53 - Right Down The Line

RIGHT DOWN THE LINE
With Art Cicconetti
Thursday, February 19, 1953
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio


SHOOTING THE BREEZE, our Indian friend from North Handkerchief, Oklahoma has been taking quite an interest in the results of the 31st Annual Tuscarawas County Class B Basketball Tournament.  Although he is quite noted for his prognostications, this particular Brave (?) refuses to pick a Champion.  "Nothing is certain in that tournament," says Breezey in his latest smoke signal carried north by Winter Winds, his 2nd cousin.

"The Strasburg Tigers wasn't picked to win the League Championship, but those Tigers went out and won every League game.  The Tuscarawas Broncos were picked as the Champion and they had to be satisfied with a two-way tie in 2nd with the Midvale Blue Devils.  And then last week the Stone Creek Golden Panthers and Gnadenhutten Indians had to go and push 2 of the seeded teams down into the Consolation Division brackets.  It wasn't enough that The Port Washington Purple Riders got into the act and mutinied against the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates."

THIS, ACCORDING TO OUR RED-FACED PAL, wasn't written into the script.  It's supposed to be different every year and he says that the Baltic Eagles and the Golden  Panthers are trying to change the lines so that they'll be the the feature attractions when the curtain rings up on the final performance Saturday night.  The Indians and Stone Creek threw the script out the open door of Memorial Hall last week, says the communication from the Tribal seer.  They were supposed to make good games out of it, but not win.  The Tribe and Panthers did a little adlibbing of their own.

According to Breezey, Gnadenhutten will be back on the warpath again tonight, but this time they'll have to walk since they knocked off the Broncos of Tusky.  The Golden Panthers won't make as good a target as did Tuscarawas, but that red-hot group of sharp-shooters will be setting their sights on the victory notch and Stone Creek will have to hustle.

SEEMS AS THOUGH "horse hide" wasn't just what the Indians wanted and they think that a Panther skin could solve the problem of keeping them "warm" for the finals on Saturday.  But then, according to our magician, who's on a sit-down strike in front of the cigar store on North Handkerchief's main street, Stone Creek may have a trick or two up its collective sleeve.

The Golden Panthers had to scratch to dig out their upset over Strasburg's Tigers and they didn't really have a night that was so "right" such as the Indians did, when Head Coach Fritz Jacobs was feeling the victory in his bones and said so before the game. Leaving the tossup in the bottom bracket, our cautious prophet says that the Blue Devils may possibly win in the upper bracket semi-finals contest.  The Eagles are trying to cook up a new defense that can stop both Senior forward Dick Tolloti and Senior guard Don Graham at the same time.

THEY HELD TOLLOTI to 11 points in the regular season meeting with Graham pouring in 24 points and Midvale won by 13 markers.  Baltic pulled an upset in last year's semi-finals though and Breezey thinks that it could happen again.  Another tossup.  With all the trouble coming to these conclusions, we think our feather-topped friend had better throw his crystal ball away and buy himself an Indian blanket that would at least keep him warm.

SPEAKING OF PROGNOSTICATING, we heard an awful commotion in the office this morning and on turning around to see what it was, we noticed that our friend Rex Ridenour had on his Swami's turbin and was turning a nob on a "future" machine.  After a little clattering and grinding a piece of paper came fluttering out of the contraption labeled "Ridenour's Rumblings."  On the paper was written the following notations - State Champions for the 1953 cage season - Class A - Middletown or the team that defeats Middletown in the Sectional - Runner-up - East Liverpool:  Class B - Lockland Wayne - Runner-up Delphos St. Johns.


NOTE:  Ridenouor was right about Middletown and wrong about East Liverpool being Runner-up.  Newark was the Runner-up and the score was 73-35 in Class A.  Ridenour was wrong on both counts in Class B.  It was Mariemount-Norman Kusel (Champion) and Philo Runner-Up.  The score was 87-44.