DOVER - Way back in 1923 old Sam Watkins schooled 7 cagers in the fine arts of basketball at Strasburg High School and thereby started an embryo of Champions which have become just about as common around the northern county school as blackboards and chalk. In that year Sam's hefty hoopsters...led by crafty Senior forward Jim (Slim) Foster - won 10 games dropped 5 and walked away with the 1st Tuscarawas County Class B Basketball Championship.
In those days, Jim was earmarked as the official free throw shooter. Each team selected its best marksman to handle all charity tosses. He canned 70. Since the Strasburg Tigers bagged that 1st tournament the history of the annual classic reads like a "doctored-up" tax return...Strasburg...Strasburg. In 29 of the meets they have been crowned champs no less than 13 times. The closest contender is the Midvale Blue Devils with 5.
Although the Tigers are not setting cage circles on fire this year, Head Coach Don Martin's charges have been improving steadily after a slow start. They will tangle with the Dundee "Co-Champion" Bulldogs in the 2nd game at 7:45 on Tuesday night. The 1st tilt at 6:30 will pit the Bolivar Cardinals against the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates, but the feature attraction of the night will be the 9 o'clock clash between the Tuscarawas Broncos and the other Co-Champion Blue Devils.
Should the Broncos roll up a repeat performance of their big upset of Midvale Friday night, the tournament could come up with a fat bundle of surprises. Who knows? Even old Sam himself might waltz into Memorial Hall. But one thing is certain. He won't see the winning team this year cop the tiara all in one day's work as was the case with his crew.
The tournament that year was sponsored by the Dover Chamber of Commerce and floored at Memorial Hall (American Legion Building at that time), saw everything decided on Saturday afternoon and evening. The Silver Trophy was provided by The Daily Reporter. There were 6 teams in the meet:
Strasburg Tigers
Mineral City Tigers
Bolivar Cardinals
Gnadenhutten Indians
Tuscarawas Broncos
NOTE: Exactly when the schools were given their nicknames is not known by me.
The Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates had planned to enter also, but was eliminated before it got started by illness.
In the afternoon pairing Mineral City shellacked Bolivar 27-9. Strasburg then rushed onto the floor and swept away Dundee 36-8 and Gnadenhutten followed with a 29-7 romp over Tuscarawas. After getting warmed up in the afternoon tilt, Sam's charges came back that night to win 2 games and the crown, downing Mineral City 22-12 and plastering Gnadenhutten 52-16.
HERE'S AN EXCERPT from The Daily Reporter's account of the 1923 meet:
Although only a small crowd saw the basketball festival, the tournament was entirely successful and arrangements are already being made to repeat it here next year. Strasburg and Mineral City had the biggest rooting delegations on hand. Slim Jim Foster of Strasburg carried off the individual scoring honors for the day. This chap made 19 field baskets...8 of them in the final game...and pitched 4 free throws for a total of 40 of his team's 110 points in the 3 games.
Dundee never had a chance against Strasburg. The Tigers 5 went so fast in the 1st quarter, which ended 16-0, that Head Coach Sammy Watkins relieved 4 of the 5 with substitutes. Still the Bulldog boys were outclassed completely and were unable to keep the ball more than a second at a time. The half ended 24-4 and the 3rd stanza 28-7. Sophomore forward Bob Everhart was the only Dundee player to make a field goal. He grabbed off 2, one in each half and also pitched 3 free throw tosses for 7 of the 8 Dundee points.
Walters, the other Bulldog forward, stood out prominently in floor work, but his shooting was off color and he managed a lone free throw. The Dundee guards were helpless before the charging Strasburg Five.
OTHER MEMBERS of that 1923 squad were:
Captain Senior Center Keene Van Curen
Senior Forward Herbert Donley
Senior Guard Russel Norman
Junior Guard George Mizer
Junior Olin Shutt
Junior Guard Randall Weber
Freshman Glen Jones
Goudy
Only 4 other teams have copped the tournament crown:
Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates 4
Gnadenhutten Indians 3
Bolivar Cardinals 2
Tuscarawas Broncos 1
Consolation Division Champions
Tuscarawas Broncos 4
Midvale Blue Devils 3
Strasburg Tigers 3
Gnadenhutten Indians 2
Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates 2
Bolivar Cardinals 1
Dundee Bulldogs 1
Mineral City Tigers 1
COMPLETE 1923 TOURNAMENT
March 10, 1923
Mineral City 27 - Bolivar 9
Strasburg 36 - Dundee 9
Gnaden 29 - Tusky 7
Strasburg 22 - Mineral City 12
Strasburg 52 Gnaden 16
Monday, February 11, 1952
Ray Stull, Sports Writer
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
TUESDAY 2-12-52
Bolivar vs Sugarcreek-Shanesville 6:30
Dundee vs Strasburg 7:45
Tusky vs Midvale
WEDNESDAY 2-13-52
Stone Creek vs Port 6:30
Baltic vs Bolivar-Sugarcreek-Shanesville Winner 7:30
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