Dale Schasker, a starter on the last Freeport boys basketball team to reach Champaign, died last month at the age of 83.
Schasker was the youngest of 10 kids born in Pearl City, but was raised in Freeport.
Freeport won the 1951 state title behind future Iowa Hawkeye stars Carl Cain and Deacon Davis, but Cain was the only returning starter in 1952, when the Pretzels made a surprise return trip to state. That 1952 team, led by Cain and Schasker, rallied from 12 points down with only five minutes to play to shock No. 2-ranked Rockford West 59-55 in the sectional semifinals in Sterling. The Pretzels then beat Rock Falls 69-60 before losing 74-68 to Quincy in the Sweet Sixteen.
Quincy wound up taking second, losing in overtime to the famed Alden-Hebron team that has become Illinois' version of "Hoosiers".
Schasker later was a four-year starter at the University of Dubuque. After college, he settled in Geneva, where he raised three children with his wife of 55 years, Marilyn (Axell).
Carl Cain is now the only living former Pretzel who reached state in boys basketball. Cain followed Davis, his Freeport neighbor, to Iowa, where they both went to a Final Four. In Cain's senior year, after Davis graduated, the Hawkeyes reached the title game, losing to a San Francisco team led by Bill Russell. Cain had 17 points and 12 rebounds in that 83-71 defeat. Cain was also a member of the 1956 gold medal-winning basketball team for the U.S.
Matt Trowbridge: 815-987-1383; mtrowbridge@rrstar.com; @matttrowbridge