This week, Replays jumps into the "Way-back Machine" and goes back five decades, taking a peek at the 1957-58 basketball season from the pages of the Independent Record.

Helena Cathedral High's first win was a 52-49 victory over Holy Rosary of Bozeman. Greenie 6-foot-5 center Terry Weggeman pitched in a game-high 22 points and "grabbed over half of their rebounds," according to the IR. Teammate Mike Kelly added nine points. In a 67-55 win over Phillipsburg, four HCHS cagers reached double figures, paced by Weggenman's 28 points. Kelly counted 16, with Tom Downs and Gene Peoples adding 10 apiece.

The first Southwest B Conference win for coach Tom Kelly's cagers was a 59-38 triumph over Hamilton in the old Carroll College gym. Weggenman scored 19, helped by 16 counters from Bob Marron. In a 50-49 squeaker over conference rival Dillon, guard Mike Kelly coolly swished the winning free throw with five seconds left on the clock.

When the Greenies bested Cascade 64-36, 12 of the 14 players used by coach Kelly cracked the scoring column. In the preliminary contest, the Cathedral B squad topped the Badger Bs 43-28, led by Jeff Holmes, with 12 counters, and nine by Jack Thomas.

In a non-conference tilt, Cathedral fell to Townsend High, 58-54. Dave Doig and Hoppe led the Bulldogs, with 19 and 15 points, respectively. Broadwater would go on to place third at the year-end Southern Divisional Class C tournament. Doig, who produced playoff game-highs of 35 and 27 points, was named to the all-tournament team.

At the Southwest B Tournament in Anaconda, HCHS' season came to an end in a tough 57-54 loss to Dillon. Weggenman pitched in 16 points, 14 at the charity stripe. Cathedral finished with an 11-9 record.

The rest of the Greenies' lettermen 50 years ago included Pete Tobin, John Marron, John Downs, Dennis Chenovick, Al "Bunky" Muenier and Dennis McCabe.

Helena High's hoopsters, in a rebuilding year after winning three straight state championships from 1953-55, lost their first eight games. Coach Lloyd Skor's charges got off "the schnide" with a 59-50 upset over Butte High. The Bengals were spearheaded by junior forward Bob Hoffman's 29 points, and "the ball-hawking of junior guard Clayton Linebarger," according to the IR.

In a 72-52 triumph over Butte Central, Hoffman was tops with 23 points, followed by junior forward Tom Allen's 17 and 14 by Gary Johnson. In the B game, Helena's Spike Fuller drained 26 counters in a 63-53 win over the Maroons junior varsity.

The Bengals took the measure of Livingston, 72-58, with four cagers in double figures. Allen was high with 18. Tossing in 16 was Linebarger, Dave Didrickson had 14 and Terry Beaver scored 12. Randy Noland (20 points) and Jack Gillespie (11) paced the jayvee's overtime victory over the Rangers' B squad.

HHS performed their only back-to-back wins all year when they next topped Great Falls High, 68-57. Gary Johnson's 20 points led the red-and-white.

The Bengals entered the 1958 state Class AA tournament as the No. 9 seed. But Helena pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the year when they upended fourth-ranked Anaconda 55-50 in the opening round. Hoffman, who was averaging 14 ppg but was playing on a bad ankle, scored 13 points. Didriksen and Allen registered 12 and 11 counters, respectively.

Helena (6-16) dropped their next two contests and was eliminated from the playoffs. Gary Johnson was the only local chosen to the all-tourney team.

Other varsity members were Bob Redpath, Bob "Spud" McCullough, Hank Flatow, Gary Toll, Cliff Hysell, Frank Ursich and Dave Miller.

Coach Bernard McGinley's freshman Kittens set a Class AA frosh record of 32 free throws (73 percent) when they defeated the GFH Bison Calves, 61-44. Center Ken Leland was high with 17 points.

The Kittens, who finished at 8-4, won their season finale 56-41 over Bozeman's frosh. Russ Hoeffner, Chuck Green, Leland, Bruce Nachtsheim, Barney Olsen and Mickey Anderson were coach Mac's stalwarts.

The Carroll Saints opened the season with six straight losses before beating Eastern Montana College, 92-81. Pacing the Hilltoppers' scoring were Vince Kelleher with 28 points, Louie Pecora at 18, and Tracy Walsh and John Kingston with 16 each. Kingston snagged 17 rebounds. The Yellowjackets were led by Jim Haugen's 22 points.

In a rematch the next weekend, CC edged Eastern 74-71, powered by Walsh's 30 points. Coach John Hunthausen's roundballers beat the Butte School of Mines (now Montana Tech) 80-60, powered by four guys in double digits. Pecora and Kingston were high with 18 points apiece, while Jerry Smith tallied 16 and Walsh added 12.

The Saints ended with a 5-15 mark. Walsh, who averaged 14.5 points, was selected to the all-conference squad. Rounding out the Saints roster were Jerry Loendorf, Mike Anderson, Tom Albright, Jerry Wren, Jerry Loendorf, Ken Stenger, Mike Smith, Phil Corchene and George Hogan.

In City League action, Dean Parsons, a 6-7 former Pacific Coast Conference player, poured in 48 points for a new league record, pacing the Oasis Bar to 102-43 win over Ben Franklin. Oasis completed an undefeated 13-0 regular season, beating runner-up Helena Hardware 87-65. Parsons (23 points), Foster (17) and Johnson (13) paced the champs offensively. High scorers for the Hardware group were Bill Gilbert (18 points) and Dick House (15).

On the collegiate scene, at least three former Helena Bengals were making news. Russ Sheriff, senior Griz center, received the C.R. Dragstedt Award on his way to setting UM game, season and career rebound records. Bobcat junior Jim Kelley averaged 5.5 points and paced MSU in rebounding with 227 boards.

At the University of Nebraska, senior forward Don Smidt helped the Cornhuskers upset No. 1-ranked Kansas State, 55-48. Smidt would years later be inducted into Nebraska's Hall of Fame.