Basketball
Dolly Stark had an amazing bunch of basketball players report to him at the beginning of the season, and sophomores rubbed shoulders with hardy veterans in the first few weeks of limbering up. But as the season progressed, it was apparent that despite the fact that Dartmouth had good individual players, a combination was not to be found. Perhaps the trouble Dolly had with his squad in this respect will furnish a clinching argument to the statement that after all it is the team play which counts, and even the presence of a star will not help if there is a lack of coordination among the group in playing ability.
At this point, it would be well to give a complete resume of the Eastern Intercollegiate League basketball season, showing just what the Green did in every league contest, and just how much difference there was in points between the two contending clubs at the time:
Pennsylvania 32 Pennsylvania 27 Dartmouth 28 Dartmouth 42 Columbia 33 Columbia 56 Dartmouth 39 Yale 31 Cornell 29 Dartmouth 27 Dartmouth 24 Dartmouth 25 Princeton 25 Princeton 23 Dartmouth 32 Dartmouth 28 Yale 35 Dartmouth 20 Dartmouth 28 Cornell 25 8 points 2 points 3 points 19 points 1 point 28 points 4 points 11 points 1 point 2 points
In the foregoing table it will be seen just what happened during the entire season, although the games are not in chronological order.. The most amazing thing was the complete collapse of the Dartmouth team in its final game of the season against Columbia in New York, when they were snowed under by a 28-point margin, the worst beating one league team ever handed to another. It must be explained, however, that Columbia with a great five at this point, was on the upgrade, and three days later won from Pennsylvania in the Red and Blue Palestra to clinch the league title without a doubt. Dartmouth tied with Yale for third place.
As in past league competitions, nearly all of the games were close, and Dolly Stark can look back over three games this year which were decided by margins of 1, 1, and 2 points respectively against the Green. When a team loses by such hair line decisions, it is safe to say that its opponent was only a shade better that evening, and probably the shooting of fouls decided the contest. Then on the other side of the ledger, Dartmouth won games by % 8, and 4 point margins, which seem to balance the season pretty fairly.
But fortunes change over night, and the Dartmouth team which held Columbia to a single point in Hanover was not the Dartmouth team which was routed that night in New York. The only consistent series was that with Cornell, the two teams being an even choice in both of their games.
Returning from a disastrous road trip by losing to both Cornell and Yale, the Dartmouth team immediately embarked for Cambridge where they faced Harvard. The fact that Harvard won the game caused utter amazement in this part of the woods, and the 34-29 score against Dartmouth rubbed it in. Immediately the record books were hauled out, and it was discovered that the last time Harvard had ever beaten Dartmouth in basketball rested around the first decade of the century, with no explanation given for the cause of that loss.
The three-game losing streak which had been Dartmouth's at this point was suddenly broken the following Wednesday when the Green, still on the road, crushed Princeton by a 42-23 score, the 19 point margin of victory being the highest in league competition this year. Ben Burch was the star of this game, sinking 8 floor baskets and materially helping the rest of the team in the second half when the Tigers were definitely pushed down into the League cellar. We remember talking with Burch as a freshman, when he was still quite undecided between Dartmouth or Princeton as his ultimate alma mater, and as the result of this Green-Tiger game came over the wire from Jungletown with the story of Ben's great playing, we wondered if, having made his decision, he was rather putting the finishing touches on it!
The next game was with Pennsylvania in Hanover, and it turned out to be an almost exact reproduction of the home Columbia game, when the Green was shaded by a single point. After shooting the opening foul, Dartmouth never led again at any time during the contest, although they knocked at the door of victory many times. It was Gray Magee and Burch who suddenly put Dartmouth in the running after a dull first half when the score stood 17-9 in favor of the Quakers. Penn used their famous blocking play, and their men scored many goals from quarter court from this formation, whereas Dartmouth flubbed a majority of their shots from directly under the basket. Reed Lewin was inserted in the game in this last half, and played well, but the veteran rose to his real heights in the following game, against Cornell.
That was the battle of the year. Cornell, doggedly fighting for every inch, matched shot for shot with Dartmouth during the whole contest, and with the Green two points ahead as the timer had his hand on the bell, Capt. Bob Lewis of Cornell made the most spectacular shot we have seen this year. Knocked to the floor in a melee at center court, Lewis, while lying on his stomach, shot for the basket. It is a pity that the ball did not go in, but it missed only by inches as the bell sounded, and the game was Dartmouth's by two points. Gray Magee was the hero of the evening, although he shared honors with Bill McCall and Reed Lewin, who both tossed vital baskets as the final minutes ticked away.
Toward the end of the season, Dartmouth was still playing about ten men a game, and the constant stream of substitutions, even for the league games, marked a distinct departure from previous custom, but Dolly Stark was literally forced to keep his men on the jump. We remember only a few years ago when Jim Picken, Lanky Langdell, Harry Dey, Bill Heep, Bob Austin and Heinie Swarthout played out nearly the whole season with very few substitutes and won the league title to boot,but this year it simply could not be done.
For forwards Stark had Capt. John Cheney, Ben Burch, Lauri Myllykangas, Bill McCall, and Bob Beisel. A word is in order for John Cheney. Hurt at mid-season, and out of the game for weeks with an injured knee, he was put into the Cornell game. We thought that it was a nice gesture on Stark's part, for it was the last home game of the season, and Cheney as captain should appear for only a few minutes at least. But John electrified the stands by breaking away on the first play to score a basket and tie the game up at 11-all! Injured knee and all, he remained in the game, and was the vital steadying influence which kept the morale of the five up during the entire contest. He is the only man who graduates in the above list of forwards.
The center position fell to Reed Lewin, the veteran, and Irving Kramer. Kramer, the sophomore, was an erratic player who either scintillated or was mediocre with his moods favoring the former stage. Lewin, playing his last season for Dartmouth, made few of the trips due to his medical studies and the team was fortunate to have his services at all. Against Pennsylvania and Cornell at home he was the same center of 1929, ever present, a clever passer and a good shot.
At the guard positions, only Fred Schmidt was immovable. Schmidt played out the entire Dartmouth schedule and was the most valuable man on the team from experience and ability. Schmidt was always steady; the team will miss him next year. Ed Picken, Aarne Frigard, Fred Tangeman, and Gray Magee were the other guards, and they all had their good nights. All return next year except Tangeman.
With such a nucleus of second-year men, coupled with a fine freshman team developed by Coach Harold Evans, Dartmouth's chances look bright for 1930-31.
