The 1965 Mattawamkeag High School boys' basketball team: #42 Randy Murphy, Dave Gordon, George Smith, Ed Madden, Steve Carr, #20 Lindy Wotton, #43 Wyman Russell, Clarence Thompson, Dennis Libbey, #24 Bob Leathers, #10 Steve Pine, Chuck Boutot, ?, Larry Wotton, Gerry Ogden, not sure on #32.
Baseball great Ted Williams poses in front of the Bon Ton on Main St. in Lincoln with a Miss Greater Lincoln (identity uncertain) circa early/mid 1950s. The local consensus was that the girl was Muriel Applebee from the Howland/Enfield area. But, we now have irrefutable proof she IS NOT the girl with him in this photo. So, we're back to square one! If anyone has any information about this photo or the girl, please e-mail us. Thanks! The negative is long gone, and as far as we know, there is only one print still in existence - ours
UPDATE: May, 2008 - The girl in the photo with Ted Williams is his second wife, Lee Howard. It was taken in 1961 and is VERY RARE as few, if any, photos exist of the two of them together.
LINCOLNMAINE.US EXCLUSIVE!!!
At 89, oldest living LA bb player living in Lincoln
In 2007 the Lee Academy girls' basketball team coached by Ron Weatherbee had just won the Eastern Class D and State Class D girls' basketball championships! What a team - what a tournament. In 2008, Ron took his LA girls to the state championship again. This time in Class C!
To a smalltown girl born in "Crockertown", playing basketball was fun, but that was about it. State championships and all the excitement and hoopla we have today just wasn't there back in the early 1930's. In fact, the girls' game of basketball was played slightly differently back then. They had six players on the court at a time for one thing! Average team scores of 50 points or so were quite common, too. This young lady enjoyed the game enough to walk home - three miles - after school, walk back to school for practice, and then walk home again afterward!! Hmmm..... She played on the Lee Academy team all four of her high school years, and graduated in 1939. They never went to a tournament. "But, it was such fun!" After high school she actually played for a while for a Lincoln post-grad team made up of MA alumni even though she was a Lee Academy grad! Here's a photo of the 1936-37 Lee Academy team. And the lady, then a sophomore, we're talking about is the first girl on the left in the back row:
One other member of this team is still alive today, but she's six months younger than our subject. They were the "pioneers" 70 or so years ago...... How would that team compare to the teams of today? No comparison can be made. And, that's good because that world and game no longer exits. Ah, but the memories will always be there, passed down through the years to those girls' children and families and so on. Maybe someday I can do a story on how girls' high school basketball used to be played. We'll see..... Of further interest, is the fact that senior foward Dana Houghton from this year's squad is a distant relative! Small world - small town! Our girl didn't go too far away, actually. Her son lives in Chester with his wife and children, and her daughter lives in Lincoln with her husband. She still likes basketball, and, follows the Lady Pandas through the season. In fact we caught her at several games this season, this one in Lee last January:
That's her with the white coat enjoying the game with her niece Carol Marino and sister-in-law Kay Crocker. The Pandas won that game,btw! Will she be watching this year's LA team go for another state championship trophy? "Of course, I'll be watching the game on television. This is so exciting - I wouldn't miss it!" So, who is the oldest living former Lee Academy girls' basketball player? Oh, I didn't mention that I know her did I? Yup, I do. She's my mother-in-law, Hilda Crocker Stockley, Connie and Alan's mother. Now, I betcha you didn't know that! - Lee Rand (copyright 2008)
The 1932 MA boys' basketball team
The 1928 MA basketbnall team.
Here's the boys' basketball team from Howland Hight School, year unknown.
The 1964-65 Mattawamkeag High School Kats had a record of 14 wins and three losses.
The 1946-47 Winn High School basketball team: front row, left to right - Bill Fogg, Jimmie Davis, Capt. Herbert Haynes, Durward Gordon and Lyman Albert. Back row - Frank Dam, Woodrow Lee, Everett Fogg, Dick Fancy, Robert Wyman and Coach Wilkins.
Lincoln's 7th and 8th grade boys' basketball team, 1953 or 54
Back, left to right: Dalton Trott, Wayne Danforth, Granville Keith, Lowell Thurlow, Bob Clifford, Gary McFalls, Bob Moody, Roger Holmes, Elliot Potter. George Albert and Coach McLaughlin
Front, left to right: Dan Murchison, Tim Ludden, Reynold Michaud, Shirley Hamilton, David Gilpatrick, Cox, Earl Bates, Mike Leene and Peter Grant
Photo courtesy of Bob Moody
Lincoln's 7th and 8th grade cheerleaders, probably about 53-54
Left to right: Kay Murchison, Jackie Clifford, Barbara Bowers, Teddy Cobb, Judy Crocker, Sissy Bowers, and Carlene Marin
Front: Gayle Staples and Peggy Dickerson
MA LYNX CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL HISTORY
September 10, 2007 - Hanging on the wall of the MA Gym is the above banner awarded to the Mattanawcook Lynx boys basketball team in 1922 for winning the Maine State Basketball Championship. That was 85 years ago this month. There are no other State Championship banners hanging at Mattanawcook Academy for basketball. That could change, so I thought I'd do a little digging to see what went on these past 85 years and how close the teams of the past came to getting that second banner. With the help of Dennis Lowell and George King I've come up with some information you may find interesting.
Here's a photo of the 1921 MA Lynx. This was the team the year before MA won its only state basketball championship in 1922. Left to right: George Haskell, Lawrence Clark, T. Walcott, Leamon McKinnon, Flub Delano, Raymond Doane and Cub Bryant. Below is a photo of the 1922 state champs.
The boys' teams have not fared well at the Eastern Maine Tournaments in Bangor over the years. Thirty-five years after their only State Championship they defeated Pemetic of Southwest Harbor for the Eastern Maine Class "M" title by a score of 56-46. That was in 1956 and the 1955-56 team went 13-0 before the State game. Quite an accomplishment in those days. And that year, in their only other State Championship appearance since 1922, they lost to Cape Elizabeth 76-51 in Augusta. Since then, the Lynx have only advanced to the Eastern Maine championship game three times.
In 1987 they lost to Calais for the Class "C" title 78-72, and the following year, having moved up to Class "B", they lost to Ellsworth 65-64 in a game that will forever live in the folklore of MA basketball as the game the Lynx should NEVER have lost. But that's another story for another time.
Twelve years later, in 2000, and back in Class "C", the boys lost to Penquis 67-44 in the championship game.
So, there you have it. Now, MA does have a basketball tradition, but, it seems not a lot to show for it. The girls' team, btw, lost to Calais in the Eastern Maine championship game around 1999. And, for you trivia buffs, the combined record for MA boys teams since 1952 (not including this season) is 585 wins and 467 losses.
Now you all know the short history of Mattanawcook Academy championship basketball. Now, here's a little treat for you all!, courtesy of The Lincoln Historical Society, a photo of the 1956 MA Lynx - the last MA team to go to a State Championship Basketball Game.
Front Row, left to right: Manager Paul Gulesian, Roger Holmes, Robert Walcott, Avern Danforth, Linwood Bowers, Dalton Jordan, Elliot Potter, Manager Dorance Clay. Second Row: Carroll Jones, Timothy Ludden, George Albert, Ray Coffin, David Gilpatrick, Charles Clair, Wayne Danforth, Coach Fletcher.
Postscript: On February 24, 2007, the MA Lynx boys' basketball team played in only their 6th Eastern Maine Championship game. In Bangor, they lost to Camden Hills 61-60. And the next year, on February 23, 2008 the MA Lady Lynx went to the Eastern Maine Championship game for only the second time (the other being 1999). They played a very talented undefeated Waterville team. They lost 60-40.
This is the game ball from the 1922 championship, which is now in the display case at Mattanawcook Academy.