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Lancaster Red Roses (basketball)
Encyclopedia
| Lancaster Red Roses | |
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| City | Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities... |
| Founded | 1946 |
| League | EPBL Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :... 1946-1949 ABL American Basketball League (1925-1955) The American Basketball League was an early professional basketball league. During six seasons from 1925-26 to 1930-31, the ABL was the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the United States... 1946-1947 EPBL Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :... 1953-1955 EBA 1975-1978 CBA Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :... , 1979-1980 |
| History | Lancaster Red Roses 1978-1980 Philadelphia Kings 1980-1981 Lancaster Lightning 1981-1985 Baltimore Lightning 1985-1986 Rockford Lightning 1986-2006 |
| Arena | Lancaster Armory |
| Team History | Lancaster Red Roses 1946-1980 |
| Championships | none |
| Division Titles | several |
The Lancaster Red Roses were a professional basketball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
. From 1946 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1955, they played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League
Continental Basketball Association
The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
, of which the Red Roses were one of the six original teams. The Red Roses also played briefly as the Lancaster Rockets. They were members of the Eastern Basketball Association from 1975 to 1978, and the Continental Basketball Association
Continental Basketball Association
The Continental Basketball Association was a professional men's basketball league in the United States, which has been on hiatus since the 2009 season.- History :...
from 1979 to 1980. The Red Roses were members of the American Basketball League
American Basketball League (1925-1955)
The American Basketball League was an early professional basketball league. During six seasons from 1925-26 to 1930-31, the ABL was the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the United States...
briefly in the 1946-47 season, where they were known as the Lancaster Roses
Lancaster Roses
The Lancaster Roses were an American basketball team based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League.The franchise was terminated by the league on December 4, 1947.-Year-by-year:...
.
History
Even though the Lancaster Red Roses never won the EPBL championship, they drew many fans to the Lancaster Armory, their home court. Stan "Whitey" Von Neida, who set a league record with 46 points in one game and nearly 700 points scored in a 30-game season, was the main draw for many Lancaster fans. Von Neida lead the Red Roses to the President's Cup finals, and a big three-game series against the Wilkes-Barre BaronsWilkes-Barre Barons
The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a legendary basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.The Barons played between 1933 and 1972 in different American leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, and the most memorable are those were won while playing in the American Basketball League and the...
.
The Lancaster Red Roses had a perfect 15-0 record at the Lancaster Armory (it would take another 40 years before another EPBL team, the 1990-91 Albany Patroons
Albany Patroons
The Albany Patroons were a professional basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association ....
, would go undefeated at home during the regular season), the team had to move their post-season games to J. P. McCaskey High School because the Lancaster Armory's bleachers were scheduled for removal following Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College is a four-year private co-educational residential national liberal arts college in the Northwest Corridor neighborhood of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States....
's winter sports season. Although McCaskey High was a bigger venue than the Lancaster Armory, the Roses played the regular season at the Armory because the School District of Lancaster
School District of Lancaster
The School District of Lancaster is a large, urban school district of 11,300 students educated in 19 schools in central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Established in 1836, it is the second oldest school district in the state. School District of Lancaster encompasses approximately 11 square miles....
did not allow Sunday professional games to be played in its facilities.
Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre met for the inaugural "President's Cup" finals, but there was a dispute over where the games would be played. In the semifinals, each competing team flipped a coin to determine who would host the decisive third game. Both Lancaster and Wilkes-Barre arrived to the finals on the momentum of 2-0 playoff sweeps, but because both teams were fiercely devoted to their home field advantages, neither team would agree to play a decisive game on the opponent's home court. The final game of the President's Cup was played on a neutral court, Rockne Hall in Allentown
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, which the Red Roses lost.
After the 1946-47 season, the Red Roses and the Barons left the EPBL, joining the American Basketball League
American Basketball League (1925-1955)
The American Basketball League was an early professional basketball league. During six seasons from 1925-26 to 1930-31, the ABL was the first attempt to create a major professional basketball league in the United States...
. After losing five of their first six games in the ABL, the Red Roses rejoined the Eastern League for 28-game season. Although the team retained most of its original ABL roster, they were without Whitey Von Neida, who joined the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League
National Basketball League (United States)
Founded in 1937, the National Basketball League, often abbreviated to NBL, was a professional men's basketball league in the United States. The league would later merge with the Basketball Association of America to form the National Basketball Association in 1949.- League history :The...
(which later become the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
).
The Red Roses' third season was a disaster. The team started league play about two weeks after the rest of the teams had their home openers, and stumbled through a 2-3 record in their first five games. After missing a scheduled road game to Williamsport, the Roses were suspended from play by EPBL President William Morgan, ruling that the Roses did not make a viable effort to get to Williamsport
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Williamsport is a city in and the county seat of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. In 2009, the population was estimated at 29,304...
for the game. After Lancaster owner Rothermel Wise and business manager Benny Volk explained they could not make the trip due to hazardous road conditions, Lancaster was restored to the EPBL. A few days later, the Red Roses filed for bankruptcy, claiming liabilities of $3,824.05 and assets of $548.15. Immediately the Red Roses franchise was terminated from the league, with a new entity, the Lancaster Rockets, assuming the rest of the Red Roses' scheduled dates.
The Continental Basketball Association also hosted the Lancaster Lightning from 1981-1985. After the 1985 season, the Lightning moved to Baltimore and eventually to Rockford, Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
where they became the Rockford Lightning
Rockford Lightning
The Rockford Lightning were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association. They were based in Rockford, Illinois. The Lightning were the oldest team in the CBA, originally existing as the Lancaster Red Roses from Lancaster, Pennsylvania...
.