From his years as a young high school player through his long career in professional basketball, Bill Chanecka was always a standout for two reasons; he was a a marvelous scorer and he was a valued teammate who consistently was an integral part of championship teams.

Chanecka was a football and basketball star at Central High School in Binghampton, New York.  In his senior year, he led the basketball team to an undefeated season. After service in the  Navy  during World War II, Chanecka, along with his brother Steve,  signed to play professional basketball with the Wilkes-Barre Barons  of the newly formed Eastern Basketball League. Chanecka led the the team in scoring, averaging 21.9 points per game and helped the Barons win the 1947 EBL championship.  The following season, he Barons joined  the American Basketball League, no longer a major league, but arguably the top minor league in the country. Wilkes-Barre won ABL championships in 1948 and 1949. Chanecka was named MVP of the league both seasons . In March of 1949,  he set a single game ABL scoring record of 58 points. In 1952, Chanecka returned to the Eastern Basketball League where he played for another seven seasons. Cahnecka helped the Williamsport Billies win two EBL championships.

William “Bill”  Zirkel” was  a high scoring scholastic basketball star at Fanklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn. As a freshmen, Zirkel  played varsity basketball at the University of  West Virginia. Zirkel was the third leading scorer at 11.9 points per  game on the Mountaineers’ team tha posted a 19-3 record and was rated one of the top teams in the country. Ziirkel seemed primed for stardom, but surprisingly dropped out at the end of the school year. Zirkel, ( known by the first name “Willie) , played played minor league professional basketball for a half-dozen seasons and made a one game appearance in the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1948.