Evening star., 1955-03-14
Injuries May Hamper
81. John S, Gonzaga
In Title Game Sunday
By Bob Henson


volving key players on both the
st. Johns and Gonzaga basket
ball teams threatens to impair
their effectiveness when they
meet next Sunday afternoon at
Ritchie Coliseum for the
Catholic League championship.
The latest mishaps occurred
during yesterdays opening play
off round at College Park as
John Hanlon of st. Johns turned
an ankle as the Cadets
eliminated Carroll, 5944. and
Gonzaga's Tony Natoli suffered
a sprained ankle as the Eagles
ousted Mackin. 1892.
BY virtue of its victory. st.
Johns Joined Gonzaga as the
Districts representatives in the
Washington Catholic Invitation
tournament at the coliseum
March 1927.
The injuries to Hanlon and
Natoli followed similar mishaps
to John Moore of st. Johns
and Ronnie Bennett of Gonzaga
in the All-High- -All-Prep game
at Fort Myer last Friday night.
Moore and Bennett Idle
Neither Moore nor Bennett
played yesterday. Hanlon, 6-foot-
4, replaced Moore, only to suffer
his injury in the third period
and be replaced by Jim Fitz-
patrick. Hanlon's injury may
not turn out to be too serious as
he was able to get back in for
part of the final quarter.
The injury to Natoli may prove
a different story, however. Tony,
who had just begun to take up
some of the slack occasioned by
Bennett's loss. suffered his sprain
with 20 seconds left in the third
quarter and had to be carried
off the floor by teammates.
This is the crowning blow"
Coach Tommy Nolan of Con-
zaga said Its enough that we
may lose one of these boys next
week. but the thought of both
is too much. We might as we'll
close shop if they aren't ready.
But there's one thing for
sure" he continued. eve won't
use either one if they aren't alb
solutely in top shape. We want
that championship again, but
not at the risk of hurting the
boys needlessly."
Natoli Takes Charge
The possible loss Of Bennett
and or Natoli. as evidenced by
Benefits absence yesterday. puts
a severe dent in the Eagles game,
both extensively and defenSively.
An example of that was DEM
onstrated by a scrappy Mackin
team that held Gonzaga ever
for the first half, each team scor-
ing identically seven and IA
points for the first two quarters.
Then Natoli began to take
charge and the Eagles wound up
with IS points as against only
five for Mackin in the third Pc
rlod and that just about did it..
The Eagles added II more in the
fourth quarter while holding
Mackin to six points to win
going away. But for most of the
game. particularly the first half.
Benefits loss showed Gonzaga
as very average club.
Coach Joe Gallagher of St.
Johns. still employing the 1-3-l
zone defense that has helped the
team to its most recent victories.
including winning the Washing =
ton-Lee Invitational tournament.
had it working to near perfection
yesterday.
Collins Leads Cadets.
Paced by Jim Collins. 6-foot-3
junior. an end on the football
team and first baseman on the
baseball team. st. Johns went
into 14-8 first quarter lead and
made it 1925 at halftime. COL
Inns, who finished as the days
high scorer with II points and
also played a fine defensive
game. continued to hit in the
third quarter as St. Johns ran
up II points as against only
seven for the Lions.
They came out even in the
final period with II points
apiece, but the damage had been
done by the Cadets in the previ-
Gus quarter. 1t was the first time
Carroll had been beaten this
season by a zone defense. 1t
forced the Lions to continually
try for shots from the outside
and that, coupled with poor ball
handling on offense. cost them.
SSsrrnll G.FPtS st, Johns. GF Pts