Evening star., 1944-02-21
g. W.-Mount Rainier,
Wilson -Gonzaga
On Tap Tonight
By GEORGE HUBER.

~ NAOAN6A - O1kLINs
Four Of the eight leading schoolboy
quints from the Washington area en-
tered in the 18th annual Evening Star
Metropolitan interscholastic basket
ball tournament make their opening
bids for the most sought schoolboy
cage title here when they compete
in tonight's two first round games
lat Tech gymnasium.
The fireworks start at 7:3O, with
George Washington High of Alexan-
dria, Northern Virginia Glass A
champion, playing Mount Rainier,
the Prince Georges County repre-
sentative. The 8:45 game will send
Gonzaga, Catholic League tithst,
against Wilson, tied with Eastern,
which eventually won the title, for
first place at the end of the, District
high school round robin series.
George Washington's Presidents,
whose 12-game winning streak was
ended by Wilson last week, are IA
vorites over the Mounts, but the
Gonzaga Wilson tilt rates as a
tossup.
Tournament action will continue
with the other two first-round games
on Wednesday night. These pit
Eastern against Washington Lee
and st. Johns against Bulls.
Semif1nals will be played Friday
might with the survivors clashing for
the Metropolitan championship on
Saturday night.
Presidents Coach Wary.
Even though his team is favored
over Mount Rainier, Coach Rasty
Doran of the Presidents is looking
for no soft touch. The Mounts have
q squad Of small but speedy players
whose close-guarding tactics have
been a feature of all games. They
believe they have the combination
to stop the high-scoring Joe Hens
Iley, G. WIS principal threat. Before
tournament pairings were announced
yesterday several of the Mount Raj
nier players came to a member of
the tournament committee and
asked for something tough. "Give
us George Washington or Eastern"
they requested. Maybe we won't
|go far in this tournament, but we
want to go against the best you have.
If we don't get past the first round
we at least want it to be one of your
best teams that puts us out. And
maybe we'll have surprise for you"
In addition to Hensley, red-haired
pivot player, whose leadership car
ried G. w. to the Northern Vir-
ginia title, the Presidents have two
other talented scoring threats in
Marshall Boaz and Steve Chalmers.
Dave Rice and John Ortega make
up the starting five.
Gonzaga is carrying a six-game
winning streak and a record of is
wins in 20 games into tonight's
opening game against Wilson, show
ing itself right in the groove for the
hot action facing it. Wilson also is
a winning team and until last Fri
day had a string of nine successive
triumphs, one Of the best victory
stretches registered here this season.
The Tigers have been defeated only
three times.
Capacity Crowd Promised.
Both are well-balanced teams and
have host of supporters who prom
Use to test the Tech gym seating ca
pacity. Leading Gonzaga players are
Dave Carroll, Joe Hickson, Scott
Cranston and Chester Coakley, while
Wilson is depending on Stu Brown,
Bill Case and Tom McLarney. Case
and McLarney are newcomers to
Wilson this season and their addi-
ton to the team has helped might
lily. McLarney particularly has shown
himself clutch player in recent
games. His last-minute goal upset
George Washington last week.
The players mentioned are among
the strong candidates for the out
standing player award, which in the
past has gone to Jim Giebel of st.
Johns, joey Gallagher of st. Johns,
Bob Custer of Eastern, Bob Mulvihill
of Gonzaga, Bob Phillips of Wash
ington-Lee and Keith Harder of
Tech.
Student tickets, priced at 25 cents,
are on sale at all participating
schools, which keep proceeds from
these sales. Without these tickets
the admission price is SIS cents at the
gate. Adult admissions are SIS cents,
for which slim figure spectators will
see the best high school basket ball
around here this season