Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-01-30
Upsets May Be Last
For Riders, Eastern
As Stars Graduate
By Dick sIoy

Roosevelt and Eastern in the
Interhigh basketball double
header at Tech last night could
well be the dying gasps of these
two teams.
Phil Perlo played his best game
Of the season. according to his
coach. Gabe Ferazz. in leading
i Roosevelt to 1899 victory over
Coolidge in the opener. He held
the Colts 6-foot-4 center, Julian
(Doc) Weingarten, to IL points
while getting II himself and
showed flashes of old form in
rallying the Rider attack. But
Perlo, an All-High selection last
year who is jjust rounding into
shape. graduated this week.
The situation is serious on the
Eastern team, which nipped
league-leading Tech, 1911, in
the nightcap. Graham Penning-
ton and Gino D'Ambrosio, the
top performers in the victory
also are mid-year graduates
mot only that" means Eastern
Coach Bobby Hart. but I'm los
ing five Of my first 10 boys. Be-
sides Pennington and Gino, ]
lose John Payne, Billy Rice and
Ronnie Edwards"
The Second-gueSSers could
have good targets in Hart and
Ferazzi. should their clubs fold
in the stretch drive coming up.
There is a strong opinion against
depending on mid-year gradu-
ates. based on the reasoning
that it is better to keep a team
intact through the whole Sched-
ule than play the best combina-
ton and risk a letdown after
the first semester.
Hart Rejects Strategy.
But I don't see how you can
do that" says Hart. referring
to such strategy. Say I have
boy three years and he plays
well for me. Can I cut him
his last semester, especially
when I know I'll need him?
Look at Pennington. When
he came here three years ago
he played only three minutes.
The next year he turned an
ankle. Last year he had an op-
Grafton on the cartilage in his
left knee. Early this month the
same knee buckled and he didn't
get in a league game until
Thursday. So tonight I play
him the whole game and he
gets % points.
But it always seems to beat
me-" Hart reflects. MY first
year at Eastern Q947) we beat
Coolidge during the season, then
Gayo Karadimos and Kenny
Burns graduated. and Coolidge
knocked us off in the champion
ships. Last year, Sonny Wise and
Cecil Thompson left us and we
didn't win a league game after
that. I dunno. maybe it's the
coaching"
Tech. bidding to clinch a play
of berth with two games still
to play, started slowly but tied
the score at 3l-all by halftime,
mainly on the hot hand of Tony
DiChiacchio. Hans Jepson, Techs
6-foot-3 scoring star and re-
bounder. fouled out near the end
Of the third quarter but his sub
stitute. Frank Shore, put the
Trainers ahead, 71-69, with two
minutes to play.
Joe McHan's Jump shot tied
the score again, D'Ambrosio
made a foul shot to 60 ahead
and Eastern went into a freeze.
Tech got the ball when Jim
Stephens missed two free throws
and tried to set up a sudden
death" play, but DiChiacchio's
set shot was detected. Bob Ellis
got the rebound and time ran
out.
DiChiacchio trailed Penning-
tons % points with 81, followed
by Jepson, IT; D'Ambrosio. 16:
Stephens. IS and Stu Knott Of
Tech, IL.
Riders Lead Throughout.
Roosevelt led all the way in
upending Coolidge, leading by
as much as eight points during
the first two quarters only to
see this margin dwindle to only
31-29 going into the fourth.
Roosevelt's freezing tactics dur
ing the final 3 minutes kept the
Colts out of contention near the
end.
The afternoon double-header
at Tech saw Chamberlain deal
Western out of any playof
hopes. 53-42, and Wilson run
away from Bell, 66-44. Frank
Cohen of Western got % points,
81 in the last quarter when the
Raiders made the score more
respectable. Wilson's Lew Luce
also got % points, while Ray
Windsor of Bell was held to IA.
Gene Girard Clipped in Is points
for the Wilson effort, his best
performance of the season.
In Division II of the league.
Spingarn made it a clean sweep
of f1rst-round play by diSposing
of defending champion Arm
strong, 57-44. Elgin Baylor
poured in "a points. high for the
league this year, in leading
Spingarm to its fourth straight
mterhigh victory and a one and
one-half game lead over second
place Dunbar.