The Midvale Blue Devils opened defense of their Class B Eastern Ohio District basketball title in the Dennison gymnasium last night by defeating the Dillonvale Night Riders of Jefferson County 42-33. Senior Guard Jim Golder of the Blue Devils drives into the keyhole slot for a 2-pointer, while Senior Forward Dave Rennicker (9), 6-4 Midvale Star, follows in. Dillonvale's Forward Ron Telford (35), Center Jack Oljeski (33), Forward Gus Holubeck (22), Forward Hal (Powder) Henry (20) and Guard Bill Millhoan (30) move into the action zone.
DENNISON - The Midvale Blue Devils (6-0) (25-1) successfully vaulted their 1st hurdle in defense of their Eastern Ohio District title last night in the Dennison Gymnasium, but were forced to subdue a 3rd-quarter uprising by a mediocre Dillonvale Night Riders (12-8) team to win 42-33. The Blue Devils will collide with the Scio Panthers (25-4) in Dennison at 8PM. Scio eliminated the unbeaten Walnut Creek Cardinals (25-1) 57-55 in a grueling battle Wednesday night to reach the Championship round.
In notching their 25th victory in 26 starts, the Blue Devils gave a luke-warm performance and the Night Riders, boasting only a 12-7 season record at the time, nearly overhauled the defending Champions with a spurt in the 3rd canto.
Trailing 22-11 at halftime after a slow 2 quarters, the Riders, sparked by the long range marksmanship of forward Hal (Powder) Henry and center Jack Oljeski, pulled up to within 2 points of Midvale in the 3rd period. Holding only a 28-26 margin, Seniors guard Jim Golder, guard Bob De Mattio and forward Jack Ford paced the Devils to a 38-30 lead at the automatic timeout in the last quarter and Midvale held on to win.
With the exception of that 3rd quarter rally by the underdog Night Riders, who possessed no height with which to match that of Midvale, the game produced none of the fireworks seen Wednesday night in the Scio-Walnut Creek struggle. Although their ball-handling was off form and the marksmanship had, the Midvale held an 11-8 first period margin, chiefly on the basis of the rebounding of 6-4 Dave Rennicker and 6-3 De Mattio, Henry and forward Gus Holubeck sunk 3 long set shots to keep the Night Riders within striking distance.
In the 2nd quarter, the Blue Devils zone defense held the Jefferson countians to 3 points, all from the free throw line, while Ford and Rennicker were each netting field goals and 6-3 Junior center Bob Sherrell was collecting a pair of action shots. Early in the 3rd period, Midvale ran the count to 26-14 and appeared on its way to an easy triumph.
Dillonvale; however, suddenly exploded. Oljeski netted a long shot and followed with a free throw toss. Substitute forward Ron Telford hit from the gift line and Henry banged in 2 long shots before De Mattio finally got the Blue Devils' next points on a follow-up shot. Trailing 28-22 with the quarter nearly over, Oljeski meshed another set shot and was fouled by Sherrell seconds later. He made both attempts from the free throw line and the Night Riders were trailing by only 2 points as the quarter closed.
At this point, Midvale took command of the situation in time to stave off disaster. Ford and Sherrell fouled out, Sherrell in the late minutes of the 3rd period and Ford late in the final canto. Dillionvale lossed 3 men on fouls, Henry, Holubeck and forward Ron Noble, all in the final quarter. Officials Ed Sherman and Ike Myers called a total of 25 fouls against Dillonvale and 21 against Midvale; although, as was the case Wednesday night, some of the decisions were very unpopular with the fans.
Rennicker paced the Blue Devils' offense with 10 points, while Ford netted 9 markers. Oljeski collected 11 for the Night Riders.
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 42
Jack Ford F 3-3-9
Dave Rennicker F 3-4-10
Gene Byers F 0-1-1
Jack Davis F 0-0-0
Bob Sherrell C 2-1-5
Jim Golder G 2-4-8
Bob De Mattio G 4-1-9
DILLONVALE NIGHT RIDERS - 33
Hal (Powder) Henry F 4-0-8
Gus Holubeck F 1-0-2
Cesario F 0-0-0
Ron Telford F 0-3-3
Jack Oljeski C 3-5-11
Bill Millhoan G 3-2-8
Ron Noble G 0-1-1
Merkle G 0-0-0
Friday, March 11, 1949
Rex Ridenour, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
NOTE: Ernie Raber, former Sugarcreek-Shanesville basketball star, left this morning with the Bowling Green quintet for Madison Square Garden. Raber, a member of the Bee Gees, one of the nation's outstanding teams, gave a brilliant performance last year in the Garden.
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