Five sets of arms grab ozone as the basketball goes a-sailing in this Daily Reporter Photo snapped by Merle Thiele during last night's Strasburg Tigers-Gnadenhutten Indians conflict. Reaching for the sphere are Senior forward Glen Hines (33), Sophomore Tom Roth and Senior center Lloyd Porter (77) of the Indians and Senior forward Willie Rieger of the Tigers. Senior center Ron Gray of the Bengals may be seen behind Rieger. The Striped Cats pulled away in the last few minutes to beat Gnaden 76-59.
DOVER - The Strasburg Tigers (2-0) (19-0) (93-24), aiming for their 15th Tuscarawas County Tournament diadem on their way to reaching their 100th tournament victory and another ticket in advance tourney play, showed their class when it counted against a fired-up, but out-manned Gnadenhutten Indians (1-1) (19-3) (52-47) combine. Gnaden falling behind for keeps with a little over 4 minutes remaining in the opening quarter, were on the short end by 12 points after 2 minutes had elapsed in the final canto.
But the Dick Scott coached Indians pitched in 6 straight points and a ray of hope shined in the Scarlet and Gray camp. A tip-in by nifty Senior center Lloyd Porter, a jump shot by Junior guard Eldon Miller and a pair of free throws by Porter had the Strasburg fans up on the edge of their seats. However, the Tigers, not to be denied of a finals spot, stylishly added icing to the cake. A jumper by Senior guard Lloyd Deibel, free throw tosses by Senior center Ron Gray and Senior Willie (Will) Rieger, Bengal rebound aces and a fast break bucket by slim Senior forward Jim (Lefty) Kuecher put it in the bank. In the last minute Rieger, sub Chuck Burris and Junior guard Jerry Froman, the Striped Cats' "money man," added 8 markers and the Strasburg Tigers had win No. 19.
Head Coach Ken Newlon's hustlers, leading by 7 at intermission, began to show their Championship form in the 3rd stanza as Froman and Gray pumped 'em in and the latter and Rieger cleaned the boards with authority. In the 1st half the Tribe was giving Strasburg a lot of trouble in the rebound phase of the game and Scott's team was getting more cracks at the cords. But it was a different story except for a couple of minutes in the 2nd half. Again the Gnadenhutten Indians had more opportunities from the field, but the Tigers were forcing them to hurry their shots and Senior forward Glenn Hines, Gnaden's star forward, especially had a tough time hitting the bulls-eye.
The Indians were in the driver's seat once. After a 4-4 tie, Porter hit on a jumper, but a hook by Rieger knotted the count and after Kuecher converted 2 free throws, the Bengals were never behind again. The Tribe managed to tie it at 8-all on a jumper by Hines, but Gray converted at the white stripe, the hard-working Froman converted a rebound. Kuecher socked in a set, Rieger a free throw and the Striped Cats were blazing.
The 1st quarter ended at 19-16 and the Strasburg Tigers, spark-plugged by Kuecher despite the fact he was experiencing some hard luck on his shot-making, hiked their margin to 8 points before a "fish" and a jumper by Miller made it 36-29 at half time. Late in the 3rd frame 6 straight points, a bucket by Froman, 2 free throws by Gray and an action shot by Kuecher put Strasburg ahead by 12 points and it led by 11 going into the final heat. A set by sub Larry Biggs and a jumper by Hines whittled the gap, but the Tigers padded their cushion to 12 before the Tribe managed one final and fruitless spurt.
Once again the Bengal's entire starting 5 scored in double digits. Froman,, scoring steadily in every quarter, wound up with 22 for game honors, while Kuecher garnered 16, Gray 14, Rieger 12 and Deibel 10. For the Tribe, Miller gunned in 19, Porter 16 and little forward Larry Clark made 12. The Striped Cats made 35 percent of its shots. Gnaden hit on 25 percent.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 76
Jim (Lefty) Kuecher 7-2-16
Willie Rieger 4-4-12
Ron Gray 4-6-14
Jerry Froman 8-6-22
Lloyd Deibel 5-0-10
Chuck Burris 1-0-2
Bill Hensel 0-0-0
GNADENHUTTEN INDIANS - 59
Glenn Hines 3-0-6
Larry Clark 5-2-12
Lloyd Porter 6-4-16
Ed Shull 1-0-2
Eldon Miller 7-5-19
Larry Biggs 1-0-2
Tom Roth 1-0-2
STRASBURG 16-29-43-76
GNADEN 19-36-54-59
Wednesday, February 22, 1956
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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