| Boys Basketball
The boys basketball team of Easton High School held there own for several seasons as well. The program produced nine District title teams with one of those teams moving on to win the Regional Championship also. There is very limited information available on the IHSA website (www.ihsa.org) regarding the many great seasons of Easton High basketball lore. We are looking for the team records and coaches names of hte better teams on EHS history.
Several basketball scores were located on a site titled “Illinois Postseason High School Basketball Scores” which can be viewed at the following address:
https://sites.google.com/site/xtmi2000/
1921-22 Mason City District Tournament Coach’s name & record needed
1st Rd lost to Athens 33-23
Athens beat Green Valley in title game.
1943-44 Easton District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Early Rd Scores Needed
Title Game Beat San Jose 29-27 (O/T)
Athens Regional Tournament
1st Rd Beat Mason City
Semi-final lost to Springfield Cathedral 42-15
Cathedral beat Athens in title game
1944-45 32 – 2 District/Regional Champions Coach Lyle Drake
Mason County Tourney Champs
West Central Conf. Champs
Greenview District Champions
1st Rd Beat Kilbourne 64-38
Semi-final Beat San Jose 39-32
Title Game Beat Greenview 32-30
Havana Regional Champions
1st Rd Beat Petersburg 55-29
Semi-final Beat Athens 34-28
Title Game Beat Springfield Feitshans 44-40
Pekin Sectional Tournament
Semi-final Rd lost to Peoria Central 47-38
PEORIA CENTRAL (47): Robertson 18, Weik 15, Blane 10, Koch 2, Bond 2
EASTON (38): Cunningham 15, Lynn 10, Clark 9, Herman 3, Hovey 1.
Peoria Central beat Bloomington in title game
Peoria Central lost in Elite 8 Rd.
| Easton High School Basketball Team of 1944-45 |
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| Submitted by Phil Shadid / Courtesy of Gene Hermann, Bob Kuntzmann, & Ted Connolly |
BACK ROW, L TO R: Paul Jockisch-mgr., Dean Pottorf, John McCoy, Marvin Huber, Dale Phelps, coach Lyle Drake.
FRONT ROW, L TO R: Gerald Riegel, Don Hovey, Stanley Cunningham, Richard Lynn, Gene Hermann, Harold Clark.
From our good friend Phil Shadid regarding the team of 1944-45:
The Hawks won the San Jose Holiday Tournament, the West Central Conference and the Mason County Tournament. A loss to Ashland on Feb. 9, 1945, was their only blemish on the regular season. They then won the District Tourney and beat Springfield Feitshans (44-40) to claim the Havana Regional. In the Sectional at Pekin on March 06, they bowed out with a 47-38 loss to Peoria Central (1038 students). Coach Drake’s boys led the Peoria team entering the fourth quarter, but a 11 point surge by the Lions cost Easton the game.
Coach Drake (also principal) was a graduate of Western State Teachers College (now Western Ill. Univ.) and had a Masters degree from the Univ. of Illinois. He was in his eighth year as coach of the 86-student school. His top players were: 6-3 Gene Hermann, 6-1 Stanley Cunningham, 6-foot Richard Lynn, 5-11 Donald Hovey, and Harold Clark. First off the bench was Gerald Riegel.
The weekly newspaper, Mason County Democrat, ran this profile of the team just before the conclusion of the season: “Except for Cunningham, the others on the team came from farms in the Easton vicinity, and none had played basketball except in high school. The were drilled in the only department of the game which counts: good shooting from any angle of the floor, combined with a fast break and tight defense. All of the players use one-handed shots for both long and short attempts, and take pride in their defense as well as offense. The team as a whole has averaged 45 points per game, to their opponents 26.”
1954-55 IHSA District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
District Scores Needed
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd lost to Havana 71-55
Havana beat Springfield in title game
Havana lost in Sectional
1955-56 Chandlerville District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Semi-final Beat Chandlerville 73-60
Title Game Beat Ashland
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd lost to Petersburg 73-66
Mason City beat Havana in title game
1956-57 23 – 2 Mason County Tourney Champs Coach Ed Reeves.
Lost to Ashland during the regular season
and lost to them in the District tournament.
Easton HS won their conference, and the
Mason County Tournament, and kept the
“Green Duck” for the entire season!
Easton District Runner-Up
Semi-final Beat Greenview 64-48
Title Game lost to Ashland 83-67
1958-59 Easton District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Semi-final Beat Greenview 68-61
Title Game Beat Bath Balyki 61-58
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd lost to Manito Forman 65-57
Mason City beat Athens in title game
1960-61 Greenview District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Semi-final Beat Chandlerville 61-55
Title Game Beat Greenview 65-46
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd Beat Athens 53-46
Semi-final lost to Mason City 66-45
Mason City beat Manito Forman in title game
1961-62 Bath District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Semi-final Beat Ashland 60-53
Title Game Beat Bath Balyki 43-38
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd Beat Pleasant Plains 43-40
Semi-final lost to Havana 58-39
Havana beat Athens in title game
1964-65 Easton District Champions Coach’s name & record needed
Semi-final Beat Ashland 109-67
Title Game Beat Greenview 47-34
Havana Regional Tournament
1st Rd Beat Petersburg 68-66
Semi-final lost to Mason City 67-64
Mason City beat Pleasant Plains in title game
1971-72 19 – 9 Coach Hugh Friday
1972-73 22 – 2 Coach Hugh Friday
1981-82 19 – 8 Coach Doug Graven
1982-83 17 – 10 Coach Doug Graven
1983-84 18 – 10 Coach Doug Graven
1988-89 School’s Final Year Coach’s name & record needed
**From our good friend Phil Shadid:
“Information regarding the MASON COUNTY BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT, which was held for 68 years, and ended in 1989:
EASTON: won 6 County Tourney championships and finished second 9 times!!”
Boys Track & Field
Two Easton High School tracksters made the trip to the IHSA State Finals brought home some hardware. One “kid”, a boy named Holl, won the Class “B” State Championship in the pole vault in 1925!! In 1986, Jerry Payne followed that up with an 8th Place finish in the 800 meter run.
1925B Lyle Roll Pole Vault STATE CHAMPION!!
1986A Jerry Payne 800 Meter Run 8TH Place
Theatre
The Illinois Theatre Festival is the largest, non-competitive high school theatre festival in the world. It was organized in 1976 by teachers from the Chicago suburbs. This festival is still going strong as they perform at the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana) and Illinois State University every other January. Easton High school participated in this festival in 1978 and 1985.
Special Thanks
The photos on this page are courtesy of Jon, Jim, and Dan Wheat taken in January of 2006!
Need More Information
If you have any more information that will help make the Easton High School page complete, please e-mail us at ihsgdwebsite@comcast.net. You can also write to us via real mail at:
Illinois HS Glory Days
6439 N. Neva St.
Chicago, Il. 60631
| Easton Grade School Building |
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| Submitted by Dorothy Fahs |
| Easton Grade School Building 1958 |
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| Submitted by Dorothy Fahs |
| Easton Grade School 5th Grade Team 1958-59 |
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| Submitted by Rich Lascelles |
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