B-A’s ’73-’74 team honored in crowded house
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By Michael Boytim
mboytim@altoonamirror.com
BELLWOOD -- It wasn't in the same gym as 50 years ago, but Friday night there were plenty of conversations that echoed those from a half century ago as members of the Bellwood-Antis 1973-1974 boys basketball team that went 22-0 in the regular season gathered for a ceremony celebrating the anniversary of their accomplishment.
"They were a great team," said the head coach of the team, Michael Sakash. "We played a fast-paced game and scored a lot of points. We pressed all over the floor, all the time. The guys were great and fed into the system. They were just great players."
Sakash along with assistant coach Greg Perry and many of the players and managers from the team made it to Friday's ceremony.
Bellwood-Antis won back-to-back Juniata Valley League championships, and the '73-'74 team had three eventual JVL Most Valuable Players on the squad. Calvin Shoenberger won it the year before the unbeaten season, Thomas Otto the year B-A went 22-0 and Gary Hribik, who was a year younger, the next season.
"They were really good," Perry said. "Tommy Otto was a shooter, Gary Hribik was a shooter and Calvin Shoenberger was a rebounder. He was probably 6-foot-4 or something, and back then that was a big kid."
Other members of the team included Michael Moses, Lee Gingery, Ted McClellan, Bruce Clark, Daryl Nearhoof, Joe DelGrosso, Carl Crider and Dean Shaffer. Ricky Sprankle and Richard Dillen were team managers.
"This all started in 70-71 when Mike Sakash's junior high team went 11-1," Nearhoof said. "He knew what he had coming up, so naturally when the opportunity arose, he took the head coaching job. We won the JVL in 73, it was our first in 23 years."
Several players and coaches brought up Shoenberger's tendency to find himself on the floor after going all out for loose balls.
"In '74, we had a well-balanced team with anybody capable of scoring in double figures," Nearhoof said. "We had a solid bench that always played well when they were needed because of foul trouble, Calvin crashing into a wall or someone just needing a break. A couple games were pretty close, but I often wondered how many times we would have broken 100 points if they had the 3-pointer back then."
That Bellwood-Antis team did set a school record, scoring 109 points against Claysburg-Kimmel that still stands today.
"Everyone had their own role to play, and everyone fulfilled that role," Sakash said. "Whether they were the MVP or the eighth guy coming off the bench, they had a role and all did a great job."
Hribik became the first Bellwood-Antis player to score 1,000 points in his career.
"My senior year, I made All-American," Hribik said. "I had 1,161 points. That was before the 3-point line. A lot of people don't realize that, and we still averaged 80 points a game."
One of the most talked about memories among the players was the great shape everyone was in due to Sakash's intense practice schedule.
"That's why we had such a great team, because we all worked well together," Hribik said. "In the old gym, the hours we put in with Coach Sakash, me, Joey DelGrosso and Carl Crider, we came right out of football right into this so we were in great shape. We ran the press and ran teams to death."
Friday, there was no running other than an occasional jog to meet an old friend for a big hug.
"It was really nice to see everyone, visit with them a little bit and share some stories," Otto said. "When I think back, it was just a really talented bunch of guys. Calvin Shoenberger in the middle, Gary Hribik on the left wing, Daryl Nearhoof on the right wing, Carl Crider inside and Mike Moses and Joey DelGrosso and Dean Shaffer and guys coming off the bench. It was just a really good, talented group that was fun to be around."
The night ended the way many did 50 years ago, with a Bellwood-Antis win and plenty of laughs with friends and family.
"We're going to get together after this game, eat some food and talk about all the old times," Nearhoof said.