Evening star., 1946-02-25
GW.-Bair CooLdgeBethesda Battles Open Star Tourney
Hot Action Promised
Throughout Event
Starting Tonight
By GEORGE Huber

The eight top high school basket
ball teams from Washington and
vicinity are poised for tonight's
getaway in The Evening Stars 14th
annual Metropolitan invitation tour
nament, week-long event at
Ritchie Coliseum, University of
Maryland, that caps the schoolboy
court season here and which will
bring out new champion, to be in
vited to the Duke-Durham Southern
States tournament two weeks hence.
Two first-round games tonight
and two more tomorrow night will
halve the field for Thursday nights
semifnals, from which two teams
will emerge to battle in Saturday
nights championship game. All
teams are at the peak. There isn't
soft touch among the eight teams
and all games figure to be close.
Tonight's two games brings out
natural rivalries. At 7:30 George
Washington High plays Montgomery
Blair, followed by Coolidge against
Bethesda. Coolidge, fresh from cap
turing the District public high
championship, may be slight IA
vorite over the Barons. The OPEN
ing game is real tossup and a rub
Der engagement. Earlier this year
G. WIS Presidents had little trou-
BILE topping Blair, 1925, but 10
days ago the Silver Spring quint
showed how much it has improved
by reversing this with a 34-3O de-
cision.
Harris Is G. w. Mainstay.
George Washington, winner of the
Northern Virginia Conference cham
pionship, is pinning much of its
hopes on Billy Harris, tall, slim
center who does much of his scoring
from the pivot position under the
basket. Another consistent point
getter is Don Thomas, who has been
particularly valuable since being
shifted from guard to forward.
Others on Coach Al Doran's starting
five are Tom Kelly, John Dohner
and Billy Rorer, the latter an early
season flash. who has been in a
slump recently.
Blair, coached by Reno Continetti,
has q quint that showed recently it
can match anything the Presidents
offer. Its high scorer is Jim Estes,
ably aided by Parker Kirby and
Charles Fincham. Estes hax averaged
better than 10 points a game re-
Gently.
Bethesda, recent winner of the
Montgomery County championship.
often has been bridesmaid but
never a bride in The Star tourna-
ment, having finished as runnerup
four times. If the Barons can get
past the potent Coolidge quint to-
night they'll be long way toward
their long-sought goal. Coach Al
Vogt is banking on Well-balanced
quint of Ken Poerstel, Mark Ray
mond, Harvey Mcclure, Glen Fergu-
son and Jack Peterson to turn the
trick.
The same team which topped
Wilson for the District public high
title last Saturday night is expected
to start for Coach Julian Colangelo
of Coolidge tonight. 1t will have Bill
Cannon and Dick Taylor at forward,
Bob Kleinknecht at center, and Bob
Rohr and Stan King at guard. Can
non is the big gun and boasts a
season record of more than 10 points
game, but scoring is spread all
down the line on this quint and the
Barons will have their hands full
in an effort to get past the District
champs.
More Excitement Promised.
Tomorrow nights pair of first
round engagements also promise ex-
citement. st. Johns, tied with Con-
Zaga for the Catholic League lead,
meets Wilson in the opener followed
by Hyattsville, Prince Georges Coun-
ty champion, against Gonzaga. The
Coolidge-Bethesda winner tonight
meets the Gonzaga -Hyattsville VIM
ner in Thursday nights first semi
final game, followed by the winner
of Wilson-St. Johns against the
Blair-G. w. winner.
Wednesday night will be given
over to the girls Semifinals. Be-
thesda lassies open against Mary
land Park, the Prince Georges
County champ, followed by Rich
ard Montgomery, Montgomery Coun-
ty champ, against Washington-Lee,
Northern Virginia champion and
winner of the Metro crown last
season. All except Bethesda are un-
defeated so far this season, and
the Baronettes have lost only to
WI. and Richard Montgomery.
The girls will play their title game
as preliminary to the boys payoff
clash on Saturday night.
Student tickets, priced at 60 cents,
including Federal tax, are on sale
at all competing schools and at Dis
trict public high schools. Admission
at the gate will be 80 cents, and
students are urged to- purchase due
ats at their schools not only to take
advantage of the lower price but
also because schools keep proceeds
of these sales for their athletic
funds. Jack O'Connell again will
be the master of ceremonies.