The Maine West basketball team opened their season on a sour note, dropping their first five games to their opponents. The record, however, does not reflect the team's effort.

The cager's first opponent, was Prospect, the pre‑season favorite to win the MSL conference title.

After hanging tough the first half, the Warriors committed many second half mistakes, enabling Prospect to capitalize on them and win, 82‑53. The team had a few bright spots in Tim Richardson and Jim Lindeman. Richardson connected for 19 points, and Linderman, coming off the bench, scored 10. Another highlight was guard Kent Heiden hitting a 40‑foot jumpshot right at the halftime buzzer.

New Trier East was next to put our Warriors down by a score of 67‑53. West used a style called "running and gunning" to jump out to a quick 12‑4 lead. This soon became a 28‑point tie by half. Once again the third quarter was the team's downfall, being outscored twoone. A fourth quarter scoring spree fell short as time ran out. Richardson tallied 19 points to lead West.

Archrival and conference favorite, Maine South, was next to defeat the bucketmen by the narrow score of 52-50. Trailing at one point by 20 points, the team desperately fought back. With 20 seconds left, West was down 49-48 and had possession and a chance to win. However, while running down the clock, a bad pass allowed South to score a three-point play and clinch victory. Again Richardson led the team with 20 points.

Elk Grove similarly defeated the team, winning by a score of 67‑51. Being down by 30 at one point, the hot hand of guard Lindeman could not help as the team never got closer than the final 16‑point deficit.

Victory once again fell from the grasp of the Warriors as Libertyville downed them by a score of 66‑53. The entire game was a see‑saw battle with each team exchanging the lead several times. The fourth quarter saw Libertyville pulling ahead and staying there. Richardson scored 15 points to top the team.