The Nebraska High School Basketball All-State Project - Saluting 1962.

1962 State Class B State Champion Gothenburg team. *(photo courtesy of Journal-Star)

The Nebraska High School Basketball All-State Project - Saluting 1962.

By Bobby Mills (1000 Yard Guy)

1962 marked the entry into the basketball world of a remarkable player by the name of Fred Hare. By entry, I would have to say '62 was the 1st year that the masses outside of Omaha really heard of his sensational hardwood magic. One would have to turn back the clock to the 1958-1958 season to fully realize when Freddy Hare made his mark.

Hare was an eighth grader, obviously ineligible for varsity basketball play that year. Former NBA player Ron Boone, a teammate of Fred Hare at Omaha Tech, stated this about his friend. "He didn't practice with us, "said Boone. "They sent his straight to the varsity practices. He was that good."

"Nobody could stop him," said his coach at Omaha Tech, the legendary coach Neal Mosser. "He was so quick and could shoot from any angle."

In my opinion, as is the players from his day, Fred Hare should be mentioned in any conversion regarding Nebraska's greatest basketball players of all time. Trust me on that one. I was fortunate enough to see him play a half a dozen times in his career at Tech.

And now, on to a review of each class and how things developed.

*In Class D, state sports scribes were pretty much evenly divided between Polk and DeWitt as far as pre-state champion selections were concerned. The combined record of the 8 teams that season was 160-15 and 12-7 Paxton had nearly half those losses. Both defending "D" champ Polk and DeWitt entered state tourney play with spotless records. And there was no derailing these two unbeaten clubs on the way to Championship Saturday at the NU Coliseum.

The Polk Cubs were riding high with super star Darwin Hahn, a returning all-stater, and were not be to stopped on this day. DeWitt did a nice job bottling up Hahn, holding him to a 9 points for the afternoon, including only one field goal during the final 16 minutes of the contest. DeWitt rallied from a 28-17 halftime deficit to close within 32-30 at the 1:30 mark of the 3rd quarter. But DeWitt failed to score the first 6 minutes of the Money quarter and Polk held on for a 41-34 win and in the process nabbed their second consecutive Class D title.

The All-Tournament team was nearly a sweep for Polk and Dewitt, as the finalists landed 4 of the 5 slots. The State Champion Cubs had seniors Darwin Hahn and Regy Green take 2 spots on the state tourney dream team squad, while runner-up DeWitt grabbed another pair with Don Lewien and the talented Dwight Tiejten. Creighton St. Ludger ace Jerry Closter took the remaining slot. If it weren't for the multi-talented Closter, a spectacular sophomore from Sumner named Ron Simmons may have made this team. Simmons went off for 28 in an opening round loss.

*In Class C, 1961 runner-up Fullerton made a return trip to Lincoln despite a regular season of 14-8 but when you have Ray Ehlers as a head coach, anything is possible. LeRoy Zentic led his 7-13 Tecumseh team to the Big Show and if you think about that, the Indians had to have won only 4 games entering district tournament play.

The talk of Class C had to have been centered around Jerry Heuser's 23-1 Spencer team with the remarkable Kopecky twins, although 23-0 Alma was certainly no slouch. With 21-2 Utica and 18-1 Wayne Hahn included in that field, this group of 8 teams was as solid it gets. But it was a first round of "upsets" that dotted the 1st round of this 1962 tournament.

Utica knocked off previously undefeated Alma, 60-58 on two late free throws and a 30 point performance by Skip Semin. Dodge, who upset powerful Elkhorn in the playoffs, sent Hemingford back to the Panhandle with a resounding 64-42 thumping. A taller Fullerton team dominated the boards, sending Tecumseh to the showers, 64-54, and Spencer, led by Ron Kopecky's 31, overcame a 33-22 halftime deficit to defeat Wayne Hahn, 65-59 in the first round Thursday.

Spencer was too much for Fullerton in the semis, sending Fullerton home 55-37 to earn their 25th win of the year. The Pirates were battle ready, having survived Class C's most rugged district and regional playoff. In the other semi,a young Utica squad with 2 juniors and a sophomore in the starting lineup, dropped Dodge, 67-57 to set up a Saturday 1:45 finals meeting with Spencer.

In that final, the Kopecky boys were just too much, both offensively and defensively for Larry Semin and Utica. While Ronnie Kopecky was shutting down Semin, twin brother Leonard was grabbing game scoring honors with his 27 points in Spencer's resounding 63-47 championship win. Utica's all-state Larry Semin could manage one one field goal and 5 points that afternoon.

Ronnie Kopecky set the Class C tournament scoring record with his 3 game total of 73. Both Kopeckys made the Class C All-Tournament squad, as did Utica's Larry Semin and teammate Terry Lewis. Dean Hacker of Alma was also named to the team.

*Class B had an overwhelming pre-tournament favorite in the powerful Gothenburg Swedes. Herman Hinkle's Dawson County dandies seemed the class of a field that included teams with an average of 4 losses each. Lurking on the other side of the bracket though, was a high scoring, high flying bunch from Blair.

Gothenburg had it's hands full with Syracuse in the opening round, finally resorting to an 8 minute stall to slow down the Rocket scoring parade. The Swedes finally pulled out a 69-66 win. On the other hand, the Bears from Blair put on a scoring exhibition of their own, scorching Bloomfield 90-57. Blair set a tournament record with that 90 point outburst.

In the semis, Blair sent a very good Grand Island Central Catholic team to the sidelines with a resounding 71-59 win over surprising GICC. The Crusaders had scored nearly 3 points a minute in their 1st round 84-51 upset pounding of Mitchell. in that game, Central Catholic's Tom Woitaszeski set a couple of state tournament records. The Crusader sharpshooter put his name in the record books with his 14 field goals and 31 points in that Thursday game. Blair was money from the charity stripe in that GICC semi final game, nailing 27 of 39 free throws as the Crusaders fouled, frantically trying to get back into the game. My childhood hero, Facebook friend, Jerry Pittman probably would just as soon forget one of those fouls.

Gothenburg relied on it's precision and outside shooting to overcome a taller rebounding Seward team, 62-58. It certainly looked like a Blair state title to me at the time, but what did a 14 year old kid know?

The Swedes withstood heavy defensive pressure the entire game from Blair, and when star shooter Fred Williams was off his game, Ron Hudson and Jerry Tetley took turns at the gunning department. A Gothenburg player who wasn't even introduced at the beginning of game, George Phillips, got the Swedes off and running by scoring the first bucket of the game. It was Tetley that provided the Swedes fireworks in the 3rd quarter with his 5 field goals, but it took the 4th stanza heroics of Ron Hudson to counter Blair's one-two punch of George Peterson and Paul Refsell to win the game. Between the long range bombing of Peterson and the inside basket weaving of Refsell, it appeared Blair would take the measure of the undersized Dawson county boys.

In the end it came down to a bucket with 1:27 seconds left by Gothenburg's willowy Fred Williams that gave the Swedes a 60-58 lead, which they held on to until the final 64-58 count. I kind of laughed years down the road remembering the two communities, one primarily Swedes, the other Danes, duking it out like two Scaninavian countries beating on each other like the old days.

*In Class A, the pre-tournament pick by many went to Ed Johnson's Lincoln Northeast Rockets, but it certainly wasn't unanimous. The Neal Mosser Omaha Tech team was waiting in the wings to get another shot at a tournament run. The Trojans had been eliminated in the opening round the previous year by eventual champion Fremont.

In the opening round, a 6-6, fifteen year old sophomore from Creighton Prep, Wally Anderzunas, set a single game, individual scoring record by throwing down 30 points in an 80-57 loss to Hastings. Neither Northeast, nor Tech looked overly impressive in the round. Northesast seemed to go through the motions in a 69-58 win over Gering, and Tech disposed of defending champ Fremont, 62-54 in a similar manner.

A title game between Tech and Lincoln NE was set up when Ed Johnson's crew sent a good Omaha Benson team to sidelines with a 64-58 win. A lad named Jerry Motz iced the win with a basket and ensuing converted free throw with just 10 seconds remaining. Meanwhile, Omaha Tech defeated an equally talented Hastings team as Fred Hare put on a show for the crowd of 10,000 NU Coliseum fans. The magical Hare poured in 27 points, cleared the glass on numerous occasions, and did some Harlem Globetrotter like behind-the-back dribbling that wowed the fans....but not Hastings.

The finals showdown essentially came down to the Omaha Tech bench and it's 3 technical fouls which led to an evaporation of a 58-53 lead. The clock read 4 minutes 50 seconds left in the game when the fireworks began.

A foul was whistled against Tech's Jimmy Carter in the the Trojans offensive side of the court, which Tech claimed, should have given Northeast the ball out of bounds. Instead, the Rockets Chuck Squier was sent to the free throw line. Tech coach Neal Mosser protested the call and was accessed a technical. Squier, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, hit both ends of his one-and-one, Northeast star Dave Lebsack nailed both technical shots, pulling the Rockets to within 58-56.

Tech then shot back out in front 64-61. With 1:19 remaining in the contest, Tech's Joe Williams and Northeast's Squires wrestled for a loose ball and a jump ball was called. Williams then threw a punch at Squires and was promptly ejected from the game. As an official took Williams to the bench, Mosser rushed onto the court, dropped to his knees, protesting the call.

Williams action resulted in a personal foul and Squires cashed in both charity tosses, then Lebsack once again sank his 2 technical foul free throws. Now the two teams were knotted at 64. The Rockets Jon Ogden hit a layup to give his team a 66-64 lead following the frey. Tech's Fred Hare then raced down court to try to tie things again but traveled. In the waning seconds of the game, NE's Skip Peterson was intentionally fouled as the official went to the scorers table to report the foul, Mosser said to him, "If I ever saw anyone throw a game, it had to be you" Of course, a 3rd technical was accessed against Tech. The Rockets Peterson and Lebsack both sank their free throws with only 2 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, NE took the ball out of bounds and a Rocket player simply threw the ball to Tech's Carter, who did not have time to get a shot off. Game over, Lincoln Northeast 68-64 Omaha Tech. An unfortunate ending to a great basketball game.

...And now................................

1962 All-State Teams:

*As selected by the Lincoln Journal-Star

*Class D All-State Team*

Dwight Tietjen-DeWitt - 6-2, 180, Senior

Darwin Hahn-Polk - 6-2, 180, Senior

Jerry Closter-Creighton St. Ludger - 6-6, 185, Senior

Jon Brewer-Decatur - 6-1, 175, Senior

Ron Simmons-Sumner- 6-1, 165 Sophomore

*Darwin Hahn is a repeater from 1961 and led his team to back-to-back state championships. Simmons, one of the purest shooters I ever saw, had a phenominal Fort Kearney Conference tournament to seal hsi all-state slot. Tietjen, of course, led his team to an appearance in the "D" finals.

*Honorable Mentions: Dave Rama-Thedford, Stuart Geis-York St. Joseph, Dan Tesar-Dorchester, Regy Green-Polk, Steve Voss-Shelby, Ron Vlasin-Madrid, Ron Moxham-Chester, Gerald Kruhling-Hildreth, Ron Kleinschmidt-Shickley, Jerry Metzger-Garland, and Emmitt Bosshamer-Amherst.

*Class C All-State Team*

Ronnie Kopecky-Spencer - 6-2, 180, Senior

Leonard Kopecky-Spencer - 6-1, 185, Senior

Rich Hill-O'Neill- 6-7, 170, Junior

Denny Dau-Elkhorn - 5-9, 145, Senior

Larry Semin-Utica- 6-2, 165 Junior

*1962 marked the first time in Nebraska high school basketball history that brothers made an all-state team. The Kopecky brothers, Ronnie and Len were certainly deserving. Semin was a slick, sharp shooting, ball hawking player for Utica, and O'Neill's Hill was remarkable for being 6-7 yet weighing only 170 pounds. Must have been a vegeterian. No burgers and fries for that dude.

*Honorable Mentions: Clyde Means-Tilden, Rick Speer-Hemingford, Jim Muller-Bennington, Roger Kort-Blue Hill, Chuck Hoy-Hastings St. Cecilia, Bob Samuelson-Franklin, Leland Timmerman-Verdigre, Steve Leininger-Fullerton, Jerry Holmberg-Lyons, Jim Fluckey-Arlington, Ken Liska-Niobrara, and Dean haecker-Alma.

*Class B All-State Team

Jim Tegelhutter-Syracuse - 6-4, 240, Senior

Marv Hopper-Auburn - 6-4, 210, Senior

John McPherson-Ralston - 6-1, 165, Senior

Dick Hahn-Burwell- 6-3, 165, Senior

Jerry Tetley-Gothenburg - 5-10, 150 Senior

*A couple of rugged big boys on this squad in Tegelhutter and Hopper. Tettlehutter at 240 pounds was immovable in the paint and Hopper was so tough at 210 pounds. Burwell's Dick Hahn was a stringbean for Freddy Northrup's Longhorns but could bang with the best of them in that lane. McPherson, Hopper and Hahn labored with weaker teams but fared very well against collapsing defenses.

*Honorable Mentions: Stan Simpson-Mitchell, Gary Dubbs-Wood River, Bob Tesmer-Grand Island Central Catholic, Larry Lichti-Geneva, Rich Kuenning-Syracuse, Bill Moorman-Cozad, Jerry Peterson-Minden, Ken Williams-Gothenburg, Tom Morrison-Papillion, Rick Olson-Lincoln University High, Dick Beckler-Seward, Ray Palmer-Hooper, Paul Refsell-Blair, Dennis Nelson-Valentine, and Don Larsen-Wayne.

*Class A All-State Team

No Class A all-state team that year, only "Overall All-State"

*1962 All-State Team (predecessor to Super-State)

Fred Hare-Omaha Tech - 6-1, 175, Junior

Dave Lebsack-Lincoln Northeast, 6-0, 170, Senior

Grant Simmons-Omaha Benson - 6-3, 187, Senior

Al Motley-Hastings - 6-3, 170, Senior

Jerry Webb-Gering- 6-3, 185, Senior

*Fred Hare: The most spectacular player the state and only a junior. With Globetrotter type moves, magical ball handling skills and pinpoint, deadly accurate shooting, Hare was something to behold.

*Lebsack: Probably the least spectacular of the all-staters, Lebsack missed the first 4 games of the season for Northeast, but when he came back, the Rockets never lost a game with his 18 ppg.

*Simmons: Top notch college prospect out of Benson. The 6-3 Simmons could shoot well from the outside, rebound well, and could execute the dribble drive with remarkable precision. Simmons was all-state in football, basketball, and baseball at Benson and was tabbed All-American in football and basketball his senior season. Simmons went on to enjoy a successful hoops career at Nebraska and was the 1st player in Husker history to be selected as Dell Sports All-American in basketball and All-Academic in the Big 8 Conference.

Simmons went on to play in the ABA for the Denver Nuggets from 1967 to 1969. In 1993, he was selected to the University of Nebraska Basketball Hall of Fame and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

*Motley: Scored over 20 points in a game 8 times and missed scoring double figures only once in 1962 because he played so little in that game. Averaged 17 ppg and 13.3 ppg in his career. Consistent performer for the Tigers.

*Webb: Stood head and shoulders above anybody in the Western part of the state. Webb averaged 20 ppg and nearly that in rebounds. This 6-3 dynamo was selected as the post player on this squad. Some compliment for a 6 foot three player.

*Honorable Mention Class A/All-State team: Bill Marshall-Grand Island, Wally Anderzunas-Creighton Prep, Bob Witte-Omaha Benson, Duane McAndrews-Boys Town, Joe Williams-Omaha Tech, Doug LaPage-Lincoln High, Skip Peterson-Lincoln NE, Jim Ebers, Dick Mendenhall-Fremont, Stan Krehbiel-Columbus, John Luckesen-Omaha Westside, Bob States-North Platte.