Published in the Morton Enterprise on February 25, 1916.
First Victory Here Friday Night With 65 to 15 Score. Tuesday Evening at Olivia Armory Morton Wins With Fine Score of 23 – 18
After a successful victory over Madison about a week ago, a jammed house came back to pay us tribute and to help us down our old rival, Olivia.
To the eyes of many of the local fans it looks as tho Olivia was going to win with their “beef.” The game started with a rush and Morton was fouled. Tatting made the point and the score remained this way until Donlon connected for the first field basket. After this Gaasch, Baker and Orth rolled up the points to a total of 65, while Fuller and Donlon held them down to 15 points.
Gaasch played the best game of his career, getting 18 field baskets and 1 free throw. Baker, his running mate, made 18 points and covered his man at all times. Chief (Orth) played a great game at defense and made twice as many points as his opponent. Fuller as guard, played a very heady game and brought the ball on a dribble the length of the hall a number of times. Donlon played his usual game as guard, holding his man scoreless and making 2 baskets for us.
Alling all it was a surprise to the home fans on account of the size of the visitors. Our H.S. team was outweighed by the Olivia team but victory was due to speed. The visitors were well pleased with the treatment they received and went home planning a victory Feb. 22nd for they ay the “revenge is sweet.”
Final score – 15 to 65. Lineup giving with the following game.
The general rumor was that a defeat would be handed to our team when they went to Olivia on Tuesday after trimming the fast Olivia quint here Friday night.
They arrived at Olivia about 4 o’clock and the first thing to do was to look at the floor which was about sixty-five to fifty feet and was the largest floor our boys ever played on.
After a grand feast at the Central Hotel, the boys went to the Armory and started to prepare for battle.
The game started out very fast and Baker connected for the first basket. Then Morton fouled and Olivia missed several good chances to get in the lead. Gaasch found the wicket for his first field basket and the score stood four and one; then Olivia scored after a few good passes. This ended Olivia’s scouring the first half; and Baker, Gaasch and Donlon found the ring for ten points together. At the end of the first half, the score stood 10 to 3 in Morton’s favor.
The second half saw Morton facing a few changes in the Olivia team. The Olivia guards did nothing else but watch our shifty forwards, but at that they connected for fourteen points from the field. Olivia played a game which meant to lay us out and tried hard to do away with our little guard and forwards.
Orth and Donlon played hard on defense, while Fuller was up against the fastest man on the team and should receive much credit for his good guarding. Morton was always in the lead by five-point at least, in spite of the “fake” score of 20-21 as Olivia is a sideliner had it.
After the game, everybody went home and the team invite themselves to a lunch at the Exchange Restaurant where they met their first Olivia friend that day.
As to the sportsmanship of the Olivia rooters, we stand pat, but that is already told if we look back. It was a rough game and marred by many interferences. Much credit must be given to the referees for their decisions during the game. It was certainly a hard game and although the Olivia boys held us to the lowest score, we considered them about the fifth-best team we played this year. This was the first time Olivia was defeated on the new armory floor and the second defeat in two years, Morton claiming the other victory also.
About 16 fans journeyed with “King” Castle to Olivia and they surely distinguished themselves as rooters. Don Castle made a great hit with the Olivia fans and they even “borrowed” him to lead them in their yells. (Lineup below)
Morton Olivia Gaasch LF Tatting Baker RF Schendel Orth C Dirks Fuller LG Warner Donlon RG Barnard Referees: Martin and Seder. Final score: 18-23.
Olivia Basketball Team 1915-1916Excerpt from the Olivia High School 1916 yearbook! Their commentary on the two games discussed above!
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Last Updated: April 27, 2020 by Renville County Historical Society
BASKETBALL BOYS TWICE DEFEAT OLIVIA
Published in the Morton Enterprise on February 25, 1916.
First Victory Here Friday Night With 65 to 15 Score. Tuesday Evening at Olivia Armory Morton Wins With Fine Score of 23 – 18
After a successful victory over Madison about a week ago, a jammed house came back to pay us tribute and to help us down our old rival, Olivia.
To the eyes of many of the local fans it looks as tho Olivia was going to win with their “beef.” The game started with a rush and Morton was fouled. Tatting made the point and the score remained this way until Donlon connected for the first field basket. After this Gaasch, Baker and Orth rolled up the points to a total of 65, while Fuller and Donlon held them down to 15 points.
Gaasch played the best game of his career, getting 18 field baskets and 1 free throw. Baker, his running mate, made 18 points and covered his man at all times. Chief (Orth) played a great game at defense and made twice as many points as his opponent. Fuller as guard, played a very heady game and brought the ball on a dribble the length of the hall a number of times. Donlon played his usual game as guard, holding his man scoreless and making 2 baskets for us.
Alling all it was a surprise to the home fans on account of the size of the visitors. Our H.S. team was outweighed by the Olivia team but victory was due to speed. The visitors were well pleased with the treatment they received and went home planning a victory Feb. 22nd for they ay the “revenge is sweet.”
Final score – 15 to 65. Lineup giving with the following game.
**************************************************************
The general rumor was that a defeat would be handed to our team when they went to Olivia on Tuesday after trimming the fast Olivia quint here Friday night.
They arrived at Olivia about 4 o’clock and the first thing to do was to look at the floor which was about sixty-five to fifty feet and was the largest floor our boys ever played on.
After a grand feast at the Central Hotel, the boys went to the Armory and started to prepare for battle.
The game started out very fast and Baker connected for the first basket. Then Morton fouled and Olivia missed several good chances to get in the lead. Gaasch found the wicket for his first field basket and the score stood four and one; then Olivia scored after a few good passes. This ended Olivia’s scouring the first half; and Baker, Gaasch and Donlon found the ring for ten points together. At the end of the first half, the score stood 10 to 3 in Morton’s favor.
The second half saw Morton facing a few changes in the Olivia team. The Olivia guards did nothing else but watch our shifty forwards, but at that they connected for fourteen points from the field. Olivia played a game which meant to lay us out and tried hard to do away with our little guard and forwards.
Orth and Donlon played hard on defense, while Fuller was up against the fastest man on the team and should receive much credit for his good guarding. Morton was always in the lead by five-point at least, in spite of the “fake” score of 20-21 as Olivia is a sideliner had it.
After the game, everybody went home and the team invite themselves to a lunch at the Exchange Restaurant where they met their first Olivia friend that day.
As to the sportsmanship of the Olivia rooters, we stand pat, but that is already told if we look back. It was a rough game and marred by many interferences. Much credit must be given to the referees for their decisions during the game. It was certainly a hard game and although the Olivia boys held us to the lowest score, we considered them about the fifth-best team we played this year. This was the first time Olivia was defeated on the new armory floor and the second defeat in two years, Morton claiming the other victory also.
About 16 fans journeyed with “King” Castle to Olivia and they surely distinguished themselves as rooters. Don Castle made a great hit with the Olivia fans and they even “borrowed” him to lead them in their yells. (Lineup below)
Morton Olivia
Gaasch LF Tatting
Baker RF Schendel
Orth C Dirks
Fuller LG Warner
Donlon RG Barnard
Referees: Martin and Seder. Final score: 18-23.
Category: Basketball, Minnesota, Morton, Morton Basketball, Morton Enterprise, Olivia, Renville County Tags: minnesota, morton, Morton Basketball, Morton Enterprise