With a nucleus of players from the 1945-46 UBC Thunderbirds and the 1946-47 national championship Meralomas, it was clear when the Vancouver Clover Leafs took to the court for the 1948-49 season that they were the strongest and most competitive lineup in Vancouver history. Furthermore, they were entering the season as two-time Canadian senior men’s basketball champions.

In the 1948-49 Vancouver and District basketball season, the Clover Leafs went undefeated in their first twelve games and won the league championships without difficulty.

Advancing to the provincial championships in Victoria against Doug Peden’s YMCAteam, the short-handed Clover Leafs were upset in the first game 57-45, but went on to win the rest of the best of five series, earning the right to play the Winnipeg Paulins in the Western Canadian playoffs.

Even though the Paulins were touted to be the greatest prairie squad since the 1920s and a threat to the BC senior basketball champion Clover Leafs, the Vancouver team won the 1948-49 Western Canadian championships in three games (82-49, 64-52, and 75-68), retaining the Hamber Trophy.

As the Western Canadian champions and defenders of the Dominion basketball title, the Clover Leafs next met with Windsor Assumption College’s Purple Raiders, champions of the East. Led by a prolific scorer, the Windsor team came to Vancouver with a great deal of fanfare from the Eastern media, who unanimously agreed that the Clover Leafs couldn’t possibly win a single game. The Clover Leaf squad, however, swept the five-game series in three straight games (62-58, 77-63 and 83-64) for their third consecutive Canadian championship for Senior A men’s basketball.

Team Members:
Ole Bakken, Bob Burtwell, Harry Franklin, Bob Haas, Ralph ‘Hunk’ Henderson (manager/coach), Harry Kermode, Bud McLeod, John Owen (trainer), Bob Pickell, Jack Pomfret, Sandy Robertson, Bob Scarr, Art Stilwell, Ron Weber.