Sixty years ago this week, the Galesburg Silver Streaks played for a state championship at Assembly Hall in Champaign. They came within one game of winning it all.
On the 60th anniversary of that championship game, WGIL's Jay Redfern sits down with Dale Kelley and Barry Swanson — a star guard and a key starter from the Class of 1966. Barry is also the author of Streaksburg, a memoir about Galesburg basketball history currently in its final edit at the publisher.
The conversation spans an entire era of Galesburg basketball — from growing up watching the Silver Streaks, to the season that nearly ended with a state championship, to what it meant to come home to a city that treated them like champions anyway.
The interview also features rare archive audio from the WGIL vinyl album produced in 1966 — including sportscaster Bill Pearson's call of Dale Kelley's 52nd point against Rock Island, and the welcome home assembly at Galesburg High School, where 4,500 fans packed the gym.
Topics covered
- The season that almost ended with a state championship
- Growing up watching the Silver Streaks — and the players who inspired them
- The mid-season adjustments that changed the trajectory of the year
- Dale's 52-point game — and what he told his teammates the night before
- Archive audio: Bill Pearson's call of the 52nd point, live on WGIL in 1966
- The tournament run through four top-10 teams — including a dramatic one-point win over Benton
- The championship game loss — and why Dale still thinks about it
- Coach John Thiel: what made him great
- The welcome home Galesburg gave a team that finished second
- Archive audio: the 1966 welcome home assembly, from the WGIL vinyl album
- Barry's upcoming book, Streaksburg
Watch the full interview on YouTube:
Watch the 1966 IHSA State Championship Game
The Illinois High School Association has archived video of the 1966 state championship game between Galesburg and Thornton. Watch the game Dale Kelley and Barry Swanson describe in this interview.