In sports its not easy to be the team that wins its last game of the year and walks off with a championship but that’s exactly what happened on March 20,1971, when the St. Fidelis Falcons defeated WBS St. Nicholas 59-52 in Latrobe, PA.
Coach Jim Meissner knew they had a good team. After all they had played together since they were Freshman. They had size and rebounding, they had scoring, they had passing, and they had an unselfish bond among them. The season would tell just how good of a team they really were as they finished 20-4 for the season and won the P.C.C.I.A State Championship.
Join us as we “take a walk” through that season in pictures and word . . . And thanks to Jim Freeman ('71) for preserving the awesome video of the game!
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St. Fidelis Wins Western
PCIAA ‘C’ Title, 68-66
Falcons Stage Late Ralley
to Decision Wilkes Barre, 59-52
Herman Quintet Outhits Cards
in Final Two Minutes, 10-2
By MIKE SURKALO Eagle Sports Editor
March 22, 1971
©1971, Butler Eagle, Butler, PA
Champions are made of superior stock, sturdy in performance and unwithering in the face of defeat.
The Falcons of St. Fidelis dealt in these superlatives Saturday night [March 20, 1971] at St. Vincent College by winning the PCIAA Class C basketball title, 59-52.
Trailing by one point with exactly two minutes to play, 50-49, coach Jim Meissner’s force outscored rival Wilkes Barre St. Nicholas, 10-2, under pressure conditions to l!take it all.”
If there had to be a No. 1 Happy Man in the audience, it was Meissner, guiding light behind the basketball program at St. Fidelis. But when this fact was mentioned by a close observer of the game, the Falcon mentor easily shrugged off the well-intended message and replied, “No, this was never a one man operation, so many people contributed to make this all possible, particularly Rich Caringola, our assistant coach, and Father Haas, with the JVs. They provided the background and basics.”
Meissner again gave thanks for senior guard Oscar Miller in keeping the Falcons a solid unit under fire and for his junior bench of Mike Catalano, who again contributed greatly. “Really, there’s no way to single out an individual.”
Changes Zone
He did admit changing defenses after the first period when Rich Miscavage and Ralph Szalkowski, the one-two punch from Wilkes Barre, played havoc with St. Fidelis’ 2-3 zone. The two invading Rams from the East entered the skirmish with a combined game average of 41 and after feasting on the Falcon zone in the early going, they were headed toward a 72 point night. Both had four fielders with Szalkowski showing two conversions for 10 tallies and Miscavage one. for nine markers.
The Falcon coach switched to a 1-3-1 zone starting the second round and from here on St. Fidelis cut off the supply of inside baskets for Miscavage and Szalkowski, plus the base line which they were driving for position.
The contest settled down to a give-and-take battle and a game of mementums [sic: momentums?]. St. Fidelis trailed 19-15 after the initial frame and 27-24 at the half.
When Miscavage introduced the second half with a hoop on a drive into the key and Gene Marinelli followed with another, St. Fidelis faced its biggest deficit of the night, seven points, 31-24.
But the Falcons bounced back with eight straight points and the tempo picked up. Senior Darryl Simms, St. Fidelis’ top gun with 17 points, intercepted a pass and dribbled into the key for a basket. After Larry Cresce was charged with an offensive foul, he made up for it with a fielder. St. Nicholas called time, 3:55 to play, and Catalano kept St. Fidelis going when action resumed with two free bids. Then with 3:12 left in the third frame, Mickey Kasunic hit from the floor and St. Fidelis was ahead, 32-31.
Clock Fizzles
The clock at St. Vincent took i this particular moment to fizzle it on the home side of the scoreboard and from here on the Falcon total remained in the 20s. But officials had notified the fans of this condition via the PA system .
Marinelli knotted the count at 32 all for St. Nicholas.
Simms struck for St. Fidelis and Mark Schrode for Wilkes Barre and they were even, 34-34. Simms again found the range [?] and Miscavage countered with a conversion as the round ended, 36-35.
Early in the stretch, St. Fidelis built to a five-point lead, 42-37, on buckets by Jim Freeman and Catalano. St. Nicholas stopped the clock here, 6:28 left in the game.
Szalkowski converted for St. Nicholas and Kasunic for St. Fidelis. Then the former scored from near the boards and Jim Beddall moved into the key for a short set, leaving fhe Falcons one up, 43-42. Beddell changed his with another 'strike from within the key, and St. Fidelis called time, 4:33 left and trailing by one, 44-43.
Catalano and Simms gave St. Fidelis fans something to shout about with successive baskets, 47-44. Miscavage got one back with a short follow-up, 47-46.
With 3:10 to go, Kasunic converted two from the line, Szalkowski matching them with a single shot from the court, 4948. He repeated with an even 2:00 showing on the clock, putting Wilkes Barre in command, 50-49.
Ten seconds later, Catalano made good on two charity attempts, 51-50, then with 1:11 left, hit two more, 53-50. Miscavage produced Wilkes Barre’s final tally of the night here, 0:55 to go, with a short set, 53-52.
The cat-and-mouse game caught up with St. Nicholas here. The Cardinals, in their haste to gain possession of the ball, fouled and St. Fidelis was on target at the profit line, converting six in a row over the final 47 seconds. Miller featured with four and Kasunic with two at the bell. In fact, he was shooting when the Falcons were at the sidelines celebrating their victory,
St. Nicholas lost Szalkowski with 1:11 to go, the two shots Catalano converted as the game-winning points. And Beddall departed with 0:10 to go.
The Falcons made only 19 goals in 73 shots for a poor 26.0 shooting percentage. But they were 21-for-30 in the circle for a fat 70.0 breading and this was the difference. St. Nicholas featured with 23 fielders, but its 6-15 at the line was far short.
St. Fidelis had 18 free throws in the fourth period alone when the Cards were chasing Falcons all over the court. And the Herman combo did well in converting 13 to keep the pressure on St. Nicholas.
The two teams were tied at 2-2, 6-6, 7-7, 9-9, 11-11 and 13-13 before one could take the upper hand. It was St. Nicholas with Szalkowski and Miscavage doing the damage.
It was 19-15 at the first turn and 21-15 at the outset of the second roupd on a basket by Marinelli.
But the game settled down to a clash of turnovers in the second frame with neither side doing anything offensively. Perhaps it was the defense that made the two assaults unsteady and shaky.
St. Fidelis had the deficit down to 25-24 just before intermission but Marinelli changed that with a basket.
The Falcons began to look like a team again in the third frame, picked up its offensive considerably while keeping its defense tough.
In the final analysis, it was the defense that decided the outcome, as often it does.
Simms with 17 points and Kasunic with 16 were mainstays offensively for St. Fidelis with Catalano contributing 10, eight in the stretch. He was 6-for-6 at the line. Miscavage finished the tour with 20 after showing nine in the front chapter, and Szalkowski netted 17 before fouling out. Kasunic featured also with 11 rebounds and Simms with eight. Miller chipped in with three assists.
