Early agate
ON THIS DATE
Feb. 2
1954 – Bevo Francis of Rio Grande College scores 113 points in a 134-91 victory over Hillsdale. Francis breaks his own record for small colleges (84), set two weeks earlier against Alliance College.
1967 – The American Basketball Association begins operation with George Mikan as commissioner. The league has 10 teams in two divisions, with franchises in New York, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Oakland and Anaheim.
1968 – Andy Popelas and Marty Foster each score 23 points as California High School routs South Huntingdon 112-44.
1971 – Former PIAA champion Tom Teagarden’s 2-0 decision over Washington’s George Bryant at 112 pounds highlights the Highlanders’ 29-15 victory over the Prexies before 2,000 wrestling fans at Wash High gymnasium.
1979 – Kevin Tony scores 21 points in the first half, finishes with 28 for the game, and Steve Hamay adds 19 as Bentworth defeats defending Class A state champion Geibel 55-51.
1981 – California State College hires Jeff Petrucci as its head football coach, replacing Hal Hunter. A former Cal quarterback, Petrucci was the head coach at Belle Vernon.
1981 – Susan Clair becomes the first Beth-Center girls basketball player to score 1,000 career points after tossing in 16 in the Bulldogs’ 48-28 victory over visiting Monessen.
1983 – Canon-McMillan, the top-ranked wrestling team in the state, defeats host Chartiers-Houston 29-17 before a standing-room-only crowd and an estimated 1,500 fans watching on a closed-circuit hookup in the C-H cafeteria.
1987 – Washington & Jefferson College’s wrestlers defeat Bethany 45-5 to give head coach Jim White his 100th career victory.
1989 – Backup goaltender Wendell Young makes 39 saves to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum. It’s Pittsburgh’s first win in Philadelphia since Jan. 20, 1974. The Penguins go 0-39-3 in Philly during that span.
1991 – The undefeated Trinity wrestling team runs its dual meet record to 15-0 with a 34-25 victory over previously undefeated Meadville. The Hillers entred the match ranked No. 7 in the state while Meadville was No. 2.
1991 – Tim Brown scores 26 points and California University builds a 25-point halftime lead before going on to one of its most lopsided wins ever over Indiana, 112-63, on Fill the Gym Night at Hamer Hall.
1994 – Despite 41 points by Clarion’s Kwame Morton and squandering a 19-point first-half lead, California outlasts the Golden Eagles 118-111 in a double-overtime PSAC West Division basketball game.
1999 – Brett McClain scores 21 points and Canon-McMillan defeats Thomas Jefferson 70-57, giving Big Macs coach Rich Sonson his 300th career victory.
2004 – Lisa Mitchell scores 14 points and surpasses 1,000 for her career as Avella wins a Section 2-A game over visiting California, 55-22.
2010 – Canon-McMillan’s Sam Lombardo wins by decision and Colin Ryan wins by fall in the final two bouts, giving the Big Macs a 35-30 victory over Franklin Regional in the WPIAL Class AAA Wrestling Team Tournament quarterfinals.
2011 – Senior point guard Tyler Pavan sets the Burgettstown single-game scoring record with 50 points in the Blue Devils’ 74-51 home win over South Side Beaver.