DOVER - If the final games of the county's 22nd Annual class B Basketball Tournament, coming up this weekend at Memorial Hall, take their cue from the quarter-final tangle of the Strasburg Tigers and Tuscarawas Broncos on Saturday night, tournament goers are in for one of the greatest basketball treats in the history of the tournament. Tusky finally won out over Strasburg by a 44-39 score in as hectic a contest as the tournament has ever offered...a game that left the 1,100 cash customers limp in their seats at its conclusion. The Stone Creek Panthers beat the Bolivar Cardinals 36-32 and the Dundee Bulldogs topped Mineral City 36-24 in Consolation Division games.
Excellent play under the backboard and a 3rd quarter scoring spurt where they outcounted their foes 17 to 8 carried 1st-Year Head Coach Jim Rogers' Tuscarawas Broncos (2-0) (20-25) to its victory over the Strasburg Tigers (1-1) (56-16) Saturday night. Despite the fact that the teams had split a pair during the season...each winning on the other's floor...the defeat of the Tigers of 1st-Year Head Coach Emmet Riley was considered a mild upset.
The Tigers had the situation well in hand at the end of the half and sported a 6-point 25-19 lead, but the Broncos' spurt tore the Bengals' defense apart and all but left Strasburg floundering, unable to get their feet on solid ground for a new take-off. Senior forward Phil Lahm, a substitute, paced Tusky's 3rd quarter attack, scoring 7 points, while Juniors forward Dick Bonvechio and forward Chuck Lorenz contributed 4 markers a piece and Senior guard John Donahue another 2 points. Strasburg, meanwhile, was being limited to 4 field goals, 2 by Junior guard Jack Reiger and one each by Junior forward Don Neidenthal and Senior center Dallas Yackey.
The scoring reversed the situation and gave the Broncos a 36-33 bulge on the Tigers as the final period opened. There Tusky appeared satisfied to protect their advantage, but in so doing they again outscored Strasburg, this time 8 to 6. The Tigers started early in the final stanza to take possession of the ball in preference to 4 free throws and at the conclusion had traded free chances at the basket 7 times for possession.
Lorenz and Donahue sparked the Tuscarawas defense that gained position on Strasburg all evening under the Tigers hoop. The Bengals; however, held their own under the Broncos ring. But with Lorenz and Donahue dominating rebound play at the Strasburg end of the floor, the losers found their efforts limited to single shots at the basket, the follow-ups lost to the work of Lorenz and Donahue. Meanwhile, Strasburg's Senior guard Glen Stille and Tusky's Bonvechio were staging a duel for individual scoring honors with Stille, who hit 10 points in the 1st half, winning by a hair, collecting 14 to Bonvechio's 13. Each had 6 field goals and Stille 2 free throws to Bonvechio's one. Lorenz was next in line with 11 points for the Broncos.
TUSCARAWAS BRONCOS - 44
Dick Bonvechio F 6-1-13
Dick Shumaker F 1-0-2
Chuck Lorenz C 4-3-11
Minnich G 1-0-2
John Donahue G 4-0-8
Gene Dessecker F 0-0-0
Phil Lahm F 3-2-8
STRASBURG TIGERS - 39
Don Neidenthal F 3-2-8
Gene Bayer F 2-1-5
Dallas Yackey C 2-0-4
Jack Reiger C 4-0-8
Glen Stille G 6-2-14
Jack Haas F 0-0-0
Monday, February 21, 1944
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
SATURDAY RESULTS 2-19-44
Stone Creek 36 - Bolivar 32 (C)
Dundee 36 - Mineral City 24 (C)
Tuscarawas 44 - Strasburg 39
THURSDAY SCHEDULE 2-24-44
Baltic vs Stone Creek 6PM (C)
Midvale vs Tusky 7PM
Port vs Sugarcreek-Shanesville 8PM
Dundee vs Strasburg 9PM (C)
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