IHSA's March Madness -- 1955 Boys

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March Madness Record Book

1955 Boys Summary

Boys - Girls | 1954 — 1956

Rockford (West)
State Champions
Front row, left to right: Max Warner, Rex Parker, John Wessels, Nolden Gentry, Fred Boshella, Rod Coffman, Alex Saudargas. Second row: Doug Reed, Bob Washington, Tom Olson, Don Grabow, Joe Digiovanni, Sam Patton.

Box Scores of All Games
First Round
Princeton 60, Moline (H.S.) 58
Shawneetown 61, Park Forest (Rich) 56
Elgin (H.S.) 63, Georgetown 40
Galesburg (H.S.) 77, Paris 66
Rockford (West) 58, Decatur (H.S.) 54
Lincoln 54, Peoria (Spalding) 52
Quincy (Sr.) 70, Chicago (Marshall) 59
Pinckneyville 66, Alton (Sr.) 60
Quarterfinals
Princeton 66, Shawneetown 48
Elgin (H.S.) 66, Galesburg (H.S.) 60 (OT)
Rockford (West) 75, Lincoln 65
Pinckneyville 53, Quincy (Sr.) 51
Semifinals
Elgin (H.S.) 71, Princeton 66
Rockford (West) 54, Pinckneyville 46
Third Place
Pinckneyville 58, Princeton 53
Final
Rockford (West) 61, Elgin (H.S.) 59

Summary of State Finalists

   School                      Coach                     W-L Enroll
1  Rockford (West)             Alex Saudargas           27-1   1550
2  Elgin (H.S.)                Bill Chesbrough          26-4   1299
3  Pinckneyville               Merrill "Duster" Thomas  33-3    440
4  Princeton                   Don Sheffer              32-3    370
   Galesburg (H.S.)            Frank Adams             18-12   1146
   Lincoln                     Paul Johnson            18-12    678
   Quincy (Sr.)                George Latham            29-9   1069
   Shawneetown                 Barney Genisio           32-1    190
   Alton (Sr.)                 Elgie Posey              24-8   1400
   Chicago (Marshall)          Isadore "Spin" Salario   21-3   1800
   Decatur (H.S.)              Gay Kintner              24-5   1965
   Georgetown                  Clovis "Toby" Scott      22-9    298
   Moline (H.S.)               Jack Foley               26-3   1275
   Paris                       Ernie Eveland            27-7    700
   Park Forest (Rich)          Greg Sloan               24-3    600
   Peoria (Spalding)           Don Sullivan             22-6    570

Top Scorers

Scoring Totals of All Teams

Player and School                               G  FG  FT Pts
Joe Ruklick, Princeton                          4  35  34 104
Gary Smith, Elgin (H.S.)                        4  29  14  72
Tom Aley, Elgin (H.S.)                          4  26  16  68
Nolden Gentry, Rockford (West)                  4  26  12  64
Jim Lazenby, Pinckneyville                      4  11  37  59
Fred Boshela, Rockford (West)                   4  19  18  56
John Wessels, Rockford (West)                   4  22   7  51
Paul Hudgens, Elgin (H.S.)                      4  18  11  47
John Daffron, Pinckneyville                     4  17  13  47
Rod Coffman, Rockford (West)                    4  16  12  44

All-Tournament Team

Player & School                              Ht.    Yr.  
Dave Cadwallader, Lincoln                    6-4    Jr.    
Nolden Gentry, Rockford (West)               6-7    Jr.    
Jim Lazenby, Pinckneyville                   6-0    Sr.    
Garrison Newsom, Shawneetown                 5-10   Sr.    
Joe Ruklick, Princeton                       6-8    Sr.

AP Final Regular-Season Poll

No  School                                   W-L
 1  Rockford (West)                         19-1
 2  Moline (H.S.)                           21-2
 3  Centralia                               25-2
 4  Pinckneyville                           25-2
 5  Elgin (H.S.)                            18-3
 6  Toledo (Cumberland)                     27-0
 7  Princeton                               25-1
 8  Collinsville                            21-5
 9  Berwyn-Cicero (Morton)                  17-2
10  Pekin                                   20-3
11  Decatur (H.S.)                          19-4
12  East St. Louis (Sr.)                    19-4
13  Mt. Vernon (H.S.)                       20-3
14  Edwardsville (H.S.)                     21-5
15  Springfield (Lanphier)                  19-2
16  Lockport (Twp.)

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