Recap
The Midwest Conference dropped teams in Buffalo and Windsor, but reorganized for its second season by adding five company-owned teams: the Fort Wayne G.E. Electrics, Warren (Ohio) Penn Oilers, Columbus Athletic Supply, Whiting (Indiana) Cieser All-Americans, and a second team in Akron, the Goodyear Wingfoots. The Goodyear team, already well-established as a Midwest industrial basketball power, dominated the league, winning 16 of 18 contests. The Wingfoots were a well-rounded club with excellent depth. Standouts included fine defensive center Bob Cope, 6’2”, 220-pound forward Ray Morstadt, who powered his way for rebounds and playmaking guard Charlie Shipp. The Akron Firestone team suffered three straight defeats at the hands of its cross-town rival, but compiled a 13-2 record against the rest of the league to easily capture the second spot in the East behind Goodyear.
The defending Western Division titlist Indianapolis Kautskys, handicapped by the frequent absences of star Johnny Wooden because of his duties as a high school coach, were never a factor in the current race. The Dayton Metropolitans won the Western Division crown by two games over second place Fort Wayne, despite the late season desertion of star forward Leroy Edwards to the independent Oshkosh, Wisconsin team. Dayton and Fort Wayne split the first two games of the Western Division playoff, before Dayton forfeited the deciding game in an argument over box office receipts. Goodyear easily downed the Firestones in two straight games to move on to the best-of-three game playoff final against the dark-horse Fort Wayne G.E.’s. The Goodyears opened at home with an easy 28-22 victory. In game two at Fort Wayne, the Goodyears fell behind 21-7 in the third quarter, before staging a miraculous rally in which they outscored the G.E.’s 20-3 to take the game and the league crown by a 27-24 margin.
I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.