Senior forward Jack Ford of the Midvale Blue Devils scored 14 points while leading his team to a 43-34 triumph over the Middlebranch Diamonds last night in theYoungstown Regional Tournament. Ford has gathered a total of 141 markers for a 19.6 average per game in tournament play.
YOUNGSTOWN - Midvale's amazing Blue Devils (7-1) (27-3) continued their blazing pace on the tournament trails Thursday night in the Youngstown Regional tournament where they completely outclassed the Middlebranch Diamonds (20-4) before 3,028 fans and won a 43-34 victory which earned them a berth in the finals Saturday night at 8PM against the North Canton Vikings, 47-33 victors over Akron Eilet last night in 1st round play. Head Coach Bill French's Blue Devils, District title holders, played a masterful brand of basketball in notching their win over a Stark County quintet Thursday in the spacious Youngstown south field house.
The Diamonds, a "cinderella" team from the Kent District meet, boasted more height under the boards than did the small Midvale combine, but after a 10-10 first period deadlock, the Blue Devils pulled steadily away from Middlebranch and except for a 4th quarter rally, their lead was never seriously threatened. Once in the 2nd period the Diamonds were able to knot the count again, but superior floor work and ball stealing by All-District Senior forward Jack Ford, Senior guard Dan Carlisle and Junior forward Jim Golder, plus a sharp passing attack which disorganized the Middlebranch zone defense gave the Blue Devils a clear-cut victory margin.
Midvale led 17-15 at halftime and held a 29-23 third stanza edge as Ford, Golder, Sophomore center Bob Sherrell and Junior guard Dave Rennicker broke through the Diamond barrier to score points when they were most needed. After the 2nd quarter got under way, Sherrell sent Midvale ahead with a charity toss and forward Jerry Petro tied it up for the 2nd time with another free throw. Doubledeckers by Golder and Ford sent the Devils into a 15-11 lead, but 2 fielders by rangy center Jim Bennett knotted the count for the 3rd time. A few seconds after Middlebranch achieved this 3rd deadlock, little Dan Carlisle, whose ball handling and floormanship was outstanding, sent the Blue Devils ahead 16-15 with a shot from the gift lane, a lead they never relinquished after that.
With Ford, Golder and Sherrell shifting through the Diamond defenses and counting on layups and follow shots, Midvale stretched their margin to 31-23 as the 4th period opened. Then came the Middlebranch rally which, for a brief time, endangered the Blue Devil lead. Bennett tallied twice under the basket on follow shots to make it 31-27. But, Ford intercepted a Diamond pass under his own net and turned it into a fielder to give the Devils a 33-27 margin. Bennett again revived Middlebranch hopes with a follow shot and Ford hit one from the charity lane. With the count at 34-29, Bennett put the Diamonds back in the game with another follow shot which proved to be the last Middlebranch hope as Sherrell made it 36-31 with a beautiful pivot shot. The glue-fingered Blue Devils controlled the ball for the remainder of the period and forestalled any more Middlebranch rallies.
In addition to playing a stellar floor game Ford netted 14 points for Midvale just one less than Bennett registered for the losers. Golder, playing with a severe cold collected 9 markers as did Rennicker.
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 43
Jack Ford F 5-4-14
Gene Byers F 0-0-0
Jim Golder F 2-5-9
Bob Sherrell C 3-2-8
Dave Rennicker G 4-1-9
Dan Carlisle G 0-3-3
MIDDLEBRANCH DIAMONDS - 34
Royer F 3-0-6
Downey F 0-1-1
Jerry Petro F 2-1-5
Jim Bennett C 7-1-15
Calalier G 1-0-2
Erb G 0-0-0
Ohman G 2-1-5
Friday, March 19, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporer
Dover, Ohio
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