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Part one of three.

On May 10, I wrote “Hoops History Made in High Point” about a championship game between the two best women’s basketball teams in the nation.

They just happened to be black. The game featured the 11-time national professional champs, the Tribune Girls, vs. the Bennett College Girls of Greensboro, who had the best collegiate women’s team at that time. The game was played in the William Penn High School gym here in High Point.

Something about this story never sat well with me, and I could never figure it out until now.

It may not bother anyone else, but I now find it hypocritical of me to attack the stupid things done in the name of segregation and at the same time overlook the overt sexism that took place on the night of that championship game March 13, 1934.

Here we had the most important game ever to take place in Negro women’s basketball up to that point, and they had the nerve to kick the festivities off with a preliminary game between the William Penn boys and the Dudley boys of Greensboro.

That night was supposed to be about girls, not boys. Someone dropped the ball big time.
Why did the girls deserve the honor? Because William Penn High had some tremendous girls basketball teams at that time, and they deserved to be showcased. They won the Western Division Championships in 1930, ’31 and ’33, just like the boys, but common sense lost that night.

True, the event was marketed and controlled by folks outside the community, but evidently no one in my community spoke up or out.

Because the William Penn High School girls teams have never been given their just due, I am going to spend three columns showcasing some of their many accomplishments.
 

Look at the names of some of the schools they played in the ’30s and ’40s, many of which have long since closed.

It was an eye-opener to me learn they played schools such as Florence High School and Immanuel Lutheran of Greensboro.

I can only imagine the cost and difficulty of traveling to some of those distant schools, such as Douglas High in Leaks­­ville, to play a game and return the same night. I wonder what mode of transportation they used. During that time, it couldn’t have been pleasant. Wonder who paid the travel expenses?

Go grab a soda and some popcorn and read about a legacy that one day just disappeared, and no one knows why.

I am starting with 1932 because that is about the time the News of Interest to Colored People section was published in the local newspaper.

Before 1932 sports writers just threw in a sentence regarding the girls’ scores while reporting on the boys’ games. In some articles, only the players’ last names were listed, so that’s what I’ve included here.

In February 1932, the Penn girls won their eighth straight game by defeating the Alamance Training School girls 35-6. At halftime, the score was 17-2. Brevard of Penn led all scoring with 12 points.

In February 1933, the Penn girls defeated the girls of Booker T. Washington High in Reidsville 23-3 for their 10th straight victory. The Penn girls led 12-3 at halftime on the scoring of Gemes, Brevard, and Whitaker. Penn’s outstanding guard, Johnson, limited the Washington team to no field goals in the second half while her fellow guard, Alford, rang up 16 points in the first half.

In March 1933, Penn’s amazing Tigresses defeated the Monroe High School’s girls 11-8 to win the Western District Basketball Championship. The score at the end of the first quarter was 6-0, but Monroe bounced back and made it an 8-6 game, in favor of Penn, at halftime.

In January 1934, the William Penn freshmen girls team beat the Leonard Street girls team 28-3.

The Leonard Street and the Fairview Street School girls basketball teams met on the Leonard Street on court Jan. 31, 1934. There was a yearly contest between the elementary school girls and the freshmen of William Penn; the winner won a cup.

Leonard Street won in 1933.

In February 1935, William Penn’s girls defeated Atkins High at Penn 15-0. Area Bates and Thelma Harris played an outstanding game when Penn beat Hillside High School, of Durham 29-4 on their home court.

The William Penn girls played their way into the Western District Tournament March 5 and 6, 1935, in Salisbury. They were eliminated in the final game by Monroe High in Monroe, 22-14.

In January 1936, even though the Penn boys lost 53-31 to the Atkins High, the Penn girls spanked the Atkins girls 11-7. Thelma Harris and Mozelle Moffitt played outstanding basketball.

In February 1936, the William Penn girls stomped the Douglas High of Leaksville in Penn’s gym 20-0. Team captain Thelma Harris chalked up 14 of the team’s 20 points.

Glenn Chavis researches and writes about High Point’s black history. Contact him at Storytime40@aol.com