Williamsport Billies

The Williamsport Billies, based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League, which started as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, from 1947 to 1964. Other clubs in the league were in Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Sunbury, Allentown and Hazleton. The Billies played at the Williamsport Armory and later in the gym of the old Roosevelt Junior High.

They made the playoffs in 11 seasons and won league titles in 1950, 1953 and 1954. Their best records were 20-8 in 1949-50 and 20-10 in 1953-54. Jack Molinas played for the team from 1954 to 1959 and was named league most valuable player in 1956 after averaging 27.3 points. He had been banned from the top pro league for gambling and was later convicted in a point-shaving case. John Chaney, who later coached at Temple, also played for Williamsport.

The team's decline came in the early 1960s. It went 7-19 in 1963-64, its last season. No source found explains why it stopped. The origin of the name is also unsettled: some credit founder Bill Pickelner, and others the city's nickname, Billtown.