SHS AT 60:

Did You Know...

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The first game ever played in the new Southington High School gymnasium was a boys' basketball game in December of 1950?

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It wasn't only a milestone because it was the first game ever played in the gym. It also was the first time ever that the high school was able to practice and play basketball in its own school. Before SHS was constructed, the Lewis basketball teams had to practice and host home games at the old Town Hall. When that building was razed, action moved to the YMCA on High Street. With the new high school gymnasium, over 600 more spectators could be accommodated than at the Y.

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Walter Lozoski - in his first year as coach - kicked off practice on Oct. 23, 1950. The first game of the season was played two months later on Friday, Dec. 8, 1950 before a crowd of 1,200, the largest ever assembled for a basketball game locally. The Blue Knights lost that night to Waterbury's Sacred Heart High School, 39-33. (SHS vindicated itself when it beat Sacred Heart later in the season).

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The gym was officially dedicated on Dec. 26, 1950 in conjunction with the annual alumni basketball game. The ceremony, which included speeches by Superintendent of Schools William Strong and principal Martin Phelan, was held after a preliminary game in which members of the faculty (including Lozoski, Athletic Director Joe Fontana, Larry Mucci and Phil Liguori) took on players from the JV boys' basketball team. (The boys won 20-19). With Eddie Knapp of the 1949-50 Lewis team as captain, the alumni lost to the SHS varsity team 36-28.

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That season, standout basketball players - the first of the "Lozoskimen" - included Ray Michanczyk, Joseph DePaolo, Jack Patz, George Snow, Bob England, Pat Massucci, Richard Patz, Fran Verderame, Roy Nyren, Joe Bruno and John Fontana, who became a first stringer late in the season. They ended their season 14-9 and tied with Wethersfield for the Central Valley B Conference championship.