Take away a three point loss opening the 1946-47 season to Class A Creighton Prep and Atkinson St. Joseph would have won 78 games in a row over a three-year period, a streak which nobody would have touched in Nebraska high school basketball until the 70’s.
In those days, St. Joseph went looking for competition, more times than reaching out to schedule a Class A team. Beyond that game, St. Joseph ‘s size was Class D and that’s where the NSAA had them assigned. But the Bluejays opted to play up to Class C come tournament time and won state championships in that class in 1946 with a 27-0 record and again in 1947 with a 28-1 record.
St. Joseph then won its first 23 games of the 1947-48 season for its official 51-game winning streak.
Members of all three teams are honored:
George Barrett
Bob Berigan
Myron Collamer
Fred Deemer
Jerry Judge
Charles Kokes
Gary Kokes
Bob Mack
Bill Miller
Pat Miller
Leo O’Malley
Leon Schaaf
William Schom
Ed Scott
Tom Slattery, Jr.
Don Straka
Ben Troshynski
Leonard Troshynski
Tom Troshynski
Gerald Vogel
Ben Weichman
John Weichman
Lew Wewel
George Witter
Coach Tom Slattery
Assistants: Harold Grof, Frank Mancuso
Cheerleaders: Gladys Domina, LaQuita Parsons, Marianne Tasler (Jensen), Norma Jean Parson, MaryCoonnelly, Ethel Pettinger, Rita Troshynski, Dorthy Wilkinson, Mary Ellen Engler, JoAnn Seger. Mascots: Pat Keating, Bob Faust.
