Senior Jim Wallace (7) of the Baltic Eagles jumps high for a shot in the 4th quarter of last night's upset victory over the Flushing Orioles, while 6-1 Senior Jerry Rinkes 14) of the Orioles and an unidentified Flushing player attempt to stop the shot. Junior 5-9 Charley Campanizzi (17) of the Orioles is at right, while Senior Fritz Syler of the Eagles is at left (8). Wallace's 4th Canto drive sparked Baltic to victory. (The Daily Reporter Photo)
DOVER - The battling Baltic Eagles (7-1) (22- 6) went into last night's tussle at Memorial Hall as the underdogs, but came out as the victors 71-68 in a terrific fight that kept the overflow crowd on the edge of its seats from start to finish. The verdict was still in doubt until 6-3 Errol Jacobs of the Eagles iced the victory for 1st-Year Head Coach Jim Ross' charges with a free throw shot in the last 2 seconds of the game.
The triumph was a smashing one for the Orange and Black, in the District Tournament for the 1st time in the school's history. Baltic battled from behind on several occasions and in the final count, it was a well-balanced team effort which helped bring in the victory. For the Flushing Orioles (21-2), the defeat was a bitter one since the Orioles had a long winning streak ended in the District joust at Brilliant last year with another Tuscarawas County team, the Tuscarawas Broncos, taking a close victory..
The Eagles gained entrance into the finals of the District meet with the Orange and Black slated to play the winner of tonight's Strasburg Tigers-Yorkville Ductillites contest on Saturday night. There was no room for relaxing in the tight contest as both teams battled for the victory with every weapon at their command. Baltic's upset victory was achieved at the free throw line, but it was the drive and scrap of the entire squad which kept the O's from reversing the decision.
A total of 43 chances were awarded the Eagles at the charity stripe and the victors cashed in on 25 of those chances with 17 of these coming in the last half. Flushing used an aggressive man-for-man defense that kept the Orange and Black bottled up for only a time as Baltic worked their way into the basket on drives. The final canto was a thriller all the way with the lead changing hands no less than 10 times and the score deadlocked on 4 different occasions before the Eagles went out in front to stay 68-66 with only 30 seconds left in the tilt.
Senior Jim Wallace, who had scored only 3 free throws up until the final stanza, finally found himself in the stretch and poured in 5 field goals and a free throw shot to lead the Eagles' surge that swept on to victory. Wallace's twisting jump shot was the one that put the Orange and Black ahead to stay and seconds later, Jacobs stepped up to the foul line and connected with 2 straight shots to give Baltic a 70-66 advantage with but 7 seconds to play in the game.
Senior Jerry Rinkes of the Orioles gave the O's a faint hope when he pumped a push shot through the nets with 2 seconds left to go, but once again 6-5 Senior center Carter Howell, whose tremendous offensive play kept Flushing in contention throughout the fray, lunged out in a desperate attempt and fouled Jacobs. The Eagles ace stepped up to the free throw line and made one of 2 attempts to ice the victory with a scant 2 seconds remaining on the scoreboard clock.
With Howell leading the Oriole attack all the way through the game, the O's piled up a 27-23 edge in field goals and made 14 of 19 chances at the foul line. The Flushing dynamo tallied 32 points as he set the pace for his mates, but the high total was not enough to overcome the balanced Orange and Black attack which was centered around 5 players with Jacobs' 22 rating as high.
With Howell starting off at a swift clip, the Orioles whipped away to an 8-1 lead in the opening minutes of the 1st quarter as Baltic exhibited tightness and "stage fright." It didn't take long for the tightness to wear off; however, and with Jacobs leading the way on 4 field goals, the Eagles roared back into contention and took the lead just before the period ended with Senior Fritz Syler connecting from close in.
The Orange and Black's 20-19 advantage soon disappeared at the outset of the 2nd quarter, but Baltic bounced back to take a 5-point advantage midway in the frame before Howell, unheard from in the early stages of that canto, turned on the drive and swept Flushing to a 37-32 half time advantage. Little Sophomore Glen Reidenbach displayed an accurate aim at the free throw line in the 3rd period and Baltic began picking away at the Orioles' advantage and once again sprinted into the lead 50-49 at the end of the quarter.
The O's lost the services of Junior forward Al Di Pietro with 4 and a half minutes left in the 3rd stanza and Senior 5-9 Willie Diosi was whistled out with 6:15 left in the final period, but the Oriole subs came in to take up the slack and keep the battle glowing red-hot down the stretch. Syler was ushered out of the contest for the Eagles with 2 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game as Flushing took advantage of the chance and connected for 3 points to go ahead 63-61.
A total of 27 personal fouls were called on the Orioles, while the Orange and Black was assessed 15 in the contest with 11 of these tagged on Baltic in the 1st half as Jacobs and Wallace both were taken out in the 2nd quarter when they were charged their 3rd personals. Seventeen personals were called on the O's in the final half.
BALTIC EAGLES - 71
Glen Reidenbach 2-8-12
Paul Armbrust 0-1-1
George Regula 1-1-3
Jim Wallace 5-3-13
Fritz Syler 3-4-10
Jim UKher 3-4-10
Errol Jacobs 9-4-22
FLUSHING ORIOLES - 68
Willie Diosi 2-0-4
Litten 1-0-2
Jerry Rinkes 4-0-8
Al Di Pietro 3-2-8
Charlie Campanizzi 4-3-11
Purtiman 0-0-0
Floyd Brown 1-1-3
Carter Howell 12-8-32
Burgins 0-0-0
BALTIC 20-32-50-71
FLUSHING 10-37-49-68
Thursday, 3-10-55
Art Cicconetti, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
No comments:
Post a Comment