A 74‑60 loss to Maine East in the semi‑final round of the Prospect regional tourney closed out the 1961‑62 season for Maine West's varsity cagers and left them with an overall record of 15 wins and six defeats. The loss came after a first‑round crushing of Maryville and marked the second straight year that the Warriors had been stopped in regional play by East.

Earlier the West cagers had edged Glenbrook 63‑61 in their final Interim game to give them a conference mark of 12‑4 and a third‑place tie with Prospect. Starting slowly against the scrappy Spartans, the Westmen trailed by as much as eight points before they rallied for a 19‑15 first quarter lead. Thereafter the game was touch‑and‑go. Although holding a four‑point lead with a minute‑and‑a-half to go, Maine could not hold on, and the Spartans tied it up. West had the ball with half a minute left, and for 25 seconds passed it around. Then, with three seconds left, Al Waters took the ball, and flipped it toward the basket. It went in just as the buzzer sounded.

In the regional opener, the Warriors had no trouble routing a weak Maryville squad, 93‑49, in a game that was distinguished only for a number of records. Besides team highs of 93 points and 64 rebounds, several individual marks were also set. Al Waters hit for 28 points, a season high and just four off the tourney record, and pulled down 24 rebounds, well over a third of the team total.

STOPPED BY EAST

The cagers ran into a stone wall in their next contest, however, as they were overpowered by a rugged squad of Maine East Demons. Although the Warriors managed to hold their own for the first quarter, and part of the second, they gradually began to fall behind. At the half they trailed by seven, 37‑30.

The third period was all East, as the Demons outscored West by 10 points to take a 17‑point lead. Although the Warriors showed brief signs of rallying, their threats were always stopped. Only a last‑minute spurt enabled them to outscore the Eastmen in the quarter and cut the final margin to 14.

Steve Smith was high man for East with 20, while Barney Franzen topped West with 20 also. Waters was next with 17. Reviewing the game, Coach Freeman felt that Smith was definitely the difference‑whether considered physically or psychologically. To cover him adequately, the Warriors had to make some defensive adjustments, which meant sacrificing elsewhere. (East's Sponholtz, for instance, who is not even a regular, was left wide open and took the opportunity to rack up 12 points.)

Coach Freeman considers this year's squad the best team to represent West so far. In chalking up the first winning year the school has had (previous marks: 10‑10, 11‑13), the cagers captured a third place tie in the Interim. Last year the bucketmen ended up in fourth, but in only a seven‑team league.