Massey Basketball: 1968- The Streaks Were Great in ‘68

The 1968 Silver Streaks were one of the most explosive teams in Galesburg HS history. They raced to a 27-3 season.

In the preseason, Coach John Thiel thought this edition of the Streaks was one of the quickest teams that he had coached at Galesburg. And Galesburg returned 5 players who had started at some point the year before- Jim Reinebach, Dave Wood, Roland MacDougald, Fred Mims, and Leon Luckett.

In the preseason, Coach John Thiel described the ‘68 Streaks this way, “This is probably one of the quickest teams we have had, you might say it is the quickest of the quick.”

What may have separated the Streaks from their opponents, and from pervious Galesburg teams was their balance on offense. The ‘68 Streaks are believed to be the only GHS hoop team to have five players average in double figures- Ruben Triplett 17.5ppg, Jim Reinebach 15.8ppg, Dave Wood 14.1ppg, Leon Luckett 12.8ppg, and Fred Mims 11.3ppg.

Galesburg’s explosiveness and balance offensively is shown by having 6 different players score over 20 points in a game at some point in the year- Triplett (6 times), Reinebach (3), Wood (3), Luckett (1), Mims (1), and MacDougald (2). And nine players scored in double figures at some point- Triplett (23), Reinebach (22), Wood (19), Mims (18), Luckett (13), MacDougald (8), Lugene Finley (2), Steve Olson (2), and Zack Thiel (1).

Six different Streaks received all-conference or all-state recognition:

NW Conference- Luckett and Reinebach (1st Team), Mims, Wood, Triplett (2nd Team)

Illini Conference- Luckett, Mims, Wood, Reinebach, and Triplett (1st Team)

All-Tourney at State- Triplett (1st Team), McDougald (2nd Team).

Leon Luckett and Fred Mims each averaged 6.4 assists per game. Jim Reinebach (9.9rpg) and Ruben Triplett (11.6rpg) controlled the boards.

Galesburg averaged 83.7ppg. This is still a school record for Streaks teams. The Streaks scored over 90 points in 12 of their 30 games, while scoring under 60 points only once.

The Streaks started the season with 7 wins in a row, including a 14 point win over rival and perennial state power, Pekin. GHS was ranked #1 in AP and #2 in UPI. Galesburg hosted Crane Tech in the 8th game. Coach Thiel disciplined Ruben Triplett by sitting him out for the weekend’s games. Thiel would say it was “because of a classroom incident Friday morning.”

The Streaks lost their first game to Crane by a 73-63 score. Crane behind start guard, Jerome Freeman would go onto take third in State.

Galesburg then went on another streak, winning 7 in a row. This streak included wins over perennial State powers- Quincy, DuSable, and Marshall.

The Streaks headed to Moline for a Thursday night game broadcasted on TV. GHS was again ranked #1 in the AP at this point. Moline entered the game 13-5. Moline was able to shut down Triplett, who had only 4 points and 4 rebounds. In the meantime, Moline’s force inside, Mike Rasche poured in 32 points. 17 points and 14 rebounds by Reinebach were not enough for the Streaks as they lost 67-65.

Galesburg then won their last 5 regular season games to finish the regular season with a 19-2 record.

The Streaks blitzed thru 3 Regional games by an average score of 105 to 42 with wins over Abingdon, Macomb Western, and Knoxville. GHS pounded Knoxville in the championship game 118 to 46.

GHS did not slow up in the Rock Island Sectional, beating UT and Kewanne Wethersfield by 87-59 and 95-67.

After the Sectional, Coach Thiel was asked to compare the ‘68 team to the other great teams in Galesburg history. Thiel summed up the ‘68 Streaks by saying, “We have as good a shot at it as we’ve ever had, I say that with the possible exception of the 1959 club. We’ve got as good a shot.”

The Streaks faced Quincy in the Super-Sectional at WIU. Galesburg had beaten the Devils earlier in the year by a 67-53 margin. In a nailbiter, the Streaks came out on top in OT 61-60.

Galesburg got a bad first round draw at State, being matched up with #1 and undefeated Effingham. Leaving no stone unturned, Thiel had scouted the Flaming Hearts by flying down to Effingham. Physics teacher, Chauncey Kenney had a pilots license and a plane, and made it an easy trip for Thiel to scout.

Dave Wood claims when Thiel went over the scout report, Thiel said, “They are undefeated, big and slow, and we will run them out of the gym.”

Unlike today’s 4-Class tourneys, the Effingham vs Galesburg game drew over 16,000 fans to the Assembly Hall.

Effingham drew first blood with a free throw only 14 seconds into the game to take their only lead of the game at 1 to 0. The Hearts were only down 10-7 with 3:50 to go in the first, then the Streaks exploded.

GHS was up 38-22 at half and 61-33 after three on their way to a 85-52 clobbering of the Hearts. Indeed Thiel’s prediction was accurate. After the game, the Peoria Journal-Star wrote an article on how Galesburg had made a joke of State Polls.

On Saturday, Galesburg won a close game over DeKalb before losing to Evanston in the Championship Game by 70-51. The Streaks were welcomed back to Galesburg with a parade down Main Street followed by a reception at GHS. The Register-Mail estimated over 10,000 people were at the parade and welcome back.

Was Evanston better than Galesburg? Yes, they were bigger, stronger, and more physical. Could Galesburg have beaten Evanston? Clearly Evanston would always be the favorite and might win the majority of games vs. Galesburg. But yes, Galesburg had the talent and quickness to be able to pull off an upset against Evanston.

The IHSA tourney organization that had teams have to win 3 games in roughly a 24 hour time frame is demanding and tough. A team like Galesburg whose success was predicated on using their quickness to press on defense and fast-break on offense, was destined to struggle in the third game in 24 hours.

In addition, evidence would indicate that Coach Thiel was a master at scouting an opponent and developing a game plan. Playing games with very little prep time and no practice was a disadvantage to Thiel’s ‘68 Silver Streaks. Upsets occur when a team has time to prepare and put together a game plan.