| On a snowy, blustery night in February, 1946, post-war basketball fever hit Ypsilanti in the form of an impending rematch between the local Michigan Normal College and Wayne University from Detroit. The visiting Tartars were considered one of the best teams in the state despite a mediocre 6-5 record. The school was ready to branch out, helping to form a new interstate athletic league called the "Mid American Conference"--something people from Ypsilanti would one day come to know. Wayne had certainly looked much better than the Hurons on December 11 in Detroit, handing the Normal College a 45-31 defeat. College athletics experienced a boom in the post-World War II era. Interest in basketball at Michigan Normal soared to an all-time high. Three starters, Howard Messenger, Charles Sampier, and Ed Gilday had returned from service in the war and were playing once again in Ypsi. "We had a mixture of guys from before and after the war," remembered Sampier. He and Gilday were forwards and Messenger, at 6'4" Normal's tallest starter, jumped center. The veterans blended with a pair of young guards, Ben Standen and Bob Moffet, who started in the Huron backcourt. Normal's legendary football coach, Elton Rynearson, was serving out the last of four tours of duty leading the basketball team. Rynearson apparently preferred coaching football to basketball but certainly knew how to win at roundball: his 162 career coaching victories rank him only behind Ben Braun in the annals of Huron basketball. This night he was going after win number 160, and it wasn't going to be easy. Rynearson's Hurons had been competitive at least, but not overly successful, compiling a 6-9 record. They were not considered much of a match for the Tartars, who had run Normal ragged during their first encounter. The Hurons' total of 31 points in that first contest was a low-water mark, even in an era of patient, passing offenses. "We ran a lot of set play-type stuff," related Sampier. College basketball was, however, beginning to take the form we know now: center jumps after each basket was discarded before the war, and just the year before unlimited substitution was permitted and defensive goaltending outlawed. The return engagement with Wayne was set for Valentine's Day at the Ypsilanti Central High School gymnasium. A winter storm was in the process of dumping a foot of snow on the state that evening, temperatures dropped to zero, and winds gusted up to 40 miles an hour. The storm didn't keep many fans away, however. Over a thousand spectators jammed the stands and lined the walls inside the gym to see the rematch. |
| While the storm raged outside, a great game heated up inside. The Hurons took a small early lead but Wayne tied it up and went ahead. Neither team could hold more than a three-point advantage, however, and the lead changed hands several times during the first half. Finally, the Hurons edged out in front, 25-23 at the intermission. Rynearson charged up his team at halftime and the Hurons came out flying. Gilday and Messenger scored several field goals and Normal's defense energetically took command of the game. With ten minutes remaining the home team took a commanding 43-33 lead. Physically, however, the Hurons began to wear out. Wayne coach Newman Ertell regrouped his Tartars. Ertell removed star guard Abe Parness (who had started the game despite a knee injury) in favor of a reserve named Dan Arnold. Incredibly, the sub sparked a comeback by scoring nine points in the next eight minutes in the midst of an 11-2 Wayne run. The Huron lead was reduced to just 45-44. Now the game was on the line. A new sense of urgency flowed through the Hurons. Normal set up the offense and got the ball inside to Sampier, who scored to give the Hurons a 47-44 lead with a minute remaining. Rynearson then took advantage of the rules of the day and instructed his team to foul the Tartars before they could move the ball upcourt. Fouls committed on the court resulted in only one free throw, instead of the one-and-one opportunity today. With a three point lead the Hurons could afford the luxury of fouling a Wayne player and let him shoot a single foul shot. Wayne made the free throw and Normal took possession of the ball. Playing perhaps too carefully, the Hurons turned the ball over, giving Wayne one more chance to tie the game. The Central gymnasium was exploding with noise as the Tartars attempted to push the ball upcort before a Huron could eagerly commit a foul. The Normal defense swarmed the ball, and twice committed fouls. Instead of shooting free throws, however, Newman Ertell exercised Wayne's option to take the ball out of bounds and try for the standard two point field goal. It might have been the correct strategy but it did not work. Thanks to some stellar defense, the Tartars couldn't get off a shot before the horn sounded on a dramatic Huron victory. The final box score reveals the Huron veterans had come through again. Messenger and Gilday each scored 14 points; Sampier added 10, six on free throws. The Hurons finished the season with four consecutive victories and a 9-9 record. Although the 1945-46 team was unspectacular, that Valentine Day's game against Wayne still stands as one of the great victories in the post-war era of Huron Hardwood History. Return to: Huron Hardwood History Dave's Attic |
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| Elton Rynearson |
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| February 14, 1946 Ypsilanti, MI Eastern Michigan 47 Wayne State 45 |