Massey Basketball: 1969 Streaks- Elite 8

Saturday, July 4, 2020

1969 Streaks- Elite 8

Galesburg finished 2nd in State in 1968, and had high expectations going into the 1969 season.

Galesburg finished the regular season with a 20-2 record. The Streaks lost to Pekin 54-52 and Quincy 68-66.

The Streaks defeated Proviso East and Jim Brewer at Galesburg during the regular season 44-40. This was the Pirates only loss of the season. Proviso East finished the regular season ranked #1 and Galesburg finished the regular season ranked #2.

GHS would later in the Sectional defeat Quincy 77-64 in the Supersectional. The Streaks shot a red hot 64%, going 28-44 from the field. GHS guards, Zack Thiel and Mike Doyle were even hotter, shooting a combined 16-24 for 67%. Galesburg was led by Doyle (27), Reinebach (20), Thiel (14), and Triplett (10).

The Streaks lost to Champaign Central and Clyde Turner in the Elite 8 game at Champaign 62-57 when Turner scored 27 points. In this Elite 8 game, Ruben Triplett (24) and Jim Reinebach (20) accounted for 44 of Galesburg’s 57 points. The post duo poured in 20 of 33 shots on the night, while the rest of the Streaks shot a frigid 5 for 27 from the field.

The Streaks finished the season at 28-3. On the season, GHS won by nearly 25 points per game while averaging 77.6 points per game. Proviso East went onto win the Illinois State Championship with the only blemish on their record was the loss to Galesburg.

Seniors Triplett (Southern Methodist) and Reinebach (Iowa State) went onto play D1 basketball. Juniors Mike Doyle (Tulane) and Zack Thiel (Southern Methodist) went onto play D1 basketball after graduating in 1970.