DOVER - Forward Bill Yates, red-headed and steel-nerved, last night stepped up to Strasburg's foul line in Legion Hall, calmly swished it through the net to give the Strasburg Tigers (1-0) (19-5) a one-point victory over the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates (0-1) (7-6) in the best game this grand county tournament has offered to the present moment. Situations make moments eventful. Victory or a doubtful overtime period hung in the balance as Yates toed the mark to shoot his foul, committed by forward E. Penrod at the exact moment the timers were ready to shoot their popgun. The delayed explosion of the aforementioned artillery occurred immediately after the ball slipped through the hoop. Pandemonium reigned in the large section occupied by Strasburg. If this tournament didn't end tonight with the crowning of a new champion and went on for a week, no better game would be presented before a larger or more enthusiastic audience.
They turned away several hundred. Legion Hall was packed. They sat on each other's shoulders, sat on the floor, on the laps of their neighbors, packed the aisles, jammed the exits, giving firemen grey hair. And everywhere their was noise and the atmosphere was tense. Add all this to the picture of a red-headed kid standing alone, with the game resting on his skill at making a free toss and you have a pretty good idea of what Bill Yates did for Strasburg...and to Sugarcreek-Shanesville...last night in a game making tournament history. But, the glory doesn't all belong to him. Thirteen lads of this game of games played brilliantly, hard and fast with never a lapse.
The losers dashed away to a 10-4 lead before the League Champions found their footing. Staging a great comeback in the 2nd quarter, Strasburg began piling up points to take an 18-17 lead just before halftime. The victors held a 23-20 advantage as the 3rd period came to a close. In the final quarter with 6 minutes left to play, Strasburg had only a 28-24 lead. Pirate guard Harmon cut loose from the foul line for a goal. Then out of the game came guard Verle Miller for Strasburg and center Stevanus for Sugarcreek-Shanesville. With a minute to play, guard Art Steitz followed Miller to the Strasburg's bench with 4 fouls. Then slipped forward Burkey, Pirate flash , under the goal and the score was tied. Penrod, sent in for Stevanus, fouled Yates as the gun was in the air. And you already know that the young man made good.
The tournament today swung into the seni-final stages with Strasburg pitted against Gnadenhutten at 2PM this afternoon and Dundee meeting Midvale at 3PM. The final match between the winners of these two struggles, which give indications of being a court classic, is set for 8:30 tonight. The one great upset of the tournament occurred in the 1st game when Bolivar fell before Mineral City. The Redbirds were off form and Elmer Kreis, mainstay at center, was ousted on personals. Bolivar also made the mistake of attempting to stall too early with only a one-point lead. Continual hounding of the ball and close guarding, coupled with the superb play of Hothem and Myers gave Mineral City their deserved win. Midvale impressed with the easy fashion the Blue Devils disposed of Port Washington, 36-13, finished off Mineral City 46-20. Gnadenhutten easily won over Tusky 31-22, but missed enough good shots to double that score. Dundee played slow, smart basketball to win over Baltic 33-22.
The Strasburg-Sugarcreek game was marked by the small number of fouls called which clearly shows that both teams were playing superb basketball. Only 19 fouls were committed by both teams during the entire game...quite remarkable for tournament play in a game so close.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 29
John Studer 4-0-8
Bill Yates 3-1-7
John Heid 1-3-5
Verle Miller 1-1-3
Art Steitz 2-0-4
Joe Steffe 1-0-2
Garver Miller 0-0-0
SUGARCREEK-SHANESVILLE PIRATES - 28
Jaberg 3-2-8
Burkey 3-1-7
E. Penrod 0-0-0
Stevanus 0-0-0
Bahler 2-0-4
Harmon 4-1-9
Saturday, February 28, 1931
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
No comments:
Post a Comment