PORT ANGELES — For the first time, three teams will be inducted in one year into the Port Angeles Roughrider Hall of Fame.
The teams include the 1952 Port Angeles High School basketball team, the 1977 girls hoops squad and the 1972 football team. All three squads already have some individuals in the hall of fame. The induction ceremony will be held at Civic Field in Port Angeles on Aug. 16.
Bruce Skinner, one of the lead organizers of the hall of fame, said the HOF committee focused the first few years on inducting people in more recent years while they were still alive. He said the committee is starting to look at some of these older teams such as the 1952 hoops team, which has just one surviving member. Radio legend Scooter Chapman, already in the HOF, was the statistician for the team.
“We wanted to get people in the Hall of Fame while they were still able to attend,” Skinner said. “Going forward, we will be looking at these legendary teams.”
The 1952 team entered the state tournament with a 22-0 high school record, after beating North Kitsap, Bremerton and Bellevue in the district tourney. Upset in the first game of the tournament by Ellensburg, Port Angeles came back to beat Aberdeen, West Valley and Burlington to finish fifth with a 25-1 record.
Their only loss during the regular season was in an exhibition game that didn’t count to the University of Washington freshman team. And they lost by three points to the older team.
“We’ve played every junior college in the state,” said UW Freshman Coach Bill Morris, “and only Grays Harbor might be better.”
Coached by John Driscoll, the team was led by 6-5 center Ken Fuhrer, who was named to the All-State team and was inducted into the first class of the Roughrider Hall of Fame in 2018. He went to play at Seattle University, which played in the NCAA Tournament (then only 16 teams) all four years that he was there. In his senior year, he averaged 10.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Other stalwarts were 6-3 forward Dick Brown, who averaged 14.5 points per game, Jim McFadden, Gordon Fee, Bob Partridge, Dick Kent and Arlen McDonald.
The 1972 Port Angeles Roughrider football team, coached by Pete Hohman, was ranked No. 5 in the State in 3A.
The team had two All-State players, tight end Jerry Payne, and defensive back Tim Fryer. Payne went on to become a starting linebacker for the Washington State Cougars, when WSU assistant coach Jack Elway, a former Port Angeles coach, recruited him.
They were arguably the best defensive team in the state, totaling seven shutouts in 10 games. West Bremerton scored a touchdown on a 90-yard fumble recovery, or it would have been eight shutouts.
The 1977 girls basketball team, coached by Kay Dill and assisted by Bill Tiderman, was the first Port Angeles girls team to finish in the state tournament, losing to Everett but beating Shadle Park of Spokane 63-62. Port Angeles brought back girls’ sports in 1975 because of Title IX, so the team made state in only its third year of existence.
The team was led by all-state performer and Roughrider Hall of Famer Sherri Felton. She went on to play at the University of Washington, where she set the UW single-game scoring record, a mark that stood until Kelsey Plum, now a huge star in the WNBA, broke it.
Other starters for the team included Brenda Partridge, Chris Duffy, Kelli Bourm, Mary Groshong, Dinky Camporini and Kathy Hopfner.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at https://tinyurl.com/2025PAHOF or by calling 360-417-7144.
The three teams will be joined by nine previously announced individuals who are being inducted. They include:
Bob Blackburn, track, 1975.
Mike Chamberlin, swimming, 1968.
Gus Kravas, basketball, 1960.
Steve Johansen, basketball, 1972.
Jodie Jones, softball, 2003.
Bob Lovell, football, 1965.
Adam Macomber, football, 2005.
Bob Spencer, swimming, 1970.
Susan Wilson Childers, badminton, 1966.
