Evening star., 1948-02-14
Series PIayoff Berths
Go 10 Riders, Vikings;
Small Players Shine
HiFh School g
By George Huber

High school basket ball coaches
who chase tall boys around school
asking them to join the team often
get unexpected help from those
little lads who come out without
being asked and fight for places in
the lineup. Five-foot, 7-inch Mole
Janigian Of Wilson, 5-foot-9 Billy
Hibbs of Roosevelt and 5-foot-8
Paul Pacini Of Tech. all weighing
from 140 pounds on down, were the
boys who made the difference yes
terday and last night as their teams
won in District public high series
games at the Armory.
Wilson trimmed Coolidge, 51-37,
as Janigian scored 10 points; Roose-
welt nosed out Anacostia, 1892, as
Hibbs showed the way with 9 plus
good clutch playing and Tech upset
Eastern, 43-40, largely due to 81
points and excellent all-around play
from Pacini. Jim Pantos Of Central,
who at Sill is one of the smaller
boys there, was top man with IA
points as the Vikings cut down West
ern, 56-33.
Standings Are Jumbled.
It leaves the standings still mixed
up with only one game to 60 for each
club. Central and Roosevelt have a
lock on places in the title tourney
also they play each other next Friday
while the other two spots are q
tossup among Anacostia, Eastern,
Wilson and Tech. Wilson and Ana
costa play each other next week,
which will eliminate one team, but
Tech and Eastern will be favored
over Coolidge and Western. If
things come out that way, it will
leave three teams tied with 4-3
records. A preliminary playoff will
be necessary and it will have to be
quick one too because the title
tourney starts the following Monday.
Hardy Pearce, the man in charge
of the schoolboy series and who must
figure out these things, is aging
rapidly.
AS the scores indicate, yesterday
afternoons Roosevelt Anacostia
game and last nights Tech-Eastern
thing were the hot ones. Ana
costa led Roosevelt most Of the
way, with narrow edges Of 7-6, 17-16
and 25-22 at the end Of the first
three periods. Most of the Indians
scoring was by Wally Warner and
Harry Lear, both of whom got Is
points. The Rough Riders pulled
even at 1892 with 80 seconds to go
when Hibbs sank a long one and
went ahead with only Is seconds
remaining when that same little
boy made good on a charity toss.
Bill Paugh added insurance with
another freebie at the closing
whistle.
Pacini PAGES Tech.
In addition to getting those q
valuable points, little Pacini played
one whale of an all-around good
game for Tech against Eastern last
night. The two teams tossed the
lead back and forth until the end
Of the third period when Tech found
itself in front, 31-2S. 1t stayed there
through the final frame, at one
point enjoying an 8-point lead after
Pacini tossed in three straight
baskets. Spike Barouth, high man
for the Ramblers, came back with
three straight ones for Eastern, but
time ran out before it could over
haul firing Tech.
Coolidge gave Wilson a fair battle
for two-and-a-half periods in the
other afternoon game The Colts
had a 1o-point second frame and
enjoyed a 1920 halftime margin,
but that evaporated in the third
quarter. A layup by Jack Whit
comb, who was high scorer with 21
points, put the Green Tigers in
front, $3.50, after which Janigan
tossed in three quick baskets to
open a gap Coolidge never was
able to close. \
It was Central all the way in the
opening night battle against West
ern, with Pantos particularly enjoy
ing himself In the second frame.
He got o Of his IA points then to
lead the vikings into their 2S-15
halftime margin. Wayne Brizendine
of Western was even hotter. closing
with 10 points in the final period
for a 19-point total, but he alone
scored for the Red Raiders In the
last eight minutes as the Central
team garnered 10 more to make 1t
a romp.