The Port Washington Purple Riders' Junior Forward Ed Bates and the Midvale Blue Devils' Senior Forward Larry Swinderman may be getting a little dirty, but their object was a loose basketball. At left are Senior Bob Welsch (in white jersey) of the Purple Riders and Junior Dick Leggett (3) of the Blue Devils. (The Daily Reporter Photo)
DOVER - Berths in next week's Class B Sectional Tournament today awaited the superlative Strasburg Tigers and the magnificent Midvale Blue Devils, but before those 2 old rivals try to keep on rolling along the tournament trail they'll have to decide the Tuscarawas County Championship.
The biggest game of county battling will take place Saturday night at Dover's Memorial Hall where last evening the undefeated and talented Tigers from Strasburg smacked down the Gnadenhutten Indians and the smooth, bustling Blue Devils from Midvale outlasted the high scoring Port Washington Purple Riders.
The defending District standard-bearers led the Indians most of the way, but had a couple of anxious moments in the final canto before they tripped up the Tribesmen 76-59 for their 19th success in a row. And the Diablos, riding on a 10-point advantage with 4 minutes left to play, utilized a stalling game and some late charity pitching to beat back the challenge of the Purple Riders by a 71-69 count.
On the basis of their records which included triumphs over their opposition, Strasburg and and Midvale were given the favorite's role to advance to the titular tussle. Therefor the biggest surprise of the 3-game card...played to a satisfied crowd of almost 2,000,,,was provided by the Dundee Bulldogs in the opener. Dundee's team trailed the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates by 22 points at one time, but came surging back to kayo the tough Corsairs 67-64 in the last 21 seconds of the game.
So the battling Bulldogs thus joined lthe Stone Creek Golden Panthers and last night's semi-final losers, Gnaden and Port in the scuffing which will determine the Consolation Division winner and the county's 3rd entry in the Sectional Tournament. There will be 2 Consolation Division encounters tomorrow night. At 7:30 the Golden Panthers (15-8) will vie with Gnaden (19-3), while about 8:45 port (13-7) will do combat with the Pups (5-18). The winners will fight it out for the county crown, the 2 losers will be out of the tournament running for another year.
Last night's paid admission accounted to 1,277 with approximately 650 more getting in via passes. Doors to Memorial Hall will open at 6:30 tomorrow night at the some time on Saturday evening. The Consolation Division final Saturday starts at 7:30.
What a finish the Midvale Blue Devils (2-0) (17-5) (65-30) and the Port Washington Purple Riders (1-1) (13-7) (23-54) staged! About 4 minutes remained and the Blue Devils led by 10. But, the Purple Riders weren't ready to call it a night and rallied desperately only to have the door slammed in their face.
The score was 69-62 with 2:15 left. In 30 seconds it was down to 2 points at 69-67 as Junior forward Denver Glazer garnered an action shot and the flashy Junior forward Ed Bates pulled a 3-point trick on a rebound field goal and subsequent free throw conversion.The joint was jumpin' as the Devils went into a stall. Bates fouled Junior guard John Beans with 29 seconds to go. Beans made one of 2. Port got the rebound moved up-court and Bates rammed in a jumper with 17 seconds left. Again the Diablos coached by Pete Hillard switched to the deep freeze. With 5 seconds remaining the Riders fouled Beans intentionally and again Beans made the 1st shot. The Blue and Gold grabbed the rebound and had a berth in the finals as the clock ran out before Port Washington had a chance to do anything about matters.
If it hadn't been for the scrappy Beans and Senior Larry Swinderman, the sawed-off forward who seemingly has springs in his legs, Port might be the Championship foe for the Strasburg Tigers. Junior Dandy Dick Leggett and slight-built Junior forward John Colombo kept Midvale going the 1st half with Swinderman and Beans taking over the controls in the last 2 periods. On the other hand, the Purple Riders might have been thumped severely if Bates and lantern-jawed Junior forward Nick Frank hadn't been on the ball. The latter, who wound up with 20 points, 3 less than Bates, was sensational on the backboards.
The Blue Devils led 18-12 at the end of the 1st quarter during which the score was tied 3 times. The Riders were in the van twice, but after a 10-10 deadlock the Diablos moved out on 8 straight points...coming via an underhanded layup by Beans, 2 free throws and a jumper by Leggett and a fast break basket by Columbo. At 4:17 in the 2nd frame the Purple and White forged ahead 25-24 on a set shot by Senior guard Bob Welsch. After Junior Sub Gary Haney made 2 charity flips and husky center Tom Jones hit a field goal for the Riders, the score was tied again as the latter made a free throw and Leggett a push shot. Columbo's drive-in put the Devils in front again and the Blue and Gold led 39-33 at the half.
A layup by sub Junior Jim Emler knotted the count at 41-all early in the 3rd stanza and it was tied twice more before a jumper by Bill McConnell sent Port Washington ahead 46-43. But, Swinderman hit on a set shot and Midvale was in front to stay. Going into the final canto the Middies had a 57-51 advantage. The difference was the 1st period, because veteran Head Coach Bray Toot's lads matched the Blue Devils in the middle quarters and outscored them in the last. Both teams shot 37 percent. The Diablos had 28 goals in 75 shots and Port 24 of 64.
Leggett, who can pump them home from any angle, pitched in 24 markers for game honors. He had one more than Bates, who made 23, while Frank canned 20.
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 71
Larry Swinderman 6-0-12
John Colombo 7-1-15
Chuck Seldenright 1-0-2
John Beans 5-4-14
Dick Leggett 9-6-24
Gary Haney 0-4-4
PORT WASHINGTON PURPLE RIDERS
Ed Bates 8-7-23
Bob Welsch 1-4-6
Tom Jones 3-1-7
Nick Frank 6-8-20
Denver Glazer 2-0-4
Jerry Hannahs 0-0-0
Bill McConnell 2-0-4
Jim Emler 2-1-5
MIDVALE 18-39-57-71
PORT WASHINGTON 12-33-51-69
Wednesday, February 22, 1956
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
No comments:
Post a Comment