50 Years Ago: Rogers State Champs

I wonder if anyone has written about one of the best high school basketball teams the area has ever seen:  Rogers High, '62 - '63.

It was the addition of sophomore Stan Moody to seniors Don Kaull and Charlie Holder, and junior Bob Suggs, that elevated this team to a distinctly superior level.   I know that ProJo writer Paul Kenyon remembers this team well.

The highlight of the whole season was playing league rival, LaSalle of Providence, in the playoff semi-finals. During the regular season, Rogers won by two or three points up there, and by only one point at home. But in the third match-up, during the playoffs, Rogers played exceedingly well. Charlie Holder had his best game ever, with 24 points, and the Newporters won big, something like 78 - 51.

The state championship game against Tolman of Pawtucket was a bit anti-climatic.   It would not have been close but for an awful third quarter in which the Vikings scored only eight points.

Yes, they played eight-minute quarters in those days, and actually shot the one-shot fouls, too. There were lots more jump balls (and rightfully so), including when two players had equal possession. There was no three-point shot in those days, of course, but the referees were generous to the player on offense. Many times they would call a foul on a defensive man that didn't even touch the player with the ball. It was, in many ways, a better game then.

And I wonder how many Newporters can remember when the world champion Boston Celtics played an exhibition game in Rogers' then-new gym, against the Minneapolis Lakers (w/ Geo. Mikan).  And the Boston players drove to the game in their own automobiles! I wonder if they got a "mileage" expense:  LOL.