack.
er five climbing in on a little of the
upper honors. Geneva's defeat of
Sutton, 50 to 27, is demonstrative of
the ability of Thieson's students.
Columbus and Newman, Grove will
have trouble in maintaining a pace
with the best of them, while Beatrice,
although defeated and with a~green
squad, is still to be classed as danr
gerous contender. Rathbun is
trunipeter supreme of upsets,-
Local Games This Week.
The Nebraska Aggies. West Point
and Nebraska City are probably the
only other teams of anticipated sue
cess. West Point won an easy victory
ovet Pilger. but this indicates nothing
as to its real strength. The Aggies
and the River lads are both strong,
according to reports. Crete, after win
ming over University Place, % 10 IS,
lost ignobly to Friend on the latter's
floor, % to II. This is enough to
embitter the stoutest hopes of the
Cretans. Games of the coming week
are expected to bring out another
batch of real dope. South High
meets Council Bluffs and Central two
games in a row, while Commerce has
chance to demonstrate its ability
against a real team-Central High.