I have had this ticket stub by my mom about 50 years ago. It was from her senior year at Galesburg High School. I have kept it on my desk since that time. I think I have kept it as a reminder of a connection with my mom.
This past week, I was looking at the ticket stub and thought, I should go check out this tourney. And this is how I got started with this blog post- looking at the 1929 Galesburg basketball team.
Can’t Know The Teams Without A Scorecard
There have been numerous stories about how high schools got their nicknames. Interestingly enough, many teams seem to have gotten their nicknames because that is what a sports writer dubbed a particular team. My understanding is that Monmouth became the Zippers because a writer noted the players were very quick and they “zipped” around the floor- and then he called them the “Zippers.”
In the 1929 newspaper, there is no mention of Silver Streaks, Tigers, or Red Devils- the nicknames of GHS thru the years. The Galesburg Daily Register-Mail refers to GHS as “The Volks.” The original “Volks” comes from the GHS coach of the 1928 and 1929 seasons, Eldon Volk. Volk coached GHS just two seasons, winning the District each year and having a 37-11 record. The writer of the newspaper always referred to the teams as the “Volks.”
According to GHS Reflector, the actual nickname in 1929 was the Galesburg Red Devils. It was not until 1935 that Silver Streaks was first used.
The JV team for GHS was labeled as the Ponies in 1929, so my speculation that it was associated with the horse in the Lone Ranger is not accurate. Other nicknames mentioned:
Vix= Victoria
Abby= Abingdon
Olives= Lombard College (“The Olive and Gold”)
Siwash= Knox College
Plow Boys= Canton
Irish= Corpus Christi
Who Was In The Big Ten?
Big Ten Conference- Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue, Indiana, Chicago. The University of Chicago was in the Big Ten but Michigan State was not.
Little 19 Conference included Knox, Lombard, Monmouth, Augustana, Wesleyan, Eastern, Normal (ISU), Bradley, and others.
Little 8 Conference- Abingdon, Elmwood, Aledo, Knoxville, Stronghurst, Alexis, and Biggsville.
Big 9 Conference- Galesburg, Canton, Rock Island, Moline, Geneseo, Monmouth, Kewanee. The other two schools may have been Pekin and East Moline.
Midwest Conference- Carleton, Knox, Lawrence, Monmouth, Cornell, Ripon, Hamline, Beloit, Coe.
GHS Legend Is Knox Star
Chuck Bednar was a star on the Knox Siwash basketball team. He later became the longtime baseball coach at GHS. He is credited with starting Little League in Galesburg. He later became AD at GHS. The baseball and softball complexes at GHS are called the “Bednar Complex.”
Across town, Lombard defeated Bradley for the championship of the Little 19 Conference. It is of note that Lombard College closed after the 1930 school year as a victim of the Depression.
Why Not Use Steele Gym?
In 1929, Steele Gym was only a one story gym and pool complex. Like many schools, when Galesburg built their gym facility basketball was not yet a popular spectator sport. By 1929 most of the GHS games were played at either Lombard College or the Armory off the Square.
When Galesburg hosted a successful Streator team, the game was played at Lombard College. Those old enough can remember the Lombard Junior High gym- the Zephyr Dome. That was Lombard College’s gym- small court, balcony railing right on the court, seating in a balcony that wrapped around the court.
No Shot Clock
I would dare anyone who opposes the shot clock for high schools to have watched a game in the 1920’s and 1930’s. The strategy of many coaches was to get a lead and then to hold the ball.
Canton’s coach evidently was one of the coaches who liked to control the tempo of the game. Canton got a lead on Galesburg and held Galesburg to only 3 points in the second half of a game to win 19-8.
No Regional Tourney
So the tourney that my mother had tickets for was the Galesburg District Tourney at the Armory. This tourney had 14 teams in the District. Oneida and Abingdon received first round byes. The first round games were London Mills vs LaFayette, Knoxville vs Avon, Wataga vs Rio, Victoria vs Gilson, Altona vs Woodhull, and Galesburg vs Williamsfield.
It is interesting to note that today’s ROWVA school had five of the fourteen teams in the District- Rio, Oneida, Wataga, Victoria, and Altona.
The Volks won the District by beating Williamsfield 21-12, Victoria 14-10, and Knoxville 18-5.
4 OT Thriller, No Sectional Championship
There were 7 teams in the Peoria Sectional. The Canton Plowboys were given a bye in the first round.
Galesburg opened up with a thrilling 4 overtime win over Pekin. Coke Mills hit the winning shot in the 4th OT for a 15-13 win. Coke later was a teacher/administrator in the Galesburg schools. His son, Doug Mills was a high school All-American in basketball.
Sweet Sixteen
Since the IHSA had gone to this system of District to Sectional to State, no GHS team had made it to State. Making it to the Sectional Championship was the farthest Galesburg had gone under this system.
At this time, there were only 8 Sectionals in Illinois. So if you won the Sectional, you were in the Elite 8 and went to State. Galesburg making it to Sectional championship game made them a Sweet Sixteen team.
In basketball, making it to the Sweet Sixteen has always been the measure of “State Appearances.” The IHSA went to 16 Sectionals in 1934. Teams like Galesburg’s 1929 team have not been recognized because of the 8 Sectional format. The 1929 team makes one more Galesburg basketball team with a “State Appearnce.”
In 1934 the IHSA moved to having 16 Sectionals. And in 1935 the IHSA created the system of Districts for smaller schools to then qualify for Regionals.
The 1929 Galesburg Volks make it 26 boys basketball teams who are considered State qualifiers in boys basketball.
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