The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
50°F
Current Conditions
Few clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Bill Pierce’s prep almanac: 1962 CV boys basketball

With all five starters graduating, Central Valley coach Ray Thacker had to replace his entire starting lineup as the 1961-62 basketball season began.

The young men who stepped forward to fill the vacant spots did extremely well. The Bears finished the regular season in 1962 ranked No. 1 in the state by The Associated Press.

Playing a ball-control style of offense, Thacker mostly relied on six players in 1962 – Dale Beauchamp, Gary Burch, Bob Keppel, Stan Chalich, Mike Dahl and John Hull. 

The Bears’ only setback of the regular season was a 48-47 nonleague overtime loss at Ephrata. The Bears dominated the Spokane City League, going undefeated and finishing four games ahead of runner-up West Valley.

Entering the state tournament in Seattle with a 19-1 record, CV easily defeated its first two opponents, Olympia and Puyallup. That put the team in the semifinals against the defending state champion Garfield Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs’ athletic play put the Bears on their heels as Garfield sported a 33-19 lead at the end of the third quarter. Garfield scored at 5:54 of the fourth to make it 36-23 and never scored again. The Bears began a furious rally led by Keppel’s three baskets down the stretch. Chalich scored with 59 seconds to go to make it 36-35.

With less than 20 seconds to go, the Bulldogs missed a free throw but got the rebound. The Garfield player was called for traveling and in frustration bounced the ball high off the court. Everyone looked to the officials for the obvious technical foul, but the whistles remained silent. With 8 seconds to go, CV called a timeout but couldn’t get a shot off after the inbound pass. The rally fell short by a point.

The next afternoon CV faced Richland for third and sixth place. The Bears had to rally again during the high-scoring affair and fell short, 71-70.

Because Thacker had to replace his entire team at the beginning of the year, getting a league crown, a sixth-place state finish and a 21-3 overall record was probably more than he expected.