Evening star., 1944-02-23
1unney Will 0fficiate
Al Presentation Of
Basket Awards
BY GEORGE HUBER.

EaSternS District public high baS-
ket ball champions begin their drive
to add the Metropolitan crown to
their list when they step out against
Washington-Lee in the first of to-
nights two first round games in The
Evening Stars invitation tourna-
ment at Tech gymnasium. The
Ramblers own the best record of any
schoolboy quint in this section and
are favored to turn back the Gen.
erals challenge, but not without a
stiff game.
Second tilt on tonight's attractive
program pits st. Johns and Bulls
with the result real tossup. These
two scrappy squads met little over
two weeks ago with Bulls winning
by only one point. Tonight's first
game starts promptly at 7:30.
Winners of tonight's games meet
in a semifinal on Friday following
game between Wilson and George
Washington High, survivors of
Mondays first round clashes.
All teams, of course, are pointing
to Saturdays big title game which
crowns the metropolitan champion.
The Star trophies that night will
be presented by Comdr. Gene Tun-
ney of the Navy. who today accepted
an invitation to do the honors per-
formed last year by his friend, Rear
Admr. Ross T. McIntire, surgeon
general of the Navy and personal
physician to the President.
Tunney Visits Macarthur.
Comdr. Tunney recently returned
from a tour of duty in the South
Seas in the course Of which he
talked at length with another dis
tinguished sports advocate, Gen.
Douglas Macarthur.
Both teams in tonight's first game
are "hot." Eastern's Ramblers lost
only game this season while
winning 16, most of them against
the toughest opposition available.
That lone setback came from Coo
|lidge, which Eastern later selected
as it's opponent in the high school
title playoff semifinals and defeated
It's winning streak now includes II
games.
I Outstanding players on the RAM
bier quint are Bob Lamon, scoring
specialist, who particularly Is able
in bagging points when most needed,
and little Mike Pappafotis, fast
breaking guard, whose defensive
tactics have sparked Eastern all
season.
Washington-Lee is included in
Eastern's list of victims. That set
back was by nine points late in
January, and since then the Gen
erals have won 7 of 10 games to
show themselves in winning
groove for this tournament. Only
last week they defeated Bulls, one
Of the Journeys seeded quints.
Generals Are Confident.
Oddly enough the Generals had
a regularly scheduled game against
Eastern for today and before being
invited to the tourney we're loath
to release the Ramblers from the
date so they could compete in the
tourney, so certain were the Gen
erals they had a good chance of
reversing that earlier decision. 1t
worked out to the satisfaction of all,
however, and Washington-Lee now
gets it's crack at Eastern with much
more at stake than would be in
ans ordinary game
Billy Earl and Myron Gerber,
both outstanding players on WASH
ington-Lee's football team, are the
Generals outstanding basket ball
players as we'll.
Some real fireworks are due In
tonight's second game. Bulls got
off to big early lead and held on
to nose out the Johnnies, 1887 on
February 3, with Jack Burckart and
Clyde Scott as leading scorers.
George Hughes, ST. Johns talented
center, was recovering from an i'll
ness at the time, which might have
made some difference. Hughes fig
ures to be in there all the way to-
night, however, as we'll as Tom Glet-
ner and the other Johnny aces.
Season records for these two
teams are: Bulls, IA wins and 7
losses, and st. Johns, II wins and 7
losses. Bulls at one time had 10
game winning streak, a figure sur
passed only by George Washington S
IL and Eastern's II straight.
Spectators at tonight's games will
be entertained by the Washington
Lee High Band and the st. Johns
Cadet Band.