1926 FHS basketball


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History of Freeland, Pa.
Basketball


What's on this page:

  • Photos and postcards of Freeland area basketball teams
  • Team mascots
On related pages:
As always, if you can identify anyone in these photos not already identified below, will you please let me know and I'll post the information. Also, additional photos or information can be shared here. Thank you, and enjoy.



FREELAND AREA BASKETBALL TEAMS


1900s



Crescents Basketball 1903 Written on this issue of the Penny Saver: "Freeland 'Crescents' 1903?" So apparently there were both a Crescents football team and a Crescents basketball team. From the Penny Saver 3(1): February 1965, front page: "The Freeland Crescents as they were called, played in an independent league, playing most of the active teams in the Anthracite region." Front row: George Jaquot, William Davis -- 2nd row: Jerry Sloan, Peter O'Donnel, Connie Welsh, John Novak -- 3rd row: George "Butch" Hartman, Former Burgess of Freeland, Walter Davis, Louis Stolts, Former Freeland Chief of Police. Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.






1910s




Freeland Basketball 1911 Freeland Basketball 1911 Postcard postmarked 1911, and the message mentions Brogan and the Tri-County League. Player seated second from left is labeled "Kugler" at his feet. Photo from John Zubach.




Freeland Pro Basketball 1913-1914 Freeland Pro Basketball 1913-1914 Freeland Pros basketball team 1913-1914. Back row: Dr. Maley, Alfie Biscowsi, Butch Hudock, Gene Boyle, John McGarey -- front row: Butch Schaub, Tom Baskin, Effie Welsh, Jim Brogan, seated John Welsh. Photo from John Zubach. The Freeland Historical Society had this photocopy of the front page of the Freeland Penny Saver 2(1): March, 1964 where it was published, with this caption. "Presented here for basketball fans is Freeland Professional basket ball team playing in the Penn State League. According to information, Freeland when playing in a play-off with Wilkes Barre imported Billy Kummer. Kummer, at that time, was considered one of the best players in the world. For this play off a special train ran from Freeland to Wilkes Barre … Freeland Lost!" Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.

[That statement about importing Billy Kummer runs counter to the story of the "All Home Five," so more research needs to be done to see if Kummer was really imported into the Freeland team. - CT].

See also the Ed Merrick's page on the Penn State League.


Freeland Independents 1914-1915 Freeland Independents 1914-1915 Freeland Independents basketball team 1914-1915. Photos from John Zubach.





Girls Basketball 1915 YMCA Girls Basketball team 1915. Written on the ball: "1915 L.C." - anyone know what that means? Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.





FHS 1916-1917 basketball team This photo of the 1916-1917 Freeland High basketball team comes to us courtesy of Tom Lavinka. The larger image of the photo has been repaired digitally by Jay Cawley.




Jr. Independents ca. 1917 Jr. Independents ca. 1917 George Thomas of the Jr. Independents ca. 1917 Junior Independents basketball team, ca. 1917. Written on the back: L-R Jonus Steward, _____, __ Hoch, John Sullivan, Geo Thomas; T. E. Lewis (in front, I think). Also, here is George Thomas, Junior Independents basketball team, ca. 1917. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS 1917-1918 basketball team This photo of the 1917-1918 Freeland High basketball team also comes to us courtesy of Tom Lavinka.





FHS Basketball 1917-1918 FHS Basketball 1917-1918 FHS varsity basketball team, 1917-1918. Front row, L-R: Bill Nagel, Sullivan, P. Shoemaker, B. Flad -- back row, L-R: _____, Bill Collins, Dick Lentz, John Oberrender, Dr. Robert Seitzinger, coach. Information written by Tom Landers. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.




FHS Girls Basketball 1919-1920 FHS girls basketball team, 1919-1920. What a great photo! That's St. John's Reformed Church in the background (before the brick church was built), and they're seated on the grounds of DCM. Great navy-style middy shirts. Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.




1920s




FHS Girls Basketball 1921-1922 FHS girls basketball team, 1921-1922. Photo from John Zubach.






FHS Basketball 1921-1922 Freeland High School Boys Basketball Team 1921-1922. From the PennySaver 7(2), April 1969, p. 8. "Again you can have the fun of naming the face. At forward was Nocchi, and Hoch, center A. Dreisbach, and the guards were Sweeney and MdGroarty. Nocchi was high man on the foul line with 176 points shooting scores like 23 out of 32 tries." Photo from John Zubach.



MMI Basketball 1922-1923 MMI Basketball 1922-1923 MMI basketball team, 1922-1923, won 18 out of 20 games. This is great, someone wrote the names on the back, AND wrote the first initial of each player's last name on their shirt, so we can see who's who! C. Schaube (forward), A. Nocchi (guard), D.J. Toomey (forward), W. Marshman (sub), E. W. Dogget (guard), E. Schaube (center), S. Miller (sub). Photos courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.



FHS Girls Basketball 1924-1925 FHS girls basketball team, 1924-1925. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.






Freeland area Basketball 1924-1925 Freeland area Basketball 1924-1925 Freeland "P" basketball team, 1924-1925. Written on the basketball: “P 24-25,” and their shirts have a P with a circle around it. Written on reverse side: “Mrs. Alfred Urenovich, 712 Ingham St.” - “Hauseknecht, Fox, Billman, Fisher, Williams” - also, “Florence Welsh” in pencil (the other writing is in black crayon). Photos from John Zubach.



FHS Basketball 1926 FHS basketball team, 1926. Sorry this photo isn't clearer. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.





FHS 1926 championship
                basketball team This photo of the 1926 Freeland High basketball team comes from another longtime site contributor Eddie Barna. The photo at top left shows the basketball they used when they won this championship game. Eddie wrote: "The only two I can identify are in the back row; second from the left is my uncle Andy Brezina and the guy in the center back is Howard Hontz, the teacher."




MMI Basketball 1926-1927 MMI basketball team, 1926-1927. Photo courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.






FHS Girls Basketball 1927 FHS girls basketball team, 1926-1927 - the ball says Champions! First row, L-R: Louise Ferdinand, Mary Della Croce, Ann Corazza -- 2nd row, Jennie Lentz, Hazel Yannes, Helen Brennan -- 3rd row: Earl Unger (coach), Ruth Lesser, Helen Gaffney, Anna Nemeth, Rose Capece, Elnora Bell, Ruth Kramer (manager). Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.



MMI Basketball 1927-1928 MMI basketball team, 1927-1928; photo by Steward's. L-R, seated on the floor, L-R: Harry Chamberlain, Carl Richards -- seated on chairs: Joe Rogan, Bill Bray, Bill Davis (captain), Emil Petchel, Warren Welch -- standing: Daniel S. J. Buckley (assistant manager), David Jones, Al Sulima, Vic Oleyar (manager), Charles Kunze, Pete Kobrick, Anthony J. "Tony" Dougherty (coach). Photo courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.



MMI Basketball 1927-1928 MMI Basketball 1927-1928 MMI basketball team, 1927-1928. L-R, seated on the floor, L-R: Harry Chamberlain, Carl Richards -- seated on chairs: Joe Rogan, Bill Bray, Bill Davis (captain), Emil Petchel, Warren Welch -- standing: Anthony J. "Tony" Dougherty (coach), David Jones, Al Sulima, Vic Oleyar (manager), Charles Kunze, Pete Kobrick, Daniel S. J. Buckley (assistant manager). Photos courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.




FHS Girls Basketball 1927-1928 FHS Girls Basketball 1927-1928 FHS Girls Basketball 1927-1928 FHS Girls Basketball 1927-1928 FHS Girls Basketball - 1927-1928 Eastern Pa. Champs. Standing: Adeline Singer (center), Dorothy Slusser (guard), Herbert Rathey (coach), Annette Learn (manager), Melba Mayberry (forward), Ruth Lentz (center) -- sitting: Harriet Mayberry (side center), Jennie Chehoskey (forward), Jenny Lentz (captain, forward), Elizabeth Porter (guard), Josephine Corazza (guard) -- first row: May Chenetz (side center), Mary Capece (forward). Also written on back of photo: "Board of Strategy" - H. E. Rathey, coach; J. E. Lentz, captain; A. D. Learn, manager. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS Basketball 1928 FHS Basketball 1928 FHS basketball team, 1928. Sorry this photo isn't clearer. Some names identified: M. Nocchi, C. Coxe, F. Lorenzetti, Marchetti, and coach Rathey in the back row. The label was written by Tom Landers. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.




MMI Basketball 1929 MMI basketball team, 1929. Photo courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.






1930s



FHS 1931 girls' basketball team Marion Gabuzda Boyle Denion is sharing this great photo of the 1931 Freeland High School girls' basketball team. She wrote: "In the photo I'm sending, Eleanor Yannes is seated with the ball. Irene Gabuzda is standing on the right end. The coach was Herb Rathey." Can anyone reading this identify anyone else? Please let me know and I'll post the information here.

After I initially posted this, I heard from Eleanor Boyle Duckett, who says that the woman standing in the back row, next to the coach, is Eleanor Boyle. One of her brothers, James Boyle, is pictured in the 1934-1935 championship picture further down on the page. James went on to play basketball at the University of Scranton. At Freeland High, he was #7.


FHS Girls Basketball 1931 FHS girls varsity basketball team, 1931. Now from the Y we have the names of these girls! L-R front row: T. Gross, H. Moore, J. Balon, E. Yannes, T. Miller, A. Eroh, M. Kramer -- back row: H. Rathy, E. Boyle, M. Abrams, H. Maysory, R. Seidenberg, P. Raneri, I. Gabuzda. Label written by Tom Landers. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS 1931-1932 basketball team This photo of the 1931-1932 Freeland Y.M.C.A. basketball team (I had previously mistakenly labeled it as Freeland High, sorry) comes from another correspondent, Ethel Maso Paoletti. It is from her late brother Silvio's scrapbook, which she sent to me awhile back so that I could make a copy and then return it to her. Silvio died in 2007 at age 89. Back row, left to right: Jack Kresge, financial secretary; George Yannes, guard; Herb Rathey, forward and guard; Duke Wright, coach; Eddie Deitch, center; Joie Rogan, forward; William D. Morgan, manager. Seated, left to right: Danny Gauz, guard; Eddie Simms, guard; Charlie McGeehan, forward; Charlie Coxe, guard; and Dr. Gauz, forward. The team's mascot, shown holding the ball, was Jack Beltz. Here's the full page from Silvio's scrapbook.


YMCA champs 1931-32 Here is the same Y.M.C.A. basketball team of 1931-1932. The basketball shows that they were N.E.PA. Champs that year. Ethel Maso Paoletti had earlier sent me her brother Silvio Mason’s scrapbook that included the newspaper copy of this photo and also gave all of the identifications (see above), so it's wonderful to also have this original photo from Mary Rosenkrans.




FHS 1930s basketball team Another photo from Silvio Maso's scrapbook doesn't have a date attached to it but would appear to be from the 1930s. The caption reads: This is Herb Rathey's powerful Freeland High School basket ball team, champions of the Carbon-Schuylkill Interscholastic League, which found them closing a hectic race with 12 victories out of 14 games, one of the most decisive triumphs scored by a championship team in years in that loop. The team will go to Pottsville High tomorrow night to meet Frackville High, the undefeated leaders of the Schuylkill region, in the first of the P.I.A.A. playoffs. Reading left to right the personnel is: Front row, sitting - Luckenbill, Putro, Belekanich, Mischissen, C. Boyle and Krone. Standing - Coach Herb Rathey, J. Boyle, Zahn, Manager D. Lesser, Rowlands, J. Lesser. Kuglis, a member of the team, was not present when the picture was taken. (From Karl Krone: I believe the person missing was actually George Kuklis who worked for the Freeland Water Company for many years. Krone is clearly my father, Karl Krone Sr. He is actually second from the right on the bottom. I have another team photo from what was probably the next year. On it are George Kuklis, Rudy Corrazza and Karl Krone.)



FHS Girls Basketball 1931-1932 FHS Girls Basketball 1931-1932. Frank Balon wrote: "My Aunt Julie (Balon) Kobelka is to the left of the girl holding the ball. During this time period, the girls played the game with different rules than the boys. There were 6 players on the floor for each team, but you were restricted to the areas of the floor that you could play. Perhaps someone can recognize the coach or other players?" Eleanor Boyle Dunkett wrote: "The woman on the first row, far right, is my aunt, Eleanor Boyle." And Marion Denion wrote: "The girl with the ball is Eleanor Yannes. Eleanor and Julie were best friends. I know this because Eleanor Yannes married my oldest brother George Gabuzda." The coach, we now see from all of these other photos, is Herb Rathey. Photo courtesy of Frank Balon; previously posted by him on Facebook and re-posted here with his permission.


FHS Carbon-Schuylkill Interscholastic League Champs ca. 1930s FHS Carbon-Schuylkill Interscholastic League Champs ca. 1930s. L-R front row: Luckenbill, Putro, Belekanich, Nischissen, C. Boyle, Krone -- back row: Herb Rathey (coach), J. Boyle, Zahn, D. Lesser (manager), Rohlands, J. Lesser. Kuglis (Kuklis?) absent. Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.




St. Ann's Basketball 1932-1933 St. Ann's basketball team, 1932-1933. Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.






MMI 1933 basketball team MMI Basketball 1933 names MMI Basketball team, 1933 - here on the back are most of the names for this photo. L-R back row: Harold Domchick (manager), Ben Wysocky, Andrew Nemshick, Tony Daugherty (coach), Harold Yevak, Eddie Malloy, _____ (equipment manager) -- front row: John Krusko, Anthony Dipronio, Tiny Peterso, Jack Fairchild, _____, Ferdinand ... Photos courtesy of MMI Preparatory School.



FHS Basketball 1933 FHS Basketball 1933 FHS basketball team, 1933. L-R seated: Mike "Tixie" Surgent, Karl Krone, J. DellaCroce, Rudy Corazza, George Kuklis -- standing: Herb Rathey (coach), Punko Snyder, William "Whipper" Karpowich, Chappy Boyle, S. Koskolis, Stan Kopetz (student manager). Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society. In this other version, some names were mistyped. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.



FHS 1934-1935 basketball teamThis photo of the 1934-1935 Freeland High team comes from Eleanor Boyle Duckett and her brother Gerald - their father James Boyle was number 7.




FHS Basketball 1934-1935 This *might* be the label for the 1934-1935 photo, but I'm not sure because we're one name short for the front row. L-R first row: Bob Luckenbill, Jim Boyle, Mickey Mischissin, Henry Putro, Chappy Boyle -- second row: Herb Rathy (coach), Rolands, Doug Lesser, Bill Zahn, Kuglis (Kuklis?), P. Lesser. Label written by Tom Landers. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS Varsity Basketball certificate, 1934 Eleanor Boyle Duckett sent this scan of her brother James Boyle's FHS Varsity Basketball certificate for 1934.





FHS 1936 basketball team This photo of the 1936 Freeland High team also comes from Eleanor Boyle Duckett and her brother Gerald - their father James Boyle was number 7. Eleanor added: "Gerald believes "Chappy" Boyle may be number 10 in the 1936 photo. We have no idea what the names are of the other players.".




MMI 1936-1937 basketball team This photo of the 1936-1937 MMI basketball team comes from Barbara Bartol Rentenbach, and that's her father Wante Bartolo in the front row, center. Front row, left-right: Joseph Gresko, John Spire, Wante Bartol, Julius Fox, Bruno Procopio. Second row, Martin O'Donnell, Edward Hershock, Captain George Gabuzda, George Davis, Irving Biasi. Third row, Coach Anthony Doughterty, William Gallagher, Managers John Herkalo and George Miglas, Albert Petrosky, and MMI Principal Lambert E. Broad.



MMI Basketball Champs 1936-1937 with names MMI Basketball Champs 1936-1937 And here are two more versions of the same photo of the MMI basketball team, 1936-1937. L-R back row: Coach Dougherty, Gallagher, Mgrs. Herklo, Miglas, Petrosky, Principle Broad -- middle row: O'Donnell, Henshock, Captain Gabuzda, Davis, Biasi -- front row: Greshko, Spire, Bartol, Fox, Procoppio. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.



FHS Basketball 1937-1938 FHS basketball team, 1937-1938. L-R front row: Anthony Karpowich, Eddie Putro, Steve Rudy, Anthony Ricotta, Jackie Johnson, Johnny Mischissen -- back row: J. Citro, John Kleitz, Emil Dovan, George (Judy) Mischissin, Andy Lakitsky. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.




Steve Mischissen sent this note about Coach Rathey and about a game with a Bethlehem team:

I was looking at photos from your website about Freeland High basketball teams from the 1930’s. My father and three of his brothers all played for Freeland in the 1930’s and one younger brother played for Freeland in the 1940’s, and I believe another brother for MMI in the late ‘40’s. My father, George ‘Juddy’ Mischissin was a 1339 graduate and his three older brothers played on earlier teams, Johnny, Mickey and Nick. Some of these teams were quite successful.

My father spoke very highly of Coach Herb Rathey, who coached both basketball and football in Freeland and I believe was a Freeland HS graduate himself. My father said he also was a good teacher. I researched the Hazleton newspaper, The Daily Standard, and in 1938, an October issue was about how little coach Rathey was paid. In 1938 he had an annual salary of $1,780, much less than other teachers who were paid up to $3,500 annually according to this article.

One story that always stuck with me that my father conveyed was that the Freeland football team traveled to Bethlehem to play a football game. I am not sure if this was regular season or a scrimmage game, or the exact year; but it may have been 1938. The Bethlehem team, maybe Liberty HS, was a better team with a much larger enrollment. After the game my father spoke with the Bethlehem players, who had won. They said they were concerned about the Freeland team before the game, so they brought in several ‘ringers’ to play. These ringers were in fact steelworkers from Bethlehem Steel. My father told them that Freeland too had brought a ringer, I believe it was his brother, Johnny, to play because they knew Bethlehem has strong players. Johnny had been the center on the Freeland High basketball team and a 1938 graduate.

I discovered reading the Hazleton Daily Standard that Liberty HS played at Hazleton HS in October 1938 and Hazleton won convincingly. It was a very well attended game, drawing over 5,000 fans, many coming from Bethlehem, and covered in quite detail by the paper.

Basketball and football meant a lot to players back then, and Freeland, for its small size, put together good teams under Coach Rathey. My father and his three older brothers all went into the Army after 1939 and served in Europe during the war. My uncle Nick Mischissin was killed in action in November 1944 in Belgium, where he was buried. His infantry division, the Blue and Gray, was involved in D Day invasion in France, then the push towards Germany in later 1944. My uncle Johnny continued to play in town basketball leagues after the war. Their youngest brother, Steve, captained the Franklin and Marshall college football team in the early 1950’s. My grandfather was an immigrant (Slovakia area) and worked as a mine mule driver in Drifton.

They were the greatest generation.


FHS 1938-1939 Anthracite League Champs FHS 1938-1939 Anthracite League Champs. L-R front row: Eddie Kleitz, Andy Lakitsky (dec.), Alfred McKiniry (dec.), Joe LaPorte, Tom Bradley (dec.), Joe Tomsho.
Standing, L-R: Emil Dovan (dec.), Thomas Cosgrove (dec.), George "Judy" Mischissen, Coach Herb Rathey (dec.), John Kleitz (dec.), Jack Confair and Robert Orr (dec.). Steve's dad George Mischissen is shown standing next to Coach Rathey. This newspaper photo comes from Steve Mischissen.

Steve shared a transcript of an article from the Hazleton Plain Speaker, December 5, 1938 -- ellipses and parentheses with question marks are mine, showing where the transcription is missing information. It's an interesting read about what was considered to be a challenging upcoming season that ended in a championship:

Squad For This Year Smallest, Tough Schedule Lies Ahead For Whippets
Five-Year Record of North Siders in Danger, spirits still running high but Coach Herb Rathey Freeland High appears to be ... a mournful dirge over the fall prospect fact that not one or two three or four, but all six of the players who carried them to the Anthracite League championship last year have departed never to return Ricotta. Putro. Johnson, Johnny Mischissin, that they were a sweet gang of ball players.

Smallest Yet -- The group that's left is spirited and likely to be tough by the end of the season; but it's going to take a lot of work on the part of Coach Rathey to make them good enough to uphold Freeland's great record. On top of everything else, they're small physically, probably the smallest group that has yet played varsity basketball for the crafty Heritor from the North Side. When you talk about upholding Freeland basketball records, you've really got something there; because in the past five years Coach Rathey's cohorts have won 92 and lost only __ (?), not bad in any league. Last season, they won 20 and lost only 4; so that gives you a general idea. In four years, they have finished up no worse than tied for league honors.

The Material -- But all the reminiscing ... can't stall forever a look at this year's material; so here goes. The first string quintet this season Is very likely to be composed of five foot three Andy Lakitsky of football and Alf McKinery, up from the jay-vees as forwards; Emil Doran, six foot one football player or junior Jim Holtzclaw at center; and "Judy" Mischissin and Tomsho, a pair if footballers, or the Kleitz brothers, at guard. Out of this group, only three players, Lakitsky, Mischissin, and Johnny Kleitz have had any varsity playing experience whatsoever. What's going to happen when the others get under the fire of such formidable foes as Frackville and Coal Township is a question only time and the apparently unending Freeland basketball charm can answer.

Another Combination -- Herb also has another combination, which features Tiny Orr, a six foot four centerman who may be outstanding when he acquires more experience. A pair of left-handers, Jackie Confair and Chappie Lentz, are the forwards; and Tom Bradley and Joe LaPorte are two better than average guards. Also not to be forgotten is the promising jay-vee squad that Eddie Witch (?), the pro star who is Herb's assistant, is developing. This group is at least on comer in Johnny Rudy; and a couple of the others may also crack the varsity squad before the season is over.’


Steve also shared two newspaper articles from and January 22, 1936 and December 4, 1937 that discussed where Freeland HS wanted to play their home games -- staying with the smaller home court meant that the team would be excluded from certain competitions. He commented: Obviously the Freeland YMCA was a larger court than they had in the Freeland High School Gymnasium on Dewey Street. It appears that using the Freeland YMCA for home games didn’t get approved until the 1938-1939 season.  The 1937-1938 basketball team won the first Anthracite League championship. My uncle Johnny Mischissin and my father George Mischissin were on that team. The following year, despite early predictions, the 1938-1939 team also won the championship despite losing many starters from the previous year!



YMCA JayVees Basketball 1939-1940 YMCA JayVees basketball team, 1939-1940. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.






MMI 1939-1940 basketball teamHere's an MMI team photo from longtime site contributor Ed Merrick, showing the MMI 1939-1940 team. Ed wrote: "This photo shows my uncle, Ed Remak, holding the basketball for an MMI team photo. The presence of the trophy and the 'MMI 39-40' on the basketball would seem to indicate a championship." The enlarged image was repaired digitally by Jay Cawley; here's what the actual photo looks like. Amazing what someone skilled in digital graphics can do.



1940s



FHS Basketball Champs 1940-1941 FHS Basketball 1940-1941 FHS Anthracite League champs, 1940-1941. Won 21, lost 2. L-R front row: T. Orr, J. Zedalis, R. Zahn, P. Shovelin, L. Corazza, A. Preat, J. Rudy -- back row: Petro (manager), B. Contress, E. Hughes, T. Mohan, H. Rathey (coach), R. Rees, E. Martesevich, J. Rock, P. Cerula (manager). Photos courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.




FHS Basketball 1943 FHS Basketball 1943 FHS basketball team, 1943-1944. L-R: Frank Kuklis, Art Nagle, Mike Zedalis, Tom Mischissen, Ed Lakovich, Bob Lawrence. See also the interesting notes on the reverse side. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.




Unnamed, undated basketball team from Y photos Possibly Foster Township High School basketball team, early 1940s. This unnamed, undated photocopy of a basketball team photo is now closer to being identified. Charlie Gallagher had written: "Just my opinion, but # 3 in the front row center looks to me to be John R, “Jack” Gallagher. (later FHS Coach)." Now he has found a copy of Jack Gallagher's obituary, which says that Jack Gallagher "was educated at St. Ann’s Elementary School and was a graduate of Foster Township High School. Furthering his education, he attended and received a Bachelor of Science degree from East Stroudsburg University and a Master of Science degree from Bucknell University." Based on that, Charlie suggests: "That may be Foster Township 40, 41, 42 or maybe even as late as 43." Scanned at the YMCA in 2008. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS Basketball 1944 FHS Basketball 1944 FHS varsity basketball team, 1943-1944. L-R back row: Tom MacFadden (manager), Walter McClellan, George Hutyn, Tom Poltrock, Butch Durso, John Herring -- front row: Ed Deitch (coach), Frank Kuklis, Bob Lawrence, Mike Zedalis (captain), Nommie Lakovich, John Watahovich. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.



Foster Basketball 1944-1945 Foster Basketball 1944-1945 Foster High Basketball ticket Foster Township High School basketball team, 1944-1945. Left photo from John Zubach. Foster Township High School basketball team, 1944-1945. L-R front row: Jakie Shearon, Johnny Repetz, Frank Kardisco, Statz, Laganosky, Danny Surgent, Mike Nemchick -- back row: Joe Johnson (coach), Johnny Malchitsky, Johnny Latosky, Schott, Babe Falatko, Pete Kundra (assistant coach). The center team photo with names and the ticket are courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS J-V basketball team 1944-1945 FHS 1944-1945. Front row: ? - Durso - Mischissen - ? - Watahovich - Coach Eddie Deitch
Back row: Fedorshak - Benicaso - Barosky - Laporte - Evancho
Photo from Larry Maso, who wrote: "I was on the J-Vs 44-45 and knew these guys but Turri was the actual coach then. I guess Rathey left. The previous year 44-45 I was on the Foster Township J-Vs so wasn't as familiar with that team. Incidentally, I enjoyed the 44-45 Foster picture because I knew all those guys."


FHS J-V basketball team 1945-1946 FHS 1945-1946. Front row: Kavitsky - Bradley - Watahovich - Graziano - Boyle
Back row: Coach Herb Rathey - George Barna - Carl Gross - Wally Gross - Charles Barosky - Asst. John Turri - Inset, ?
Photo courtesy of Larry Maso.



YMCA Basketball 1945-1946 YMCA Basketball 1945-1946 Freeland YMCA basketball team, 1945-1946. L-R back row: Gene Della Croce (coach), Tom Mohan, Patsy Corrigan, Jack Gillespie, Tom Palko, John Zedalis (assistant coach) -- front row: Andy O'Donnell, John Moscovitch, Mike Zedalis, John Mischissen, Butch Karpowich. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.



Freeland Basketball 1946 Freeland Basketball ca. 1946 Freeland Basketball ca. 1946 Freeland basketball team, 1946 or thereabouts. Photos courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.





Zedalis - Basketball 1947 Zedalis - basketball shot, 1947. Photo courtesy of Tom Landers, Joe Flanagan, and the Freeland Historical Society.







Freeland High basketball team, 1948 FHS basketball team, 1947-1948. Photo courtesy of Janis McClellan Sheppard, who wrote: Freeland H.S. basketball team. I think #6 is a handsome fellow. John (Jack) McClellan.

SUGGESTED CORRECTION: Larry Maso says that this photo shows the JV team that year, not the Varsity team. A few identifications from him: Front row: 3rd from left is Vitagliano; 5th from left is Bob Mensinger. Back row: At center is Coach Bob Luckinbill. (Thanks, Larry.)

Freeland High School JV basketball, ca.1948 Bob Zimmerman also identifies this as the FHS JV team of 1948, and he supplies this list of identifications. (Thanks, Bob!)


FHS Whippets 1947-1948 Larry Maso varsity letter Whippets-Foster game From Larry Maso, here is a photograph of the 1947-1948 FHS Whippets. Also shown are Larry's varsity letter and an article about a then upcoming Whippets-Foster game. In the photo: front row, Victor Dietos (Deitos?), Larry Maso, Richard Yesilonis, John Barna, William Rachilla. Back row, Edwin Spock - Manager, John Lawrence, Howard Hontz - Coach, Herman Vitagliano, Joseph Barna. Missing when the photo was taken: Irving Horn and John Bobby. Photos courtesy of Larry Maso.



1948 Lions'Dream Game
                team 1948
                All-Anthracite team article 1948
                All-Anthracite team article Here at left are boys from Freeland, Foster and MMI who were part of the annual Lions' Dream Game in which the Anthracites played against the Mountaineers. Front row: Ray Kostick, MMI. Second row: Len Sabel, Murray Feingold, Steve Mischissen, all MMI; John Keyock, Foster. Back row: Billy Rachilla, Larry Maso, FHS; George Timko and Art Kimmel, Foster. Also shown is an article about the Plain Speaker's 1948 All-Anthracite Teams, listing the participants and those receiving honorable mention. Photos courtesy of Larry Maso.



1948
                Bloomsburg Tourney article 1948 Bloomsburg Tourney program The article here says that Larry Maso has made the "all-star quintet" selected to compete at the annual Bloomsburg STC tournament. Larry also saved his program from the opening round of the 21st High School Invitation Basketball Tourney, opening round, March 4, 1948. Here's a pic of the front page, and the whole program is provided in PDF below. Photos and program courtesy of Larry Maso.


Clicking the link below will open the Adobe PDF file. If you don't have Adobe Reader on your computer you can download it for free at www.adobe.com.

PDF logo21st High School Invitation Basketball Tourney, 1948 - (PDF file size = 1.9 MB)



1950s



Freeland High School basketball, 1950 This photo of the Freeland High School basketball team from 1950 comes from Bob Zimmerman. Names written on the photo:
Second row: George Spock, M. Mistizyn, N. Sowa, Sanford Gross, Coach Howard Hontz, Ed Vitagliano, Bob Mensinger, Joe Slank.
First row: Bob Provizzi, Al Kaminsky, John Bobby, Jack McClellan, George Bzdil.


Possibly 1952 Freeland High School Whippets Possibly 1952 Freeland High School Whippets Bob Zimmerman shares this photo labeled FHS 1952 Whippets. Bob has also provided the names of the team members.






FHS Basketball 1952-1953 FHS basketball team, 1952-1953. L-R front row: Joe Rodzewich, Adolph "Buzz" Peters, Mark Bredbenner, Jack Amentler, Ralph Ferrari -- 2nd row: Jack Gallagher (coach), Andy Soltis, Francis Soroko, Jim Lutz, Larry "Bunky" Solarek, Michael Karboski (faculty manager) -- 3rd row: Joe Zapach (student manager), Eddie Probert, Goerge Stefanick, Harry Clark, Harry Shalhamer (student manager). There was confusion about this photo, because the news reporter mistakenly said 1953-1954, and also misidentified two players. Soon afterward, a correction was published, shown in the Merrick copy at right. This photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.


FHS Basketball 1952-1953 Here are the names of the players as recorded by Bob Zimmerman. Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.







FHS Basketball 1952-1953 Here at the bottom of Ed Merrick's copy of the article and photo is the correction that appeared in the paper Photo courtesy of Ed Merrick.






FHS Basketball 1955 FHS basketball team, 1955. L-R front row: Dick Beam, Charley McHugh, Pete Rodzewich, Nick Mistiszyn, George Cibula, Tom Barna, Steve Clark -- back row: Bob Hodgson, George Stefanick, Johnn Palko, Tom Zarosky, Mike Yencho, Larry Solarek, Hal Clark, Jack Gallagher (coach). Absent: Joe Zapach (student manager). Photo courtesy of the Freeland Historical Society.





1960s



Freeland Slovaks C.Y.O. Basketball ca.1966 Freeland Slovaks C.Y.O. Basketball ca.1966 Freeland Slovaks CYO basketball team, ca.1966. I contacted Joe Falatko, Jr. to ask about this photo. He wrote: "The Team photo is hanging in my rec room. It is 1966 (I remember the shirt from a Class Officer picture my soph. year at Foster). I was too old to play. Top Row: My Dad, Paul Falatko, Larry Falatko, Mark Ferdinan, Me, Joe Tichi, Bob Miller, Bill Ondash, Babe Falatko -- Bottom Row:Tom Machella, Joey Brazina, Dave Kardisko, Cy Falatko, Rich Banas, Paul Ferdinand, Jerry Matisak." In a further email exchange the same day, Joe confirmed that these photos were taken at Foster's gym, which he thought was the home court for Freeland's CYO games. He said that all of the Catholic churches in Freeland had CYO teams (including St. Mary's? I'll have to check). I'm assuming that the Freeland Slovaks was the team of St. John's Nepomucene Church. Photo courtesy of Tony Sutherland.


Freeland Slovaks C.Y.O. Basketball 1960s Freeland Slovaks CYO basketball team, 1960s. Joe commented: "A year or two later... Standing: ?, Paul Ferdinand, ?, Tommy Falatko, Dan Martin, Dad -- Seated: George Evancho, Joey Brazina, Jerry Matisak, Cy Falatko, Gerry Feissner, ? -- Floor: Carl Matisak, Mike Plaksa, Ronnie Matisak." Photo courtesy of Tony Sutherland.




Freeland Slovaks C.Y.O. Basketball Award ca.1966 I had originally posted this note here: "Joe Falatko told me that he only recognizes Cy Falatko and Mike Carr in this photo. I think that's Father Gorski from St. Casimir's as the priest in the photo (is it?), and Tony Sutherland told me that one of the other men was John Grula (but I don't know which). Photo courtesy of Tony Sutherland."


Joe Plaksa later wrote: I have been doing newspaper searches and found a photo from the 4.8.1968 Standard Speaker newspaper that provides the names for the photo you have in the 1960’s section for basketball. Your text states you had spoken to my cousin, the late Joe Falatko, Jr, and he did not know all the names. Also, on the photo just above this one for the Freeland Slovaks CYO team, there is a last name misspelling. The name is Michael Plaksa.  It is a common mistake that the s is put before the k. Hope this helps with your updates. It is a fantastic site! Keep adding to it.

Here is the caption text: "HAZLETON-FREELAND CYO PRINCIPALS -- Rev. Stanislaus Gorski, pastor of St. Casimir's Church, Freeland, presents Hazleton-Freeland CYO Basketball League championship trophy to Paul (Babe) Falatko, co-coach of the Freeland Slovaks, at the league's annual banquet at St. Michael's Hall, Freeland, last night. Also on the photo, left to right, are John J. Grula, past president of the Freeland Slovaks Club; Ed Kluck, Transfiguration, most valuable player; Cy Falatko, Freeland Slovaks, most valuable player, and Mike Carr, league president." The accompanying article notes that the other co-coach of the Freeland Slovaks was Joe Falatko, both coaches also received individual trophies, and they presented the title trophy to John J. Grula, past president of the Slovak League of America, Freeland Branch. The championship trophy and most valuable player trophies were donated by Rev. Gorski, one of the founders of the league, which at the time of this event had seven teams. [Thanks to Joe Plaksa for sharing this.]


St. Ann's CYO basketball team 1969 St. Ann's CYO basketball team, 1969. Bottom row: Dan Gocek, Alex Reckowski, Robert Gresh, James DellaCroce (Manager), Mark Brennan, Paul Yori, Charlie Gallagher. Second row: Andrew Breznitsky, Hugh Maloney, John Bereznak, Jack DellaCroce, Jack Kluck, Marty Kimmel, Coach Thomas Landers. Photo courtesy of John Bereznak.



MMI vs. West Hazleton, 1964:  From Charlie Gallagher: I don’t know if you ever saw this article on MMI basketball beating West Hazleton 7-5. Yes, that was the end score, MMI 7, West Hazleton 5. He shares a link to a page about this game on Bill Gaffey's Pennsylvania Basketball Website with the 1964 Standard-Speaker headline "MMI 'Crushes' West Hazleton 7-5".



1970s



YMCA Men's League 1975 YMCA Men's League, 2nd half champs, 1975. Front row, L-R: J. Bereznak, D. Lutz, C. Ferry, J. Feno. Back row, L-R: J. Titus, B. Buchman, J. Uhrin, B. Brogan, B. Balas. Photo and information courtesy of John Bereznak.






Edwards Memorial Basketball Tournament 1976 Edwards Memorial Basketball Tournament, 1976. Front row, L-R: Frank "Fritz" Herring, Fran "Bear" Brogan, Ted Bollard, Rick Coslett, Jim Hay, John Skwierz. Back row, L-R: Joe Kutchi, Jeff Fike, Bob Carber, John Timko, John Lundy, John Bereznak. Photo and information courtesy of John Bereznak.




1980s



FHS Whippets 1981-1982 FHS Whippet, Anthracite League Champions, 1981-1982. Wins 26, losses 0. From John Bereznak: "This is a photo of the 1981-82 Freeland Whippets basketball team. They won the Anthracite League Title in the last year that the league was in existence. The team was 28-0 before losing the District 11 championship on a buzzer beater to St. Clair High School at Martz Hall in Pottsville. The team then lost in inter district play to Dunmore ending their season at 28-2. The amount of support that this team received from their fans was unbelievable, selling out gymnasiums both home and away for every game they played." Front row, L-R: David Breznitzky, David Lynn, George Barron, Timothy Edwards, Stanley Bruzgulis, Chris Flanagan. Back row, L-R: Coach Lasecki, Joe Murmello, Joe Sabol, Adam Hauze, Jim Laputka, Tom LaPorte, Assistant Coach Bereznak. Photo and information courtesy of John Bereznak.



TEAM MASCOTS


1905 Freeland Y.M.C.A. baseball team mascot This is the mascot for 1931-1932 Freeland Y.M.C.A. basketball team. His name is Jack Beltz. Photo courtesy of Ethel Maso Paoletti from her brother Silvio's scrapbook.





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