Members of the 1932 Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates, Champions of the Eastern District, basketball team photo. Ken Ricker - Forward, Sylvester Harmon, Captain, - Guard, Harold Logsdon - Center, Vernon Finzer - Center, Hugo Wassem - Guard, Boyd Burkey - Forward (scored 363 points this season), Dean Norris, Nolan Blosser, Wilson Harmon, Prince Harmon, Head Coach Harold Sundheimer and A.C. Bahler, Superintendent of schools and former head coach of the Pirates. (Friday, March 18, 1932)
COLUMBUS - The united roar of 6,000 fans filled the huge coliseum with a bedlam of sound here last night in tribute to the gold-shirted Pirates of Sugarcreek-Shanesville (9-1), who rallied around the goal in the last 2 minutes of play to defeat Stewart, 28-27 and win their way into the semi-final round of this 10th Ohio State Basketball Tournament. Spectators, disinterested because the issue apparently had been decided, arose to cheer the game stand of a team that refused to acknowledge the possibility of defeat. Trailing by 3 points and with less than 3 minutes of playing time left, the Pirates tried the score at 27 and won out 45 seconds from the final gun when Junior Forward Boyd Burkey toed the free-throw line and swished a charity toss through the net. The Class B Champions of the Eastern District, who a moment before had been raging goalward, cooly stalled the final brief seconds, while the desperate Stewart Raiders frantically tried to gain possession of the ball.
But, victory went to the team that fought for it. And, when Timekeeper A.B. Long's pistol cracked the Priates were given a great ovation by an audience that thrilled to another complification of the axiom..."A team that won't be beaten can't be beaten." While Burkey's foul toss accountef for the story-book finish, the 2 timely field goals by Senior guard Hugo Wassem of Sugarcreek-Shanesville, put the Pirates back in the running.
The score was 27-22 in favor of the smart, smooth-passing Athens County aggregation and 3 minutes and 15 seconds of playing time remained when Wassem leaped high, intercepted a pass and dribbled half the length of the 75-foot court to sink a fielder. Senior forward Ken Ricker was fouled and he made, good his free toss. Wassem again broke loose from his guard position, headed for the goal to take a pass from center Harold Logsdon and tied the score with a neat sucker-shot. Burkey, dribbling toward the basket in his deceptive fashion, was fouled by Ogg, Steward guard. The Pirates' leading scorer, without hesitation, stepped to the foul line and wished the ball through the hoop. Logsdon controlled the next tip at center and the Pirates retained possession of the ball and their one-point lead to the end.
At the finish, Head Coach Harold Sundheimer, Superintendent A.C. Bahler, and the Pirate substitutes and Trainers, Fritz Weber and Willard McKeever, who had given up hope of victory, rushed out on lthe floor to pound the backs of their scrapping favorites. The victors won the support of a host of fans by their swirling finish and fans who prior to last night had never heard of Sugarcreek, nor of Shanesville, this afternoon will be rooting for a team that fights hardest when the going is toughest. Stewart, save for the opinion of a few loyal Sugarcreek-Shanesville supporters who followed the team to Columbus, was heavily favored to win the opening encounter on last night's program. The Pirates took a 6-4 lead in the quarter, Ricker, Captain Sylvester Harmon and Logsdon doing the scoring.
They fell behind in the 2nd period and the intermission found Stewart out in front 13-9. The 3rd chukker saw the Raiders steadily gain a commanding lead and they led at the end of the period 19-16. The scoring spree of the losers carried over into the 1st five minutes of the final session and they were out in front 25-16 before the determined Pirates began to whack away at the point-mountain in their brilliant rally. Burkey, the sharpshooter, wasn't hitting with his customary accuracy and wisely refrained from excessive shooting, feeding the ball to his teammates. Harmon and Wassem each made 3 field goals, but Wassem was high scorer with 9 points. Every member of the team broke into the scoring column and each was an important cog in the machine that clicked so smoothly late in the contest.
A lot of our old friends are here at the tournament. Earl (Monk) Gross, New Philadelphia, is one of the 4 referees. Three officials handle each game, while the 4th rests. County Superintendent of Schools, Charles Barthelmeh, member of the State Board of Control of the State Athletic Association, was among the rooters for the Pirates. So were Principal W.E. Laws and Head Coach Pilkington of Midvale; Ernie Godfrey former Doverite and now Freshman Coach at Ohio State and Howard (Red) Maurer, Dover, coach at Washington C.H. of Fayette County.
SUGARCREEK-SHANESVILLE PIRATES - 28
Boyd Burkey 1-3-5
Ken Ricker 2-1-5
Harold Logsdon 1-1-3
Sylvester Harmon 3-0-6
Hugo Wassem 3-3-9
STEWART RAIDERS - 27
Gorham 5-1-11
Dean 3-1-7
Russell 3-1-7
Ogg 1-0-2
Rose 0-0-0
Copeland 0-0-0
Saturday, March 19, 1932
Hal Jenkins, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
NOTE: PIRATES FACE TOUGH FOE IN OSTRANDER - Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates were scheduled with Ostrander in the upper bracket Class B semi-final this afternoon. The contest will start at 2PM. Ostrander last night eliminated the crack North Canton quint 30-29 through the brilliant individual performance of Freshwater, who scored 19 points and will be a hard man for the Pirates to stop. Freshwater is big and fast, a good shot and a superb dribbler. Individually, he was the sensation of the tourney games last night.
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