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Rules of the game: A different brand of girls basketball and Georgia's first big switch
Fans old enough or curious about history know about six-on-six basketball, the era when girls teams had six players on the floor at once, three guards on one end and three forwards on the other. The center line was their boundary and they were not to cross.
A lesser number of fans know of the rovers, the in-between style from 3-on-3 (six players on the floor) to modern 5-on-5. Rovers, which lasted from 1970-1975 in the GHSA, was full-court, but with six players. Two forwards and two guards stayed on their side of the court, though two players - rovers - could cross.
Then there was the other style, the girls basketball that pre-dated 3-on-3, also known as "two-court" basketball. This was 6-on-6 and "three-court" basketball.
Three-court had guards and forwards, yes, and it also had centers. Jump centers and side centers.
One of those seems familiar. A player jumps center at the beginning of the game. A side center is a bit more weird as the term did not survive after the three-court era.
Dribbling rules were different for girls basketball in the 1930s. An exact timeline of rules changes - and there were tons from the 1920s until 1970 - is not available. A 1922-23 Spalding rulebook permitted one dribble at a time. Girls also had to have arms straight up while guarding or else it was a foul.
Side centers were quite useful. Girls were allowed to jump center, but like now, it was not permitted to catch the jump. It had to go somewhere. With three divisions, somebody had to get it. That was the job of the side center.
In early basketball, there was a jump at center for every made basket. By the late 1930s, that had faded, but now the referee brought the ball to center court to be inbounded to the offense. Dribbling rules were still there.
You might have seen the weave drill for basketball, going from end of the court to the other. A really impressive weave drill can be run without a single dribble. With the dribbling limitations of the 1930s, there might have been some visual similarities in getting the ball from one end to the other as a weave drill.
The Columbia (S.C.) State ran an occasional column "Tips on Girls Basketball" in 1937. Its author, Roy Forehand, described center play on Feb. 1 as:
"As to your side center, always have her to play back some distance from your jump center. This enables her to break very fast to receive the ball rather than have her roaming around close to the circle and causing much confusion in trying to get the ball as she passes."
Basketball itself being "too much" would rear itself over and over again over the next three decades and would be the claims of some Georgia school officials in the late 1950s in banning the sport competitively for girls at a few high schools.
When did three-division court basketball turn into two in Georgia? Surprise! Not all at once. And, in probably an even bigger surprise, nor was it necessarily the law of the land throughout Georgia at the time of a rules switch in 1937-38.
The November 11, 1937 Jackson (County) Herald talked about the new rules:
"Under the new ninth district rules, the girls will play on a two division court using girls rules."
Yep, girls using girls rules. Makes perfect sense.
"For the past few years, the girls have played boys rules. We believe that this change will make the game much more interesting."
B-b-b-b-boys rules? In 1937?
Yes, this could happen. The GHSA left it up to each district to decide if it wanted, three-court, two-court, or even boys rules in its girls games. Until the 1937-38 season.
Jack Reid of the Athens Banner-Herald wrote up this rules change and others adopted at the annual meeting of the Georgia High School Association in an article on May 18:
Before 1937-38, the options were part of the GHSA By-Laws printed each year.
As mentioned earlier, District 9 had been playing by boys' rules for a minimum of 1936-37. Over in Augusta, the annual CSRA tournament crowned two sets of girls' champions for a few years - including 1936-37. The Augusta Chronicle of Feb. 7, 1937 confirms the situation in its recap of championship games: "Hundreds of spectators applauded as the far-away Aiken county girls repreated in the three court division, as Evans triumphed in the two court (or Georgia) division, and as Coach Motes' Dearing boys pulled away in the closing minutes to defeat Evans 25-21 for the championship vacated this year when Pulaski High did not choose to re-enter."
Over in the Macon area, a box score for a girls game between Byron and Chauncey, played Jan. 22, 1937, shows two centers in the starting lineup. That is a tell-tale sign of a three-division court game.
Study of early 1937 box scores across the state have been able to identify the type of basketball being played in eight of Georgia's 10 districts. Three-on-3 and 2-on-2-on-2 seem to be nearly evenly split. Only one district, it seems, the 9th, played by boys rules. Teams located in Jackson County were in the 9th district. Lawrenceville's girls were one its most successful teams in 1936-37.
"In starting the play when your center has the ball, it is a wise practice to have her pass the ball as soon as she gets possession of it. If this is done very fast, then very often you can have the ball to your forwards before the defense is prepared for the play to begin. Do not have your center to face the same direction all the time. Have her to face in all directions in the center circle. Things like this are confusing to high school players because they are not orthodox. These little things add deception to your attack and in the long run will pay you good dividends.
There were definite drawbacks to three-division style. Two guards on two forwards was limiting. Bevin Lee, longtime Albany football and basketball coach, commented in a Macon Telegraph article by Foy Evans on Jan. 12, 1938, that three divisions limited skills and deception. Only speed mattered, Lee said. Any other rules than 3-on-3 would be too much to both Lee and Evans.
The state executive committee also voted to employ uniform girls basketball rules throughout the state, after several districts have allowed their girls teams to play by boys rules for the past several seasons. It is now required that boys rules for girls basketball be abolished, and that six players compose a team.
"Sec. 21. The executive committee for each district shall determine whether girls' basketball should be played by boys' rules or girls' rules in that district. If played by girls' rules, they shall also determine whether a two-division or three-division court be used. Their decision is binding on all the members of the association of that district."
That left open the possibility for three variations of girls' basketball being played in Georgia. For those hopeful for that level of chaos, it seems to have existed for at least one year.
Three box scores from early 1937 showing three different rules sets for girls basketball in Georgia. To the left, Athens-Lavonia plays 3-on-3; in the middle, boys rules (5-on-5) for the Lawrenceville-Gainesville girls; and on the right, Valdosta-Hahira plays 2-on-2-on-2. The giveaway is the listings of the centers. Two centers are a hallmark of 2-on-2-on-2.
Now, if anyone wonders what would happen if these three different styles came together ... that would have been rare.
Districts were huge. They were congressional district territories and in 1936, Georgia had 10 of them, with more B and C teams in most of them than any region now. It was not out of the question for teams to travel outside of their district, but less often for girls. We've already seen that the CSRA tournament would split teams according to rules rather than force the issue.
It seems to have happened at least some. The 1938 Macon Telegraph article with the comments from Lee confirmed the state uniformity of the two-court game, made comment that "Prior to this time ... many teams had to learn at least two different ways to play the game, and some had to learn to play all three ways that were practiced in order to compete with their natural rivals ... three division and two division ball was common and some districts practiced the no-division game as the boys play the game."
Thirty-five years later, yes, there were rules clashes between South Carolina and Georgia girls' hoops teams. In those, the teams played by the rules of the host.