Evening star., 1938-03-14
D. c. SCHOOL FVES
SEEK HIGH H0N0R(
Defeats at Lexington Ma
Aid st. Johns, Eastern
in Next Journeys.
By BURTON HAWKINS.

Dy w hlNS.
With mingled confidence and ca i
ton Eastern and st. Johns baskd
ball teams today resumed practice fo|
| impending tournaments and there
a sneaking suspicion in scholastic cir
| cles that their defeats in the recen
South Atlantic championships at bex
ington, Va, may have been the toni
required to place them at their peak
The utter uncertainty Of tourne
| play never was revealed more clearl
than at Lexington. st. Johns. in il
| first engagement probably could hav
| Walloped any schoolboy quint in til
Nation. Asheville High, Western Dis
trict champion of North Carolina an
creditable club in its own righ
wilted under the accurate pottinR
the Johnnies, 42-l7.
Overnight something akin TO plagi}
ravaged the caliber of st. Johns pla1
Just as it was brilliant IN SWampirl
Asheville. so was it miserable in fold
ing before Due West, S. c., Hig1
1927. The Cadets, until the find
quarter, failed to function as teal
and then it was too late.
Eastern Far Of Stride.
Eastern never approached its fort
in losing to Monroe (Ga) Agges, "a
%, in the opening round. Set shd
artists, the Lincoln Parkers unleashd
only great gobs of ineffectivenesl
Lee Lusby and Russ Jombardy, usua
ly reliable, steady players, chose al
lnopportune time to produce thrI
worst play and the result was MIN
rored in the eventual outcome.
Bethesda Chevy Chase relished il
role of dark horse, thrived against III
inability of teams to adjust them
selves to meeting a really smooth zoI1
defense and advanced to the find
round before succumbing to one d
the tallest scholastic fives ever molde{
Durham IN c. High 1t didn't figud
to reach the play-of, but it did.
Bethesda capitalized neatly on il
2-1-2 zone tactics in its first third
games and opposing outfits. accud
toned to facing man-for-man I'D
fenses, were bewildered. With tn
feet and rangy Leon Vannais opera
ing as the rowing middleman in It'd
cohesive defense, Bethesda carved il
self an enviable slice of prestige.
Bill Morell, Vannais. Carroll Hay|
den, Bill Fuller and Pete Kimm(
reached top form for that tourne]
manufacturing bits of basket bal
genius individually and collectiyel}
Thus Bethesda stepped in where 81
johns or Eastern was supposed d
trod and upheld the reputation d
schoolboy basket ball in this sector.
Arch Rivals May Scrimmage.
1t Is not unlikely that st. John
and Eastern, archrivals during til
year and champion and runner-u
respectively, in The Evening Sta
Metropolitan tourney, will scrimmag
each other until the Johnnies leav
for Chicago and the National Catholt
tourney, foremost schoolboy tourne
OF the Nation. Coaches Gene Angus
terrier of st. Johns and Mike Kel!dI
Of Eastern believe it will benefit bot
teams
Eastern. which will compete in th
Eastern States title tourney at GlerI
Falls, N. Y, is a smooth team. 1t
determined to prove it is one OF tn
finest in the East. If over -conf1dend
hampered either st. Johns or Easter
in the South Atlantic test, it is nd
likely to shackle them in the cominI
events.
St. Johns. when clicking. figures d
rate with any quint in the Nation. II
clicking was confined to one game a
Lexington, but record of "a victorid
in 26 scholastic engagements this seal
son reflects its potency. Its loss
Lexington may have been one of thod
hard-to-take blessings in disguise.
Meanwhile BetheSdas seniors ba Il
I in the glory of their accomplishment
The fact that they didn't figure d
reach the South Atlantic final mexe1
gives added prestige TO the fact ths|
they did.