The Milford Boys were the Story County Runner-up to Huxley 29-27.
No pictures of the 1944 Milford teams were found.
Perhaps 1944 was the first year for the sport teams to be called “Bulldogs”.
Footnote about two members of this team on page 202.
This photo, apparently, is the only one in existence of the 1945 girls basketball team. This was, perhaps arguably, the best girls team Milford Twp ever put on the floor and ironically it was the second year of competitive play for Milford Twp’s girl athletes. Milford Twp had participated in a tournament in the very early twenties; but, after that, for about two and a half decades, our girls seem to have only participated in girl’s basketball clubs. The girls in the late twenties could earn athletic award letters by participating in events that were, at first, given by the county and later the individual school. Milford girl’s athletic competition started anew in the spring of 1944 when they were invited to participate in the County Tournament. They had a “pickup” game with the Roland girls team as the opening game to a Boys Varsity and JV game played at Milford’s gym. Our girls lost and the following week the girls played in the tournament and lost the opening round game to one of the stronger teams.
One of the more interesting aspects of this entire era of Milford’s Twp athletic history is that the Supt B.G. Halverson, who was the boy’s coach, was reputed to be very much against girls playing competitive basketball. However, when his daughter, Marguerite, started playing basketball in recess games against and with the boys, and doing very well, he softened (“he did a complete 180”) and let them have the 1944 spring games. Then the next season, ‘44-’45, Milford developed a strong team, and finished in the county tournament as the consolation tie winner. When the score was tied at the end of the overtime period, the game was declared a tie and both teams given the privilege of saying they were the consolation winner of the county tournament. For some, now forgotten, reason the Milford girls team was the only team referred to in the newspaper with a nickname- “The Health Champions”. No one seems to recall from where this nickname came but, by the next year, for better or worse, that name seems to have been forgotten.
Following the closing of the school year in the spring of 1945, Coach (and Supt) Halverson, along with his daughter, Marguerite, left Milford Twp, so the story goes, so his daughter could play at a more competitive level of the sport. Coon Rapids had done quite well in the State Tournaments of 1944 and 1945 so he moved to that community. Marguerite earned a spot on the starting team as a guard although she had played as a scoring forward at Milford Twp. She helped them win the State Tournament in 1946, but, unbelievably, she was the only starter of that six that did not receive state team honors. However, because she was so cute, there were more pictures of her in the newspaper than any other player of the tournament.
It makes a good story to have Halverson be so adamant against girl’s basketball and then, when his daughter develops into a very good player, he does