STEUBENVILLE - Strasburg's hopes for a 3rd consecutive District basketball title and a berth in the Youngstown Regionals, last stop before the State finals in Columbus, lay shattered on the hardwood of Steubenville's Big Red Gymnasium today as a result of a shocking 51-48 upset administered by the Dillonvale Night Riders in the 2nd round of District play on Thursday night. The Midvale Blue Devils, conquerors of the Belmont Flying Eagles 54-45 Tuesday night, stood today as the sole remaining Tuscarawas County contender for District honors and will collide with Dillonvale Saturday night at 7:45PM in the finals at Steubenville.
With their powerful offensive guns partially throttled by the Dillonvale Night Riders' (22-7) pressing defense and unable to cash in on scoring opportunities, the Strasburg Tigers (6-1) (27-3) saw their coveted crown slip through their fingers as the Night Riders' fast break erased an early 1st period deficit and proved the deciding factor in the battle.
All-Ohio Senior center Clarence Yackey, spearhead of the Tiger offense, drew his 3rd personal foul midway in the 2nd period and Head Coach Emmet Riley was forced to remove his ace for the remainder of the quarter, further handicapping a team which had become a little shaky after seeing the Riders knot the count at 15-15 in the 1st quarter after trailing 9-1 in the early minutes. Yackey was sent back into the game in the 3rd stanza, but was ejected with 4 minutes remaining of the final canto when it seemed that the Bengals might move out in front for the 1st time since the initial quarter.
In the early stages of the 1st quarter it appeared that Strasburg was going to win as predicted over the highly-regarded Night Riders as Yackey, Senior forward Roland Malcuit, Senior guard Tom Haswell and Sophomore guard John Haswell poured points through the nets and gave the Bengals a 9-1 advantage. Midway in the quarter; however, the vaunted Rider offensive came to life and forwards Harold (Powder) Henry and Jim Jelnick paced a Dillonvale attack which closed the gap.
Strasburg defenses faltered before the withering fire of Henry's deadly long range marksmanship in the 2nd period and Dillonvale surged into a 31-27 halftime lead. Field goals by Malcult, Junior forward Jim Weber, Yackey and John Haswell were not sufficient to match Henry's 8 point splurge and the Tigers relinquished their hard-earned 1st quarter margin.
In a furious 3rd stanza, each team counted twice from the field and an equal number of times from the free throw line and Dillonvale still held its 4-point margin 37-33 at the end of the canto. The Night Riders' press was holding Yackey out from the Tiger nets and staving off thrusts by Tom Haswell.
At the start of the final quarter, guard Jack Olzeski of Dillonvale, whose brilliant defensive play bracketed Yackey on numerous occasions, netted a charity toss to make it 38-33, but Sophomore forward John Reiger made up part of the deficit with a doubledecker. Night Riders center Earl Thompson matched this and the Riders again led by 5 points, 40-35. Reiger meshed another fielder, but Jelnick made it 41-37 with a charity toss. Yackey was fouled and netted a pair from the gift lane to bring the count to 41-39, but this was the towering center's last contribution as he left the game via the foul route with 4 minutes remaining.
Jelnick upped the count with a free throw toss and Weber raised Strasburg hopes as he whipped 2 successive field goals through the nets to give the Bengals a 43-42 lead with 3 minutes to go. After Henry and Jelnick had sparked Dillonvale to a 46-43 lead seconds later, Tom Haswell knotted the count at 46-46 with a field goal and a free throw. This proved to be Strasburg's last bid as guard Gus Holubeck and Jelnick caged field goals under the nets to give the Riders a 50-46 margin. A charity shot by Henry and a final doubledecker by Reiger proved to be incidental as the time ran out on the desperate Bengals.
Henry led both teams in scoring with 18 points and game honors, while his mate, Jelnick, collected 16. Tom Haswell garnered 13, while Yackey and Weber harvested 9 points each. Both teams were even in field scoring with 18 each. Dillonvale counted 15 times from the free throw line with Strasburg getting 12.
DILLONVALE NIGHT RIDERS - 51
Harold (Powder) Henry F 8-2-18
Jerry Jelneck F 6-4-16
Earl Thompson C 1-4-6
Gus Holubeck G 2-2-6
Jack Olzeski G 1-3-5
STRASBURG TIGERS - 48
Roland Malcuit F 2-1-5
Jim Weber F 4-1-9
John Reiger F 3-1-7
Clarence Yackey C 3-3-9
Lewin Vermillion C 0-0-0
Tom Haswell G 4-5-13
John Haswell G 2-1-5
Friday, March 12, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
NOTE: STRASBURG GRADUATES FOR 1948
TOP ROW: Richard Bach - Dean Beitzel - Martha Bott - Naomi Deibel - Nancy Fernsell and Jack Fuhrer. 2ND ROW: Glen Huffman - Rose Dorsey - Pat Von Kaenel - Tom Haswell - Raymond Kaiser and Margaret Welsch. 3RD ROW: Roland Malcuit - Rosemary Meek - Jerry Ramsey - Mae Ellen Kenner, Bruce Renisch and Alma Rockbill. BOTTOM ROW: James Snyder - Julia Spring and Clarence Yackey.
NOTE: At one time Dillonvale was known as the Dillonvale Purple Riders. In 1936 a fooball field was constructed with LIGHTS and the Purple Riders became the Night Riders.
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