During the Christmas holidays I did an article on Chris Collins and Wayne basketball which I have to assume was a failure as not more than five people said they read it, but I got a nice letter from a friend in Connecticut (no, not my son, either) and a friend from Williamson who does not even take the paper said he read it and enjoyed it, but wished I would do one for the “old timers” sometime. When you mention old timers and basketball it brings up just one name and that, of course is big Bob “Uppy” McGowan. At first I told my friend I wouldn’t do it, because first, I didn’t have that much information, and, second, today’s athletes would laugh at the scores from our days. But I feel I have about as much information and say about as many games as anyone around, so there aren’t too many that can dispute my facts and you young kids needn’t read any further as it won’t be interesting to you.
If you wonder why the scores were so much lower in our days, try playing a game with our rules. I graduated in 1933 and Bob played in ’35, ’36, ’37 and ’38, so they didn’t differ much. There was a jump ball after each basket at center court with no time called. If you were ahead you took your time getting back for the jump. There were no jump shots and the only one handed shots were layups. Most outside shots were taken within 15 feet of the basket with both feet on the floor. Seldom was a shot taken back of the foul line. When I was in school I lived where I do now, walked back and forth to school (seven miles), then walked back after supper to practice basketball against the town team. I got a chance to play a little one night, took two shots inside the foul line and made them both, and after practice the coach told me I’d never be a basketball player shooting from way back there. There were no time outs for out of bounds play unless the ball was thrown away. Of course, we had no scoreboards, only numbers to put up, and the only way we could tell when the game was nearly over was when we saw Bert Clevenger setting ready to shoot off the gun. Try these rules some time and see how high your scores will be. It’s much easier to guard a person when he doesn’t leave the floor or shoot one-handed.
Bob McGowan’s parents moved to Ontario from Sea Breeze in 1934, when Bob was in the eighth grade. It was Coach Frank Baker’s first year at Ontario and he spotted big Bob in an inter-class tournament and could see he had a “diamond in the rough.” Bob was six feet, six inches tall and weighed about 210 pounds. Coach Baker, for some unknown reason, took him up to the varsity (there were no J.V’s) where the coach spent many patient hours drilling the awkward giant as “Uppy” knew little about basketball He was used very little but it used up a year of eligibility and “Big Bob” could not play in his senior year. At 15 years of age as a freshman he still lacked coordination at first, but gradually became a polished player under the coaches’ supervision. He scored 78 points in six league games and was second only to Nivens of Newark in the county all-star voting.
When the 1936-37 season began, Coach Baker had to build practically a whole new team as his only returning starters were sophomore Bob McGowan and Don Merhoff a Junior. Lost by graduation were big “Twisty” Lammes, Joe Engleson, “Chuck” McCarty and Howie Mattison. After a few practices he came up with John Agnello Jack Waterman and Dick Davis as his other starters. None of the three measured much more than five feet, six inches, but they developed mto one of the smoothest passing and well-balanced teams ever seen in the sectionals. The rest of the team was made up of Gerard Cantin, Gordon Hulbert, Leo Kelly, Walt Link, Brayton Gardner and Jim Beneway. They started the season off by beating Walworth 38-15, Clifton Springs 8 to 7 and Marion 31 to 3. They then took on Rochester Business Institute and with “Uppy” on the bench with a sprained ankle lust their only game of the season by a score of 20-10. They went on from there to defeat their next 16 regular season opponents, defeating Sodus 19-13 and 26-13, Clifton Springs 28-19, Newark 25-18 and 33-26, Williamson 41-25 and 22-20, Marion 42-21, Shortsville 40-15, Lyons 38-25 and 44-24, Clyde 40-12 and 41-19, Palmyra 35-16 and 29-23 and Phelps 29-17. In the sectional quarter finals they demolished Pittsford 42-21 with the second string playing most of the last half. At the University of Rochester, where the semi-finals and finals were held then, Ontario drubbed Nunda 35 to 16 with “Uppy” pumping in 18 points, and then smothered a good Cuba team 38 to 10 in the finals to win the first Section V title for Ontario. The team won 22 of 23 games, outscoring their opponents 744 to 398. “Uppy” had 262 points, Don Merhoff 162, Dick Davis 127, Jack Waterman 105, and John Agnello 64 for a well-balanced first five. Ontario was a B team but played in the A league with Lyons, Newark, Sodus, Palmyra and Clyde. They won both the County A and B championship. Big Bob was chosen center on the Class B all-star team and this is as a sophomore. Here is what was said about him: “Outstanding from every angle was Big Bob McGowan, Ontario’s gigantic center, who literally stood head and shoulders above everything the Sectionals had to offer. The Ontario player broke up innumerable plays and was about as difficult to shackle as a roving derrick.”
| At that time there were only three league classifications, A, B and C. Ontario, of cource, was B. Today we have six, but there are probably no more schools than there were then. At that time, 1937, Ontario had about 80 to 90 students in grades 10, 11 and 12. Wayne Central has about 665, yet I will bet these ’37 and ’38 teams could hold their own against any AA team with the same training.After the 1937 season Coach Baker wanted a little more money and, when the board refused, he went to coached and was athletic director, outstanding in both, until he died of cancer about two years ago. Coach Les Akley took over for the 1937-38 season and he faced the same situation Baker had the year before. The only returning regulars were McGowan and Merhoff. Only two other boys, Gerard Cantin and Gordie Hulbert, had seen any varsity action at all, and they had scored just eight points between in the preceeding year. Juniors Cantin and Warren Davis, Dick’s younger brother, came on and did a fme job at the guards, and a young sophomore by the name of Joe Gruttadauria (cut to Joe Grutt for obvious reasons) proved to be a fine ballplayer for the next two years, when tragedy struck and he drowned in the orebeds before his senior year. Also Uppy’s “little” brother, Norm, a six feet, five inch sophomore, gave them more height and Gordie Hulbert, a post graduate, became a good sixth man. Allen Albright, who saw quite a bit of action, Frank Updaw and Ray Link completed the 10-man roster. The Ontario team easily defeated their first two opponents, Walworth 34-13 and Clifton Springs 32-14, but were then beaten by Newark by one basket, 25-23, and by Lyons 31 to 21 to even their record to two and two. In the next 14 regular season games they lost just one, that to Franklin High of Rochester by two points, 33 to 31. Franklin went on to win the Class A championship in the seetionals and Ontario won the B title. Ontario won all their B league games to take the county B league title for the eighth straight year and then beat Newark in the final game of the season, 45 to 28, in what was supposed to have been a close battle to annex the county championship once more. Newark had handed Ontario that early 25-23 loss but the local lads took the second game 33 to 32 to force the playoffs. During the regular season Ontario had outscored their opponents 616 to 394. Bob McGowan had 253, Don Merhoff 148, Joe Grutt 62, Warren Davis 50, Gerard Cantin 25 and Gordon Hulbert 36. Even though “Uppy” was double and triple teamed almost every game, he still managed to average 15 points per game, which would be more than double that number today. In the quarter final game at Franklin, and I quote, ‘Pen-field High, the Monroe County titleholders, hardly gave the Ontario quint a game. Although McGowan and Merhoff were way off form in the opening half, they came back to steam roll the Monroe titlists. McGowan tossed in 24 points as Ontario won 46-16.” In the Sectional games it was a little tougher. They played Avon in the semifinals and had only a three point lead at halftime, 12 to 9, as big “Uppy” had 11 of the 12 points. The score was tied three times in the half. They maintained that three point lead to the end of the game as Uppy finished with five field goals and six free throws for 16 points as his team won ?7 24. Joe Grutt had six and Merhoff and Hulbert three each. In the finals Ontario played the same team they had thrashed thepreviousyear before the largest crowd in the history of the Sectionals. The stands were packed long before the teams took the court and hundred of fans were turned away, many of them Corning fans who had come to see their team play Franklin in the second game. I was one of the lucky ones who got there early and I’ll never forget the excitement of that game. The next day the paper said, and I quote, “Ontario, Wayne County champions, had to go an overtime period to defeat a fighting Cuba team that kept the largest crowd in the history of the Sectionals in a continuous uproar. The final score was 26 to 19. The game was bitterly fought from the outset with neither team ever holding a commanding lead. The score was deadlocked at 10-10 at halftime and 17-all at the end of the game.” | “Big Bob McGowan, lanky Ontario Center who had been unable to break loose during the game, emerged the Ontario hero in the overtime period. He quickly broke away for two field goals, then added a foul to give the Wayne champs a five point lead. Merhoff added another goal and Norm McGowan contributed two free throws.” Uppy was again the unanimous choice for the center position on the all star team with Don Merhoff and Warren Davis earning second team berths. The team finished the year with 19 wins and three losses, and added to the ’36-’37 record of 22 and 1 game Ontario, starring “Big Bob”, 41 victories out of 45 games and two Sectional titles in those two years. With. out “Uppy”, Ontario or the present Wayne Central School District would never have had a basketball sectional title as they have never won one since. Hopefully, in the 1977-78 season, we will break that 40 year jinx, but, boys, it’s a big order. Big Bob was not only a great basketball player. ha was an excellent baseball pitcher and is one of the few local boys who ever had a tryout for professional ball. His height gave him excellent speed and he had good control. With the slugging Don Merhoff as his catcher, they won two straight county championships. After his sophomore year he was offered a professional contract to pitch for Sydney Mines in Nova Scotia, but turned it down. As in basketball, he must have played baseball in the eighth grade as he was ineligible to play in his senior year. It was a shame an athlete as good as this had to lose the best year of his life. I called several teammates but no one seems to know why. I can’t see a coach using a boy in the eighth grade unless there was a good reason, but there doesn’t seem to be one. In his senior year “Uppy” was signed by the Cardinals and played part of a season with a team in Virginia. He didn’t get along too well with his manager, as I remember it, and quit in the middle of the summer and came home. He soon started playing with the Walworth town team of the old Powers and Vail league and I can never forget his first game. We were playing East Rochester and I got two hits and drove in two runs and we were leading 2-0 with two out and two strikes on the batter in the last of the fourth inning when a heavy rain storm came and washed out the whole game. We lacked one pitch for a legal game.
Playing with Big Bob in 1937 were Don Merhoff, catching; Dick Davis, first base; Jack Waterman, second; John Agnello, short stop; Walt Link, third; Leo Kelly, Gage Albright and Ray Link in the outfield. Also Ken Eaton, who mIde the starting lineup before the year was over, Allen Albright, who pitched and played outfield, Gerard Can-tin, Elmer Schimmerhorn, Clark Green, Paul Carr, Norm McGowan and Jack Eaton, While all scores are not available, they won their first three games, beating Clifton Springs 14 to 4, Williamson 2-0 and Newark 13-0. Frank Baker was coach. In 1938, playing with Bob and Don were Clark Green, first; Ken Eaton, second; Gerard Cantin, short stop Warren Davis, third; and Allen Albright, Gage Al. bright and Joe Grutt in the outfield. Also on the team were Ray Link, Norm McGowan, Bob Ingraham, Elmer Schimmerhorn, Don Crane, Harry VanUpdorf, Herbie Gardner, Oakie Porrary and Joe DiRose, Les Ackley was coach.
Bobby and Ken, this is for you. Hope you enjoy it. |