The Strasburg Tigers' Senior Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel hooks one in as Senior Rich Davis, Senior Terry Deems and Sophomore Ed Hill of the Tuscarawas Broncos watch. (The Daily Reporter Photo)
The Tuscarawas Broncos Tournament Squad For 1955. FRONT: Rich Little (Manager) - Ben Roth - Jim Lint - Terry Deems - Dave Myers - Rich Davis - Joe Vesco and John Cambell (Manager). BACK: Assistant Coach Bob French - Carl Simmons - Ed Hill - Ted Riggle - Dave Petry - Bob Vesco - Ron Moore and Head Coach George Trombitas. (1955 Tusky Yearbook)
The Strasburg Tigers Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel. Goose hassled the nets for 30 points against the Tuscarawas Broncos in their win last night at Memorial Hall 85-70. After 2 tournament games, Jerry has a total of 52 points giving him a tournament average of 26 markers per contest. (1953 Strasburg Yearbook)
DOVER - The Strasburg Tigers and Midvale Blue Devils will hook up in the battle for the Tuscarawas County Class B Tournament Championship on Saturday night after coming through with victories in the 2 semi-finals last night. A perspiring crowd jammed into every available seat in the "sweat box" that is better known as Memorial Hall and witnessed 2 thrill-packed semi-final contests with an extra added treat tossed in.
The Tigers' power-packed Bengals once again dazzled the crowd with their offensive attack rolling along in high gear. The League Champions struck early and went on to down the Tuscarawas Broncos' defending tournament Champs 85-73 in a dramatic game. The Blue Devils had a terrified uphill struggle, but came out on top of the Gnadenhutten Indians 64-60 with a last-quarter surge that turned the tied of victory in their favor.
The Stone Creek Golden Panthers, hitting a "cold streak," had a hard time nicking the Mineral City Tigers 71-68 in an overtime tussle that was a top-notch opener for the program. Tonight, Strasburg's Junior High Champions will take on an All-Star team composed of players from the other 8 teams in their League with the game starting at 6:30, while the Baltic Eagles and Broncos meet at 7:45 and the Golden Panthers and Indians tangle in the nightcap with both Varsity games being in the Consolation Division bracket. The winners will meet for the Consolation Division Championship Saturday night.
Strasburg and the Diablos have both earned the right to advance to next week's Sectional Tournament here, while the Consolation Division winner will be the 3rd team from the League.
The Strasburg Tigers (2-0) (20-2) (89-24) had too much firepower for the Tuscarawas Broncos (1-1) (13-6) (46-41) and the Orange and Black controlled the contest almost from the start as they rolled into the finals berth. The contest was packed with tension from start to finish; however, as the crowd roared its approval of the fast-moving action as the 2 teams settled down to a dramatic struggle in the final 3 periods.
The talented Tigers all but sewed it up in the opening quarter with a fast-breaking attack that left no question as to the potential of the scoring power. The Bengals rocketed to a 30-14 lead in the initial stanza with Senior Terry Deems holding up the Blue and White' end of the game. Strasburg contributed to that opening surge with Senior Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel counting 14 of the 30 markers, while Deems tossed in 10 of Tusky's 14 points.
Little Senior Gene Hensel stepped into the limelight of the 2nd frame for the Tigers as he took dead aim on the basket and fired in 5 field goals with Goose netting 4 more as the Bengals leveled off and matched the Broncos point-for-point with Junior Ted Riggle and Senior Rich Davis helping Deems out in the scoring column. Junior Jim Kuecher took over the Strasburg scoring lead in the 3rd stanza as he rattled the rims for 8 points, while Von Kaenel collected 3 more action shots before being yanked from the game with 4 personal fouls charged to him.
Deems tallied but one point in that 3rd period, but Davis, Riggle and Senior Ben Roth took up the slack and the Riders stayed in the fight. After the Tigers big height went out of the tilt, the Bengals reported to ball control and carefully nursed their big lead as they picked their shots and kept Tuscarawas at bay. Senior Jerry Haswell, who had scored but one field goal in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, broke back into the spotlight in the 4th canto and swished 4 field goals to team with Gene Hensel in keeping Strasburg up on its lofty perch.
The Tigers maintained their long lead until, with 2 minutes remaining and the scoreboard reading 84-63 in their favor, they began to let up and Tusky chipped in 10 points to narrow the final margin. Goose returned to the line-up with 4:20 left in the game and connected on but 2 free throw shots, ending up with a 30-point total for the night. Hensel added 21 and Haswell contributed 16 for the Bengals.
The Broncos "Mutt and Jeff" combination never got started and Deems was a big part of the Riders' offense as he tossed in 32 markers with Riggle getting 14 and Davis adding 12. Strasburg connected for a "red hot" 48 percent from the field and Tuscarawas chalked up a 34 percent mark. The Tigers once again exhibited a balanced scoring attack with all of the starters contributing mightily in the final total. As for their encounter during the season, the Tigers downed the Broncos 68-58.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 85
Jerry Haswell 8-0-16
Jim Kuecher 4-2-10
Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel 13-4-30
Jerry Froman 1-3-5
Gene Hensel 10-1-21
Wil Rieger 1-1-3
Bob Grimm 0-0-0
Don Weber 0-0-0
Bill Hensel 0-0-0
Lloyd Diebel 0-0-0
Ron Gray 0-0-0
TUSCARAWAS BRONCOS - 73
Ted Riggle 7-0-14
Rich Davis 3-6-12
Ben Roth 3-2-8
Dave Myers 1-2-4
Ed Hill 0-3-3
Terry Deems 14-4-32
Carl Simmons 0-0-0
STRASBURG 30-50-63-85
TUSKY 14-34-53-73
Thursday, February 24, 1955
Art Cicconetti, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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