51 - Right Down The Line

Thursday, February 22, 1951
Dover, Ohio


TWO MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY LEAGUE 'BIG THREE' the Midvale Blue Devils (2-0) (18-4) (52-24) and Strasburg Tigers (2-0) (16-6) (80-20) have reached the pay-off round in the tournament firing.  The 3rd member, the Tuscarawas Broncos (2-1) (13-8) (36-36), defeated by Strasburg 62-50) last night, still has to defeat the Bolivar Cardinals (1-1) (6-15) (46-38) and either the Stone Creek Golden Panthers (2-1) (8-19) (18-35) or the Dundee Bulldogs (2-1) (13-10) (24-43) before gaining a berth in the Sectional Division meet next week.

Midvale and Strasburg are assured a Sectional Tournament berth, but that is as much as can be assured either team until after that Championship struggle on Friday night.  Head Coach Don Martin's Tigers, in those final 3 minutes last night, appeared to be just about tops in the county as they rode over the Broncos.  Until then, Tusky had been giving the Bengals plenty of trouble.

THERE STILL ISN'T A FAVORITE for the title...not when the top teams are so evenly matched that one field goal or free throw shot could decide the issue.  Credit Head Coach Ike Wiseman of the Bulldogs with a neat bit of strategy last night.  It may have seemed a waste of opportunity when his Dogs started taking the ball out of bounds instead of shooting free throw shots as early as the 2nd period, but we feel it was sound strategy.

Wiseman's idea was to keep the ball away from the Blue Devils as much as possible and wait for openings in the defense.  With a few more breaks, Dundee could have made that ball-control game pay off.  Credit Head Coach Warren Craigo and his Cardinals with another fine game.  This marks the 2nd straight year the Red Birds have upset a favorite.  This year it was the Gnadenhutten Indians (2-2) (15-10) (45-39), last year it was Strasburg.  As a matter of fact, a lot of credit is due every team and coach for fine performances this year.  There is still more to come.

RON KOHL OF GNADENHUTTEN is leading all tournament scorers with 75 points as of last night.  Jerry Rausch of Tusky has 65, Loris Hostetler of Dundee 57, Ken Huston of Port Washington 47 and Jim Lorens of Stone Creek 45.

BASKETBALL FANS IN THIS AREA are assured of seeing some of the best talent, both team and individual, in the Class B Sectional Tournament eliminations at Memorial Hall next week.  Walnut Creek's powerful Cardinals were ranked 16th in Class B circles by the sports magazine, First and Ten, this week, one notch above the Dennison Railroaders who placed 17th in the magazine poll.

Both the Red Birds and Railroaders will enter the Sectional Tournament.  They may not meet; however, if seeded in different brackets.  Dennison, who plays predominately a Class A schedule, vaulted 30 places after holding the New Philadelphia Quakers to a 69-65 decision last week.  The Quakers were ranked 25th in Class A circles.

The Quakers' fine center, Dave Leggett, leads the State's Class A scorers with 521 points.  Bobby Troyer, Walnut Creek's All-Ohio cager has tallied 465 markers in 21 games, while teammate Ike Hostetler has 468 in 22 contests, including the 15 games he played at Sugarcreek Shanesville.

This is an example of the magazine he is talking about.  This is the March 1951-52 issue of the FIRST AND TEN magazine.