1956 LESTER PEARSON “MIKES” BOYS’ BASKETBALL TEAM PROVINCIAL HIGH SCHOOL CHAMPIONS
The 1955-56 season saw the boys’ basketball teams from New Westminster’s Duke of Connaught and Trapp Tech High Schools combine together at the new Lester Pearson High School. This produced one of the greatest teams in the history of High School basketball in our Province.
This powerful team, coached by Rudy Wiley, assisted by Bill Popowich and Bill Kushnir, dominated the Vancouver and District League, going undefeated, and overwhelmed all opponents in the B.C. Provincial Championship Tournament at UBC to be crowned 1956 Provincial High School Basketball Champions.
Winning the Provincial Championship in the first year of the new school was one of the year’s highlights for the young school. Students supported the team throughout the year with capacity crowds in the gym at home games and busloads of fans going to away games particularly to the Championships at UBC.
The team is the only one in the 75 year history of the Provincial Championship to have 4 players selected to the Tournament’s 1st All Star team. (George Grozier, Ken Winslade, Don Krego and David McDonald). Don Krego, the 1956 Tournament’s Most Valuable Player, went on to have a very successful career in the B.C. Senior Mens’ League and played on 2 Canadian Mens’ Championship teams in 1958 and 1965. Ken Winslade attended UBC and had a very successful basketball career at the University leading the Thunderbirds to the Western Canadian Championship in 1960 and 1961. Both years he was the Conference leading scorer, selected to the 1st All Star team and named the Conference’s Most Valuable Player. Another player on the Pearson team was Stan Stewardson who went on to become an outstanding basketball coach guiding the North Delta Huskies to the Boys’ Provincial Championship in 1972 and later coached the Mens’ Basketball team at Simon Fraser University for 10 years.
In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the B.C. High School Boys’ Basketball Provincial Championship a poll was taken to determine the best teams ever to participate during the Tournament’s history. The 1956 Lester Pearson team was voted as one of the 4 best teams of all time ever to have competed in the High School Boys’ Provincial Championship.
In the opinion of many long time observers this team is arguably the best High School team ever to have played in our Province.
Ken Winslade