This was not a goal line stand. It was part of the torrid action of the Bolivar-Stone Creek basketball game in the county tournament at Memorial Hall Wednesday night. The Cardinals turned back the Golden Panthers 52-50 and gained a berth in the finals on Friday night. In the photo, Maurice Lundenberger (underneath pile) is battling for the ball with Gene McPherson and other Panthers. Bob Burhart of the Red Birds is also in the action.
DOVER - The Midvale Blue Devils, defending Champions, and the Bolivar Cardinals, the Cinderella Team of the 28th Tuscarawas County Class B Basketball Tournament, advanced to the Friday night finals after scoring thrilling upsets over the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates and Stone Creek Golden Panthers at Memorial Hall Wednesday night before nearly 2,000 fans who jammed into ever available inch of space to witness an action-packed semi-final round.
Midvale, an opportunist team with power when the chips were down, scored a last minute 51-49 victory over Head Coach Gerald Straley's flashy Pirates and Head Coach Warren Craigo's Bolivar cagers kept their magic string alive by whipping favored Stone Creek 52-50.
Midvale and Bolivar will clash on Friday night at 8:45PM for The Daily Reporter Tournament Trophy. Both teams are now assured a berth in the Dover Sectional starting next Wednesday night at Memorial Hall. Tonight at 7:30PM, the Strasburg Tigers, defeated last week by Bolivar 53-50, gets another chance in the Consolation Division bracket when the Bengals collide with the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates at 7:30PM in the Consolation semi-finals.
At 8:45PM, the Tuscarawas Broncos, a 76-43 winner over the Mineral City Tigers last night, meets Stone Creek in another Consolation Division battle. The 2 winners will clash Friday night at 7:30PM in a Consolation final with the victor advancing into the Sectional Tournament also in Dover.
Both Midvale and Bolivar had been assigned the underdog roles last night in the payoff round. Both crashed through with surprise wins in the closing seconds of battles which had the fans standing on their seats.
In the last game of the night, the Bolivar Cardinals (3-0) (12-12) (45-36), fired by the offensive play of Seniors 6-3 center Maurice Lundenberger, guard Carl McFeeders and Junior forward Bill Willard, completely dominated play with the Stone Creek Golden Panthers (1-1) (15-32) until the final canto when the Golden Panthers started to creep up on the Red Birds.
Lundenberger, who has turned in one of the tournament's outstanding performance, again proves a tower of strength in the Cardinals lineup. It was his 19 points which kept the Panthers threat at a minimum. Lundenberger; however, had a valuable assistance from McFeeders, Willard, Senior forward Ed Grossenbacher and Junior guard Bob Burkhart. Burhart and Willard, the Red Birds playmakers, gave steady performances as did Grossenbacher, the rugged Card defensive player.
The only Stone Creek player able to dent the Bolivar defenses consistently was Senior guard Hal Ridenour, another standout performer. Ridenour poured in 10 points in the 3rd period to lead a Golden Panthers attack which had become desperate as the Cardinals blazed steadily on. Senior center Dean Heid put the Panthers within striking distance near the close of the battle with a field goal and 2 free throw shots, but time ran out on the thwarted favorites.
Bolivar flew to a 7 point lead in the 1st quarter 11-4. Stone Creek cut the margin to 5 in the 2nd period 25-20; while the Golden Panthers again increased the lead to 10 points 42-32 in the 3rd stanza. The Panthers rallied in the 4th canto, but ran out of time in a thriller.
Other Cardinals besides Lundenberger to hit double figures were McFeeders with 14 and Willard with 12. Ridenour led Stone Creek with 18 points and Senior forward Jim Pfeiffer meshed 11 markers.
BOLIVAR CARDINALS - 52
Ed Grossenbacher F 1-1-3
Junior Geers F 0-1-1
Bill Willard F 5-2-12
Maurice Lundenberger C 8-3-19
John Ewing C 0-0-0
Carl McFeeders G 6-2-14
Wayne Kromine G 0-0-0
Bob Burkhart G 1-1-3
STONE CREEK GOLDEN PANTHERS - 50
Jim Pfeiffer F 4-3-11
Dick Kugler F 2-1-5
Jerry Brown F 1-0-2
Dean Heid C 3-3-9
Hal Ridenour G 8-2-18
Lorenz G 0-0-0
Gene McPherson G 2-1-5
Thursday, February 23, 1950
Rex Ridenour, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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