CANTON - And then there was none! The Mighty Midvale Blue Devils went scoreless for nearly 5 minutes in the crucial final quarter last night and were thereby ousted by the defending Class A Champions of Ohio (the Northwestern Huskies) before some 5,000 fans of Canton's Field House. After leading 1-0 to open the Regional Tournament contest, the Midvale Blue Devils (6-1) (22-2) were never ahead after that as a fine Northwestern Huskies aggregation (24-2) took the measure of Midvale 73-57. The victory pits the Huskies against the Old Washington Warriors (28-1) tonight for the Regional Crown and a trip to Columbus. The latter blasted Braceville 79-56 in the nightcap on Friday night.
The charges of Head Coach Pete Hilliard chalked up a sparkling record this season for the best in some 10 years and were trailing the Huskies of Northwestern only 57-51 early in the 4th canto. But, a dry spell that saw them unable to score from the field during the first 5 and one-half minutes proved costly for the Black and Gold. The Midvale Blue Devils were Tuscarawas County's final hope. New Philadelphia also bowed in its 1st Regional go on Thursday to the Akron Central Wildcats. Thus, after representing our county well and long, thoughts now turn toward baseball, track and golf on the local scene.
The State basketball finals at Columbus are set for next Friday and Saturday at St. John's Arena. Following the game, in which the Blue Devils did not look as sharp as it had during county, Sectional and District play, Coach Hilliard admitted he was a little disappointed. "I really felt we had a chance this year. But, we had some costly turnovers and that (Dean) Chance fellow was plenty tough. Our boys came through fairly well on offense as all 5 starters were in double figures, but those Huskies overcame that," Hilliard said.
You could tell he never-the-less was proud of his team which captured the County League, County Tournament and Sectional as well as District Crowns before bowing out. And, it now appears Hilliard will have to wait at least until next December before he can chalk up his 100th victory at Midvale. With the loss, Hilliard teams have had 99 victories, while losing a mire 29. The overall season mark is the best since the Diablos had a 26-2 record in the 1948-49 season. The fabulous Dean Chance, Northwestern's 6-4 center proved to be just as tough as the people up Wayne County way said he was. The Devils tried in vain to stop the big pivot man, but he managed 26 important markers which included barrages of 5 field goals in each of the 2nd and 3rd periods.
The Blue and Gold's 6-3 Senior center Bill Housel dumped in a free throw shot before the game was 15 seconds old to put the Midvale Blue Devils into its only lead 1-0...the 1st and only time. The Huskies came back for 6 straight points to go in front 8-1 and then held on for a 19-18 1st quarter advantage. Trailing 25-20 early in the 2nd frame, the Blue Devils rallied back on baskets by 5-10 Senior guard Tom Krocker and 6-3 Junior forward Hanes Hairston and a free throw by Housel to knot it at 25-all. Then, Chance retaliated with 2 quick jumpers to move the Huskies of Northwestern back in front 29-25. Midvale was never to come closer than 2 points after that.
Chance matched his 5-basket effort of the 2nd quarter again in the 3rd stanza to pace the Northwestern Huskies from a 37-32 halftime lead to a 57-48 advantage by the 3rd halt. In the opening seconds of the 4th and final quarter, the Diablos rallied back on free throws by Hairston and 5-11 Junior forward Ron Breniser to move within 6 points. But, with only 6:34 minutes left, the Northwestern Huskies rolled and the Devils went hungry.
From this point, until the clock read 2:27 (remaining), the Black and Gold went scoreless. Finally, Breniser found the hoop on a rebound to break the spell, but the big 16 point lead was too much to overcome and the Huskies were in command. All 5 Midvale Blue Devil starters gained the double digits with Krocker leading the way with 13 points to end the season with 217 points in 15 games. Breniser hit 12 to lead the school this season with 474 points, while 5-9 Senior guard Dave Belknap hit 11 for a grand total of 306. Housel tallied 10 to end with 339 markers and Hairston had 10 for a total of 281. Thus, all 5 starters ended with an overall season average in double figures. All but Breniser and Hairston are Seniors.
The Blue Devils made 21 of 57 shots from the field for 27 percent, while the Huskies of Northwestern hit on 33 of 73 for 45 percent. Midvale did not lose anyone vie the personal foul route as only 11 personals were whistled against them, while the Northwestern Huskies lost one man with a total of 24 personals called. By quarters, the Diablos made 7 of 14, 6 of 15, 6 of 14 and only 2 of 16 field goals, while the Huskies hit 9 of 19, 9 of 18, 10 of 15 and 5 of 12. Chance (a future Major League baseball pitcher) led the field goal shooting as he connected on 12 of 25 attempts from action, including a brilliant 100 percent in the 3rd stanza when he connected all 5 times.
NORTHWESTERN HUSKIES - 73
Dave Fuhrman 4-2-10
Russ Goriner 4-1-9
Dean Chance 12-2-26
Boze Johnson 9-0-18
DeWright Wasson 2-0-4
Palmer 0-0-0
Kinney 1-0-2
McClure 1-0-2
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 57
Dave Belknap 5-1-11
Tom Krocker 4-5-13
Bill Housel 4-2-10
Hanes Hairston 3-4-10
Ron Breniser 5-2-12
Len De Mattio 0-1-1
Jim Clark 0-0-0
Vince De Noi 0-0-0
NORTHWESTERN 19-37-57-73
MIDVALE 16-32-48-57
Saturday, March 14, 1959
Don Wagner, Sports Editor
The Daily Times
New Philadelphia, Ohio
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