50 years ago, Central won its first boys basketball state title

Magical. No other word can describe what took place 50 years ago Saturday in Houck Field House.

A team of confident yet humble players, guided by a demanding and inspirational coaching legend, took aim at a state championship in front of a hometown crowd and played the perfect game at the perfect time.

The Central boys basketball team won the school's first title in that sport on March 6, 1954, hammering St. Louis CBC High School 79-55 in the Class A title game before a full house estimated at 3,000 fans.

"It was just one of those nights when we couldn't mess things up," said Paul Stehr, who was named the most valuable player of the state tournament. "We did everything right."

Central did not mess up very often during the season, winning all but one but of its 27 games. In fact, the school's athletic teams did not lose very often all year, tying for a conference championship in football and winning the state baseball title with a perfect 13-0 record.

The 1954 basketball championship was, in the words of many who were on that team, a culmination of years of work. The seniors had won often in their athletic careers, helping Central reach the state tournament in 1952 and '53 as well, but they had not grabbed the top prize. Coach Louis Muegge, who had built his reputation as a football coach, was showing his ability to develop a winning basketball program where there was once a laughingstock.

"I think we had five or six losses in a three-year run," said Clarence "Dub" Suedekum, the team's leading scorer in the state tournament series. "It was the culmination of playing together those four years. We had played against each other in grade school and played baseball together in the summer. We knew what the other kids were thinking and how they thought and how they reacted."

Stehr and Suedekum were two of five starting seniors on the team, along with Don Koch, Jack Boswell and Wood McComb. Bob Hunt and Louis Meisenheimer were juniors who also saw significant playing time. Dean Meinz, Jim Hency and Carr Lane O'Connell rounded out the roster.

Boswell and Koch played together in junior high at Franklin Elementary and became accustomed to winning, even at the expense of Stehr and Suedekum, who attended a Lutheran school.

"We always beat them," Boswell said. "From eighth grade to senior year, Koch and I never played in but five or six losing ballgames."

McComb moved into town from Webster Groves for his freshman year. He moved back to Kirkwood in his junior year and returned to Cape Girardeau as a senior.

"I was betting everyone I saw that Cape would wipe out all the St. Louis teams," in 1953, McComb said. "That was the dream team of a lifetime."

But in 1953, like in 1952, the Tigers bowed out in the quarterfinal round. 1954 was destined to be different.

"I think Coach Muegge wanted that one bad," said Hency, then a sophomore, "and he had the team to do it."

Central's lone loss in 22 regular season games took place about the middle of the season against St. Louis University High.

"The loss was kind of a wake-up call because we had started off the season so well," Boswell said. "We regrouped and stayed focused."

Even with just one regular-season loss, the Central players believed they were underdogs in a state tournament field that included five St. Louis area teams -- including Webster Groves, Beaumont and CBC -- and Kansas City teams Westport and Southeast.

The Tigers had a wild card, however. For the first and only time during which Houck Field House was a venue for the state tournament, from 1951-55, it hosted the large schools (Class A) instead of the small schools (Class B).

"The fans were great," Suedekum said. "A lot of fans turned out in addition to the students because the small-town team was up against some of the giants in the state. We were not expected to win. People wanted to see if our small-town team could get to the quarterfinal."

They almost didn't. The Tigers had to rally in the second half to beat Beaumont in what ended up being their toughest test.

They then beat Kansas Ciy Southeast with 6-foot-8 Kent Bryant -- "Those guys stuck out like sore thumbs at that time," said Koch, who with Suedekum were Central's tallest players at 6-3.

In the semifinals, it was a 61-49 win against Kansas City Westport with Stehr playing the defensive hero by slowing Westport guard Don Ross.

"We were just a little country team," said Hunt, "and I guess we were too stupid to be scared. We had good talent, not great talent, and just a really good team."

The team put together its best performance in the state title game, hitting 72 percent of its field-goal attempts while limiting CBC to 33 percent. The Tigers took out the suspense by building a 19-point lead midway through the second quarter. McComb was the defensive stopper in this game, limiting CBC all-state player Jack Mimlitz to 11 points.

"It seemed like everytime we threw the ball at the bucket, it went in," said Suedekum, who hit 10 of his 12 shots on the way to 24 points.

"The figures pretty well speak for themselves," said Koch, who made 10 of 14 shots and scored 26 points. "We shot the ball extremely well."

They probably needed to shoot well.

"People thought we were just going to get creamed off the boards," Hunt said. "It wasn't even a factor. We didn't need to rebound."

The Southeast Missourian reported in its March 8, 1954, edition that "the Tigers put on passing and shooting exhibitions that are seldom seen in high school circles. ... some observers estimated that Cape held possession 60 to 75 percent of the time."

Muegge's system

Passing and teamwork were cornerstones of the basketball system devised by Muegge, a football and wrestling standout at the University of Illinois who never played basketball.

"He had a body like a little squat wedge," said Suedekum. "And he had a lot of common sense. He developed quite a football program at Central, but everyone liked to play against our basketball team because they could beat us. He got tired of that."

Said Stehr: "Everything he knew about basketball, he read in a book. It was not a complicated system. His feeling was that you do what you do, and you just do it better every game."

Muegge had coached at Central since 1928, with the exception of a three-year stint in Steelton, Pa., in the early 1930s. He was a three-sport coach for several years, finally surrendering the reins of the football program in 1947.

Muegge's system of basketball was passing oriented, with plenty of screens and players cutting to the basket.

"He believed in getting the ball around by passing it instead of dribbling it," Suedekum said.

"Move the ball, move the ball and keep it moving," Boswell said. "It was drilled in us from the time we were freshmen. He demanded the best out of us, and he got the best out of us. If we made five or six mistakes in a game, we paid for it in practice."

Added Hunt: "We fast-broke a lot but it was not out of control. We didn't take many bad shots. If we did, we would be on the bench."

Muegge's system was successful because of its discipline: Take good shots or avoid mistakes or pay the consequences. Sure enough, among the items in Central's trophy case is a hose wrapped in adhesive, the coach's motivating tool.

"There wasn't one of us that didn't go home at least once with a red stripe across our butt," McComb said.

"He knew how to motivate you," Stehr said. "He'd motivate you with the paddle a little bit if he had to, as well as other things. He was inspirational and we wanted to play for him. By that time, he had 25 years of experience working with teenagers."

After Muegge coached the basketball and baseball teams to state championships, he stepped away from coaching and became Central's athletic director. McComb said Muegge intended for years to step out after 1954, believing this was his chance for a championship. Health issues may also have been a factor.

Muegge had a heart attack in February of 1955 and passed away July 14 of that year. He was 51.

Less than 18 months after winning a state championship, members of the team were serving as pallbearers in their coach's funeral.

"It really cut deep for all of us," Suedekum said. "We had a lot of respect for the old man."

Koch, Boswell, Suedekum, Hunt and Meisenheimer served as pallbearers along with previous Central grad Walter Joe Ford. McComb and Stehr were in service in the Naval Reserve at the time.

"I was out in the middle of the ocean," Stehr said, "and didn't find out until 17 days after he died. It was surprising. He was very strong, muscular, and you never thought of him being less than 100 percent."

Said McComb: "Our coach, Lou Muegge will always remain a major, major influence on my life."

The thrill of victory

The ecstasy that accompanied the state championship is not lost on any of the players 50 years later, down to the ninth and 10th men on the team.

"It was the thrill of my life," said Hency, who played sparingly in the state tournament. "Even sitting on the bench and watching, it was the thrill of my life."

"It was a wonderful experience," said Meinz, who was a freshman who dressed out for varsity games after playing half of the B team games. "I'm lucky I got to be a part of it. Coach Muegge was a great person to play for."

Koch, Stehr, Suedekum and McComb followed the basketball championship by moving on to the baseball team, which capped a 15-0 season by beating St. Louis Lutheran 5-4 in the state title game. Koch drove in McComb for the winning run and Suedekum pitched the final inning.

"We were just kids having fun," Koch said. "Nobody let that success go to their heads. That was part of being from good families and growing up in a town like Cape, and the 1950s were a great time to grow up in."

It was, they would all agree, a more wholesome time. An ingredient beyond the talent and teamwork was faith.

"We were all aware of that, and we shared that," Boswell said.

"Someone up above was smiling on us," added Suedekum.

The championship game itself exists more than in memories, but also on VHS tape. Suedekum's father, Clarence, had taped the game on 8mm film, something the players watched for the first time at the 20-year reunion in 1974.

Koch, the player who was most likely to break a tense situation in the locker room, transferred the tape to VHS and provided audio commentary. Stehr said the tape is not suitable for the general public with plenty of inside jokes.

"I never dreamed anyone other than members of the team would see it," Koch said. "I told them that in this version, I'm going to be the hero. So when Suedekum would lose the dribble, I said something like, 'Suedekum, Muegge told you to never dribble the basketball.' "

The players -- nine are living; Meisenheimer passed away in 1992 -- have gathered occasionally over the years and will do so again Oct. 16 as part of the reunion festivities for the class of 1954.

Only one word will describe that event: magical.

1954 state tournament results

March 2

Central 49, Beaumont 44

Central rallied from a 26-22 halftime deficit A free toss and a field goal by Don Koch put the Tigers ahead for the first time with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. They never trailed after that.

March 4

Central 80,

Kansas City Southeast 64

Central again used to a strong second half, pulling away from Southeast in the final two periods. Southeast's 6-foot-8 Kent Bryan scored 31 points but fouled out with five minutes to go, then rushed at and pushed an official.

Clarence Suedekum scored 25 points, Koch added 23 and Paul Stehr chipped in with 15.

March 5

Central 61, K.C. Westport 49

Central converted 50 percent of its field goals -- reaching or bettering that mark for the third straight game -- while limiting Westport to 25 percent.

Suedekum scored 17, Koch 13, Stehr 11 and Jack Boswell added nine.

March 6

Central 79, St. Louis CBC 55

The Tigers didn't miss many shots -- firing in 29 of 39 for 72 percent -- and were never threatened in the final, building a 28-9 lead midway through the second period.

Koch scored 26 on 10-of-14 shooting; Suedekum made 10 of 12 shots and scored 24 points. Boswell added 13.

CBC's Jack Mimlitz, who averaged 24.3 points per game in the first three tournament games, was held to 11 points, primarily by the defense of Wood McComb.

"McComb stuck to him like a leech," Suedekum said.

Where are they now?

Jack Boswell, Ormand Beach, Fla.: He retired in 1992 after 30 years with a textbook publishing company, including the position of Southeast regional manager. The Murray State graduate was a coach and teacher in Kentucky before that.

Jim Hency, Rogers, Ark.: He retired after 32 years as a products manager for the manufacturer of an architectural aluminum product, now owned by Alcoa. After service in the Army, he joined that firm and worked in Michigan and Virginia before relocating to Arkansas. He still does some odd jobs to remain active.

Don Koch, Mount Vernon, Ill.: He retired after 25 years as the special education director for the Kaskaskia Special Education District, a three-county consortium. The Murray State graduate also coached basketball and baseball at two Illinois high schools prior to that. He now is involved in church work and enjoying his family.

Robert Hunt, Cape Girardeau: He is the president of the Cape Girardeau Surgical Clinic, which has seven surgeons working at the two local hospitals, and has been a surgeon in the community since 1970. He went to medical school at Washington University in St. Louis and spent a year as a surgeon in a MASH hospital in Vietnam.

Wood McComb, Springfield, Ill.: He and his wife, an attorney, operate a consulting firm in Springfield. Among his clients is the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, for whom McComb serves as chief information officer. He previously worked for Arthur Andersen and Pepsico.

Dean Meinz, Cape Girardeau: He retired after 30 years as a sales representative for the Keebler Company.

Louis Meisenheimer, deceased: He died in 1992 in Chicago at the age of 54. A football player at Southeast and Missouri-Rolla, he began working for Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America in 1962 and eventually became director of security for the parent company, Med Con Corp.

Carr Lane O'Connell, Cape Girardeau: He retired last July from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers after more than 39 years as a captain. "It was like a lot of history classes," he said of his travels on the rivers. "I've got enough water in my hull to last a life time; now I'm ready for some barnacles."

Paul Stehr, Cape Girardeau: Semi-retired, he still works for Capital Insurance. "You've got to have something to do. You can't do nothing." Stehr has worked in insurance since 1973. He was mayor of Cape Girardeau from 1978-81.

Clarence "Dub" Suedekum, Cape Girardeau: Retired from working for the federal government, he now serves as a substitute teacher in Cape Girardeau. "I'm receiving another education," he said.