March 8

## 1920

**Cortland Standard**- Salt City Quintet

Feature Games To Be Played In Cortland Thursday

The Cortland basketball fans will have the opportunity to see the famed All-Syracuse five in action on Thursday night of this week when the Salt City quintet plays a return game with the local St. Mary’s Sodality team at Parish Hall. The coming of Jim Tormey’s famed team to this city has created more interest and excitement in the sporting circles than any other event of the present season, and the greatest crowd that ever thronged Parish Hall is expected to see the battle. The defeat of the Sodality five at Syracuse last week has not dishearetend the local supporters, and the majority of them firmly believe that Sodality will triumph over their rivals on the home court. The defeat of the locals at Syracuse in no way indicates the brand of ball the Cortland players exhibited, and those fams who accompanied the team are confident that a different story will be told in this city. Although the All-Syracuse team has triumphed over the best teams in the state this season, the quintet has yet to win off its own court. One of the reasons for the success of the Syracusans is the large Armory court at Syracuse, few of the opposing teams being used to a floor space of that size. Using the puzzling five men defense across the center of the floor has puzzled all opponents; but it is a question in the minds of many people whether this system will work out as effectively on a smaller court such as that of the Sodality five. On the local court, the players can shoot from midfloor for the net, while at Syracuse the range was too far distant, and it was simply a question of advancing the ball past this defense in order to have a chance for the baskets. All-Syracuse will send the same team to this city which has triumphed over so many of its rivals this season, thus giving the local people a chance to see a well balanced machine in action. Billy Rafter, who caused the Sodality so much trouble last week, will be found at his forward berth. Rafter is one of the best men on the team, alert and active every moment and a dead shot at the net; while Martin plays a strong floor game. Jim Tormey is this season playing the best game of his career and his fine floor work has been one of the big factors in the Syracusan’s success. Jim is a very hard man to play, possessed of a wicked left hand which whips the ball about with speed and cleverness, and he covers the court in commendable style. Crisp and Casey are two efficient guards who seldom let their forwards get away for many baskets. Wilbur Crisp is regarded as one of the cleverest guards in the game today, while his ability as a foul shooter is well known, and he has few superiors. The Sodality team is pointing itself for the coming contest and the team is hopeful of lowering the sails of the Syracusans. Profiting by their showing last week in the Salt City, the locals are preparing to break the vistors’ stubborn defense, and to show an attack which will carry them past this stonewall. Every member of the team hopes to be in A1 condition for this game and be prepared to give the Syracuse players the fight of the season. McDonald and Peck, who were off form in the recent Syracuse game, are expected to round into shape to play their game of old, and with these two men going well, the fans have little worry from the offensive side of the team. McDonald injured his knee in the last Syracuse game and remained out of the Oswego contest in order to rest up for this battle. Peck, who has been having trouble with boils on his neck, hopes to recover from his attack in time to play his usual speedy and fast game on Thursday night. Dexter, Maher and McEvoy are all in shape for the grueling, while the fine work of Jack Carr of late entitles him to a place in the lineup if one of the regulars is injured or unable to play. The Sodality are very anxious to win this coming game and the quintet will put in several hard practices before then in order to produce the trump card on Thursday night. The big question which is puzzling the manager of the local team at present is how to make sufficient room to accommodate the large crowd which is expecting to witness the contest. Parish Hall will not hold as many people as the management wishes, but every bit of space will be used Thursday night to seat the people. It is probable that the doors will not be opened until a certain hour and it is a safe bet that every seat will be taken long before the main attraction begins. There will be a first class preliminary game on Thursday night when the St. Patrick’s Midgets of Syracuse will play the return game with St. Mary’s Erins. The Erins defeated the Midgets at Syracuse last week by a score of 14 to 12 and the youngsters expect to repeat the trick again this week. This contest at Syracuse last week was a most interesting one to witness and the second match on Thursday night should prove fully as close and thrilling.

## 1947

**Syracuse Herald Journal**- Fort Wayne Five Carriers Battle To Nats At Armory

Syracusans Have Eyes On Third Place; Will Crowd Toledo By victory Tonight

Fort Wayne’s Zollners, one of the tallest quintets in the National League, make their second appearance of the season here tonight to meet the Nats at the Jefferson Street Armory. Syracuse, battling for a playoff position, can move to within one percentage point of third place Toledo by winning tonight and possibly pass Moline which lost to Chicago last night and opposes Oshkosh at Oshkosh tonight. Syracuse can also eliminate Fort Wayne hopes of winning the eastern division pennant. Fort Wayne trails the first place Rochester Royals by four games and each has four games to play including tonight’s tilt, either a Fort Wayne loss or Rochester victory will clinch the pennant for the Royals. Jerry Rizzo, recently appointed player-coach of the Nats hopes for speed to overcome the visitors decided height advantage. He will stick to the same lineup which was used against Anderson Thursday night with Chaney and Sharkey forwards, Rizzo and Nelmark guards and Novak center. Chaney and Novak appear to have reached peak performance in recent games while Rizzo has shaken off the effects of an injured heel which hindered his play in mid-season. Ten of the members of the Fort Wayne team are six feet or more in height with Milo Komenich, a former Wyoming University star, topping the list at six feet seven inches. Leading scorer for Fort Wayne is Chick Reiser, while Bob Tough has been called upon to fill the vacancy left by Bobby McDermott. John Pelkington is a husky who uses his height and weight to advantage off the backboards. Reiser, Tough and Pelkington all played college ball for quints from the metropolitan New York area. Buddy Baker and Tom Kearney have been assigned as officials for the game which will be preceded by a tilt between the Sacred Heart and Prosperity quints.

## 1956

**Oswego Palladium**- Nats And Knicks Both Take Losses

The Philadelphia Warriors have completed their surge from the bottom of the Eastern Division of the National Basketball Assn., locking up their first division title since the 1950-51 season. They did it with authority last night, belting the New York Knickerbockers 108-87 on a doubleheader card at Boston that also saw the Celtics sew up second place in the division with a 111-96 decision over Syracuse. The defeats left the Knicks and Nationals still in a virtual deadlock for the third and final playoff spot in the Eastern with Syracuse holding a half game edge. In the Western Division, Minneapolis defeated Fort Wayne 98-95 delaying the Pistons title clinching. The Lakers remained in a tie with the St. Louis Hawks, who shoved Rochester two full games into the cellar, 96-89.