Varsity, Undefeated '54 Basketball Squads Encounter Crusaders at Worcester Tonight

Holy Cross, whom the varsity plays at Worcester tonight, may not have flashy Bob Cousy back, but it does have the tall man that Coach Buster Sheary has been lacking for the last four years.

Starting at center for the Crusaders will be six foot seven Jim Kielley, a sophomore from Brooklyn. Only one man of the first five is a senior; he is six one Wally Baird who will open at guard. The other guard will be sophomore Earle Markey, who scored 22 points in the Crusaders' only game so far, an 83 to 85 rout over American International College.

Both the forwards are juniors. Jim Dilling and Jim O'Neill are both six four, but Crimson Coach Norm Shepard calls them "two men who can really move despite their height."

Following their usual practice, the Crusaders will substitute in units of five men. And Shepard says, "Each one of their units could be a starting one."

Shepard himself will trust the same five men who have started all three games for him. Captain Ed Smith will be back at forward for the Crimson with his leg in the best condition it has been all year.

The opposing teams will each work off a single pivot, with Kielley and Dick Lionette as the post men. Holy Cross will use "a man-to-man defense sliding into a zone." Shepard will stick to his usual man-to-man defense.

Despite the fact that Holy Cross has a big height advantage, Shepard is not so worried as he might be. "The teams that give us the most trouble," he says "are the small ones like Brown which run all around us."

The freshman game, which begins two hours earlier than the varsity game at 6:30 p.m., should be a fine exhibition of basketball. The home team features Ronnie Perry of Somerville at guard and Togo Palazzi, who played in the All-scholastic North-South game last year, at center. The Yardling quintet is undefeated in three games.