The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-01-23
WRESTLING CANE fAclHEt Bs0y[ AHl1lFI ~
Helena, Billings and Big
Timber Factors for +.
Basketball Title.

The Missoula high. school basketball
team. cheered by three successive VIC
| tories. Is practicing hard for thersume
against Beaverhead county high school
Friday night. The team returned from
the game at Philipsburg last week UNI
scathed and all the boys are in good
shape for the game against Dillon's
hopes. Garrison has three fast for,
Notwithstanding, with two years
experience, and Lansing and Marion,
| both OF whom have shown unusual
ability in the hoop game. Courtney
and Crouch, who played guards last
year, are in top-notch form and have
kept opposing forwards from scoring
at all times. Carver, at center, has
shown a good eye for the basket and
as this is his first year with the team
will undoubtedly improve with ex-
perience. The Garden city scholastics,
in their three games this year, have
| scored III points to their opponents
81; with Schlossberg scoring nearly
half the points. AS an accurate free
thrower and basket shooter the sturdy
forward resembles Ark Hester of Mis-
soula teams Of other years, and is
husky enough to rough it with any
high school guard in the state.
! Butte Team Fair.
| Butte has a fast team. recruited
mostly from their championship foot
ball team, but they have not met with
any phenomenal success so far this
year. Van Cook, for many years with
the Spokane high schools and later at
Wallace. was secured last fall to take
charge of the new gymnasium added
to the Butte high school. in the Gu
| pacity OF physical director. and il
coaching the Butte basketballers with
the assistance of Bernie Bierman. foot
BAH coach. who played a guard posi-
ton on the University OF Minnesota
basketball team for two years, though
he did not play in his last year In
schools. A quintet Of Butte high school
graduates. at present attending the
Montana State School, OF Mines, but
playing under the name of the Butte
high school alumni team, handed the
high school quint an awful trimming
last Friday night, 40 to 10. McAuliffe,
Rowe, Mueller, Leahy and Ratrzen,
all former basketball stars in the high
school, are attending the school of
mines and could give the Hill school
what would probably be the best bas-
ketball team that ever represented it,
il athletics were not prohibited at the
Hill school by President Bowman's re-
cent ruling.
| Helena Is Strong.
Helena has won four straight games
and is headed for another champion
| ship, even If four members of last
years, title winners have gone. The
same situation existed in 1916, and
conditions then were even worse, as
Newman, for years considered the best
high school basketball player in the
state; Frank Johnson, the fast little
forward, and Big Little Eva" Jones,
the giant guard, and one other man,
| Burgess. now playing with the Aggies,
were graduated, leaving only Dave
l'Rowand. Peculiarly enough, each of
these four men has made good in COL
lege basketball, Newman and johnson
being with the Bruins, and Burgess and
Jones playing guards for the Aggies.
OF last years team, only Warmer Met
len, star forward, remained at the be-
ginning of the present season, and he
has made from six to ten field goals in
each of the four games he has played.
Against Dietrich of the university he
scored nine times from the field
! Billings on Tour.
Billings has also won from every
body except the Polytechnic institute
and is this week leaving for trip
through Idaho and Utah to play a
number of high schools and academy
teams. Big Timber, the dark horse of
and has had about three field goals
scored against it during the year. Ana
, conda and Great Falls do not look to
, be in the running, and it is possible
that the real champion will be brought
/ out at the mining district tournament
r at Helena. Undoubtedly the redistrict-
ing of the state will work a hardship
, on the teams included in the mining
l district. as some of the best teams in
tlo Stdte VIII DC cllillIldteu at tne
e district tournament.
r During the last few years Missoula
$ has always peen well up in the final
;. standing of the tournament. BEING
r fourth in 191S second in 1914 and 1916
Y and last year, when they were moi
4 counted as a contender they fought
o their way into the semi-finals. only tc
e lose to Big Timber a team which legal
= ly had no right in the meeting. being
substituted at the last minute fol
Kalispell. when that team was storm
bound by the big billiards.. Big Tim.
her fought their way into the finals
\ against Helena, and were only heater
for the championship in an extra periot
Igame.
The title winners at the tournament
y for the past five years were: Ana
y conda, Big Timber and Helena for tn,
y last three years.