Evening star., 1951-03-03
Tech Champs Reach
Peak in Star Tourney,
Crave Added LaureIs
By brion Bell, Jr.

By brion Bell, Jr.
Most basketball teams are happy
to end their season when March
comes, but Tech is sorry the cam
paign is over.
The Trainers, now at their peak,
are looking for new worlds to con-
quer after adding The Stars Met
ropolitan championship to their
interhigh title with a 62-34 rout
of Coolidge at Ritchie Coliseum
last night.
A crowd of nearly 1000 saw the
woodworking Trainers give q
masterful exhibition of basketball
as they walked over the Colts for
the third time this season.
A Coolidge rooter summed up
the Tech professionals" when she
remarked halfway through the
game, "It's not fair for a team to
be that good"
It's certainly true that the Tech
unit showed a finesse not usually
associated with high school bas-
ketball as Coach Dutch Usilaner's
players passed with precision, shot
accurately, rebounded on both
boards and played alright defen-
sive ball-a phase of the game the
Trainers had neglected before
last night.
They Cooled off Colts.
Tech had beaten Coolidge twice
before this season, 80-57 in regu-
lar season play and 1889 in the
interhigh championship finals
Saturday. The Colts. however,
had been the hottest team in The
Stars tournament with upset vic
tories over George Washington of
Alexandria, the Northern Virginia
champions, and st. Johns, Cath
olic league titlist. So they were
expected to give Tech a stiff battle
last night.
Unfortunately for Coolidge,
Tech never looked better and as
early as the end of the first quar-
ter when the Trainers led 1876, it
appeared the Colts were going to
be badly beaten.
Coolidge was not the red-hot
team Of earlier tournament games
and frequently missed shots in the
first half. The Tech defense was
tight though, and did not allow
the Colts as many opportunities
to score as they had been. used to:
The Coolidge zone did not seem
to bother Tech. With Capt. Babe
Marshall controlling the offense,
the Trainers used a rapid-f1re
passing game to open the Colts
defense in the opening periods and
get the ball to Snookie Herman,
who scored often on lay-ups.
Strong Last Half Team.
When Tech could not get in
close, Bill Breen or Marshall tai
lied on long set shots and ran the
score to 26-15 at halftime. Know
ing the Trainers reputation as a
second-half team, Coolidge fans
awaited the final periods with
some apprehension.
Tech did not disappoint its sup
porters and picked up the pace
in the third quarter to go in
front, 41-22. The Trainers began
to use the fast break more fire.
quently and Tailed on lay-ups to
breeze to their second straight
Star title.
Although Carl Hevener played
his usual fine game under the
boards, Coolidge did not have the
rebound superiority it was ex-
pected to show. Frank Sullivan,
Joe Cav and Herman frequently
outfought Coolidge under the
basket and even the outside men,
Breen and Marshall, were bat
tling for rebounds.
In previous games, Tech had
not bothered with defense and
concentrated on outscoring the
opposition, but last night the
Trainers sliding man-for-man de-
fense was working to perfection.
No Layups for Coolidge.
The Trainers switched of on
loose Colts and never once was a
Coolidge player able to drive in
close for layup. Forced to stay
on the outside, the Colts had to
rely on Carmelo Pine and Artie
Baker, and the two long shot
experts were not as deadly as in
previous games. No Coolidge
player could score in double fig
ureS.
Marshall was the key man in
the Tech offense and set up most
of the plays. The Trainers
played strictly as a unit, refusing
to take layups when teammates
were in a slightly better position
for the two points. Not once did
a Tech player press a shot.
Herman led the scoring with 19
points, while Marshall and Cav
tossed in 13 apiece and Breen IL.
Pino's eight led the Colts.
Usilaner was happily accepting
congratulations and laughing off
advice to engrave the trophy for
1852 as well as this year.
II will have most of my boys
back next season." he said, "but
that's another year. ! think they
(see STAR TOURNEY. Pg. A.ll.)