"The Big Blacks"

(Taken from the Point Pleasant High School student newspaper "The Tu-Endie-Wei")

Date : February 27th, 1926

Photo Copy of "The Big Blacks" Story

"The following is from the versatile pen of Duke Ridgley, sport writer on the Herald-Dispatch, and is worth of a place in your scrapbook.

Mr. Jerome Van Meter and his "Big Blacks" have gone from here and nobody in this man's hamlet is sad. You know Van Meter, he's the proud coach of the Point Pleasant basketeers who side-tracked the "Pony Express" Wednesday evening on the home court.

Point Pleasant has three things to answer for - Chief Cornstalk, Griff Smith, and the "Big Blacks." The Mason county metropolis used to be known as the town where the Big Kanawha emptied into the Ohio, but now it is famous for its basketball team.

The cage sport is a funny old pastime. On form Huntington had it on Point Pleasant 1-2-3 in the book of dope. Why? That's an easy one to answer. The "Pony Express" had previously defeated the Van Metermen 24-22 in their home port and without the services of their captain and star guard, Ralph Williams

There is no doubt about it, the Maroon and Blacks have a grand quintet. It has proved its greatness against strong competition. Charleston has twice been licked by Capt. Curry and Company. Proctorville and Gallipolis have been knocked dizzy on two occasions by the Van Meter machine. Spencer took one wallop on the chin and tossed in the towel.

As a matter of record, Huntington and the Tomcats of Ashland are the only clubs that have triumphed over the men from Mason.

The writer would say that the Big Blacks greatest strength in this game of basketball is that OLD WILL TO WIN. We mean to say those Point Pleasant boys seemed to have a tremendous desire to take a victory back to the home folks. That was the spirit they showed Wednesday night.

No observer of Mr. Jerome Van Meter's high-powered cage car would deny them their place in the basketball sun. The mere mention of the Big Blacks sends a shower of shivers down the backs of Huntington fans. But before the combat got under way there was nothing in the appearance of the enemy that would make you think they had any business of giving the Red and Blue any touch of color blindness.

Put shifted-right down to rock bottom, the real success of the Mason gunners was their teamwork. They performed as five men playing as ONE. Teamwork's the thing in any line of concerted endeavor. Paste this on the windshield of your high-powered coupe for future reference.

In ranking the individual stars of the Maroon and Black many would say that Carr, the midget-forward, is the most versatile. Russell the fastest, with Curry, Burdett, and White given distinctive ranking.

Personally, we liked Russell. Yes, we know, he's a guard but we like him nevertheless. To my mind, this boy Russell stands alone at the top of the peak. He can pass, dribble, catch passes, pick plays started by the opposing club, block throws, is fast as a bullet and has a sure eye for the basket. What more can one ask? The writer thinks that White is also a great guard. Look up the box score, which does not lie, and you'll find that Russell and White shut out Ralph Williams from scoring a single point. That is a true PERFORMANCE - you cannot go behind that.

It isn't often that basketball guards attract much attention, but Russell and White are picturesque players. You will find plenty of thrills watching them.

For that matter, any athlete coached by Mr. J. Van Meter of Illinois Wesleyan, is worth risking one eye on."