THE GOLDEN YEARS OF BASKETBALL

The Ossian high school's girls' basketball teams began to dominate this sport in Winneshiek county during 1933. The championship team this year included these players: Helen Dvorak, Anetta Aslaksen, Jean Nicholson, Leona Winn, Mildred Mundt, Charlotte Witt, Pearl Dvorak, Kathreen Gunderson, Irene Hanson and Marie Hendrickson.

The next year these girls were joined by Donna Witt, Mildred Anderson and Jeanette Egeland. This team was again champions of the Little Four League with a record of 8-1-1.

In 1935, L. J. Radtke replaced Clarence Fjelstul as superintendent at the Ossian public school. Mr. Radtke took over the duty of instructing the girls team. He proved to be an excellent coach. The only mention of competition was an account of Ossian's victory over Fort Atkinson by the amazingly low score of 6 to 4. This contrasts with a 103 to 6 walloping of the Lawler girls in 1942.

The local businessmen recognized the excellence of both boys and girls teams during the 1937-38 season. They distributed 1200 free tickets for a contest with Fort Atkinson at the opera house. Both local teams were victorious in this competition. They were champions of their leagues as well.

The girls sextette was the subject of a flattering writeup in the sports section of the Des Moines Register during the 1938-39 season. An accompanying article on the Boys five featured "Gabby" DeCou. Joining DeCou on offense were forwards Art Baker and Vic Bonfig; Herb Sersland and Ernie Stangland played the guard positions.

The roster of the girls team included: Lois Huether, Norma Nicholson, Goldie Elleson, Constance Woods, Elaine Huether and Mildred Peck--forwards; Iva Nell Ginap, Geneva Huber, Arline Soreide, Eileen Green, Opal Jones and Darleen Amdahl— guards. These girls won the district title of Northeast Iowa. They were eliminated in state play by Massena in a 24 to 22 barnburner at Des Moines. The team was honored at a banquet hosted by the faculty and board of education. Glen Oyloe presided as toastmaster. He called on each squad member for brief remarks.

During the 1940-41 season, the OPS girls under the expert coaching of Supt. Radtke, enjoyed another winning season with 12 successive victories. They were champions of the Turkey Valley Conference and Winneshiek county for the third consecutive year.

The DeSales boys basketball team joined the newly-formed Upper Iowa Catholic Basketball League. They defeated St. Josephs of Elkader in the final game of the class C tourney to become conference champions. Gerry and Ed Becker were named to the all-conference team. Other members of this team were; Harold Scheidel, Clete Bodensteiner, John Andresen, Rodney Buddenberg, William Weir, Billy Dessel, Hugo Barthelme and Tommy Scholz. The Rev. Roman Schares was the manager and Phil Durnan