Massey Basketball: 1913 Galesburg: State Champs and Best Player in the State

Not the Silver Streaks

The 1913 Galesburg basketball team was not the Silver Streaks. The nickname of the Silver Streaks was not coined until 1935. By 1930, the boys basketball teams were the Red Devils, while the other GHS sports teams were the Tigers. There is no evidence that in 1913 GHS teams had any nicknames.

Galesburg Athletic Director with 1913 State Championship Trophy.

Key Players Return

The 1913 GHS team returned the top three scorers from the 1912 team that had finished 2nd in State. Herbert Pihl as a junior was leading scorer in 1912 and 2nd team All-Tourney at State. Lawrence Ingersoll had come off the bench as a sophomore to be the second leading scorer and was 2nd team All-Tourney at State. Eric Erickson was the third leading scorer and had been first team All-Tourney at State.

Perhaps one of the most important returning players was Fred Phillips. He played center, and had the ability to get most jump ball tips. And with a jump ball after every made basket, Phillips was able to get Galesburg extra possessions.

State tourney site.

Captain- A Coach on the Floor

Today, we often hear announcers or coaches say that a certain player is like having a “coach on the floor.” In this era, the team captain had to become a coach on the floor. Rules prohibited the coach from coaching during games.

During time outs, the manager would take water and towels out to the players, and often a message from the coach. It was the captain that usually did the coaching. For the 1913 Galesburg team, Herbert Pihl was selected as the captain.

Team with State Trophy- Herbert Pihl to the right with trophy.

First and Last Loss

Galesburg opened the season with high hopes but they lost their first game of the year to perennial power Peoria Manual 37-20. Galesburg would go on to win their next 17 straight games.

Not Just Good, Dominant

During their regular season, Galesburg was absolutely dominant. Until the 1940’s most teams scored only 20 or 30 points. It was more common for a team to score in the teens than it was to reach the 40’s.

Low scores can be attributed to many things, but the two biggest things were the basketballs and rules on timing. Basketball were bigger and without bladders. This made it hard to fit the larger ball into basket and without bladders, the ball was not predictable in hits bounces.

In 1913 Galesburg was high scoring. As I have gone back thru old newspapers, I have not found any team that scored the way the ‘13 Galesburg team scored. Here are some of their dominant scores (all wins):

Moline 46-9

Monmouth 107-31

Moline 51-21

Monmouth 73-18

Sterling 93-20

Moline 50-28

The Monmouth game with 107 points had been expected to be a good game. Newspaper reports described a huge crowd going to the Monmouth gym in anticipation of a great game. The 107 points by Galesburg would not be equalled by any GHS basketball teams until 1968 when the Silver Streaks broke that record.

Galesburg avenged the loss to Manual by beating them in the last game of the regular season 32-22.

Northwest District Champs

The Northwest District Tourney was held at Moline. Galesburg won the championship by beating Sterling and then Moline twice.

The six District Champions advancing to State were:

Northwest- Galesburg

West- Abingdon

South- Mt. Vernon

North- New Trier

Central- Manual

East- Hillsboro

Players in the welcome home parade.

State Tourney at Peoria

Galesburg played Mt.Vernon in the opening round. Mt.Vernon was considered by most to be the top team entering the tourney. Galesburg’s performance was so dominant that Coach Hayes sat Galesburg’s best player, Herbert Pihl for the last 7 minutes of the game. Galesburg hung on for a 39-33 win.

In the semi-finals, Galesburg defeated New Trier 37-30. With the tourney being held in Peoria and with Manual in the tourney, the crowd was dominated by Peoria fans. The Peoria fans chose to root heavily for New Trier in this semi game, hoping not to have to play Galesburg again.

The championship between Galesburg and Peoria Manual was a barn burner with Galesburg hitting a basket with a minute to go to take a one point lead. Neither team scored in the last minute so Galesburg hung onto win the State Championship 37-36.

Galesburg newspaper.

The Coach

T.W. Callihan was Galesburg’s coach for the 1911 and 1912 seasons, and then again in 1914, 1915, and 1916. Whatever the reason, took of one season- 1913.

E.W. Hayes coached only one season of basketball- 1913. According to yearbook accounts, Hayes had never played basketball or coached basketball before. Not bad, coach one year and win the State Championship!

The 1913 record of 17-1 leaves Hayes with a “career” winning record of .944 wins. This is best of any coach in Galesburg history, with John Thiel second with .816 over an 18 year career.

Each player’s name is engraved on the trophy.

The Players

Eric Erickson, Herbert Pihl, Fred Phillips, Bryon Scott, and Belford VanPelt were the starters. Lawrence Ingersoll and and Greer were substituted. During the State Tourney, Galesburg scoring averages were:

Herbert Pihl 18.3ppg

Belford VanPelt 6.0ppg

Eric Erickson 5.7ppg

Lawrence Ingersoll 4.7ppg

Bryon Scott 6.0ppg

Fred Phillips 0.0ppg

Although Phillips did not score, he was crucial to Galesburg’s success. He was team center and had the ability because of height and jumping to get center tips. At this time, there was a center jump after every made basket. As a result, Phillips was able to gain Galesburg many extra possessions. Unfortunately, Phillips was diagnosed with pneumonia after the first game of the State Tourney and did not play in the last two games.

Lawrence Ingersoll slid into the State lineup at that point. Ingersoll had the distinction of playing in the Illinois State Tourney in 1912, 1913, and 1914.

The Honors

Both the referees and the Peoria Star each chose All-Tourney teams. Galesburg players came home with honors.

Bryon Scott- 2nd Refs, 2nd Peoria Star

Belford VanPelt- 2nd Refs, 1st Peoria Star

Eric Erickson- 1st Refs, 1st Peoria Star (2nd year as first team)

Herbert Pihl- 1st Refs, 1st Peoria Star

How Great was Pihl?

When Galesburg fans debate about who is the all-time best Silver Streak, it seems the debate centers around Bumpy Nixon, Dale Kelley, and Joey Range. Obviously basketball was different in 1913 than later in 1959, 1966, and 1998 when those other legends played.

With no film available, it is tough to judge a player from 1913. It is fair to evaluate players from different eras about how they dominated the competition they played against.

In an era when scores were low, Herbert Pihl’s 18.3ppg is extraordinary. Consider he was scoring 50% of Galesburg’s points in games. With modern teams scoring anywhere from 60-80ppg, Pihl’s performance would leave him scoring 30-40ppg in today’s basketball.

The Galesburg Reflector stated, “Pihl is without a doubt the best basketball player in high school class in the state.”

When you are the best player on the State Championship team and considered the best player in Illinois, your name should be mentioned in the list of all-time greats in GHS history.