Basketball Hall of Fame

No Peoria area team had won the State High School Basketball title for 34 years. That is until the 1963-64 Pekin team hit Champaign. With a superb record of 30-3, that team brought home Pekin High School's first state title.

The 1963-64 team started out the season with two early losses — to Limestone 66-61 in its fifth game and to Bloom Township by a point in game nine. Next came a 14-game winning streak before losing by five to Moline in the final game of the regular season. Pekin rolled through the regional, sectional and state tournament games before edging Cobden 50-45 for the championship.

Jim Sommer led the team in scoring with 612 points and an 18.5 average. Dave Golden, who later played for Duke, average 14.3. Other key players on the team were Ron Rhoades, Amel Massa, Jim Couch, Tony Buzick, Mike Gilliam, Rick Venturi, Tom Waskowski and Dan McDonald.