Philadelphia High School Basketball

A Look at Paul Ward's 15-Year Coaching
Career at Overbrook High (1957-71)

  This page includes stories, special lists, record breakdown, recaps of wins in championship games and (at the bottom) the
names of all varsity players during Coach Ward's 15 seasons. (He then coached for 10 more seasons at Pennsauken High,
in South Jersey.) . . . To provide additions/corrections:tedtee307@yahoo.com.
Thanks!

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Overbrook (dark uniforms) vs. West Philadelphia in
 a late 1950s game at what was then Sayre Junior High.


Coach Paul Ward

Coach Ward's All-Stars
and 1,000-Point Scorers

ALL-PUBLIC HONOREES

FIRST TEAM
1957 *Wayne Hightower
1958 *Wayne Hightower
1958 Ralph Heyward
1959 Ralph Heyward
1960 *Walt Hazzard
1962 Gil Smith
1967 *Mike Gale
1968 Eldred "Jay" Bagley
1968 Ron Eleby
1969 Ron Eleby
1970 *Andre McCarter
1971 *Andre McCarter
1971 Jerry Thomas
SECOND TEAM
1959 *Walt Hazzard
1959 *Wally Jones
1960 Bobby Jones
1965 George Stallings
1969 George Hill
1970 Gary Garvin
1,000-POINT SCORERS
(All or Part of Career)
* - Played in NBA
# - Estimate based on avail. games
1,211 -- *Wayne Hightower
1,080 -- *#Andre McCarter
1,057 -- *Walt Hazzard
1,045 -- #Ron Eleby
TOP 15 PL SCORERS
Walt Hazzard 1960 21.3
Wayne Hightower 1957 20.7
Wayne Hightower 1958 20.6
Andre McCarter 1971 20.0
Bobby Jones 1960 18.8
Ron Eleby 1969 18.2
Eldred "Jay" Bagley 1968 18.1
Andre McCarter 1970 17.3
Jerry Thomas 1971 17.3
Ron Eleby 1968 17.1
Gary Garvin 1970 16.1
Ralph Heyward 1958 15.9
Ralph Heyward 1959 15.8
Gil Smith 1962 15.7
Lincoln Williams 1964 15.2




































 

 Paul Ward
Tribute Page

  Paul Ward coached basketball at Overbrook for 15 seasons (1957-71), winning 257 games, six Public League championships and five City Titles. The '58 champs featured three future NBA players -- Wayne Hightower, Wally Jones and Walt Hazzard. Here is that story . . .

  continued right below . . . 



SEASON BY SEASON
League / Overall
 1957: 11-1 / 20-1
1958: 14-0 / 22-0
1959: 16-0 / 23-1
1960: 14-2 / 20-4
1961: 7-5 / 9-8
1962: 11-1 /13-14
1963: 9-3 11-7 
1964: 5-8 / 6-12
1965: 13-1 / 19-5
1966: 10-4 / 13-9
1967: 14-0 / 21-2
1968: 14-0 / 19-4
1969: 13-1 / 15-6
1970: 13-1 / 22-2
1971: 10-2 / 20-4
 TOTAL RECORD
15 Seasons, 1972-1989
League - 174-29 
Overall - 257-71
(Note: Not all overall
records are confirmed)
PLAYOFF BREAKDOWN
 Appearances Ended in  . . .
Semifinals (2)
1962, 1969
Finals (8)
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960,
1967, 1968, 1970, 1971
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STARTERS FOR PL CHAMPS
*Also Won City Title
*1957
Wayne Hightower
Ralph Heyward
Bernie Ivens
Howie Horenstein
Bobby Jones
*1958
Wayne Hightower
Ralph Heyward
Richie Richman
Walt Hazzard
Wally Jones
*1959
Ralph Heyward
Walt Hazzard
Wally Jones
Jim Reese
Bobby Jones
1967
Mike Gale
Eldred "Jay" Bagley
Bill Turner
Ron Eleby
Carlyle Corbin
*1970
Andre McCarter
Gary Garvin
Vince Ellison
Jerry Thomas
Kevin Washington
*1971
Andre McCarter
Jerry Thomas
Kevin Washington
Rich Laurel
Greg Haynes







































 

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This story was written after Paul steered Overbrook to its second consecutive City
Title in what turned out to be his final game . . .

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Recaps of victories in Public League finals . . .

1957
At the Palestra
Overbrook 66, Lincoln 57
  Wayne Hightower scored 24 points and Bobby Jones added 21 as 'Brook rolled. Fred Schmidt scored 24 points for Lincoln, but Bruce Fleming was limited to six by severe foul trouble.
1958
At The Palestra
Overbrook 52, Germantown 44
  Six-eight Wayne Hightower shot 10-for-16 and 8-for-13 for 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Wali Jones added 10 points. Heavy foul trouble helped limit Walt Hazzard to two points. 'Brook hit seven consecutive shots in the third quarter, but stubborn G-town remained in contention thanks mostly to Earl Proctor (15) and Obie Snyder (13). Proctor added 15 rebounds.
1959
At the Palestra
Overbrook 56, Germantown 46
  Wali Jones (14 points), Ralph Heyward (11) and Walt Hazzard (10) spurred 'Brook to its third consecutive title and 37th straight win against PL opposition. G-town star Obie Snyder scored 18 points, but did not post his first field goal until 1:52 remained in the third quarter.
1967
At Lincoln
Overbrook 49, Germantown 42
  Eldred "Jay" Bagley scored six of his team-high 19 points in a 12-7 opening period as Overbrook established early control. Mike Gale shot 9-for-10 from the line en route to 17 points. For Germantown, which shot 13-for-58 and fell 30 points short of its scoring average, 6-7 Willie Sojourner had 25 points.
1970
At Lincoln
Overbrook 57, Gratz 56
  Jerry Thomas (17) and Gary Garvin (16) led Overbrook in scoring, while Andre McCarter had 12 points and five assists. Joe Anderson had 16 points and 13 rebounds for coach John Chaney's Bulldogs, who stormed back from a 56-43 deficit before falling short.
1971
At Lincoln
Overbrook 69, West 48
  Andre McCarter had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists as Overbrook won its sixth title under coach Paul Ward. Jerry Thomas (16 points, nine rebounds), Rich Laurel (13, seven) and Kevin Washington (16 points) helped out. West's Tom Hooks had 18 points and 16 rebounds.

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Recaps of victories in City Titles . . .

1957
At the Palestra
Overbrook 56, North Catholic
  Ballhandler Bobby Jones scored 21 points to lead 'Brook, which trailed just once, 2-0. Wayne Hightower chipped in with
14 points. Larry Sarafinas (14) and Joe "Zeke" Zawacki (12) paced North, which was attempting to win its fourth
consecutive City Title in a major sport after capturing basketball and baseball in the 1955-56 school year and football in
the 1956-57 school year.
1958
At the Palestra
Overbrook 71, Neumann 54
  Wayne Hightower used his 6-8 height to generate 23 points and 18 rebounds as 'Brook completed a 22-0 season and ran its winning streak to 31 games. Ralph Heyward added 13 points and 15 rebounds while Richie Richman, the football
team's quarterback, also scored 13 points. Jim Gannon (18) and Andy Terifay (13) led Neumann.
1959
At the Palestra
Overbrook 72, West Catholic 53
  Wali Jones (24 points), Ralph Heyward (20) and Walt Hazzard (16) were hard to stop as 'Brook became the first team to win three consecutive City Titles and ran its record under third-year coach Paul Ward to 66-2. Jones shot 0-for-14 from the floor to pace the Panthers' 29-for-57 showing. Jim Boyle scored 16 points for West.
1970
At the Palestra
Overbrook 70, Dougherty 52
  Jerry Thomas worked for 20 points and 11 rebounds and received double-duty assistance from Gary Garvin (19, 10) and Vince Ellison (nine, 14). Andre McCarter added 14 points and three assists. Dougherty's Joe Newman had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
1971
At the Palestra
Overbrook 76, St. Joseph's Prep 56
  The Panthers used 11-for-14 shooting in the first quarter to establish early command. Andre McCarter generated 19
points, six rebounds and six assists while Rich Laurel (17), Jerry Thomas (14) and Kevin Washington (12) also scored in double figures. Maurice "Mo" Howard led The Prep with 20 points and sub Brian Kenney added 16 after watching
the first 12 minutes.

Below are the players who helped Paul Ward claim 257 wins, six Public League championships
and five City Titles in 15 seasons as the coach at Overbrook. The year indicates the player's final season.
Most were seniors. Some transferred and some were underclassmen who did not play in the following season.
 PLEASE NOTE: Complete rosters currently not available for all seasons. Help would be appreciated.

Art Morganstern 1957 Acre 1964
Bernie Ivens 1957 Ayres 1964
Calvin Bradley 1957 Brown  1964
Franklin Smith 1957 Emory 1964
Gladstone 1957 Mike Gross 1964
Henry Altschuler 1957 Lincoln Williams 1964
Jerry Borkon 1957 R. Williams 1964
Marvin Rosenbaum 1957 Winters 1964
Ronald Thomas 1957 Allen 1965
Gore 1958 Hank Beckett 1965
Howie Horenstein 1958 Bernstein 1965
Jamison 1958 Bradley 1965
Stan Shapiro 1958 George Stallings 1965
Wayne Hightower 1958 Jackson 1965
Gene Levin 1959 Moore 1965
Jim Reese 1959 Jim Morgan 1965
Mark Blum 1959 Morris  1965
Michael Jordan 1959 Pitts 1965
Ralph Heyward 1959 Rogers 1965
Richie Richman 1959 Waters 1965
Steve Glickman 1959 Barge 1966
Wally Jones 1959 Ron Coley 1966
Willard Epps 1959 Cooper 1966
Al Oxendine 1960 Johnson 1966
Bobby Jones 1960 Ray King 1966
Brown 1960 Parks 1966
Craig Pearson 1960 Carlton Poole 1966
Dick Baker 1960 Solomon 1966
Hercules Johnson 1960 VanHorn 1966
Len Borisoff 1960 Bill Ravernell 1966
Lou Parlow 1960 Bill Turner 1967
Mel Ginden 1960 Carlyle Corbin 1967
Rick Beckett 1960 Ken Stanton 1967
Walt Hazzard 1960 Mike Gale 1967
Al Bennett 1961 Doyt Jones 1968
Butler 1961 Dunston 1968
Davis 1961 Eldred "Jay" Bagley 1968
George McFadden 1961 Fulton 1968
John Bacon 1961 Ramey 1968
Robert Cherry 1961 Ron Fultz 1968
Storey 1961 Charles Hudson 1969
Alan Massey 1962 Frank Binns 1969
Albright 1962 Gary Katz 1969
Bob Ferguson 1962 George Hill 1969
Booker 1962 Jeff Adams 1969
Gil Smith 1962 Katz 1969
Kibler 1962 Maurice Thomas 1969
L. Anderson 1962 Ron Eleby 1969
Nate Ware 1962 Roy Jones 1969
Washington 1962 Skinner 1969
Al Shipon 1963 Steve Davis 1969
Andrews 1963 Willie Youngblood 1969
Battle 1963 Gary Garvin 1970
Willie Diggs 1963 Gregory Richie 1970
Drake Hightower 1963 Ronald Duckett 1970
Harvey Goldstein  1963 Turner 1970
Jim Weiner 1963 Vince Ellison 1970
Ken Gee  1963 Al Carey 1971
Sayles 1963 Andre McCarter 1971
Steve Danowitz 1963 Michael Black 1971
Warren Anderson ? 1963 Chris Burrell 1971
Williams 1963 Charlie Samuels 1971
    Robert Green 1971
    Greg Haynes 1971
    Jerry Thomas 1971
    Joe Williams 1971
    Kevin Washington 1971
    Rich Laurel 1971
    Tim Hardy 1971
    Willie Kelly 1971

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