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Centaur from Another Era

Bruce Johnson, above left, today and front right, kneeling in the front row second from left, with the Woodstock Academy Centaurs, circa 1954. Courtesy photo.

 

 

 

By Ron P. Coderre

The Woodstock Academy basketball team, winner of the 2013 Class L Championship, has the people of Woodstock and surrounding communities talking.  Names such as Ian and Adam Converse, Chris Lowry, John McGinn, Will Bourgeois and others are headliners.  Despite their high-powered offense where anyone of these players can score more than 20 points on any given night, there’s a Woodstock story of a high-scoring Centaur that’s been totally forgotten in the Academy’s history.

During the years 1951 to 1955 Woodstock Academy produced a player by the name of Bruce Johnson who consistently scored 20 points and even 30-plus points on many occasions for the Centaurs.  A sampling of the headlines in the scanty newspaper reports of the era often read “Johnson Sparks Woodstock to Win,” “Johnson Hits 39 in Woodstock Win,” “Johnson Fires 29 Markers For Beaten WA Array,” and “Johnson Sparks Woodstock Cagers.”

Regardless of the opponent, and there were some very good ones, Johnson had a knack of being Woodstock’s top scorer, the guy who scored the winning basket or the man on the charity stripe when the game was on the line.  Johnson competed against some fabled local opponents such as Stafford Springs’ Art Andreoli, who went on to a great career at Holy Cross, Tourtellotte’s Ted Vriga, who was drafted out of high school by the Red Sox but was equally good on the basketball hardwood, and Putnam’s Paul Phaneuf, who went on to Springfield College.

Although the undated clippings are frayed and fading and in no particular order, it’s difficult to discern what year of his high school fou- year varsity career they’re from, they are impressive.  A sampling of the games include Johnson scoring 26 in an overtime loss to Putnam, 34 in a big win against Plainfield, 29 and 39 in a romps over Putnam Tech, 30 against Lyman, another 30 point performance in a loss to Putnam, a pair of 29 point games in losses to Stafford Springs, a couple of 32 point games against Marianapolis, and 35 in a season opener against the Academy alumni.

All these high scoring performances came in an era long before the addition of the three-point circle.  And at a time when most teams usually played 18 game seasons.

“I believe if I were in high school today I’d be very competitive.  No question, the three-point shot would really have helped me.  I wish we’d had the three-pointer back then,” said Johnson.

And if you think Johnson was a ball hog, think again.  He was surrounded by the likes of Rollie Sheldon, who played basketball and baseball at Texas A&M and UConn and went on to a great baseball career with the New York Yankees.  There were also very good athletes like Kenny Smith, Ken Sherman, Donald Walker, Dwight Norman, Glenn Peterson and David Ask.  Though surrounded by these talented players, Johnson was the go-to guy.

When asked about what game he remembered most, it was difficult for Johnson to select a single contest.  There was a 53-46 victory over Putnam in which he led Woodstock with 16 points and although it wasn’t his greatest offensive showing it was the first Woodstock win over the Clippers going back to the 1938-1939 season according to an article by columnist Al Todd.  

Here’s the way Todd describes what happened, “Bruce Johnson hooked a pair for Woodstock, and Don Parkin dropped one in from the outside to insure the victory for the Blue and Gold.  The Academy team carried their coach to the shower room, where he was introduced to the cold water.  Woodstock became very excited following the game as victory had been long coming in their neighborly rivalry.”

During his years as a Centaur, Johnson played for coaches Walter Schmidt and Ed Craver.  In September 1994, on the 40th anniversary of the team, Johnson received some clippings and miscellaneous material from coach Schmidt with the following note, “I thought you’d get pleasure out of some materials I had in my files.  You can now spend the winter by the fireplace studying the data and indicating to your grandchildren that you were young and athletic at the same time.”

Some of the clippings indicate that at some points in his career he had accumulated 477 points in a season, while another notes 461 points.  Whether these are two different seasons or not, it’s difficult to detect.  Other clippings refer to Johnson averaging 27.3 points a game in an 18 game season.

Despite the lack of records, in the 20 games that were reviewed from newspaper clippings, Johnson tallied 520 points an average of 26 points per game.  As a four-year varsity performer with the pace that he scored it’s possible he could be a 1000-point scorer for the Academy.

Johnson went on to the Boston Art Institute for four years and graduated with a degree in advertising and design.  He enjoyed a career in art design as an art director in the Providence area.  He’s been married to his second wife Sue for 40 years and has two adult children from his previous marriage.  Johnson and his wife returned to Woodstock 10 years ago following his retirement.  Today he enjoys hunting and skiing, though he admits it’s limited today.

Asked if he had any misgivings about not playing basketball competitively beyond his four years at Woodstock Academy he said, “I sometimes regret that no one ever pushed me to go and play in college.  I think I could have easily played at some level.”

The records of the 1951-1955 Centaur basketball teams are probably lost in the Woodstock archives.  One thing is certain, Bruce Johnson was one of the most prolific scorers in the more than 200 year history of the Academy.  One question remains, “Is it possible that he was a 1000 point scorer?”

Those who remember Bruce Johnson will attest to his offensive scoring prowess in an era of what might be referred to as the “dead ball basketball era.”  Another question that should be pondered seriously is, “Does Bruce Johnson merit admission in the Woodstock Academy Athletic Hall of Fame?”

 

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