Holiday Basketball Tournament Brings Back Hoop Memories from Over a Generation Ago

The Fairfield Prep Holiday Basketball Tournament is scheduled tonight and tomorrow. The tournament brings back a flood of memories for AWHS alumni Tony Procaccini, Joe O'Brien, and Joe Murtha. Here are some memories they share with us from local high school basketball in the 1970s.

AWHS Class of 1976 30-year reunion committee president Tony Procaccini wrote the following:

When we were juniors, a Warde-Danbury basketball game one Friday night was canceled due to snow (a little blizzard, actually). Bob Henry, Joe O'Brien and I drove, maybe walked, to Central HS to see Central against Harding, two of the state's top teams. EVERY OTHER GAME WAS CANCELED THAT NIGHT, MBIAC and FCIAC, but they still played to a PACKED house. What we saw in the warm-ups (the better jumping, supreme athleticism, et al) astounded us, being FCIAC boys. Then, the game started, and our jaws dropped.

That night we saw Wes Matthews, Cedric Cannon, Aldo Samuel (a 5-year student for Harding) and others we had only read about before that night. I was hooked on the MBIAC from that night.It's hard to forget a night like that, when one's eyes are opened forever. And, of course, I went to see those teams on other occasions, too. Bassick was also great to watch, with Kevin Bohannon, Bagley and Garriss. And I continued to read about them, especially Harding, as they won more many state titles under then-coach Kish (Ed or Jim?) and then under Charlie Bentley. Bridgeport can justifiably take pride in their exploits.

It was a great era in high school basketball, and right in our backyard.

Wilbur Cross (of New Haven), then the state's strongest team for many years, played Warde in a non-league game when we were freshmen. Bengie was able to get them on our schedule somehow, he remembers it well. They beat us, I think it was, 109-56, a totally lopsided score. And I remember Soup Campbell walking by me after the players had showered, when the game was over. I looked up at him vertically. Me? 5'6", maybe. Him? 6'9", I think. He wore a long coat, looked cool, and made an impression on me, obviously.

Tony Procaccini

Classmate Joe O'Brien adds the following postscript:

Just to briefly fill in some additional details: I believe we walked to the Central-Harding game. I remember because one of us nailed a car with a snowball on Park Avenue on our walk home in the blizzard.

Also, at that time it was my understanding that slam-dunking was not allowed in a high school game. Regardless, Wes Matthews on a one-on-three fast break crammed one against Central. It was negated but the crowd went wild, "Hit 'em side the head".

Also, junior year, I recollect playing JV roundball against Kolbe at the Shehan Center. It was hard for me to understand how that place with the rickety old baskets could be their home court. You know that 5" square of metal that normally holds the rim to the backboard? Well, it didn't exist. Instead the rim was held on with metal tubing coming up from the bottom of the backboard, sort of suspending the rim out there in space. It had a lot of give to it. I'm sure some of the CYO folks remember the same.

Joe O'Brien

Here are some more memories from Joe Murtha:

I remember well those high school state championship tourneys we used to go to all the time. It was always the extraordinary altheticism of the inner city Bridgeport and Hartford teams against those staid but sure shooters from suburban South Catholic and the like. What a contrast of styles.

I remember being jaw dropped by the Harding team with their "little" guy, Williams (no more than 5' 10" if memory serves) dunking with ease during warm-ups. In fact EVERYONE on both the Harding and Bassick teams could dunk. It was staggering.

I also remember those rubberized Sheehan Center hoops Joe was talking about. You could NEVER get a true bounce on those damn things. I remember a particulalry humbling CYO game where I decided it was a good idea to attempt a little 10 footer from the baseline against Walt Luckett's younger and far less famous brother - and the guy just freaking pummelled the ball into the seats for my effort. Damn was that an eye opener for me.

My young nephew, Pat Murtha, now plays on the Jockey Hollow team from Monroe and they've recently played in tournaments down at the Sheehan Center. Yet another generation of players starting out at that now historic local facility. Pretty cool. Does anybody remember a game we attended at some tiny gymnasium somewhere - we were there austensibly to see this reported "phenom" from upper NY State somewhere? Highly touted prospect, McDonald's All American - I'm pretty sure his name was Charlie Brown? (believe it or not).

And one of the best games ever at Warde was the Soup Campbell game - Hartford freaking Public playing against Andrew Warde of Fairfield - in Fairfield. Geez. And somebody (as per normal) threw the requisite can of Campbell's soup out onto the court at some point during the game...I also remember driving out to Providence RI with Bob and others one Saturday afternoon to see some excellent college tournament games featuring the Friars as well as URI - both of which had pretty good teams in those days...Man, did we see some great basketball back then. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Joe Murtha

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".