Description:
Although Battle Creek newspapers do not document, as the archival envelope suggests, a championship for the 1922-23 St. Philip basketball team, the squad enjoyed notable success. A March 15, 1923, story in the Battle Creek Enquirer and The Evening News, for example, recounts a thrilling, 15-14 upset victory over rival Gibbons Hall of Kalamazoo in the No. 9 gym in Battle Creek. The Kalamazoo players outweighed and towered over the Battle Creek team, the paper reported, but "the St. Philip boys played a versatile game in the second half — so mixing their play that the visitors never knew what to expect." The St. Philip lineup included C. Gillem, R. Wall, W. Sharpe, L. Graves, F. Oliver, F. Graves, J. Spencer and J. Calardo.