1948 Greyhounds finished fifth in the nation

In Tuesday's edition, it was stated that the Fort Scott Community College men's basketball team won a regional tourmament in 1947 and advanced to the national tournament in 1948 but that there weren't any details in the Tribune's files.

But you can't put anything past Thomas "Mike" Goddard, a former Fort Scott resident who has been keeping track of high school and collegiate records for countless years.

Goddard wrote in Tuesday with some details about those past Greyhound teams.

There was a "national" tournament from 1945-47, but it was an invitational. This tournament wasn't run by the NJCAA but the governing body does recognize the winners as national champions for those years. Most of the teams in the tournament were from California or west of the Mississippi. Fort Scott would have qualified for it in 1947 after beating Hutchinson two games to none in a best-of-three series for the Kansas championship.

Each winner of these invitational tournaments were from California. The majority of schools from that state had withdrawn from the NJCAA by 1950.

The first NJCAA Tournament was in 1948. Fort Scott qualified for this tournament, which was held in Springfield, Mo. According to information on Hutchinson Community College's website, the tournament was a financial disaster. It was moved to Hutchinson the next year. This is now the Men's Division I National Tournament.

How Fort Scott qualified for 1948 Nationals is clarified. The Greyhounds lost a best-of-three series to Dodge City for the state championship. Dodge City won the first game on March 2 by a 71-45 score and the second on March 5 by a score of 62-49.

Fort Scott finished 26-5 that year and two of those losses came in a four-day period to the same team.

The the Tribune then noted that Fort Scott defeated McCook, Neb., 45-44 sometime later and it was this win that got the Greyhounds into the National Tournament. But there weren't any details.

Goddard explained that there was a Midwest Regional Tournament held following the state championship here in Fort Scott. There were two brackets with each winner going on to nationals. Thus, Fort Scott and Dodge City didn't have to face each other again.

Teams in the regional included Missouri schools Moberly, Southwest Baptist, St. Joseph, Iowa schools Ellsworth, Marshalltown and Graceland, and Nebraska teams Fairbury and Norfolk. Also attending were Pueblo, Colo., and Casper, Wyo.

Several of these schools are now four-year schools. Southwest Baptist and Graceland retained their names. St. Joseph became Missouri Western.

The Greyhounds didn't have to play their first scheduled game on March 10. Fairbury failed to show and Fort Scott received a forfeit.

The next day, the 'Hounds defeated Southwest Baptist, 51-42. In the semifinals, Fort Scott beat Graceland, 65-60. And Then Fort Scott beat McCook in the finals.

Fort Scott finished fifth in the nation in '48. The Greyhounds played four games at the National tourney. They lost in the first round to Tyler, Texas, 66-60. Leading scorer Gerald Beaman had to stay behind as his wife delivered a baby that day.

Beaman returned to play against Brewton-Parker, Ga., the next day. The Greyhounds won that game, 47-41.

Then Fort Scott defeated Moberly in the consolation semifinal, 54-40. On March 27, the 'Hounds defeated McCook again, 60-58.

Fort Scott's 26-5 record that season under Russell Davee is still the school record for victories in a season. He left the school after the season with a two-year record of 44-6. He was also 2-0 as interim football coach in 1946.

The top four finishers in the Fort Scott regional ended up in the tournament. As stated, Fort Scott and McCook met again. Moberly was also invited when other schools were unable to make the trip and Dodge City was invited when Beckley, W. Va., said it wouldn't be able to attend just three days before the scheduled start.

Dodge City finished fourth in the tournament, beating Duluth, Minn., 58-54.

What other two teams beat Fort Scott that year? Hutchinson won the second game of the season over the Greyhounds, 46-45. They won six straight before dropping a 38-32 verdict to Coffeyville. Then they won their next 10 before the losses to Dodge City in the state finals.

Names to know from that team. Beaman, whose brothers Curtis and Harold were also on the team, coached Fort Scott in 1953-54 and 54-44. Charlie Watt coached Fort Scott High School football from 1952 to 1960, FSHS basketball from 1952-57 and FSCC's men in 1957-58 and 1958-59.

Other players who went on to coach and teach were Richard Booth, gerald Falletti, Bernard (Bun) Hayes, Bill McFarland, Glenn Watt and Bill Weatherbie.

This is the complete 1947-48 schedule, provided by Goddard: