At the close
of the basketball season of 1924-25 a meeting was held in Reading for the purpose of forming a league which was to be comprised
of the six best High Schools in Eastern Pennsylvania, and of course, our school was one of the schools selected to participate.
The other schools that entered were Pottstown, Easton, Coatesville, Allentown and Bethlehem.
On December 1, 1925, a call for candidates was issued and a squad of forty-three
boys reported for practice at the Armory. Captain Dimmerling was the only one of last year's team back, but there was Earl
Greenhalgh, a regular sub of last year's team and then there were the "Big Butter and Egg Men" from Saint Clair,
Buck Ferrebee and Soup Campbell, and the "Cream of Port Carbon," Huey Cantwell and Herb Rummell.
From this squad, Mr. Grimmett, our coach, selected a team that would be able to
equal or defeat any High School team in the state of Pennsylvania. The team:Captain Dimmerling, Greenhalgh, Cantwell, Rummell
and Campbell; started off the season with a determination to show last year's team they were as good or even better than they
were, and to bring the laurels of the league back to Pottsville High.
On December the tenth, our team played their first game of the season with Muhlenburg Freshmen. After a hard battle of heavy
odds we defeated them by a score of 26-20. In this game, Captain Dimmerling started his season with five baskets to his credit
and determination to live up to his title as the best Interscholastic basketball center in this part of the United States.
On Friday, December the 18th, we left on the 4:35 for Easton to play our first
league game. We arrived in Easton about half an hour before the game started and just had enough time to jump into our suits
and rush the floor, but only to be greeted by a shower of pennies to buy new sweat shirts for the team. (For ours were the
old white kind covered with your signatures and names of your favorites). But in spite of all this we defeated them to the
tune of 33-27. In this game "Huey" Cantwell and "Herb" Rummell proved they deserved the name of "The
Cream of Port Carbon."
After the Christmas vacation,
we played our second league game at the Armory with Bethlehem on January the eigth. This was one of the best games of the
season and one of the very best that was ever seen in the Armory Hall of Pottsville. At the end of the game the scales balanced
in our favor 35-33.
The following week, on January
15th, we traveled to Allentown for our third league game of the season and defeated them by a score of 34-24. This victory
gave us first place in the league and we had high hopes of staying there. In this game, "Sam" our captain, dropped
in five baskets and caged six out of six fouls.
The
next day, January 16th, we played Wanamie High School, which was coached by our last year's coach, Mr. Chester Rogowicz. This
game was the one outstanding game of the season and Roggy gave us a run for our money, but the game ended 46-45 in our favor.
On January 22, we met our old rival, Schuylkill Haven
and routed them to a score of 28-22. At half time they were ahead of us 14 to 4 but in the second half our team stepped out
and handed them their first defeat of the season. The next day, January 23rd, we traveled to Danville and we had the tables
turned on us for the first time, because when the whistle blew the score stood in their favor 35-21. Danville was the hometown
of Mr. Gaskins and he treated us at his home in a way that was very much appreciated by the boys, who will always remember
Mr. Gaskins for the same.
On January 28th, we played
Pottstown, our fourth league opponent and surprised them by presenting them with a final score of 44-43. Huey Cantwell in
the game showed what knid of players they raised in Port Carbon, by making fifteen of the forty-four points for us.
Our first defeat in the league was handed to us at Bethlehem on February the fifth,
by the score of 29 to 14. We were defeated, but we went down knee deep in blood as "Soup" Campbell got
a broken nose in this game, which kept him out for the next three games, and our dashing forward received a very serious cut
above the eye.
The next day, February the sixth, we
satisfied ourselves by defeating Danville by the score of 48-30. In this game Sam Dimmerling and Peach Basket Greenhalgh had
seven baskets apiece. We then went up another peg in the league standing by another victory over Allentown. This time the
score read 41-19 at the dropping of the flag.
On February
the nineteenth, we played Easton and surprised them by our team coming on the floor with new sweatshirts on which their school
so willingly started our funds by their pennies thrown to us before the game when we played on their floor. But that was not
the only surprise, we gave them, we handed them a neat defeat of 46-27 tied in Crimson and White ribbons.
Our next victim was Coatesville High. This was a school we never heard of before,
but that did not make any difference to our team, because the score ended 34-23 in our favor. The most decisive game of the
season was played at Pottstown on March third. If we lost, we had one more chance to win the league championship, but if we
won the league title was ours. We took over a hundred rooters to Pottstown by train and machine, but we were defeated by a
score of 43-34.
The next day, we went to Philadelphia
to play our first game in the University of Pennsylvania tournament and we defeated Abington High by a score of 35-20. We
came home the same afternoon, and that night won our second victory in two days from Tamaqua by a score of 52-19.
On Friday, March the twelfth, we traveled to Coatesville for our last league game.
If we won this game the title was ours, but if we lost, we would be tied with Pottstown for first place. We started the game
with a bang, but they had home floor advantage and we could not get used to the swimming pool, we had to play in and we lost
by the score of 27-20.
March 18, 1926, was the climax
of our basketball season when we left for Reading with 200 rooters to play off the tie with Pottstown. Our lineup for the
game was: Dimmerling, Cantwell, Campbell, Greenhalgh and Reed. Reed played his first game for Pottsville in place of Rummell,
who was ill, but got in the game later. Although Reed only made a few points in this game, he saved many a point that would
have been scored by Pottstown. When the final score was fired the winning of the day came to Pottsville High by the score
of 35-22.
We then went to Schuylkill Haven and added
another victory to our list by a score of 26 to 21. We closed our season by defeating the Schuylkill County Champs, Tremont
by the score of 56-20. This was the last game for our Captain Sam Dimmerling, and he dropped in twelve baskets as a farewell
present to Pottsville High School. This was also the last game for Rummell, Cantwell, Campbell, Ferrebee and Rees, who will
all gradute at the close of this term.
Features
of 1925-26
The first team to bring
to Pottsville High the title of Champions of the Eastern Pennsylvania Interscholastic Basketball League.
The first team to represent Pottsville High in cities of Allentown, Bethlehem,
Coatesville, Easton and Danville.
The first team of
Pottsville High School to have it's center, George Dimmerling chosen as the best center in this part of the United States.
