Scholastic Basketball, 1956
---
City Title
At the
Palestra | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
North
Catholic 68, West Phila. 67 | | | | | | | | | | | |
Bobby McNeill (29 points), Jim Kenny (16) and John "Josh" Keenan (13) paced
North to the win in its first City Title appearance. Playmaker Jack McColgan hit a jumper to break the game's 16th and final tie,
57-57, and McNeill followed 15 seconds later with a three-point play. For West, which scored the final four points to
make things close, Ray "Chink" Scott shot 11-for-24 en route to 31 points and grabbed 25 rebounds.
Public League
Playoffs
SEMIFINALS Doubleheader at the Palestra West 54, Gratz 45 With West ahead, 41-39, Ray “Chink” Scott (26 points) and Hubie
White (13) fueled a seven-point spurt that decided the issue. Leroy “Sweets”
Alexander (21) led Gratz, absent from the playoffs since 1939. Northeast 80, Bok 58 Bob Young (23 points), Herb Adderley (18), sub Gene Lennox (15) and Jim
“Tee” Parham (13) led the barrage. Charles Stewart (26) and Dave Riddick (14)
paced Bok. FINAL At the Palestra West 70, Northeast 58 Ray "Chink" Scott (22 points) and sophomore Hubie White (20) were
best for unbeaten West (17-0), although Carl Lacy and Fred Brockman also hit double
figures with 13 apiece. Herb Adderley (21) and Bob Young (18) topped Northeast, which shot
8-for-25 at the foul line.
Standings
Northeast | 12 | 0
West Phila. | 12 | 0
Gratz | 9 | 3
Bok | 9 | 3
Central | 8 | 4
Dobbins | 7 | 5
Lincoln | 7 | 5
Overbrook | 7 | 5
Bartram | 6 | 6
Southern | 4 | 8
Frankford | 3 | 9
Germantown | 3 | 9
Olney | 3 | 9
Roxborough | 3 | 9
Franklin | 2 | 10
Mastbaum | 1 | 11
Coaches' All-Public
FIRST
TEAM | | | |
Ray
"Chink" Scott | West | 12 | 380 | 31.7
Stan Greenberg | Cent | 12 | 292 | 24.3
Herb Adderley | NE | 12 | 291 | 15.9
Calvin Gore | Gtn | 12 | 325 | 27.1
Bob Young | NE | 12 | 197 | 16.4
SECOND
TEAM | | | |
Jimmy May | Fkn | 12 | 333 | 27.8
Dave Riddick | Bok | 12 | 244 | 20.3
Gerry Lipson | Cent | 12 | 188 | 15.7
Wayne Hightower | Ovb | 12 | 223 | 18.6
Sam Williams | Dobb | 12 | 251 | 20.9
Champs' Rotation
WEST
Coach
Doug Connelly
Record
12-0, 17-1
Starters
Ray
"Chink" Scott
Hubie White
Carl Lacy
Fred Brockman
Saul Schwait
Key
Subs
Elliott Berman
Paul Turner
Harry
"Sonny" Mowery
Catholic League
Playoffs
SEMIFINALS
Doubleheader at the Palestra
North 63, West 53
Jim Kenny scored 12 of his 23 points in a 20-11 third quarter. Bobby McNeill
added 20 points. It was the first time in CL playoff history that teammates reached 20
points. West’s 6-7 John Driscoll scored 25 points, but was held to six in the second
half by North sub Larry Sarafinas.
La Salle 67, St. James 49
Joe Heyer, who’d broken the CL one-game record with 49 points during the
regular season, hit for 18 points. Hugh Brolly (13) and John Simpson (10) also reached
double figures and Charles ‘‘Little Obie’’ O’Brien, son of coach
Charles ‘‘Obie’’ O’Brien, did the ballhandling. Ray Linden (21)
led St. James.
FINAL
At the Palestra
North 48, La Salle 47
The Falcons, making their first appearance in the title game, emerged
victorious when John "Josh" Keenan scored on a last-second rebound basket after
Fred "Zeke" Slaveski missed a jumper and then hustled for the rebound and missed
the follow, too. Keenan scored 16 points, two more than Bobby McNeill (10-for-13 at line).
Hugh Brolly (18) and Joe Heyer (17) led La Salle.
Standings
NORTH | |
La Salle | 12 | 1
North | 11 | 2
Roman | 5 | 8
SJ Prep | 4 | 9
Judge | 1 | 12
SOUTH | |
West | 12 | 1
St. James | 8 | 5
Neumann | 7 | 6
ST More | 5 | 8
Prendergast | 0 | 13
Coaches' All-Catholic
FIRST
TEAM | | | |
Bobby McNeill | North | 13 | 257 | 19.8
Joe Heyer | La S | 13 | 276 | 21.2
Ray Linden | St. J | 13 | 234 | 18.0
Jim Dunn | West | 13 | 178 | 13.7
Hugh Brolly | La S | 13 | 165 | 12.7
Jim Kenny | North | 13 | 256 | 19.7
SECOND
TEAM | | | |
Bob Craig | Neum | 13 | 208 | 16.0
Jim Brown | Prep | 13 | 243 | 18.7
John Driscoll | West | 13 | 164 | 12.6
Bob Goudlock | Roman | 12 | 189 | 15.8
Tony Amendola | Neum | 13 | 146 | 11.2
Champs' Rotation
NORTH
Coach
Ed Scullin
Record
11-2, 22-4
Starters
Jim Kenny
Bobby McNeill
Jack McColgan
John
"Josh" Keenan
Fred
"Zeke" Slaveski
Key
Subs
Tom Samulewicz
Larry Sarafinas
Bob McArdle
Inter-Ac League
Penn Charter (7-3)
On the season’s final day, the visiting Quakers topped Episcopal,
51-41, to win the championship under emergency coach Sam "Duke" Taylor, who was
filling in for Ray Evans (illness). Ollie Powers scored 18 points and had eight in a 10-0
run that closed the third quarter and put Penn Charter ahead, 33-25. The Quakers were the
first team in league history to win an outright title with a winning percentage as low as
.700. Gtn. Academy was second at 6-4.
Standings
Penn Charter | 7 | 3
Gtn. Academy | 6 | 4
Episcopal | 5 | 5
Haverford Sch. | 5 | 5
Malvern | 5 | 5
Fds. Central | 2 | 8
Coaches' All-Inter-Ac
FIRST
TEAM |
Ollie Powers | PC
Jim Weinstein | FC
Dick Crawford | GA
Dave Barry | MP
Roger Colley | EA
SECOND
TEAM |
Sandy Tuttle | HS
Barney
Berlinger | PC
Don O'Neill | MP
Clark Goebel | EA
Fred Krick | HS
Champs' Rotation
PENN
CHARTER
Coach
Ray Evans
Record
7-3
Starters
Ollie Powers
Barney
Berlinger
Harry Hoffman
John McIlvaine
Carl Albrecht
Key
Subs
John Phelan
Howard
Colehower
Pete Budd
Julius Rauch
Author
Published
March 5, 2026
Updated
March 5, 2026
Bracket Chaos: Two Catholic League Powers Crash Out of PIAA Tournament in Stunning Exits
3/19/2026
The Imhotep Dynasty Just Won Its Sixth Straight: Inside Andre Noble's Unstoppable Panthers
3/19/2026
Father Judge's Historic Repeat: How Derrick Morton-Rivera Wrote His Name Into Philadelphia Basketball Lore
3/19/2026