Sean Sollenberger is an up-and-coming sports journalist, following in the footsteps of his great uncle Barry Sollenberger, who served as an Arizona high school sports historian and the AIA's Sports Information Director for decades.

Let’s take a look into a powerhouse of a boys basketball team, the 1962 Tucson High School Badgers. Prior to that season, the 1961 squad was also great, but the mumps plagued the team - literally and figuratively - as it lost to their hated rivals Catalina in the playoffs. The Badgers spent the offseason training for that next season. Their towering height, talent and discipline made them a force of a team. Let’s meet the squad!

The Play Style

The Badgers had an all-time great at the helm in Tony Morales. Morales’s coaching style was notoriously intense and passionate. He was not the kind of guy who would accept laziness from his players. He was also known for his intense, fiery halftime speeches that would wake up and motivate players to go out and dominate the second half.

Morales ran an aggressive style defense with relentless on ball pressure while making sure his players stayed out of foul trouble. They ran an inside-out offense, heavily relying on their star player, the big Ray Kosanke. If anyone doubled Kosanke, teammates would immediately kick it to one of the guards or forwards for an easy wide-open shot. This style of offense demonstrated balance, showing that anyone could score anywhere on the floor. They were so offensively and defensively sound that they won by an average margin of 24 points that season!

The Team

At guard there were two great players in Jesse Peoples and Chester Willis. Peoples ran the point, known for having jet-quick speed that really helped on the break. He also used that stellar speed on the circuit for track and field, where he was equally as good as he was on the hardwood. At shooting guard they had Willis. He was a transfer from a high school in Southern California and made an immediate impact as a lights-out shooter in clutch situations.

At the forward spots they had Leroy Taylor and Mike Aboud. Taylor, standing at 6’5” was a rebounding machine, always grabbing the key boards that helped the team win games. Aboud, coming in at 6’4” was the only junior in the starting five. He provided the perfect size and extraordinary grit to elevate the forward position to another level.

Last, but certainly not least, there was Ray Kosanke. Standing at a towering 6-foot-9, “Big Ko” was absolutely unstoppable. He averaged approximately 23 points per game and was a master at cleaning the glass. He earned All-American honors, was named first-team all-state, and was named captain of the team. Kosanke was also an elite athlete in track and field, setting a school record and making it to the state championships in discus. He was the definition of student-athlete. The more you learn about him, the more he sounds made up. He was president of the student body, had a 4.0 GPA, was a member of the National Honor Society, and was even elected Youth Governor for the State of Arizona where he flew out to Washington D.C. to meet then-president John. F. Kennedy.

Combining all of this talent, as well as the elite coaching of Morales, this resulted in an absolutely special season for the school.

Senior All-American Ray Kosanke about to score one of his many layups for the 1961-62 Badgers team. (Tucson High photo)The Season

Unsurprisingly this team went a perfect 17-0 in the regular season and was not short of being extremely impressive. The first four games actually had to be played without Kosanke due to injury. The team stepped up and won those contests for its sidelined leader. Once Kosanke returned, that’s when the Badgers started to dominate the league. Some of those winning margins: 27-point win against Salpointe Catholic, 29 points against Camelback, 30 points against Yuma, 34 points against Rincon, 37 points against Mesa, and a stunning 50-point margin against Amphitheater where Kosanke scored a school record 46 points. They headed into the playoffs with a perfect 17-0 record, but none of that would mean anything if they didn’t make it to the state championship.

The state playoffs for this team would be very hard fought, and no victory would be easy. This team was the top squad in the region so Tucson easily clinched a playoff spot and a first round matchup against Arcadia. This game was a massive wake-up call for the Badgers. Arcadia came into this contest fearless, refusing to be intimidated by the hype around Tucson. The Titans took away the team’s easy transition points, making this a hard-fought 58-52 victory for the Badgers.

Their size and lockdown defense helped propel them to victory this time. The near-upset showed Morales that no win would come easy in the postseason. The next game was against Washington. This victory was even more difficult, as Tucson was able to squeak out a 58-56 win. Similar to the Arcadia game, they beat Washington due to clutch defense that forced crucial turnovers and their mental toughness which helped them stay strong for the win. This win advanced the Badgers to the state semifinals in Tempe. Little did they know the next matchup against Phoenix Central would be considered one of the most legendary games in Arizona basketball history.

The semifinal tilt pitted the 19-0 Badgers against the 18-3 Bobcats. Central started off very hot, and Tucson was playing lazy on both sides of the ball. At halftime the Bobcats led 32-19, which was the largest deficit the Badgers faced all year. Morales was furious. In the locker room he gave one of his famous halftime speeches. He started the halftime talk by challenging guys to pick it up and demanded that the players follow the ultimate rule, that they could have a bad night on offense but certainly not on defense.

Taylor and Kosanke immediately responded, saying that they would win this game. The Badgers came out of the locker room as a new team and dominated on defense. The entire team picked it up and made Central’s lead slowly disappear. They found themselves down 52-50 with less than two minutes left. Willis took matters into his own hands as he drained an amazing long-range jumper that tied it up. Each team was determined not to give up the game-winning shot, playing lockdown defense possession after possession.

The Badgers were able to get the ball back with 30 seconds left, milking the clock so they had time for a final shot. The team played true to its offensive tactics, passing the ball inside to Kosanke. However, Central’s defense and pressure forced Kosanke into a shot that rattled in and out of the rim. But Taylor flew through the air, snagged the rebound, and put it right back up. The ball fell through the net with only a few seconds left. The Badgers then put on their famous lockdown defense, preventing Central from having any miracle answers.

The final horn sounded and the Badgers had completed the comeback! They won a spectacular game 54-52, clinching a spot in the state final the very next night against their toughest opponent yet. The championship game would certainly live up to the hype.

The perfect 20-0 Badgers faced the equally perfect 23-0 Flagstaff Eagles for the boys basketball 5A state championship. This game was one of the most hyped games of its time. It had two All-Americans and Arizona’s best basketball players - Kosanke facing off against Flagstaff’s Jimmy Dugan in one of the most famous and legendary games, not just in Arizona, but high school basketball history as a whole. Both these teams were worthy of the state crown, but only one could win.

The first quarter was an absolute dogfight. The high-flying, fast-paced offense of Flagstaff was met with Tucson’s famous physical and relentless defense, which made the first eight minutes end in a low-scoring affair. Morales was determined to slow down Flagstaff’s scoring and so far it was working. The Eagles had a good amount of players averaging double digits in scoring that season, but Tucson’s defense slowed them down, forcing them to take low percentage shots.

The second quarter was much of the same. Tucson slowed down the track meet Flagstaff ran. Kosanke and Taylor dominated defensively in the interior, blocking shots and forcing Flagstaff to attempts tough shots from the outside. At the end of the first half the Badgers led by five.

The third quarter was when Tucson broke free. The Badgers were finally able to get past Flagstaff’s defensive wall, running the inside-out offense perfectly. The game became the “Big Ko Show,” as Flagstaff defenders grew tired of battling with the star center inside. This allowed Kosanke to control the paint, scoring a load of buckets and securing a huge amount of offensive boards. Peoples and Willis continued to control the pace of the Badgers’ offense, playing extraordinary perimeter defense and causing Flagstaff to miss more outside shots. They also completely hamstrung the Eagles’ fast break ability. All of this resulted in Tucson extending their five-point lead to a comfy nine-point advantage at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter, however, saw Flagstaff battle back. The Eagles went on a hot streak, refusing to let their undefeated streak end. The nine-point cushion was completely erased. Then disaster struck for the Badgers. Kosanke, their best player, team captain, and leader all year, fouled out with a few minutes left in the game. With Kosanke on the bench, this game was going to be a lot harder to pull out. But this team was not a one-man show and displayed why Tucson was the No. 1 team in the south, why they came back against Central, why they were there in the first place.

Peoples and Willis took over the game at that point, sinking shots from all over the floor. Then in the final moments of the game, Aboud, the Badgers’ youngest starter and unsung hero all season, calmly drove the paint and sunk a layup, tying the game at 52-all. Tucson’s defense forced a bad shot and Aboud drove into the lane again and got fouled on the way up. He would get two free throws. With the entire season resting on a younger player like Aboud, you would think he would collapse under the pressure. However, the first free throw went up and … swish. The second free throw … swish. The Badgers regained the lead 54-52. They immediately put on the press and Flagstaff heaved up a shot that didn’t have a prayer of going in.

And that was it. Pandemonium followed. Both the bench and fans stormed the court, celebrating the unbelievable game and season this team had. They had done it! They were the kings of the state!

The Legacy

The team had a beautiful moment in the locker room after that marathon of a postseason. Players were physically and mentally exhausted after playing four very tough games against four very tough teams. They embraced their coach knowing that they certainly couldn’t have done it without him. They also embraced Kosanke knowing his leadership and ability helped carry this team to the top of the mountain.

It was absolute madness when the team returned home. Fans, teachers, students, family, residents - everyone came to greet them. There was a city-wide pride where the team was treated like local royalty.

This team achieved an unbelievable feat where Peoples, Willis, Taylor, and, of course, Kosanke all earned all-city and all-state honors. Tucson ended up being ranked No. 6 in the country in the final poll. The entire 1962 squad was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame.

Morales continued to coach Tucson’s basketball team up until 1969 where he resigned just three days after winning his second state title, explaining that his fiery coaching personality often exhausted him. He was inducted into the Arizona Basketball Hall of Fame in 1967. Morales eventually moved to San Diego where he became Lincoln High School’s head baseball coach. He was inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 before passing in 2014. A memorial service was held for him inside Tucson’s hall of honor.

Peoples earned a basketball scholarship to Arizona Western. After college graduation he served in the U.S. military. In 2010 he was inducted into the Tucson High Alumni Hall of Fame. Willis became a local sportsman in Arizona, even working with the Sun Tran transit system. He was a dedicated family man with his wife, seven children, and 10 grandchildren. He passed away in 2008 and was honored in 2013 when he was inducted into the Tucson High Alumni Hall of Fame. There isn’t much on Taylor after he left Tucson to attend college, but he was immediately inducted into the Tucson Alumni Hall of Fame in 1963. Aboud had a stellar 1963 season for the Badgers, earning a scholarship to the University of Arizona. After college, he became a well-known attorney in the Tucson area. He also does a lot of volunteer work. Finally there was Kosanke. He went on to have a very successful career at Stanford. In a stellar senior year, he averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds per game. Kosanke averaged 7.7 boards per game over his career, making him one of the school’s top all-time rebounders. He continued to play basketball overseas in Belgium, where he led his team to multiple division championships. After his pro career there, he moved back to the U.S. and got his MBA from Pepperdine. Kosanke took part in supporting clean energy initiatives. He was inducted into the Pima County Sports Hall of Fame and Tucson High Alumni Hall of Fame in 2014 before passing away in 2015.

Anytime you mention this team in Tucson, you will hear nostalgic remembrances of their unbelievable defense. Morales’s fiery personality. Kosanke being unstoppable inside. The insane comeback against Central. Aboud’s clutch free throws. The matchup against Flagstaff and the aftermath of that game. But most of all, the great pride they brought to the Tucson area and the joy this community had of watching them play.