Jerry Wood

Hall of Fame hoopsters Jon Norgaard and Dave Romppanen had graduated from the 20-6 squad of 1962-1963 and coach Pete Bryant had only one returning starter. Fortunately for the Fishermen, that returning starter was a dandy named Jerry Wood.

Wood had scored 277 points as a junior to supplement All-Staters Norgaard and Romppanen. He was expected to head the local cagers as a senior and did not disappoint. In 22 games he poured in 374 points, for a 17.0 per-game average, to help Bryant’s crew roll up a 14-8 overall mark and a 11-7 record in the strong Metro League. On a brisk February evening in 1964, Wood exploded for a career-high 40 points in a 73-41 win over Clackamas High School. Only Gordon Scott’s 44 points against Tillamook in 1959 is listed higher than Wood’s 40 point outing on the Astoria High School all-time single-game scoring charts. That memorable night saw him net 16 of 24 field goals and 8 of 12 from the line, falling one short of the entire Clackamas team total.

At the end of the season, he was selected to the first team All-Metro team and earned All-State honorable mention in the state’s newspapers.

As a freshman, with fellow Hall of Famer Dave West as a teammate, Wood and his Fishermen cage squad registered a 19-0 mark on the hardwood. One year later he paced the JV cagers to a 16-6 mark that gave the JV’s a Metro League title. His 225 points in 16 Metro League contests was one of the highest in the league. Two of those six JV losses came at the hands of Clatsop College. Wood showed early in his prep career that he possessed great leaping ability, by high jumping an AHS school record of 5-foot-11, as a sophomore - and that was in the days of saw dust pits.

As a starting running back for Vince Dulcich’s gridders, Wood broke ribs twice during his senior season, limiting his playing time on Gyro Field.