Public League titles a Shore thing

Athletes at South Shore include (from left, bottom) Kiasha Everett, Laquisha Buchanan, Nicholas Gresham, James Bateman, (middle) Johnequea Jacobs, Cory Lloyd, Derrick Sims, Isaiah Delaney, (top) Robert Dortch, Christian Greer, Veronica Taylor, Sade Hill, Tyree Taylor, Julian Ford.
(Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Behind the name: Located in the South Shore neighborhood

Location: 7529 S. Constance

Conference: Public League

Colors: Royal blue, Kelly green

Nickname: Tars/Tarettes

Enrollment: 1,842

State titles: One, 1981 girls track and field

1 Hall of Fame coach Tony Maffia's 1944 boys basketball team won the Public League championship in only the school's fourth year and went on to finish third in the state tournament. The team was led by all-stater Paul Schnackenberg, Dan Trahey and Jack Harr. Schnackenberg, a 5-11 forward, was the leading scorer in the tournament and an all-tournament selection.

2 Maffia's 1947 Public League championship team was 24-3 but lost to eventual state champion Paris 49-37 in the state quarterfinals. The Tars later defeated previously unbeaten Catholic League champion Leo 36-28 before a record crowd of 21,000 at Chicago Stadium. The team was led by high school All-American Jake Fendley, Norm Berglund, Bob Joor and Don Freeburn.

3 Glenn Johnson and Haywood Richmond coached the girls track and field team to the 1981 state title. The team was led by Rolanda Conda, Karen Lewis and Gretchen Grier. Conda was second in the 400, Grier was second in the 800 and Lewis anchored two winning relays. The program was dominant in the 1980s, finishing second in 1980 and third in 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1986.

4 Coach Clarence Applegran's 1947 football team beat Fenger 6-0 for the Public League's South Section title, then lost to Austin 20-7 for the Public League title. The team, nicknamed the Ironmen because Applegran used 12 players, was led by QB Tommy O'Connell, E Rex Smith, RB Pete Bachouros and C Dan Sabino, all of whom went on to play on Illinois' 1952 Rose Bowl team.

5 Hall of Fame basketball coach Don Pittman guided teams to the Final Four of the Public League playoffs in 1987, 1988 and 1989. In 1989, the Tars lost to King in the semifinals on Jamie Brandon's last-second shot. The teams were led by Steve Rowe, Kevin Brown, Johnny Jones, Kenny Williams, Kerman Ali, Scott Fowler and Reggie Smith, who was an all-stater in 1989.

WHAT SOUTH SHORE MEANS TO ME BY BILL GERSTEIN: A 1969 graduate, he was a principal at South Shore from 2000 to January 2007, then became principal of Austin Academy.

South Shore, the neighborhood and the high school, experienced huge change during the late 1960s when I was a student. A lot was happening in the world and the city, but the school, despite all the craziness, had a big influence at how I looked at the world.

The racial and ethnic diversity was important to understanding how the world is put together with all positives and negatives. I felt fortunate to have attended South Shore during that period. It was a racially integrated school where people got along. I wouldn't have traded that for anything.

We had great and influential teachers like Eli Cohn, who had a passion for American history, and Meyer Yasnoff, who made math come alive, and Helen Saidel, who felt the study of science was best served by asking questions.

Everyone respected football coach Ralph Hegner, a fireplug who later became executive director of the Prairie State Games.

Today, old traditions are being rekindled by alumni coordinator Shelly Stark, a 1954 graduate who raises funds for graduating seniors who want to go to college, encourages alumni to give back to their alma mater and urges students to feel as positive about the school as he does and I do.

The most important thing I learned from my years at South Shore as a student and as a principal was about race relations, the ability to work with all kinds of people. I couldn't have learned it if I had attended an all-white school.

It wasn't perfect every day, and we had our issues. But people got along most of the time. Each group learned from each other. It worked because there were a decent number of liberal Jewish and Catholic families that wanted to be part of a racially mixed community, who didn't see the new black residents as less than equal.

• Richard Barr: CEO, Currency Exchange

• Ernest Brown: Deputy Chicago police superintendent

• Larry Cohen: CEO and owner, Military Aerospace Products USA

• Larry Ellison: CEO, Oracle software

• Jake Fendley: High school basketball All-American, 1947

• Trent Hubbard: 10 years in major-league baseball

• Marv Levy: NFL Hall of Fame coach

• Connie Moore: 2004 Olympic track team

• Tom O’Connell: 10-year NFL quarterback

• Suze Orman: Author/TV host on CNBC

• Mandy Patinkin: Tony Award-winning actor

• Ricky Rosenfield: CEO, California Pizza Kitchen

• Monty Scher: CEO, Rogers Auto Group

• Roger Simon: Nationally syndicated columnist

• Walter Stanley: 10-year NFL player

• Diana Vines: All-American in basketball