Evening star., 1951-02-23
Coolidge Meets
Tech Tomorrow
In P|ayoff Finale
Pine Leeds Colt Defeat
OfWestern as Trainers
Trounce Roosevelt
By Brian Bell, Jr.


A different Coolidge player has
been leading the Colts to victory
in each game but 1t may take an
all-star performance by the entire
team to beat Tech in the inter-
high playoff finale at 2 pm.
tomorrow.
Last night it was Carmelo Pine
with his dead-eye set shots who
led Coolidge to an exciting, 66-61
win over Western in the second
game of the playoffs at Uline
before 5000 spectators.
In the opener, the return of
Babe Marshall, injured star, to the
lineup was the signal for Tech to
get back in stride and beat
Roosevelt, 1884.
The Western Coolidge game was
a see-saw battle all the way with
Pino's long shots and the under
the basket work of Jim Gradijan
and Carl Hevener the winning
combination for the Colts.
Pine Takes Command.
Artie Bakers % points beat
Roosevelt Saturday to get Coolidge
a playof spot and Hevener and
Gradijan had starred in earlier
games, but last night Pine took
command. He missed very few
shots as he sank set after set from
the middle and both sides to score
% points for the evening.
"Is Pine always that hot?" one
of Westerns amazed players
asked after the game.
Despite Carmelo's performance
the Colts could not have won had
it not been for the rebound work
of Gradijan and Hevener. West
ern's Arnie Scribner did a good
job in fighting off the two big
Colts under the basket. but when
he fouled out with five minutes
to go Coolidge took all the re-
bounds and that made the diff
ference.
Coolidge Strikes Back.
Western had a five-point lead
midway in the second period but
Coolidge exploded with a 10-point
barrage a few minutes later and
took a 1928 margin at halftime.
The Raiders came driving back
in the second half and finally
took a two-point lead late in the
game on Lou Snouffer's accurate
set shots. Coolidge tied the game
at $3.50 with two minutes left
and Bakers jump shot and hook
and a foul by Hevener clinched
the win.
Tech played control type bas-
ketball against the Roosevelt zone
defense in the first half and took
a 20-15 lead at the end of the
second period. Relying mainly
on a fast break the Trainers made
20 points. their entire first half
total, in the third quarter to take
a 1923 lead and coast to victory.
Marshall Leads Team.
Marshall, who has been out for
weeks with an injured neck, con-
trolled the Tech offense and set
up most of the plays. Defensively
Babe played fine game and
seemed to keep the Tech team
hustling-something the Trainers
haven't been doing lately.
Working the ball smoothly
Tech switched back to its more
deliberate style in the final quar-
ter and waited for scoring oppor-
tunities. Roosevelt rallied but
the Trainers kept dropping in
baskets when the Riders seemed
as if they might cut the margin
I've been telling you fellows
all along that Marshall was our
key man." Dutch Usilaner, Tech
coach told reporters after the
game. s'I think the other boys
realize this too and know we're
a much better ball club with him
in the lineup"
Bill Breen and Snookie Herman
led the Trainer scoring with II
and 13 points while Marshall
made IL. Bill Smiths Is points
was high for Roosevelt.
Sn0uffer Accurate.
Snouffer's accurate shooting Led
the Western scoring with 81 points
while seven men hit double figures
in the game. Besides Pine, Hev-
ener made 16 pionts, Gradijan Is
(See HIGH SCHOOLS, Page C-2.)