The Maquon High School basketball boys brought home three District titles and one Regional title.  Two great seasons listed include the 1940-41 and 1941-42 seasons in which back to back District titles were won.  The boys of 1941-42 took it even farther making a trip to the Sectional by winning the school's only Regional title on top the District title. Unfortunately the coach's names and team records of these teams are not known. 

 

Some excellent research was conducted by Denis Shenaut. Congratulations to Denis for, what I feel,  is some fascinating information about Maquon HS basketball"

 

"In 1931-1932 the basketball team won the County Tournament in Knoxville, and the District at Elmwood (see photo above, players in no particular order: Bernard Cecil, Laverne Cowman, Dale Dalton, Philip Davis, John Leffingwell, Willard Norville, Harold Allen, Wayne Smith, Verne Finney, Cleo Scudder, Gerald Gooding and Gerald Moody. Don Strode as mascot, Lewis Wells (manager) and Charles M. Greeley (coach)) .  In the district tournament the only score I have is the championship game in which they beat Peoria Central 33-19.  The info I have states they beat East Peoria in the first game of the Sectional in Peoria 31-20 and lost to Wenona in overtime two nights later.  I don't know if this was the championship game or not.  There must not have been Regionals at this time because the info I have states the Sectional was played after the District tournament, but this may be incorrect.  The Associated Press listed "Maquon as the third smallest school in the state to win District Cage Tournament".   Charles M. Greeley coached this team.  The team dressed at the school and ran two blocks to the "Opera House turned gymnasium".  The team gym was stove-heated at the time.  The record of this team 16-2. 

 

1931-32  16 - 2  District Champions                     Coach Charles M. Greeley 

 

Denis Shenaut continues:

 

"I also found an interesting article that Tom Wilson of the Galesburg Register Mail wrote on 1-10-06 that stated Maquon played a basketball game on Feb. 11, 1942 in which the ref officiated the game from the balcony.

Tom Wilson wrote:

 

"The "Ref In The Balcony" experiment was tried in Maquon during a game between the Maquon Indies and the London Mills Independents.  This was the first time a local cage event featured a referee calling the game from overhead.  Parry of Maquon did the whistle calling fom the balcony.  Two young men hawked the floor from the sidelines for out-of-bounds infractions and tossed up the ball on jump balls.  A field goal with 20 seconds remaning by D. Watkins gave London Mills a thrilling 34-33 victory.  Eleven fouls were called on London Mills and eight were called on Maquon.  No one fouled out.  This idea came about from the coach at Southern Oregon College by the name of Ean Eberhart.  On Jan. 31, 1942 Monmouth College played at Southern Oregan and it was tried."

 

Tom Wilson is a great fan of athletic history in the Galesburg area and also wrote this article regarding the Maquon teams of 1941 and 1942.  The article appeared in the Galesburg Register on March 07, 2006 (http://www.register-mail.com/stories/030706/WIL_B956OTFF.GID.shtml.

 

                                  " Maquon Fans Enjoy Ride Home From Galesburg"

 

" Is it possible for a high school basketball team with no player over 5'10" and no one weighing more than 145 pounds to have a successful winning season? Could this area team lose consecutive early games to Oneida, Peoria Central, Corpus Christi and Chillicothe and still win 21 games? Could this tiny Knox County school with only a handful of boys to choose from follow up the feat by winning 31 games the following season? Could they actually knock off the Galesburg Silver Streaks in Steele Gym? The answer to all of the above is YES!

The Cinderella story belongs to the Maquon High School basketball teams of 1941 and 1942. Coached by Ken Elliott, who took over the Maquon program after winning 129 games at LaFayette in the previous eight seasons, their success was what dreams are made of.

After a roller coaster beginning during the 1940 pre-Christmas schedule, Maquon caught fire and won the prestigious Knox County Tourney, beating both Abingdon and Victoria. The Orangemen would win the district tournament and 15 of their last 17 games. The 1940-41 team was comprised of Don "Bub" Strode, Bill MacKenzie, Herb Morse, Paul Haynes, Rolland Foster, Harold Dikeman and Bob Van Fleet, who was the only senior.

It seemed improbable, however, the best was to come during the 1941-42 season. Maquon won an incredible 31 games, recording one of the most notable basketball seasons ever by a Knox County school, small or large. Rollie, Bub, Paul, Herb, Dike, Bill, Keith, Harold, Giles, Gene and coach Elliott were names on the tongues of every basketball addict in the Galesburg area. The Orangemen won an astounding six trophies during the remarkable season, including championships in the Princeville Holiday Tourney, the Knox County Tourney, the Oneida District, the Galesburg Regional and the Tomahawk Conference.

In March 1942, The Galesburg Register-Mail reported an aggressive, ambitious and smooth-functioning basketball quintet from tiny Maquon High School pulled one of the biggest upsets in local memory by outplaying and outclassing the Galesburg Silver Streaks at Steele Gym by a impressive 24-17 score. From the outset Maquon bewildered their larger opponents by controlling the ball, the rebounds and sinking their shots with uncanny accuracy. The end result threw about 500 Maquon residents into a gleeful frenzy, which knew no bounds. The ride back to Maquon from Galesburg had to be the ride of a lifetime. The Orangemen would defeat Athens in the Peoria Sectional, however, unfortunately the dream ended in a 46-40 loss to East Peoria.

Keith Morse, Harold Dikeman, Giles Culver, Bill Hulet, Gene Foster, Rollie Foster, Bub Strode, Bill MacKenzie, Paul Haynes and Herb Morse banded together in 1942 to produce one of the most memorable basketball teams in local history.

Tom Wilson is a local historian. Write to him at wilsont29@insightbb.com or at The Register-Mail, 140 S. Prairie St., Galesburg, IL 61401.

 

 

This is not a "typo".  Several small schools competed in boys softball, probably fast-pitch, a very popular game among men in small towns in earlier years, Maquon High was one of these schools.  In fact the boys of Maquon played it so well thast they were crowned County Champs in 1931!

 

See photo to your right, Row 1: Kenneth Martin, Bernard Cecil, Gerald Gooding, Harold Allen, Dale Dalton, Laverne Cowman, Warren Stevens.

Row 2: Coach Lewis Wells, Cleo Scudder, Philip Davis, Wayne Smith, John Leffingwell, Hal Buckingham, Verne Finney, Coach Charles Greeley)!. 

 

 

Sincere gratitude goes out to Denis Shenaut for a great deal of the information provided on this page.  Check out the vintage photo to your right of the ground-breaking ceremony for the new gym and addition to be added to the Maquon High School building.  Those present that day included:

Row 1:  Charles Greeley (teacher), John Polhemus, Simon Anell, Fannie Donaldson, Alva Cramer, Hal Morgan, Haskell Sulteen (mayor).

Row 2:  Ira Moats, Foster McCombs, Ray Simkins (representative), Roy Bowman, Henry Snow (postman)

 

EXCELLENT RESEARCH BY DENIS SHENAUT!!    

 

 

regarding the many successes and accomplishments of Maquon High School please write to us at the address provided.  We are especially anxious to share photos of the old high school building and great teams, coaches, and other accomplishments of MHS.  Photos and information can be e-mailed to us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net.  You can write to us at:

 

Chicago,  Il.    60631