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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, On Saturday, April 22, 2006, Rick Bonn, James
3 Lancaster, Ron Spears, George Zigman, Jack Fabri, Bob Dare, and
4 the 1956 boys basketball team will be inducted into the
5 Taylorville High School Sports Hall of Fame; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The Taylorville High School Sports Hall of Fame
7 originated in 1995 to honor athletes, coaches, friends, and
8 teams that represent the highest traditions of the rich history
9 of Taylorville High School athletics; since that year, 29
10 players, 12 coaches, 12 friends, and 10 teams have been
11 inducted into the Hall of Fame; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Rick Bonn was a three-year letter winner and
13 starter on the Tornadoes basketball team from 1971 through
14 1974; he was the third leading scorer in Taylorville history,
15 with a total of 1078 points and was an All-Midstate Conference
16 selection in both his junior and senior years; and
 
17     WHEREAS, James Lancaster earned two varsity letters and was
18 a two-year starter for the Taylorville Tornadoes Basketball
19 Team; he holds the seventh highest single season scoring record
20 in school history; he attended Aurora University, where he led
21 the Spartans in scoring his senior year and was selected All
22 Northern Illinois Intercollegiate Conference and Aurora
23 University's male "Athlete of the Year" as well as selected
24 team MVP; he also served as an assistant coach at Aurora and
25 went on to first coach the university's women's basketball team
26 and then the men's team; he is currently ranked 27th in wins
27 among the NCAA men's active basketball coaches and has been
28 selected NIIC "Coach of the Year" five times; he has led the
29 Spartans to four Division III NCAA play off appearances; and
 
30     WHEREAS, Ron Spears graduated form Taylorville High School
31 in 1969 and was an outstanding offensive lineman for the 7-1-1

 

 

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1 Tornadoes; he played offensive guard and was an All-Mid State
2 Conference selection as well as the Decatur Herald and Review
3 Player of the year; and
 
4     WHEREAS, George Zigman graduated from Taylorville High
5 School in 1950 and was a member of the Tornadoes basketball
6 team from 1947 through 1950; he attended Illinois State
7 University, where he lettered in basketball his junior and
8 senior years; following college, he served as an assistant
9 basketball coach at Taylorville, head coach at Delavan,
10 sophomore coach at Glenbard East High School, and head coach at
11 Hersey High School in Arlington Heights; during his coaching
12 career, he never had a losing season; he is a member of the
13 Illinois High School Coach Association Hall of Fame; he retired
14 in 1990 and passed away in 1991; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Jack Fabri graduated from Taylorville High School
16 in 1931 and won varsity letters in football, basketball, and
17 track; he was a member of the undefeated 1928 Hall of Fame
18 football team; he coached basketball at Cathedral High School
19 in Springfield, served in the U.S. Navy, went on to coach at
20 Collinsville and McBride High School in St. Louis, and coached
21 at LaSalle High School, where he took his third team to the
22 Sweet Sixteen in 1948; Mr. Fabri moved to Decatur Lakeview in
23 1952, where he had two 20-win seasons before he became the head
24 coach at Palatine High School; he went on to coach at Niles
25 West High School until his retirement in 1962; he was inducted
26 into the Illinois High School Coaches Hall of Fame in 1985; and
 
27     WHEREAS, Bob Dare is being inducted into the Taylorville
28 High School Sports Hall of Fame as a "Friend of Sports"; he
29 moved to Taylorville in 1959 and immediately became involved in
30 Taylorville athletics; he coached Little League Baseball and
31 Biddy Basketball; he was a founding member and for ten years,
32 president of the Taylorville Boys Junior Football League; he
33 and Hall of Famer Emil Mayer used their own funds to purchase

 

 

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1 the first equipment for the program and even stored it in his
2 garage until he could find storage at the high school; he was
3 time keeper for the basketball program for ten years, and when
4 the Sports Boosters were formed, he assisted in many of the
5 services they provided, often funding them himself; and
 
6     WHEREAS, In 1956, the Taylorville High School boys
7 basketball team, coached by Bob Lyons and assisted by Sam
8 Morehead, had one of the most remarkable seasons in Taylorville
9 High School history; four starters averaged double figures, but
10 the Tornadoes had difficulty maintaining consistency during
11 the regular season and finished the year with an 8-16 record;
12 the team came together during the state tournament, as the
13 Tornadoes ran off five straight victories winning the regional
14 and sectional tournaments before being stopped by the Rantoul
15 Eagles in the supersectional with a score of 79-74; members of
16 that team were Bruce Meriwether, Bob Frisina, Howard Long,
17 Larry Friedrich, Bill Crevits, Bob Edwards, Bill Tex, Mike
18 Rightnowar, Darriel Mammen, and Mel Gessell; in winning the
19 regional tournament, the team beat Blue Mound 100-67,
20 Shelbyville 100-68, and Kincaid 73-63, for a school record 273
21 total points in a regional, a record that still stands today;
22 the Tornadoes finished the season with a 13-17 record, but are
23 one of only six Taylorville Basketball Teams to advance to the
24 Sweet Sixteen; therefore, be it
 
25     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
26 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
27 we congratulate the 2006 inductees of the Taylorville High
28 School Sports Hall of Fame; and be it further
 
29     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
30 presented to each inductee as an expression of our esteem.