Mark Township High School Basketball - State Runner-Up, 1934

Mark Township High School

State Basketball Runner-Up

Class B, 1934

 Back Row, L to R: Howard Palmer - Principal, Berlin Kline, Leroy Croyle, Walter Schroeder, Chalmer Mast, Louis Witte, Robert Diehl, Jake Worrick and Wendell Devore - Coach

Middle Row: Dorothy Beltz, Faith Hinsch, Mary Diehl, Hope Revert, Annibelle Sholl, Bertha Swinehart, Eugenia Wheeler, Irene Horn, Hazel Diehl

Front Row: Delmer Schliesser, Morris Gecowets, Howard Witte, Earl Schliesser

It was March, 1934, when the Mark Center High School basketball team made its way to the Coliseum on the State Fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio.  They had worked their way to the championship game in Class B basketball by defeating Bellpoint, 2 time state champions, 28-25, and Tiro (Crawford County) 27 - 18.  

Next up were the Waterloo Wonders from a rural school, Waterloo, located in southeast Ohio between Ironton and Gallipolis.  The Wonders were a wild team, full of trick shots, super passing, and sideline pranks.  Having grown up playing with rag balls, the boys had perfected their passing game and rarely dribbled the ball.  They came to the championship unbeaten. 

The Waterloo Wonders, 1934

At the end of the first quarter, the score was 14-5, and at half-time, 20-11.  It didn't look like it would even be a contest.  But then, Mark Center got hot and hit seven straight points in the third quarter, bringing the score to 20-18 when the fourth quarter began.  But the Wonders were not to be denied, and it was all Waterloo after that.  The door was closed on Mark Center and the game ended 40-26; the Waterloo Wonders had won their first state championship.  

But little Mark Center had a runner-up trophy to bring home...in a snow storm!

To read more about the Waterloo Wonders, see The Waterloo Wonders by Dick Burdette.  It is online at google books HERE.