1962 was a season of perfection for the Blue Devils
“A 14-man contingent of ready and willing varsity basketball players from a little school somewhere in the Sacramento Valley — named Davis High — shocked the California basketball world … by defeating Goliathian entries from Downey (Modesto), Swett (Crockett) and Antioch to bring home the first-place trophy in the Tracy Lions Club Invitational.”
— The Davis Enterprise, March 8, 1962
It was West Coast “Hoosiers.” It was old school (lower case) before modern Old School was cool. It was a Blue Devils boys basketball team for the ages.
Fifty years later, surviving members of that 21-0 Davis High squad that swept past those “Goliathians” in the Lions tourney will be honored with current Devil seniors on Wednesday when DHS hosts Franklin in an important Delta Valley Conference tilt.
“We were a no-nonsense, tough-minded team,” recalls former Davis High faculty member Ralph Villanueva, a member of that storied 1962 squad. “We were not fancy, but we played hard.”
Very hard.
With no player taller than 6-foot-3 center John Addicott, the Blue Devils — under coach Royal Morrison — went 4-0 in preseason, ran the 14-game Superior California Athletic League schedule, then “shocked the California basketball world” by winning the valley’s season-ending shootout in Tracy.
With 320 students, DHS was the tournament’s smallest school.
There was junior Villanueva, the school’s leading scorer each of his four varsity years. He is now retired after 33 years of teaching, counseling and coaching Blue Devils.
There was John Addicott: “All elbows and shoulders … a great rebounder,” according to then-sophomore Gary Yoder, a talented musician who also runs a Davis pool service.
“Yoder could jump out of the gym,” explains teammate Ted Caldwell, a property owner/manager who lives in Woodland.
Caldwell was the ’62 team’s high-scoring (for those days) wing, averaging 11.5 points per game.
“He could get you a big basket when you needed it,” Villanueva remembers. “A great player. Did everything anyone asked of him.”
But speaking of “big baskets …”
Don’t forget Bob Johnson.
Former playmaker Johnson, who began a four-decade teaching career at DHS in 1971, was the Devil of the Moment when he hit the game-winning shot — with the clock winding down — in Davis’ 53-52 win over Antioch. The March 3, 1962, victory capped the Perfect Season.
Joining Addicott, Caldwell, Johnson, Villanueva and Yoder that magical year were Dave Addicott, Ken Clegg, Don ”Doc” Dachtler, Jim Heitman, Tim Kersten, Steve McKinney, Gary Millay and Steve Wiersma.
Of the 14 “Morrisonmen” (as The Enterprise liked to call them), Clegg, Heitman, Kersten, McKinney and Millay are deceased. Wiersma, according to one teammate, “is in the wind.” Recent efforts to find the power forward wound up an air ball.
“It was a fabulous experience,” recalls Caldwell, who entered the Army right after high school. “We certainly had a good group of guys, but the man who pulled it all together was our coach, Royal Morrison.”
Villanueva, Johnson, John Addicott and Yoder all echo Caldwell’s thoughts about their old coach: “Royal was a stern leader, talented tactician and strategist,” Caldwell said. “He really knew how to maximize the efforts of his team — and he certainly did that with the 1962 group.”
After opening the season with a drubbing of James Marshall High, Morrison took his boys to Sacramento State to scrimmage the Hornet junior varsity.
While most of the old Devils recall that it was a good test, no one remembers exactly what happened. It didn’t matter anyway. It didn’t count.
Once into league, drama built.
First Galt fell 66-41 as Villanueva canned 21 points. Dixon tumbled 61-34 (Villanueva had 19) and Rio Vista stood no chance, 73-34. Villanueva’s 20 points were augmented by Caldwell’s 17-point, 15-rebound effort.
After lopsided wins over Clarksburg and Winters, the stage was set.
Unbeaten Benicia was coming to town for a SCAL showdown.
“We had some good teams in league … and that first Benicia contest was a big one,” Villanueva remembers.
Not to worry. After Dachtler, Caldwell and Villanueva combined for 51 points — and John Addicott collected 14 boards — the Panthers went home a 64-39 loser.
But just as the Devils had served notice that their 1962 team was something special, Villanueva’s father died the week of the Benicia rematch.
“We were all feeling pretty down,” Johnson recalls, noting that Davis trailed by 11 at intermission. “Coach Morrison told us to calm down. We came out and slowed the pace … ran our offense and started to chip away at Benicia’s lead.”
Johnson said the Blue Devils wondered if they could win not having Villanueva in the lineup, but were even more concerned about letting their teammate down in his time of need.
DHS rallied for 64-57 road win.
Johnson and Morrison would go on to be instrumental in Villanueva’s life.
Morrison, says the 2010 DHS Hall of Fame inductee, “was like a father to me after my dad died. I still remember him sitting in my living room, talking to me, to my mother. He was an inspiration.”
Johnson, who would hit the big jumper in the Antioch finale, became Villanueva’s lifelong colleague and friend.
Morrison later would return to his native Montana and coach prep and youth teams before he died in 2004 at age 84.
As excited as Villanueva, Caldwell, Yoder, Dachtler and Johnson are about their reunion Wednesday, the quintet wishes that the Addicotts could be there — and they are sad that so many of their brethren have passed on.
But the memories are enough to fill a book …
“Another thought that often came to mind over the years was the role that Bob Johnson played,” John Addicott told The Enterprise from his home in Canada. “Bob was not the star of the team — that was Ralph. Bob’s role was the more modest, of getting the ball to others.
“Although we knew how important Bob was to the team, he certainly did not get the kind of attention that Ralph did.
“But then … at Tracy, it was Bob who scored the winning baskets in both of the final two games.”
On Wednesday, just before the new-wave Blue Devils tip off, fans will be able to give Johnson, and the rest of his teammates, a little belated love.
Notes: John Addicott is a UC Davis graduate who was an ecologist at the University of Alberta before retiring. He keeps active, including skiing cross country and traveling. … Brother David was counselor in Washington before teaching internationally. David and his wife retired last summer and live in China. … Yoder, who is famous for Oxford Circle, his musical group that played gigs at the Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom (touted by Yoder’s former friend Bill Graham), still performs regularly, although most of his dates are now in Napa Valley. He says Davis music venues have dried up over the years. … Current Blue Devil coach Dan Gonzalez says he’s excited about having the 1962 team reunion on Senior Night and has invited the five to address his team before the Franklin game: “It’s good to honor our history.” ….. Caldwell used to write sports for The Davis Enterprise while attending DHS. His byline was By TeeCee. “I didn’t want people to know somebody who played at the school was covering the sports,” Caldwell laughs today. “But being able to write … was a big help later in life.”
— Reach Bruce Gallaudet at bgallaudet@davisenterprise.net or (530) 747-8047.
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=135461
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Posted by Bruce Gallaudet
on Feb 8 2012.
Last Login: Tue 22 May 2012 11:46:20 PM PDT
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