Biggest Game in Galesburg Basketball History
If Galesburg fans were asked to name the “greatest game in Galesburg history,” they probably would have a whole lot of games
to debate. 1956 Rockford W in Super, 1965 Pekin at Galesburg, 1966 Springfield and others, 1969 Proviso E at Galesburg, 1976 Richwoods at Galesburg, and 1998 Whitney Young. And you could even add in girls games with 1995 Quincy in Sectional, 1996 vs Freeport, 1997 vs Taylorville, and 1999 vs Loyola.
My point is that there have been a lot of “great” games in Galesburg basketball history, but I believe the “biggest” game in Galesburg history took place in 1966 when Galesburg HS played Costa HS for the Regional championship. Both teams from the same town, and both teams good enough to make a real splash in the State Tournament.
During the season as both teams just kept winning, the debate of who was the best team kept building. When men went for their usual coffee, that winter they sat across from fans bragging about the other team. When women road to a club meeting with their neighbor, they were trapped in a car with a fan trumpeting how good the other team was. And don’t even begin to imagine the work day next to fans of the other team.
Galesburg fans still had concerns about Pekin, Canton, Quincy, and others. Costa still had concerns about Knoxville, Bushnell, and others. But lurking in everyone’s mind was,”What if Galesburg HS played Costa HS?” Finally it came true with the Regional Championship in Bushnell.
Best Gym in Western Illinois
Adding to the intrigue of this matchup was that the IHSA had picked tiny Bushnell to host the Regionals in 1966. While Bushnell was not the biggest gym in western Illinois, its unique style made it one of the best places to watch basketball.
It was built by digging out the area so that when you walked in, you were at the top of the seating. You looked down on the court that was well below ground level. The bleachers surrounding the court were permanent bleachers in a bowl shape. Players came onto the floor from a tunnel at the south end of the court.
If you have ever been to The Pit at the University of New Mexico, or Carver-Hawkeye Arena at U. Of Iowa, they are arenas built like Bushnell on a larger scale.
Nick Vlahos in 2017 wrote a great description of the Bushnell gym, including its history. In it he found that its seating capacity was 1,622 and with standing room 2,280. The huge standing room area was a concourse at the top of the arena that went all the way around a top the seating.
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I did not go into deep enough research to find out if Bushnell had a Fire Marshall in 1966 or even a fire department for that matter. No matter, the Register-Mail reported that the Bushnell ticket manager said that he sold 3,500 tickets for the game. So the combination of the bowl seating around the floor, and literally thousands of people standing in aisles, the lockeroom tunnel, and up the concourse- it was an atmosphere that helped created the “biggest game in Galesburg basketball history.”
The New Kid in Galesburg
In the summer before the 1966 season, a young man from Indiana moved to Galesburg to live with his uncle. Larry Woods was a 6’4” basketball player, who intended to play for Galesburg HS.
The story is told that before school started for the year, Larry was at an open gym at GHS. A student after watching and being impressed with Woods went to the front office of GHS to register. He ran into Chuck Bednar, the Athletic Director. He raved about the new player down playing in the gym.
Bednar went down, so how good Woods was, and found out he was living with his uncle. It is claimed that the AD immediately went back and called Coach Thiel to say,”After what we went thru with the IHSA with Bumpy, we are not doing that again, this young man will not play for us.”
Larry Woods stayed in Galesburg and stayed with his uncle, and enrolled at Costa HS. Woods immediately took a good Costa team and made them a great team.
Woods could play inside and outside, and he could handle the ball and shoot. After graduating from Costa, he attended Southeastern Iowa Community College, which at that time was famous for basketball. After graduating from junior college, he moved onto U. Of West Virginia, where he led them in scoring and rebounding. After finishing at W. Virginia, he was drafted by the Buffalo Braves in the NBA expansion draft.
Jimmy Carr saw Larry Woods several times because he went with Coach Thiel to scout Costa during the season. Jimmy says of Woods,”He was smooth on the court and he could do so many things- shooting and handling the ball. His game reminds a lot of how Joey Range played.”
City Championship
In the last regular season State Poll, undfeated Benton was #1, Galesburg at 19-2 was #6, and Costa at 22-1 received votes but was unranked.
Galesburg 107 Macomb 59- In first round raced to a 30-11 first quarter lead. They won going away with Barry Swanson (25), Dale Kelley (22), and Bob Jasperson (15 pts/12 rebounds. Roland McDougald dished out 9 assists.
Costa 80 Knoxville 61- Costa broke open a tight game with a 25-14 second quarter. Larry Woods (22), John Glasnovich (15), Jim Kemmer (16), and Dean Noonan (10).
Galesburg 106 Monmouth 66- A 65 point first half effectively ended this game. Galesburg was averaging 106.5 points after two games. Dale Kelly (35 points/16 rebounds), Roland McDougald 18, Barry Swanson 12 points. The anxious Galesburg fans began a chant in the 4th quarter, "We want Costa!"
Costa 58 Bushnell 48- Costa played the game without John Glasnovich, who was held out with an injury. Although Glasnovich did not start, he entered ever game after a couple minutes, and seldom came out. He and Kemmer were a dynamic pair defensively for Costa. Costa was down ten early in the third quarter before racing back for win. Jim Kemmer (17), Dean Noonan (16), and Larry Woods (15). Costa fans aware of the Galesburg chant the night before, began their own chant when it was evident they were going to win- "We want Galesburg!"
Galesburg 78 Costa 66- Costa got the tip and took the lead. For most of the first quarter Costa led by 2-4 points. Dale Kelley hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Galesburg a 20-18 first quarter lead. In the second quarter Galesburg pushed the lead to make it a 43-35 half-time lead. At the end of the second quarter Jim Kemmer picked up his fourth foul. Kemmer was important to Costa ability to handle Galesburg pressure.
In the third quarter, Galesburg opened a 55-37 lead in the first three minutes of the
period. By the 6:00 minute mark, Costa cut the lead back to 61-54. Costa had several chances to cut the lead to 5 but was not able to do this. Galesburg ballooned the lead back up to a 12 point win.
For Galesburg, McDougald (26), Swanson (21), and Kelley (20). For Costa, Woods (26 points, 14 rebounds), Kemmer (16), and Oliver Turner (13). Costa shot a miserable 8-20 from the line, including Woods going 0-5.
The Register-Mail noted that Woods was, "hittting mostly from the 20-25 foot range." The RM writer, J.D. Hurt noted that John Glasnovich "held" Dale Kelley 7 points under his average.
On this night, Dale Kelley became GHS's all-time leading scorer, passing Mike Davis.
The Galesburg Register-Mail articled started,"There is no question about it now. Galesburg High School's Silver Streaks are No. 1 in the Bushnell-Prairie City Regional Tournament and in the city of Galesburg."
He Lived It
Barry Swanson was a player in the game. Barry went onto to be GHS basketball coach, a school administrator, a Knox professor, and an author. Barry shared excerpts from his upcoming book on the 1966 season. Here are parts of his description of the game at Bushnell:
The prelude to an anticipated Quincy re-match was another classic. We played the Regional Tournament at the Bushnell-Prairie-City gym—a great venue. Although much smaller than most of the gyms where we played, it was set up like a bowl. They brought in folding chairs to accommodate the overflow crowd. The place was packed with 3, 500 screaming fans. The entire community of Bushnell-Prairie City only had a population of 3,200. The reason for the anticipated massive crowd? We were playing the other high school in Galesburg, Costa Catholic.
A portion of our fan base for that game was an assortment of senior boys dressed in yellow oxford button-down shirts who continued to cheer us on "bodaciously" throughout the entire tournament. There is a great photograph in the 1966 yearbook of them sitting in the folding chairs on the front row during the regional final awaiting tip-off and intent on raising a ruckus, and that they did!
Larry Woods was Costa's leading scorer. He had moved to Galesburg and played with us in the summer, but Coach Thiel told him our team was set. I think Coach didn't want another Bumpy Nixon investigation. Larry was a great player who went on to play at West Virginia and was drafted in the NBA by the Buffalo Braves. Dale and I re-connected with Larry later in our lives and remain friends with him to this day.
Costa had only lost one game. They did play small schools in the area, but in 1966 there was only one class in the State Tournament. Coach Bob told us about his senior year when Corpus Christi High School—now Costa High School—had beaten Galesburg. It was one of the lowest points of his basketball career.
It was a tight game with a lot of pressure. The crowd was insane, the noise deafening. We led 20-18 at the end of the first quarter and 43-35 at half. We pressed them in the third quarter to extend the lead to 59-48. It was a nip and tuck game that came down to the 4th quarter. Dale fouled out in the fourth quarter. Bob J. and I both had 4 fouls.
Mac led us with 24 points and 7 assists. I had 22 with 8 rebounds. Dale had 20 points 9 rebounds. Terry led us in rebounding with 12. Bob J. had 8. We won 78-66 finally pulling away in the fourth quarter. We all breathed a big sigh of relief. Costa was for real. They were a great team with an excellent coach, Rex Davis. Had Jim Kemmer not gotten in foul trouble, the outcome might have been closer. Woods had 24 points and Kemmer 16. John Glasnovich was given credit by his coach for holding Dale to 20. Winning that close game under pressure against Costa prepared us for the upcoming games we would face during the rest of the tournament.
More on Bushnell’s Gym
In 2017, Nick Vlahos of the Peoria Journal-Star wrote a wonderful series on small school gyms in western Illinois. Here is his story on Bushnell’s gym--
cool history
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