Boys Basketball 1967 PIAA Champions

It was the most anticipated match-up in the history of local high school basketball. A battle of unbeatens. Five starters from the industrial town of Ambridge-all white-versus five starters-all black-from the inner city of Pittsburgh. The defending state champion Schenley Spartans and the Ambridge Bridgers met in the 1967 PIAA Triple-A state semifinals, with the winner obtaining the opportunity to face undefeated Chester for the state title. Both schools entered the game unbeaten
“The ’67 championship season was a very, very, special time,” said Dennis Wuycik, who pumped in a game high 27 points. “I cherish fond memories of that game. It was a sweet victory.”
Frank Kaufmann, the Ambridge starting center, had mentioned to a friend over the summer that his Ambridge team may not lose a single game.
“We knew we had something special beginning that season,” Kaufmann says now. “That was something to say for a team that was .500 the year before.”
Said starting guard, Ed “Petie” Gibson of Schenley, “I’m not going to say we took them for granted, but we felt we could beat anybody. We were real confident, but we didn’t know how good they were.”
Schenley had reasons for their confidence. Winners of their first City League title in 31 years in 1965, the Spartans went on to lose the semifinal game to a Simmie Hill and Norm Van Lier led Midland team that same year. The following season, they won City League and PIAA titles. And, like their Ambridge counterparts, their 1967 record was unblemished.
The dream match-up in ’67 featured three of the best players in the country: first team All-Americans Dick DeVenzio of Ambridge and Kenny Durrett of Schenley, and fifth team All-American Wuycik of Ambridge.
In addition, Ambridge’s DeVenzio and Schenley’s Gibson were two of the top guards in western PA.
“Dick was an extraordinary player,” said Gibson, whose grandfather was none other than Negro League legend Josh Gibson. “To this day, I have the utmost respect for Dick DeVenzio. He was a really good player and a good friend.”
“You had a lot of talent on that floor,” said Kaufmann. “There were three of the top 25 players in the country.”
And when the box score was finalized, former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Marino Parascenzo put it the best when he said, “The mighty fell to the mightier.”
The most surprising element of the game was the point differential, as the Bridgers won 68-50. Besides Wuycik’s 27, two other Bridgers played key roles. Kaufmann, who stood 6’8″, was also a Scholastic Coaches All-American as a high jumper. It was that high jumping skill that ultimately proved to be a difference maker in the game as he totally dominated the boards, grabbing 21 rebounds and adding 15 points. DeVenzio, the ultimate floor general, had an off-shooting night as he made just 6 of his 21 field goal attempts, but contributed 18 points.
Schenley’s Durrett was widely considered one of the greatest high school players in western Pennsylvania history.

“He was one of the best players I ever saw,” says his former teammate Gibson. But he struggled on that night, scoring 25 points but shooting just 8 of 20 from the floor. Gibson was held to 8 points on 4 for 15 shooting.
There was another unique element to this Ambridge team. In a time when most teams were comprised of young men who had played together since grade school, the Bridgers’ starting five all went to different junior high schools.
The Schenley team was just the opposite, a perfect example of kids growing up and maturing on the court together. The bulk of the team had played at Herron Hill Junior High School.
“We won five straight championships,” said Gibson. “Two at Herron Hill and three at Schenley.”
Gibson feels the difference in the game was coaching.
“Let’s face it, DeVenzio’s dad was a much better coach,” he admits. “We were winning but our talent was raw.”
Prior to the 1966 school year, Dick DeVenzio and his father Chuck became a package deal, leaving Springdale High to come to Ambridge.
Dick’s younger brother Dave, who was the ball boy on that ’67 team, said of his father, “He wasn’t fun to play for or fun to be around during the season. I hated him while I played for him. I think a lot of players thought the same way, but he did the best with the talent he had.”
“He taught us how to win,” said Kaufmann.
The bonds of these players went beyond that one glorious night.
Ambridges’ Kaufmann, Wuycik and DeVenzio, and Schenley’s Durrett, Gibson and Montel Brundage all went to a basketball camp run by then-Villanova head coach Jack Kraft in Green Lane, Pa. the previous summer.
“I got to know Dick then and we just bonded,” said Gibson.
“Growing up, he did everything right,” said Dave DeVenzio of his older brother. “I thought Dick was the best ever. John Wooden, Bob Cousy and Dean Smith were all in our living room recruiting him to play for them. That kind of validated my opinion that he was the best.”
Ambridge rode their surprising win over Schenley to the state finals in Harrisburg against undefeated Chester, and capped their dream season with a 93-61 win for the state title. Over the course of the season, the Bridgers beat their opponents by an average of 25 points per game.
Five of the starters from that semifinal game went on to have major college careers: DeVenzio at Duke, Wuycik at North Carolina, Kaufmann at Purdue, Durrett at LaSalle and Gibson at New Mexico. Durrett and Wuycik both played professionally, Durrett with the NBA’s then-Cincinnati Royals and Wuycik with Carolina and St. Louis of the ABA. Durrett, DeVenzio and Ambridge’s Walt Ostrowski have all passed away over the course of the last seven years. Brundage died at a young age in the eighties.

“It was a tremendous game for the Ambridge students and the community. It was what high school basketball was supposed to be all about,” reflected Kaufmann.
“The storied exploits, the tradition of Western PA high school football and basketball surrounding that time period is well-documented. The Ambridge-Schenley game was absolutely part of it,” said Wuycik.
After The Whistle
Where the stars of this legendary game went…
Dick DeVenzio
As a starter for the Duke Blue Devils, DeVenzio was named to the First Team in the ACC Tournament in 1969. In 1971 DeVenzio was named to the Academic All-American Team. He died May 18, 2001, at age 51.
Kenny Durrett
Durrett attended LaSalle University before being the fourth overall selection of the 1971 NBA Draft by the Cincinnati Royals. The 6-7 forward missed only seven foul shots in his rookie season for the Royals. Durrett passed away January 8, 2001, at 52 years of age.
Ed “Petie” Gibson
Gibson attended the University of New Mexico where he still holds five school records in assists. In 2000, Gibson was inducted into the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame.
Frank Kaufman
Kaufman played major college basketball at Purdue University. In 2008, he was inducted into the WPIAL Hall of Fame as a member of the ’67 Ambridge team.
Dennis Wuycik
Wuycik went on to attend the University of North Carolina, eventually finding success in the ABA for the Carolina Cougars, where he played under coach Larry Brown. In his first season he was named to the All-Rookie team.
http://www.pittsburghsportsreport.com/2008-Issues/psr0807/08070111.html