Fife High Basketball Team, 1941 League Champions. Back, L to R: ?, Frank Spear, Yahachi Sagami, Willard Ogden, Bill Haminshi, Frank Evancich, ?. Front: Mel Rowe, Frank Dreyer, Bob Vinson, Roy Herting, Dave Wilcox, Coach Bill Vinson.

Fife High School (Fife); Basketball players--Fife; Vinson, Bill; Spear, Frank;

State Champion Fife High School Trojans tumble to the ground in a heap in this November 1939 portrait. The victorious Trojans won the State Class B Football Championship with a 7-0 victory over the favored Poulsbo Vikings. At the top of the pyramid is Pete Mello. Directly below are Pete Cereghino, Frank Spear and Milton Iida. 3rd Row: Seiichi Yamada, Bob Vinson and Frank Evancich. 4th Row: Kenji Yaguchi, Masaru Tamura, Yohei Sagami and Joe Trucco. Bottom row: Howard Bryan, Willie Haminishi, Tom Pruett and Ben Holdner. The Trojans, under the direction of Coach Bill Vinson, had a 10 game unbeaten season, and were the state's highest scoring team, scoring 328 points to their opponents' 19. Although much of the team was small and outweighed by their opponents, they were fast and agile. (T. Times 11/16/1939, pg. 19; 11/18/1939, pg. 13)

Fife High School (Fife); Spear, Frank; Football players--Fife;

ca. 1939. Group portrait of Fife High School football team, the Trojans. Coach Bill Vinson at far right rear. Player number 10 is Frank Spear, cited by the Tacoma Times as a player of the week. Half of the team is made up of Japanese-American players. Fife was having a very successful year, winning 9 straight games on their way to becoming the Pierce County B League Champions. They continued on to defeat the favored Poulsbo Vikings 7-0 to become the State Champions. Although the Trojan linemen were much outweighed, in one case by over 40 pounds; they were faster and more agile than their opponents. (T. Times 11/16/1939, pg. 19; 11/18/1939, pg. 13)

Fife High School (Fife); Vinson, Bill; Spear, Frank; Football players--Fife;

ca. 1939. Group portrait of Fife High School football team, the Trojans. Coach Bill Vinson at far right rear. Player number 10 identified as Frank Spear. Approximately half of the team is made up of Japanese Americans. The 1939 Trojans were the State Class B Football Champions. They were also the state's highest scoring team; finishing the season with 328 points and a ten game unbeaten streak. (T.Times 11/16/39, pg. 19; 11/18/39, pg. 13)

Fife High School (Fife); Vinson, Bill; Spear, Frank; Football players--Fife;

Coach Bill Vinson led the Fife High School basketball team to an 11 and 1 record in 1941. That was good enough for the League Championship. The team included: (back, l to r) Willard Ogden, Bill Haminshi, Frank Spear, Mel Rowe, Frank Evancich. (front) Yahachi Sagami, Bob Vinson, Roy Herting, Frank Dreyer, Dave Wilcox, Coach Bill Vinson. (T. Times 3/3/1941, pg. 11)

Fife High School (Fife); Basketball players--Fife; Vinson, Bill; Spear, Frank;

Fife High Basketball Team, 1941 League Champion. L to R. Back: Yahachi Sagami, Bill Haminshi, Frank Spear, Mel Rowe, Frank Evancich. Front: Willard Ogden, Bob Vinson, Roy Herting, Frank Dreyer, Dave Wilcox, and Coach Bill Vinson, marking game strategy on the floor. (T.Times, 3/3/1941, p. 11)

Fife High School (Fife); Basketball players--Fife; Vinson, Bill; Spear, Frank;