High Scorer

I have a good story to tell you about Linny (Linus Wierwill '46). We were playing a game with some team, and my brother Ruben Grosshuesch '43 told me that the only way we could beat them was to make sure that Linny got the ball. That night, Linny scored 46 points, an accomplishment which was featured in the national sports news. Linny's was one of the highest individual scores that year and since they did not keep assists at that time, I'm sure I had at least 20! I will always remember that year and what a great ball player Linny was.

The following was submitted in response to the above story:

You brought up one of the greatest athletic endeavors in the history of Lakeland College. I do remember that game. It was at Mission House and we were playing Elmhurst. If my memory serves me right, Cal, the whole Elmhurst team scored only two points more than Linny did (48 vs. 46).

That was the year I played point guard instead of forward. Linny made most of his shots by entering the free throw lane to where he was passed the ball. Then, with the ball, he jumped about two feet off the floor and made, with arms stretched out high, countless two-handed turnaround shots. He also made some classic Wierwill scores from the same area with his hook shot.

I wonder if that record was ever broken. Maybe it was because, decades later, basketball teams scored much higher scores than we did in our era. I know that the college later had a great player by the name of Waymon Stewart '69. He was a well-rounded player who played rugged defense and was also a very high scorer.

Piggybacking on that story, let us not forget that Linny had a tryout with the Sheboygan Redskins.

 Carroll J. Olm '46