DOVER - The unbeaten Strasburg Tigers and Tuscarawas Broncos, both hot favorites in the Eastern Ohio Class B District Championship finals at Zanesville this weekend will leave tomorrow by private cars and a bus. Both teams will set up shop in Hotel Zane, near the Zanesville Municipal Auditorium, where both take the boards Friday night in their opening tourney appearance, Tusky will meet Frazeysburg, Muskingum County Consolation Division winner and the Bengals meet the Zanesville St. Thomas Irish.
Head Coach Emmet Riley and his Strasburg cagers will leave at 8AM tomorrow morning in private cars. Upon arrival they will go to the Auditorium for a brief practice session on the tournament floor in the forenoon. The Broncos will leave about 1PM tomorrow afternoon by bus. Tusky schools will close at 11:30AM and a bus will be provided for students who do not have their own private transportation. Strasburg schools will close down 2 periods early in the afternoon and a bus will be furnished for the students.
The 2 teams are highly favored to sweep the 2 Muskingum County entries out of the tourney Friday night and then meet Saturday night in the Championship final, the winner going to Athens the following week to compete in the Regional Tournament. If the Tigers and Broncos do meet in the final game Saturday night, it will be the 4th time the 2 teams have met, Strasburg previously winning 3 games from Tuscarawas, 2 regular season contests by 2 points each and the county tournament contest by 15 points. The Auditorium will open an hour before game time and seats approximately 2,000.
Strasburg, one of the few unbeaten teams in the State and holding a record of 25 straight victories, will meet a small, but fast, Zanesville St. Thomas club with a pair of good shooters, a fast breaking offense and so far "the luck of the Irish". Head Coach Stan Kinskey of the Saints will probably start Bob Arnold and Gene O'Brien at the forwards, Jerry Dunn at center, Russ Nocera and Mickey Bruns at the guards.
O'Brien is rated an excellent shot from anyplace on the floor and one-handed shots from the corner are his specialty. Brune, who wears glasses, is small and aggressive, specializing at digging the ball out under the basket and slipping in sucker shots. The team is small, Dunn's 6-1 being the most height the Tigers will have to contend with, but the fast break, plus plenty of shooting brought St. Thomas up through the Sectional Tournament to a final overtime victory over the West Lafayette Generals.
Head Coach Jim Rogers of Tusky will go against a fast-breaking club and Head Coach Bob Knight will have a height advantage at the center position for his Frazeysburg team since he usually starts Paul Blizzard, 6-3, at that spot. Other starters are Herb Robinson, Jim Michael, Harry Williamson and Don Stokes. Frazeysburg is reported as a well-balanced team and all of the starters are lettermen. Williamson is the only other 6 footer on the starting five. Blizzard is rated a good defensive man. The team has no offensive star, as they divide scoring honors rather evenly.
Thursday, March 7, 1946
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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