The Missouri high school state basketball tournament will decide its large school state champion next week in Columbia. As “March Madness” takes over the state, the St. Louis American takes a special look back at what many consider to be the greatest high school basketball team to ever play in the state of Missouri.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the great 1969 Sumner High team that won the Class L state championship. The Bulldogs were led by legendary head coach John Algee and star frontcourt players Harry Rogers and David Brent.
The following is an excerpt from American sports editor Earl’s Austin Jr.’s book “The PHL in the STL” on the 1969 Sumner Bulldogs.
The discussion on who had the best team in the history of the Public High League always makes for some terrific barbershop banter.
However, if you are to argue against the 1969 Sumner Bulldogs, you had better be ready to argue your case all day. The ’69 Bulldogs are clearly on the short list, and many people feel that they are the best.
Travis Brown, a starting guard on that great team, takes it one step further.
“It is the best team ever to come through the state of Missouri, bar none,” Brown said. “Our team had everything you could ask for.”
How about a tall and talented front line? Sumner featured graceful 7-footer David Brent and 6’7” All-State forward Harry Rogers leading the way. Rogers averaged 22 points a game while providing leadership and versatility. Brent came on and dominated the state tournament with 112 points in four postseason games. He was one of the top high school centers in the country.
Joining the dynamic duo in the starting lineup were Travis Brown, James Brown and the diminutive Lawrence “L’il Bit” Weathers running the show. Coming off the bench were scoring phenom Marshall Rogers and more size in 6’7” William Westfall, 6’8” Clarence “Bullwinkel” Weaver and 6’4” Mack Rush.
To get an idea of how talented this Sumner team was, you only had to look at Marshall Rogers and Westfall.
Rogers went on to lead the NCAA in scoring and become a first-round NBA draft pick in 1976. Westfall was a starting forward on a Memphis State team that played UCLA for the NCAA Tournament national title in 1973. Both of these players came off the bench for the ’69 Sumner Bulldogs. Rogers provided instant offense off the bench while Westfall provided toughness and rebounding.
They also had a great coach on the sidelines in John Algee who put it all together, resulting in a 30-2 record. Algee was a strong disciplinarian who made sure his star-studded team played as a unit and not as individuals. He also made sure the players looked good as well. On game night, each player was outfitted with sharp maroon blazers and slacks. They looked the part of champions.
“We had some tremendous talent on the team, but we all knew our roles,” Brown said.
“On any night, anybody could have been the star and that was the way Mr. Algee taught us. We ran the offense through Harry and David and everyone else did what they had to do to help the team win.”
A regular-season loss to Vashon, which cost the Bulldogs the PHL title against the Wolverines, seemed to be the wake-up call for this sleeping giant. The Bulldogs met Vashon in a rematch in the O’Fallon Tech regional finals and clobbered the Wolverines 75-57 for the championship. Algee’s game plan was designed to slow down Vashon’s superb backcourt of All-Stater Joe Sills and James Parchmon. Sills was held to seven points while Parchmon was held to two points after torching the Bulldogs for 18 points in the first meeting.
“In the locker room before the Vashon game, we knew were weren’t going to get beat,” Travis Brown said. “We were determined, and we were not going to be denied.”
After defeating Vashon, the Bulldogs were rolling. They defeated PHL rival Northwest in the first round of the playoffs 63-49 behind 22 points from Brent and 18 from Rogers. Sumner earned their Final Four bid with a 60-51 victory over Parkway Central.
The Final Four turned out to be the David Brent showcase as the Bulldogs whipped Columbia Hickman 62-41 in the semifinals and Webster Groves 71-57 in the championship game. Brent had 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine blocks against Hickman, then followed that up with a 33-point performance against Webster Groves in the finals.
Sumner became the second consecutive PHL team to win the state title, backing up O’Fallon Tech’s state title in 1968. The last time the PHL went back-to-back came in 1947 and ’48 when the Beaumont Bluejackets turned the trick.
“I’ve heard a lot of people talk about who had the best teams ever to come out of Missouri,” Brown said. “I may be biased, but I am still hard-pressed to find another team that was as good as the 1969 Sumner team.”