1960 Boys Elite 8
25-3
(State Rank #4*)
Jimmie Carr, Otis Cowan, Dave Cox, and Dick Nichols graduated from the 1959 Third in State team. The only returning starter for the Streaks was Lawrence "Bumpy" Nixon. It turned out that there were strong players to go with Bumpy. The Streaks started the season ranked #1 in the State poll. Throughout the season, they never dropped below #3 in the poll.
In a quirk, the Streaks were ranked #1 in the next to last week of the 1960 season, won their last two games, and dropped to #4 in the State poll. The reason for dropping was that A.P. had reported Galesburg's last game as a loss to Woodruff not a win. So technically the Streaks finished the regular season #4, but we will put an asterisk by that. The point is that they had a great regular season.
The core of the 1960 team was Bumpy Nixon (6'7" Sr), Lincoln Nixon (6'4" Jr), Bob Coe (6'4", Sr), Ralph Cannon (6'4", Sr), Eddie Havens (6'2", Sr), and Jeff Sandberg (6'3", Sr). There may have been other teams who had more size in the post than the 1960 team, but perhaps this group may have had the most size across the board.
The initial excitement of the season was the opening of the new high school on West Fremont, and the new gym. It was soon figured out that the new gym with a seating capacity of 3600 was not going to meet the demand of fans. People without season tickets needed to get in line at 6:30pm each night to see if there would be any tickets left over after the GHS students and visiting teams got their tickets.
Opening night was against Macomb. Reports are that Coach Thiel chose to "draw straws" for the starting lineup that night. Bumpy Nixon did not start but led the Streaks in scoring. The first four points scored in the new gym were scored by Ralph Cannon. The Streaks went onto to win that game easily.
The Streaks first big test was versus Moline at Wharton FH on December 19. Galesburg was 6-0 and Moline was undefeated also. The game drew what was labeled as a sellout crowd of 6,000 fans. GHS won the game 68-57. So Galesburg headed into their Christmas break (Galesburg did not play in a tourney.) at 7-0, #1 in State, and undefeated.
Bad news arrived for the Streaks shortly after the break. Bumpy Nixon was academically ineligible for a week. Ralph Cannon and Jeff Sandberg both were disciplined for painting "Class of 1960" on the front steps. They sat out 3 games. So the Streaks were down three starters for two games, and down two starters for one more game.
The first short-handed game was at Macomb. They had beaten Macomb easily in the first game, and led 58-49 last in the game. Macomb finished the game on a 12 run, including a shot with 18 seconds left to beat Galesburg 61-60. The Streaks won the other two games in this stretch, beating Sterling and Canton. The loss cost the Streaks the #1 ranking as they slipped to #2.
An outcome of the short-handed games was the emergence of some bench players. Gary Bruington and "Jumpin" Jim Arnold all stepped up during this period and played more minutes the rest of the season. Others who had their role increased were Larry Hendricks and Kenny Kimbrough.
The toughest weekend of the year was January 29-30 when the Streaks played Rock Island and Pekin. Galesburg #2, 12-1, Rock Island #4, 14-1, and Pekin #4, 10-3 were all top teams. Rocky was at Galesburg and Galesburg went to Pekin. The Streaks clobbered Rock Island 80-57, and beat Pekin 67-51. It took another week but the Streaks were back to #1 in State.
Immediately after being ranked #1, the Streaks lost to Canton 70-69. Galesburg had led 64-48 in the fourth but had a rough third quarter. The 3rd quarter included: Cannon fouling out, Sandburg spraining his ankle, L.Nixon being ejected, and two technical fouls. Canton his a shot in the last ten seconds to win.
The Regional was at Galesburg. As expected, Galesburg flew by Avon. In the semi-finals, GHS had an interesting matchup with Galva and Rich Falk. In the opening round of the tourney vs Abingdon, Rich Falk dropped 50 points which became the gym's scoring record. The Streaks held Falk to 35, and won 71-48. Galesburg was matched vs Corpus Christi in an all-Galesburg championship game.
The IHSA instituted a new rule regarding age and eligibility. The rule made an athlete ineligible to play once they turned 19 years old. This rule stayed in effect for only a few years. Many in Galesburg feel this was an attempt to appease Quincy for the transfer by the Nixon brothers. Bumpy was to turn 19 after the Regional tourney but before the Sectional tourney. Thus the "Bumpy Nixon Rule," eliminated Bumpy from playing after the Regional.
Coach Thiel did not play Bumpy in the first two games of the Regional. One would assumed that this was a strategy to help the team get used to playing without Bumpy as they played some easier teams before they got to the tougher teams in the Sectional. Cruising to a 78-45 win vs. Corpus, Bumpy did not play in the first half. Bumpy entered the game late in the third quarter to a loud, long, standing ovation from the appreciative Galesburg fans. He stayed in the game for just over a minute, which was long enough to score 5 points and get 2 rebounds. When he left the floor, he got an even louder and longer, standing ovation.
The Sectional was a Wharton FH. Galesburg beat Sherrard 70-50 in the first game. Galesburg faced Erie in the championship. Erie had beaten Alleman, Rock Island, and East Moline to win the Regional. Then in the first round of the Sectional, they beat Savanna with Dennis Radabaugh.
Galesburg beat Erie 77-58 with Lincoln Nixon 23, Ralph Cannon 17, Bob Coe 15, Fred Havens 12, and Jeff Sandberg 6. The game had been a three point game at half-time before Galesburg pressure opened the game up.
The Super-Sectional was at Rock Island FH where the Streaks faced DeKalb. It was not a great night for the Streaks. Early in the third quarter, GHS trailed 45-30. Again Galesburg's pressure defense led the comeback. Lincoln Nixon hit two free throws with 7 seconds left that sent the game into overtime with the score tied at 67. In OT, Galesburg elected to go into Coach Thiel's famous open court and won the game 77-71. The Streaks were led again by Lincoln Nixon 27, Ralph Cannon 25, and Jeff Sandberg 13. Galesburg shot an incredible 35-41 from the ft line, and outscored DeKalb from the line 35-17.
The Streaks were matched with West Frankfort in the quarterfinals. At this time, the IHSA only allowed ten players on the State roster. The Galesburg roster was L.Nixon, Cannon, Coe, Havens, Sandberg, Bruington, Arnold, Kimbrough, and J.Owens.
While the game remained fairly close, Galesburg trailed most of the game. It was not until in the fourth quarter when "Jumpin" Jim Arnold hit a jumper to make it 54-53 that Galesburg took the lead. GHS was not able to hang onto the lead, both Cannon and Coe fouled out. The Streaks had four in double figures- Nixon 16, Cannon 13, Sundberg 12, Havens 10.
Coach Thiel and many Galesburg fans were very upset about the officiating in this game. Galesburg was whistled for 23 fouls, while West Frankfort was called for only 8 fouls. As a result, Frankfort made 26 ft's and Galesburg only 13 ft's.
The West Frankfort game, coupled with the West Aurora game (1959) and Collinsville game (1957) brought Coach Thiel and the Galesburg fans blood to a boil. In these three critical games, which all ended Galesburg's seasons, there was a huge difference in fouls. In these three games, Galesburg was whistled for 73 fouls and the opponents 25 fouls. This resulted in Galesburg going 31-38 with ft's and their three opponents going 77-117.
Newspaper reports indicate that Coach Thiel did not hold back after the game. Then newspaper indicates that Coach Thiel gave the officials a "verbal lashing," and "did not mince any words when talking to the press."
It was obviously a tough ending to another great season for the Streaks. It was an exciting season with a great team and brand new gym. But the combination of the "Bumpy Nixon Rule" and the foul discrepancy in the West Frankfort game left people wondering what could have been.
Roster
Ed Havens, Jeff Sandberg, Bob Coe, Lincoln Nixon, Bumpy Nixon, Ralph Cannon, Gary Bruington, Jim Arnold, Larry Hendricks, Fred Foster, Ken Kimbrough, Jim Beasley, John Owens, Les Jasperson, Ted Sedgwick. Coach John Thiel
Galesburg Regional
Galesburg 87 Avon 45
Galesburg 71 Galva 49
Galesburg 78 Corpus Christi 45
Moline Sectional
Galesburg 70 Sherrard 50
Galesburg 77 Erie 58
Rock Island Supersectional
Galesburg 77 DeKalb 71 OT
State- Huff Gym
West Frankfort 66 Galesburg 63
No comments:
Post a Comment