Carlisle's Creek

24 in '54!

Posted by Arthur Landriault and Ed Davis

The following are excerpts from two newspaper articles published in 1954 and submitted to this blog by Arthur Landriault, a player on the '54 Wildcat team from Webster High.  The first article describe events leading up to a game played against the LaPorte Bulldogs in which a victory would give the 'Cats 24 straight wins.  The second article gives us the results of that momentous game.

Included in this post are a couple of photos from that game that also came from Arthur (aka Art) showing action in the old Webster gym.  Faithful followers of Creek basketball will recognize some great players from the past and will enjoy reading some of the exploits of a team that started it all for Coach Carlisle and our beloved Wildcats. 

So sit back and enjoy the ride beginning with the article below which leads up to the LaPorte game that could give the Wildcats those 24 straight wins.

Undefeated Wilcats Play LaPorte and Alvin in Home Games

     The undefeated Webster Wildcats, riding the crest of a 23 game winning streak, begin a four game home stand against district 27-AA opposition Friday.
     Coach George Carlisle's winning combination meets the LaPorte Bulldogs on the Webster floor Friday night, then fact the strong Alvin five in Webster on Tuesday.
     The Wildcats scored two more victories last week, defeating LaMarque in a district game Friday night, and romping over Cedar Bayou 55 to 26 on Tuesday.
     Webster finished strong after a close first half to defeat LaMarque 49 to 38.  The score was tied 10-10 at the quarter and the Wildcats had only a 21 to 19 lead at the half.  A red hot third period gave the Wildcats a comfortable 40-25 lead at the end of that period.
     Billy Coleman led Webster in scoring with 16 points. Boonie Wilkening had 9, Jimmie Goodman 6, Joe Barba 5, Billy Crawford 5, Arthur Landriault 5, and Joddie Witte 3.
     The Webster B team won 40 to 37 with Paul Blanchard as its high scorer.
     Tuesday night the Wildcats romped over a highly regarded Cedar Bayou Team 55-26. They got an 11 to 7 lead in the first period then rolled up to a 31 to 10 score by halftime, and led 40-17 at the end of the third quarter.
     As usual, the Wildcats scoring was well distributed.  Wilkening had 12, Landriault 11, Coleman 10, Goodman and Larry Walker 6 each, and Barba and Frank Rendon 5 each.
     Again the Webster B team won.  This time the score was 43-27.  Lawrence Smith took scoring honors with 12 points.

After the LaPorte game, the following story was published.  Bask in its glory!

24 Straight for Webster Cagers

     Webster's magic number is 24.
     The Wildcats defeated defending 27-AA champion, LaPorte, 49-33 here Friday night.
     Webster holds the the best record of any cage team in this area with 24 straight wins without a defeat.
     Southpaw Bonnie Wilkening had 15 and Arthur Landriault 13 for the Wildcats.
     Webster also won the B game.

Photos from the LaPorte game in1954

   

The Wildcats are in white.  From left to right, the 'Cat players are Arthur Landriault (dribbling the ball), #27 Joddie Witte, #26 Billy Coleman, Boonie Wilkening (under the white backboard on side of court and mostly obscured by Bulldog player), and #22 Joe Barba. Click on this photo to enlarge for better viewing

#28 Arthur Landriault puts up a shot against LaPorte.  At far right is Billy Coleman and Joe Barba is on far side ready to rebound.  Click on this photo to enlarge for better viewing.

What's the Definition of a "Pure Shooter?"

Posted by Dan Jensen

I occasionally wonder how to define a basketball "pure shooter" and no one seems to be able to help me.  Maybe they will mention someone like Reggie Miller as an example but no one seems to have a precise definition.  Do any of you?

Clear Creek Scoring Records

Posted by Buddy Carlisle

                             Clear Creek Basketball
                           Career Individual Scoring
                             (1000 or more points)

Hank Bauerschlag	2381	1970,71,72,73
Bennie Lenox	2357	1958,59,60
Bill Doty	1725	1960,61,62
Richard Huhn	1681	1966,67,68
Paul Trcka	1555	1968,69,70
Erick Kelley	1501	1991,92,93
Joe (Scooter) Lenox	1423	1966,67,68
Lance Pevehouse	1422	2004,05,06
Charles Fordjour	1352	1994,95,96,97
Dwayne (Curly) Lenox	1324	1961,62,63
Buddy Carlisle	1313	1968,69,70
Kyle Roher	1281	1987,88
Jeff Overhouse	1271	1967,68,69
Paul Smith	1232	1975,76,77,78
Paul Timmins	1208	1959,60,61
Ray Kraemer	1205	2003,04,05
Boonie Wilkening	1171	1953,54,55
Norman Lunday	1099	1959,60,61
Jimmie Dale Lenox	1071	1962,63,64
Chris Minton	1026	1980,81
James Davis	1022	1956,57,58
Dave Boring	1017	1969,70,71
Roger Jordan	1014	1997,98,99,00
Hamilton Rucker	1006	1998,99

Clear Creek Rebounding Records

Posted by Buddy Carlisle

                             Clear Creek Basketball
                           Career Individual Rebounds
                             (500 or more rebounds)

Bill Doty	1127	1960,61,62
Richard Huhn	967	1966,67,68
Jeff Overhouse	924	1967,68,69
Charles Fordjour	899	1994,95,96,97
Hank Bauerschlag	875	1970,71,72,73
Tim McCarty	814	1970,71
Dwayne (Curly) Lenox	794	1961,62,63
Bill McGuire	693	1965,66
Craig Pence	693	1971,72
Paul Trcka	672	1969,70
Miguel Myers	593	1991,92,93
Roger Jordan	576	1917,98,99,00
Chris Sharpe	563	1913,94,95
London McWhorter	523	1985,86
Art Cole	511	1973,74
Chris DeFrank	508	1993,94
Chris Minton	505	1980,81

We Play Baseball, Too

Posted by Dan Jensen

     We have a good tradition in basketball but we do in baseball as well.  If some of you would like periodic reports on the team, let us know and we will try to check the Galveston News and maybe some area correspondents can report also.

     Jim Mallory apparently coaches like Bear Bryant did in football.  That's an unusual approach these days but it works.  He has been especially good in developing pitchers.  Steven White and MarkMcCormick both had good careers at Baylor and are now pitching professionally.  Before that, Chris Scarcella (Bobby Galloway's grandson) pitched at Texas A&M and briefly in the pros.  Aaron Brown is at the University of Houston and I believe a former Wildcat is nursing a sore arm at Rice.  A couple of position players signed with colleges a couple of years ago.

     We just rallied to defeat Brazoswood in eight innings to remain undefeated in four District 24-5A games.  We are 14-4 for the season.

Hoosiers of Texas Came from Prairie Lea

Posted by Ed Davis

This article was written by John Hines and was published in a San Antonio newspaper on February 24, 2006.  Prairie Lea High School is the school which Coach George Carlisle attended and where he was a multi-sport star.  He is mentioned in this article.

For the first 21 years of the Texas boys state basketball tournament, from 1920-21 to 1940-41, there was only one class. As would seem normal, schools that are now in either Class 5A or 4A won most of the championships. Bigger schools won 19 of the 21, including Brackenridge in 1926 and San Marcos in 1940. With the format extended to three classes, the Prairie Lea Indians won consecutive Class B state titles (1943-44 and 1944-45).

In 1944-45, Prairie Lea, which is located between San Marcos and Luling, went 29-0, averaged an unusually high (for the era) 56 points a game and beat the Class A state champion. The Indians not only repeated its Class B title but also beat Class A state champion Lanier late in the regular season. They also beat Class 2A Jefferson.

Perhaps the best of those 29 victories occurred Feb. 28, 1945, in the Jefferson gym. The Indians risked their clean record against once-beaten Lanier in a warm-up game before each went to the regional tournament. Lanier, state champion in 1943 and state semifinalist in 1944, led 35-19 with five minutes left.

But Prairie Lea zipped off an 18-2 run, highlighted by three consecutive baskets off backcourt turnovers, to force overtime, all that with three starters having fouled out. A 4-1 margin in the extra period gave Prairie Lea a 41-38 victory. Lanier went the last eight minutes without a field goal. Guard Vilbry White, a 1944 all-tournament selection, led the way with 14 points.

Earlier in that 1944-45 season Prairie Lea beat Jefferson 42-31 in San Antonio. In the regional tournament, Prairie Lea beat Burnet 36-18, old San Antonio Edgewood 67-28 and Hutto 72-29. In the state tournament, the Indians beat Roscoe Highland 42-24, Nocona Valley 31-16 and Mount Enterprise 35-33.   White again made all-tournament, this time with guard George Carlisle, who led the team in the final with 11 points before fouling out.

In 1944, Prairie Lea won state games over Stratford 33-30, Roscoe Highland 34-31 and Blossom 30-26. White had 17 points in the semifinals and 13 in the finals.

The Indians were unusually tall for that era. Center Robert "Junior" Holcomb, who was on both teams, was the team's tallest player at 6-foot-6. The Indians also had three other players taller than 6-0.

Postscript:

Several renowned small schools around the country captured one-class state championships, among them the 1952 Hebron (Ill.) and Cuba (Ky.) teams, then the famous 1954 Milan (Ind.) team, which was the basis behind the 1980s movie "Hoosiers."

The "us vs. them" attitude was best exemplified by Jerry Shnay's Chicago Tribune article reprinted in the book, "Grass Roots Basketball," edited by Nelson Campbell. The coach of one of Hebron's big-city victims remarked he would like to play the small school five times instead of one, to which a Hebron fan replied, "That would be all right with us just as long as we could play them all in one day."

Texas' best-known small school for basketball is Snook, which set a state boys record of 90 victories in a row from 1964-66.

This article was written by John Hines and was published in a San Antonio newspaper on February 24, 2006:

Clear Creek and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame

Posted by Dan Jensen

    Franklin McKinney has sent me a link to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.  It is getting ready to induct another batch of honorees and it was interesting to browse through the basketball list and note a lot of familiar names of heroes past.  I have been to the facility in Waco and there is just so much interesting stuff to see.

     Clear Creek has two or three enshrined there, depending on how you do the counting.  Bill Krueger coached for seven years at Clear Creek and about 20 at Clear Lake.  He probably claims the latter and that is fine with me.

     Bennie Lenox is there and so is George Carlisle, although he strayed to the wrong side of the Creek for a bit too.  But, in my mind, he is Clear Creek and certainly worthy to be claimed but he was honored as a player at Prairie Lea.

     No doubt he was a great player on two straight state champions there but I would think his coaching credentials surpass what he did as a player.  Hard for us to judge since we never saw him play.  But hey!  We have a poster named Peggy who did and I would like for her to give her opinion on this.  Was he better as a coach or as a player?  He is eligible to answer too.

How Many District Championships?

Posted by Dan Jensen

     We all know about the 19 district championships rolled up by the Carlisle/Bauerschlag/Krueger era but how many have we won since then?

     Buddy Carlisle has just wrapped up his second in a row and a look at the record book that was provided for this blog a while back shows five that are designated as district champions.  Then there is such terminology as bi-district champs, regional semi-finalist, regional quarter finalist, etc. but that does not necessarily denote a district championship under the current playoff situation that includes three teams from each district.

     It is clear that we have at least 24 district champions in 53 years but the figure may be higher.  Can someone from the Carlisle family or a local correspondent clear this up for me?

Mourning the Loss of Billy Carlisle

Posted by Ed Davis

The Clear Creek family is saddened by the sudden passing of Billy Carlisle, youngest son of our beloved Peggy and George Carlisle.  Billy was the varsity basketball coach at Deer Park High School, a longtime rival through the years for Clear Creek teams.  He died on Friday night, Februrary 10, following a basketball game at the Deer Park Campus of what has been determined to be a heart attack.  Billy would have been 52 on Saturday.

It was reported by school officials that Billy had felt some chest pains with only a few minutes left in the game but stayed on the bench to complete his coaching duties.  After the game, he continued having the pains in his chest and he was checked out by one of the team trainers.  The trainers call paramedics who transported him to a local hospital.  Tragically, Billy did not survive the ride to the hospital.

Billy was a 1973 graduate of Clear Lake High School and Baylor University.  While a student at Baylor from 1973-77, he played basketball and after leaving Baylor played professional ball for a short while in an Austrian basketball league.  In the 1980's, Billy began his teaching and coaching career in the Deer Park school district. 

In addition to his wife and 3 sons, Billy is survived by his parents, George and Peggy, and his older brother, Buddy, current varsity basketball coach at Clear Creek High School.  He also leaves behind a number of other family members and a multitude of friends.

A public visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday at Deer Park United Methodist Church (100 E. 13th St. in Deer Park). A private burial will be held on Tuesday, and a public memorial service will be held in the fine arts hall at Deer Park beginning at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Our prayers and our loving go out to Billy's family and loved ones in this most difficult of times.

When Did the Jump Shot Become Popular?

Posted by Dan Jensen

     Low scoring basketball games were the norm before the jump shot came along.  Just when did it become widely popular at Webster/Clear Creek?  I remember Kennith Dismukes shooting it some and, of course, Boonie Wilkening did it all the time as a sophomore.  When did everyone on the team jump before he shot?

     I remember Coach talking about his college coach, Milton Jowers, not warming to it initially because he thought it left the shooter in a poor rebounding position.  When did our coach warm to it?  Probably the first time he saw Boonie jump and deliver.

     Ed Davis said he still had a set shot in addition to the jumper and he graduated in 1959.  Do any of you other old guys have anything to contribute on this?