EE’s Are Basketball Champs

by Biff Burns

Outlined against a blue-gray November window, the ten horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore, their names were Famine, Disease, Pestilence, Death, and six other things.

At the Whittemore Center, their names were Pallotta, Kraft, Williamson, Staker, Shannon,Kirk, Smith, Horvatic, Parker, and Pokoski.

The seed was planted in EE junior Jeremy Pallotta’s devious brain in the spring of 1996. The EE undergraduates had just upset the faculty and grad students in the almost annual competition, ending a week of trash talk and vicious signs posted in the EE hallway. Emboldened by success, Jeremy thought, "Why not the whole college!" In the fall, the challenges were issued through semi-anonymous taunting posters throughout CEPS. IS ANYONE WILLING TO TAKE ON THE EE COMBINED (undergrads, grads, and faculty) TEAM? The gauntlet was retrieved by CiE, ChemE, Chemistry, and two teams from ME. A double elimination tournament at the Whittemore Center was arranged.

Being well-trained EE’s, the team took time to analyze the situation. First of all, it was evident that a resounding victory in the initial game could be crucial, since it would provide top seed in the winners bracket, and a second round bye. Some basic research indicated that Civil Engineering had a team to be reckoned with. (Perhaps FEARED is more appropriate.) They had four players over 6’4" and they all could play the game. At a secret practice session, the EE’s laid their strategy. It was clear the EE’s had a rag-tag team. Jeremy had all-round skills from the guard position, but the rest were clearly roll players. The quick, agile guard was a mediocre shooter. The tall, aggressive forward was awkward and inexperienced. The shooter had size, but was old and slow, etc. It was agreed that on offense, the ball should be kept in Jeremy’s hands for a slashing drive or outside pop. When he was inevitably double teamed, he would lay off to a big guy underneath or loop it to an open shooter. On defense, the big men would play a deep zone, while the little guards would pressure upcourt, dropping back to swarm over Civil’s big men when the ball came low. But the never-ending question of EE education persisted - Could this abstract theory be applied to a real life situation?

The EE’s felt they had a lucky first round draw in Chemistry. (Besides being nerdy, their lab gowns would get in the way.) However the team had good chemistry, and they were tough to crack. Chris Williamson showed some early heroics, and Mike Shannon provided a spark off the bench with several key rebounds and jump shots. The final was 26-21 and, unbelievably, this was the largest point differential of the opening round, thus giving EE the top winner’s seed. They then nervously watched the monsters from Civil steamroller Chemical Engineering 26-8 in the second round. The stage was set.

EE’s pressure defense, led by Roy Parker and Brian Kirk, forced turnover after turnover in CiE’s backcourt leading to easy baskets. When the brutes forced the ball inside, the electricals shocked them with defense and rebounding, leaving them stunned. Shawn Staker was immense on the boards. It got touchy in mid-game when the desperate Civils began to lay two and three man roadblocks on Pallotta, but Jeremy looped soft passes to John Pokoski, who hit consecutive outside jumpers to relieve the pressure. Jeremy put the septic tankers out of their misery with a long three pointer. Final: EE 26,CiE 8. The fan went wild.

The Civils earned another shot at their tormentors with a convincing 26-15 victory over ME. They began to think that their loss was a freak accident. But no! Intelligent, unselfish team play once again dominated self-serving brute force. The EE depth, exemplified by Gordon Kraft’s craftiness and Petar Horvatic’s Slavic forays, ruled. Wayne Smith’s rebounding and whirling dervish drives wore down the larger but undisciplined foe, who continued to lay bricks on offense. When Pokoski swished a driving fifteen foot hook shot, they looked at each other as though even the gods were against them. They were right. The lighting bolts of Franklin, Volta, and Edison had annihilated the caissons of Eads and Roebling . EE 26,CiE 14. Skill, hard-work, virtue and humility were triumphant. The EE’s will remain enshrined forever in the annals of history as the first CEPS basketball champs.