The 1957 Port Washington Purple Riders were expected to have one of their best years yet, but finished only 11-7 during the regular season and did not improved much in the county tournament. FRONT: 1st-year Head Coach Jim Pfeiffer - Ron Phillips - Don Ferrell - Jerry Hannahs - Nick Frank - Jim Emler - Ed Bates - Denver Glazer - and Manager Dan Decker. BACK: Leroy Davies - Tom Gardner - Dale Combs - Don Jones and John Landon.
DOVER - After tonight either the Stone Creek Golden Panthers will have wrapped up their 2nd Tuscarawas County Class A Basketball Tournament Championship or the Gnadenhutten Indians will have notched their 4th in the 35-year series of the dribble derby. The 2 teams will square off at 8:45 this evening for the crown at Dover's Memorial Hall with an anticipated record-breaking crowd.
Meanwhile, the surprising Midvale Blue Devils take on the newly consolidated Tuscarawas Valley Trojans in the preliminary contest at 7:30 for the Consolation Division Crown and the 3rd berth in the Class A Sectional Tournament to be staged again at Memorial Hall starting next Wednesday night. The Blue Devils gained the finals berth in the consy bracket by snaring a sweet 62-54 revenge victory from the Strasburg Tigers. The loss eliminated the Bengals of Head Coach Caniford from the tournament.
The absence of the Tigers in the finals of the tournament in either the Championship or Consolation Division brackets will be the 1st time in 5 years. In the past 4 years the Strasburg Tigers were Champions once, runner-up twice and Consolation Champions on the 4th occasion. Tuscarawas Valley came from behind to hand the Port Washington Purple Riders a 73-66 set back to earn a berth opposite Midvale. The 2 teams met on November 21st at the Blue Devils court in regular season play and the Trojans of Head Coach Ray Low walked off with a thrilling 74-72 verdict.
Gnadenhutten, victor over Stone Creek by scores of 60-46 and 86-68, won its last tournament crown in 1943, defeating the Bolivar Cardinals for the title. The Golden Panthers on the other hand, has won only one county tournament crown and has never been runner-up or Consolation Division winner. So this is the 2nd time the Panthers of Head Coach Ed McGlumphy has ever been in the finals of either bracket. The Panthers will be boasting a record of 18 wins and 4 losses going into the contest, while Gnaden has a 19-3 record for the season. The Trojans with a 17-5 mark, will have the better of the 2 records in the consy contest as the Diablos carry a 12-9 season record in the battle.
The Tuscarawas Valley Trojans (2-1) (17-5) (2-1), behind by 11 points at the end of the initial quarter, unleashed a big 2nd frame to pull ahead by intermission and then held on for the victory. The winners trailed 26-15 at the end of the 1st period, but the jump-shooting of Senior 6-1 center Ken (Bobo) Haueter of Bolivar and the hook shots of Sophomore 6-3 forward Ben Price of Mineral City whittled the lead in the 2nd quarter until the score was knotted 32-32. Then Senior 5-8 guard Wayne Rouf of Bolivar tallied a fielder with only 5 seconds remaining to put the Trojans ahead 34-32 at halftime...they remained ahead the rest of the game; although, the Port Washington Purple Riders (2-2) (13-9) (27-56) made a game bid in the final canto.
With Haueter and Price taking turns scoring, Tuscarawas Valley rolled out to a 50-44 lead by the end of the 3rd stanza and soon lengthened its lead early in the 4th quarter. Both teams went on scoring sprees the final canto with each netting their biggest out put in any quarter of the contest.
The winners out-scored the Purple Riders though and at one time led by 11 points only to have the margin whittled by Port Washington's accurate free throw shooting. Three-way scoring by Ruof, Price and Haueter in the final frame were the deciding factors, while the fine rebounding of the 2 big boys and floor play of Senior guard Ray McFeeders from Bolivar and Ruof contributed to the victory.
Haueter ended the contest with 24 points, while Price had 21 and Rouf 16 for the Red, Black and White. Senior 6-1 forward Ed Bates, hampered with fouls in the 3rd quarter, took scoring honors with 26 markers, while Senior 6-3 Nick Frank and Senior guard Denver Glazer each potted 14 apiece.
Thus, the Purple and White, heavy favorites to win the league and tournament Championship, ended a major disappointing season.
TUSCARAWAS VALLEY TROJANS - 73
Ben Price 8-5-21
Dave Wolf 1-2-4
Ken (Bobo) Haueter 10-4-24
Wayne Rouf 4-8-16
Ray McFeeders 0-0-0
John Geers 0-0-0
Roy Buchanan 3-0-6
Harry Hennis 0-2-2
PORT WASHINGTON PURPLE RIDERS - 66
Ed Bates 11-4-26
Nick Frank 5-4-14
Jerry Hannahs 2-1-5
Denver Glazer 5-4-14
Ron Phillips 0-0-0
Jim Emler 0-4-4
Don Ferrell 0-3-3
Tom Gardner 0-0-0
TUSCARAWAS VALLEY 15-34-50-73
PORT WASHINGTON 26-32-44-66
Saturday, February 23, 1957
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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