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Basketball history yields surprises
Published 7:17am Monday, December 7, 2009The late Barney Gervais practiced dentistry in Fergus Falls for many years. Also working in this community was the late Jim Buckley, an optometrist. I had known that Gervais starred as an athlete at Marshall High School, in southwestern Minnesota.
Just last week I learned that Gervais and Buckley both played in the 1942 Minnesota state boys high school basketball tournament. Gervais and his Marshall teammates lost to Buhl by one point in the finals.
Former State Sen. Cal Larson provided copies of both 1942 and 1943 state high school basketball tournament programs. Larson grew up in Badger, Minn., down the road from Roseau. Buckley’s hometown of Bagley is located west of Bemidji.
Jim Buckley’s younger brother, Eugene, was also on the 1942 Bagley team. The Buckleys were uncles to Jim Welander of Fergus Falls.
Jim’s late father, Oscar, also a Bagley native, played in the state high school basketball tournament in 1927.
“My dad jumped center against Bronko Nagurski when Bagley played International Falls,” said Welander. “In 1927 high school basketball, depending on the school, was often played on half-court floors with low ceilings. This was before the jump shot became popular. I’m told my dad’s uniform is in the trophy case behind glass at Bagley High School.”
Sister’s Brigetta and Carmella Buckley, nuns and sisters of Jim Buckley, live at a convent in Crookston. They remember the family’s basketball history very well.
“It was exciting when our youngest brother, Eugene, threw the ball the full length of the court and the ball dropped into the basket,” said Sister Brigetta. “This was just as the buzzer sounded to end the game, sending Bagley into the state tournament. The other players put Eugene on their shoulders and carried him around for joy. Everyone was so proud of him.”
Sister Carmella Buckley was teaching music in Detroit Lakes at that time and cut out articles and photos in the various newspapers, including the Minneapolis Star. She made a scrapbook for both brothers, Jim and Eugene.
Sister Brigetta, Sister Carmella, and Bill, Jim, and Eugene Buckley are Jim Welander’s aunts and uncles. Their sister was his late mother, Margaret Buckley Welander, of Fergus Falls.
“My parents, Oscar and Margaret, grew up across the street from each other, in Bagley” said Jim Welander.
Not many high school sports were offered in the 1930s and 1940s. However, Jim and Eugene Buckley played sandlot football. Bronco Nagurski went on to football fame at the University of Minnesota.
Taking a closer look at the Minnesota State High School League sports record book, I read about Breckenridge winning the 1940 state boys title with a 43-40 win over Red Wing. Playing for the Cowboys was Cid Cichy who went on to become a renowned football coach at Shanley High School in Fargo. One of his players was Roger Maris.
Seventeen years later, in 1957, Fergus Falls High School took third in the state boys basketball tournament, finishing with a final record of 27-1. The Otter boys have appeared eight times at state, in 1916, 1917, 1920, 1957, 1984, 1986, 1990 and 2004.
The Hillcrest Comet boys went to state in basketball in 1999 and 2001. During the 1970s, before Hillcrest joined the Minnesota State High School League, the Comets won the National Invitational Basketball Tournament held in Arkansas. Coach for the team was Bill Colbeck.
Basketball is rich in history in Fergus Falls and throughout Minnesota.
