St. Johns Fighting Irish Basketball of 1942

By Jack Bennett

Gone were Bill Kennedy, Jim Weber, George Laubacher, Phil DeBord, Hal Tope and Breen Malone. Only Joe Drotovick and Jim Dehnke of St. Johns' 1941 quintet would return. Waynesburg, Louisville, Youngstown Ursuline, Campbell Memorial, Minerva, Lincoln and Cleveland's St. Ignatius and Cathedral Latin were on the schedule. Only a wizard could be expected to fashion a winner from such limited resources. Fortunately St. Johns had such a wizard.

St. Johns upset Mogadore 21 to 19 in their opener. Drotovick, Dehnke, Nelson, Palumbo and Tillitski were the starters. They continued to be throughout the campaign. Drotovick and Dehnke threw in 16 points but Class A Lincoln won 37 to 20. They re- gained the victory trail by lacing Navarre, Cleveland's Latin and Notre Dame, Youngstown Ursuline, Coventry and the Alumni. Undefeated state-ranked Louisville was upset 34 to 25.

Copley and Malvern were added to the victory skein. Then disaster struck. The Saints were baffled by Bolivar's tight zone and unable to halt their scoring ace. They fell 36 to 29. It was a case of too much Hatfield and Mutigli and Waynesburg won a thriller 40 to 35. The Campbell Memorial "jinx" proved fatal for the fourth time and they were edged 42 to 39. They ended their string of defeats by crushing Malvern.

Drotovick blistered the nets for 22 points when St. Ignatius was smashed 47 to 30. He added 15 more when Minerva succumbed in the regular season finale. East Sparta had won the Stark county tournament and would be St. Johns' opponent in the first round of sectional play. Drotovick, Dehnke and Tillitski led the way to a surprising 46 to 22 victory. The Crusaders advanced to the district tournament by smashing highly regarded Boston Twp. 50 to 39.

Drotovick tossed in 14 points when they eliminated Amherst 42 to 34. Tillitski led St. Johns to a 59 to 23 win over Orange. Only Fairport Harbor barred their path to the state finals. The dream came to an end when they were edged 27 to 26. Only Tillitski was able to tally with any consistancy and they were unable to block the deadly pivot shots of Fairport Harbor's high-scoring ace.

Dehnke's skills were great contributions to St. Johns' success. The Repository enthused, "Dehnke is the spearhead of St. Johns' offense." Drotovick was named to the Repository's All-County teams although he played for a Class B combine. They wrote, "Drotovick is their sparkplug." He was the most prolific scorer in St. Johns' history. It was a fine last hurrah for two of the finest to don the Green and White of the Fighting Irish.