It wasn't any trouble to get a smile out of the twice-champion Strasburg Tigers pictured above after Saturday night's triumph over the Midvale Blue Devils at Memorial Hall. The Tigers, including Head Coach Emmet Riley and Senior forward Bob Haas, who saw the game from the pressbox because of an injured leg, are shown grouped around the 2 trophies they won with their undefeated season, the Championship ball and individual medals.
Pictured above is 3rd-year Head Coach Emmet Riley holding the League and Tournament trophie presented to his team.
DOVER - The unbeaten Strasburg Tigers, with a record of 23 straight victories, today were savoring the achievement of being crowned double Champion of the Tuscarawas County Class B Basketball League and the 24th Annual Tournament after coming through at Memorial Hall on Saturday night with flying colors. (They also won the 23th Tournament last year.) The Tigers kept their record clean and won their 10th Tournament Championship by defeating the Midvale Blue Devils 34-24 after a tough stretch battle, while the Tuscarawas Broncos took the Gnadenhutten Indians 52-13 in the Consolation Division final. All except Gnaden complete in the Sectional here this week.
Not since the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates in 1944 took the county tourney Championship...the League was not operating that year because of the war...and went on all the way up to the Regional Tournament before their string of 26 straight victories was broken, has a League team accomplished what the Strasburg club has this year.
And now 2 new trophies will adorn the already large Tiger collection one for winning the League Championship and another for winning the Tournament Championship, plus another Championship basketball and individual awards for each of the players. Strasburg has ruled the League this year with an iron hand, Coach Riley's Five having defeated every team which reached the finale no less than 3 times, twice in regular season and putting on the clincher in the tourney.
The Tigers started out by topping the Dundee Bulldogs 45-20, turned back the challenging Tusky Broncos 31-16, edged Gnaden's surprise team 33-30 and then swept over Midvale in the final 4 minutes Saturday night to win 34-24. Fans rushed out to carry the Strasburg team off the floor after they pulled their stretch drive on the Blue Devil's scrappy club and won going away after a tight ball game.
A superb defense and a lightning finish won the double crown for the Strasburg Tigers (4-0) (65-17) (23-0). They were tied in the opening quarter 7-7, but went ahead 13-11 at intermission and 21-18 at the end of the 3rd stanza. The Midvale Blue Devils (2-1) (41-21) (13-7) drew 1st blood in the game, scoring a free throw shot by Senior forward Dave Stevenson before Senior guard Joe Diebel hit a field goal for the Tigers and the battle was on. Senior forward Jim De Mattio put the Blue Devils back in front with an action shot, but Senior guard Fred Aul slipped two in (2 close shots) and the Tigers led 6-3. Senior center Max Schaar counted a free throw and Deibel another free toss before Senior guard Karl Baumholtz came through with a field goal and Senior guard Joe Carlisle hit a free throw to knot the count at 7-7 as the quarter ended.
Midvale led through most of the 2nd period, but couldn't stop the Tigers' Sophomore forward Tom Haswell who slipped in 3 action shots to give Strasburg a 13-11 lead at halftime. Carlisle scored a field goal and free throw and Schaar a free toss for the Blue Devils. Strasburg scored 8 points in the 3rd stanza, leading by a few points throughout as Senior forward John Garver and big Senior center Junior Yackey connected for the 1st time with field goals and Haswell sank 2 more. Schaar scored an action shot and 2 free throws, De Mattio a field goal and Baumholtz a free toss as the Tigers led 21-18 going into the final.
Held to a single free throw the 1st half by Strasburg's tight zone, Stevenson opened the final quarter with a bucket from the pivot, but Garver counted a field goal and Yackey a free toss before Midvale scored again, a field goal by De Mattio to make the score 23-22 in favor of the Tigers. Garver, who was partly crippled the last 3 Strasburg games, stepped into the breach for the Tigers. With only 4 minutes remaining he slipped in 3 action shots and Yackey came through with a field goal and a free throw and Deibel an action shot as Midvale's defense opened and Stevenson counted the Blue Devils' only 2-pointer in the final 4 minutes.
Tiger team play was outstanding. Garver and Yackey were spectacular in the last half, Haswell held the Burgers up single handed in the 2nd period with 3 field goals and Aul and Deibel carried the load in the opening quarter. Haswell had top scoring honors with 10 points, while Garver scored 9, Tackey 6, Deibel 5 and Aul 4.
For Midvale, little Joe Carlisle was outstanding. He made numerous spectacular stops to hold Strasburg at bay and his floor game couldn't be better. He came out with 4 points, De Mattio and Schaar each scored 6 points. Stevenson was submerged in the Strasburg zone and hit only 5 points, while Baumholtz scored 3. Midvale was charged with 8 personal fouls and Strasburg with 11, each club missing 5.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 34
John Garver F 4-1-9
Tom Haswell F 5-0-10
Junior Yackey C 2-2-6
Fred Aul G 2-0-4
Joe Deibel G 2-1-5
Ed Gasser G 0-0-0
Marvin Jeffers G 0-0-0
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 24
Dave Stevenson F 2-1-5
Jim De Mattio F 3-0-6
Max Schaar C 1-4-6
Karl Baumholtz G 1-1-3
Joe Carlisle G 1-2-4
Jack Ford G 0-0-0
Ron Pissocra G 0-0-0
Jim Golder G 0-0-0
Monday, February 25, 1946
John Stratton, Editorial Staff
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
THE DAILY REPORTER ALL TOUNAMENT TEAMS
1ST TEAM
FORWARD - Elmer Linard (Port Washington Purple Riders)
FORWARD - Dave Stevenson (Midvale Blue Devils)
CENTER - Junior Yackey (Strasburg Tigers)
GUARD - John Vesco (Tuscarawas Broncos)
GUARD - John Garver (Strasburg Tigers)
2ND TEAM
FORWARD - Tom Haswell (Strasburg Tigers)
FORWARD - Fred Walton (Tuscarawas Broncos)
CENTER - Jack Renner (Bolivar Cardinals)
GUARD - Joe Carlisle (Midvale Blue Devils)
GUARD - Paul Brown (Baltic Eagles)
HONORABLE MENTION
Baltic Eagles - Doren Pepper
Bolivar Cardinals - Ray Murry
Dundee Bulldogs - Paul Kate
Gnadenhutten Indians - Junior Kennedy and Bill Roche
Midvale Blue Devils - Karl Baumholtz and Jim De Mattio
Mineral City Tigers - Dan Lechner
Port Washington Purple Riders - Sonny Johns
Stone Creek Golden Panthers - Don Arbogast
Strasburg Tigers - Fred Aul and Joe Deibel
Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates - Doran Immel and Bill Weiss
Tuscarawas Broncos - Rich Donahue
NOTE: LINARD AVERAGES 23.7, LEADS ALL SCORING
DOVER - Elmer Linard, Port Washington's star forward who led the county Class B League in scoring throughout the year, held his record intact during the tournament the past 2 weeks at Memorial Hall. Linard played in 3 games and totaled 71 points, an average of 23.7 points a game, 1 point more than his closest rival, Charley Renner of Bolivar who hit 70 in 4 games for an average of 17.5.
Fred Walton of Tuscarawas was 3rd with an average of 16.2 and Dave Stevenson of Midvale was 4th with an average of 14.0 per game. Strasburg's Champions didn't place a man in the 1st 10, Tom Haswell averaged 9.2 in 4 games.
Following are the 1st ten high averages.
PLAYER GAMES POINTS AVERAGE
Elmer Linard (Port) 3-71-23.7
Jack Renner (Bolivar) 4-70-17.5
Fred Walton (Tuscarawas) 5-81-16.2
Dave Stevenson (Midvale) 3-42-14.0
Paul Brown (Baltic) 4-56-14.0
John Vesco (Tuscarawas) 5-67-13.4
Sonny Johns (Port) 3-39-13.0
Bill Weiss (Sugarcreek-Shanesville) 3-33-11.0
Rich Donahue (Tuscarawas) 5-47-9.4
Doran Immel (Sugarcreek-Shanesville) 3-28-9.3
NOTE: 7,031 SEE TOURNAMENT, ALL RECORDS ARE BROKEN
DOVER - The Tuscarawas County Class B League's 24th Annual Basketball Tournament, which ended at Memorial Hall on Saturday night, shattered all previous records for attendance and gate receipts, Tournament Manager W.E. Laws announced today. The 1,303 paid admissions at the final session Saturday swelled the total to 7,031 and the gate recipts to $3,484.85. The biggest session was a week ago Saturday when 1,670 people were packed into the hall to see the League's 2 strongest contenders, the Strasburg Tigers and the Tuscarawas Broncos, meet in a quarter-finals game.
The previous attendance record was established 2 years ago when 6,892 attended the annual meet. The previous high for gate receipts was last year when the "take" totaled $3,163.45. Tournament Manager Laws announced the new records at a ceremony held at the halftime intermission of the Championship finals Saturday night when he presented awards to the winners.
The Strasburg Tigers, tournament Champions, were presented with the Daily Reporter Tournament Trophy and the game ball, purchased by the Godfrey Electric Company. In addition, members of the team received gold basketball watch charms presented by the Marsh Wall Products Company and the League Trophy presented by the Daily Times. The Midvale Blue Devils were presented with 10 silver watch charms, donated by the Deardorff and Son Hardward Company and will receive the Sanitary Milk Company Trophy, which did not arrive in time for the presentations. The Tuscarawas Broncos were presented with the Consolation Division Trophy, donated by the S. Toomey Company.
In a short address before the presentations, Mr. Laws welcomed home the service men and women and had them stand for an ovation for the fans. He also expressed his thanks to the newspapers and merchants who furnished trophies.
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