Senior John Zeigler of the Strasburg Tigers tries a push shot against the Tuscarawas Broncos, while Senior Bob Cerano fails to stop the attempt.
DOVER - With the pressure on, the blue chips down and 1,800 fans looking on, the Strasburg Tigers and defending Champion Midvale Blue Devils earned the right Wednesday night to battle it out for the The Daily Reporter Trophy Friday in the finals of the County Class B Basketball Tournament at Memorial Hall. Extended to the limit by a determined Tuscarawas Broncos team, Head Coach Don Martin's Tigers found the spark in the last canto and went on to annex a decisive 62-50 decision in a bitter battle which could have gone either way until the last 2 minutes.
The Midvale Blue Devils played off of their feet by a Dundee Bulldogs team which was bent on an upset, managed to hang on and win 46-42 in the closing stages of another terrific struggle. It remained for Head Coach Warren Craigo's Bolivar Cardinals; however, to surge back from a defeat at the hands of Tusky last week 74-50 and stun the Gnadenhutten Indians with a 47-45 victory...the tournament's biggest upset to date.
As a result of the Cardinals victory last night, the Red Birds will tackle Tuscarawas tonight at 8:45. It is the 2nd time in the tournament that the 2 teams have met, the Broncos winning the 1st game last week. In the other Consolation Division contest tonight, the Stone Creek Golden Panthers tackles Dundee at 7:45. The 2 winners will clash for the Consolation Division Trophy Friday night with the winner, along with the Championship winner and runner-up advancing to the Sectional Tournament next week at Memorial Hall.
Head Coach Chuck Lorenz' Tuscarawas Broncos (2-1) (13-8) (36-36), who tied the Midvale Blue Devils and Strasburg Tigers (2-0) (16-6) (80-20) for the County League title, kept pace with the Tigers until a blistering attack by Senior Jim Reiger and Junior Dale Bayer in the final 3 minutes blasted Tusky's hopes. For 3 quarters, the 2 teams fought it out on nearly even terms with the Bengals holding quarter edges of 12-9, 23-20 and 37-35.
Strasburg employed a 1-2-2 zone defense and drew their offensive power from a fast-breaking attack and the set-shooting of Bayer, Senior John Zeigler and Senior Dale Renner. The Colts attempted to throw a man-to-man defensive barrier at the Tigers, but did not succeed in halting the Bengal aces completely at any stage of the game.
In the 1st half, Zeigler's set shooting from side court cut Tuscarawas down. The Strasburg forward netted 11 of the 23 Tiger points, while Seniors Jerry Rausch, Russ (Ike) Walton and Bob McPeek distributed scoring for Tusky. During the 3rd stanza, marksmanship by Bayer, who fired mostly from a set position over the Bronco defense, gave the Bengals the edge as the Ponies again failed to penetrate the Strasburg zone effectively.
In the 4th Canto, Rausch staged a brilliant one-man exhibition as he scored all of Tusky's field goals in this quarter. His total was 12 points. It was Rausch who pulled the Broncos from a 48-41 deficit to within one-point of the Strasburg lead with 3 successive action shots from the side. That was the final Bronco bid; however, as the Tigers, fired by Rieger and Bayer, borke the game wide open in the final 3 minutes.
Zeigler and Reiger led Strasburg with 15 points each and their teammate, Renner, popped in another 10 points. Tuscarawas' Rausch led all scorers with 22 points.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 62
John Zeigler 7-1-15
Dale Renner 4-2-10
Jim Reiger 6-3-15
Dale Bayer 3-3-9
Rich Rentsch 0-0-0
Bill Von Kaenel 1-1-3
TUSCARAWAS BRONCOS - 50
Jerry Rausch 10-2-22
Russ (Ike) Walton 3-0-6
Martin Vesco 3-1-7
Dick Kerns 0-1-1
Bill Tharp 2-2-6
Bob Cerana 0-0-0
Bob McPeek 3-2-8
Thursday, February 22, 1951
Rex Ridenour, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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