50 - Right Down The Line

Thursday, March 9, 1950
Dover, Ohio


THEY DIDN'T GAIN STATE-WIDE RECOGNITION and they weren't photographed and lauded by big city sports writers, but the Strasburg Tigers (22-5) trotted out on the Steubenville High school basketball court last night and completely wrecked a team which had been mentioned several times as a State Tournament possibility.  That Strasburg story last night was a brilliant one.  It represented a lot of sweat and hard work by 2nd-Year Head Coach Don Martin and his proteges.  Never was a victory more deserved than that one.  Never was a victory more appreciated by the fans.

A Consolation Division winner in the county tournament after being upset by the Bolivar Cardinals (14-13) in the 1st round of play, the Tigers buckled down and came through the hard way.  Last night this hard work paid off.  It may pay off again before the tournaments come to a close.  Strasburg had a great ball club on Wednesday night.

Much credit for that sweeping victory over the unbeaten Scio Panthers (24-1) must go to  Coach Martin's "sliding zone" defense and a continuously pressing offense which never gave the fabled Panthers a second's rest.  The zone defense employed by the Tigers shifted incessantly, hurrying Scio's marksman so much that they were throwing the ball away before the game was over.

The Panther's storied All-County forward Bob (The Colonel) Hugh was great, but he was not great enough.  Strasburg permitted him 25 hard-earned points and simply outscored him.  Last night's performance deserves to rank with the best of them in the successful history of Strasburg basketball.

WE SAT ON THE STRASBURG BENCH last night and witnessed the demise of an unbeaten team.  (for some reason, T.W. Casky, District Tournament Manager, seemed to feel that Tuscarawas County newsmen were not accustomed to sitting down to do their writing and they had to request permission to use the Strasburg bench.  Two other county sports editors were not as fortunate...they stood up).

THE STRASBURG STRATEGIST, DON MARTIN "sweat" it out with his boys, but only once did he get excited.  Senior guard John Rieger fired a set shot at the nets and the ball bounced out, apparently because the net was caught on the rim of the basket.  Martin came to his feet and pointed the error out to officials Bill Jenkins and Valli Dirodis, but play continued without any thinking being done about the shot.  Jenkins said later he did not see the net.

REFEREE DIRODIS, a veteran official and a familiar face to Tuscarawas County fans, may not be able to finish the tournament.  His mother was stricken by a heart attack Tuesday night in Revenna and Valli indicated he didn't expect her to recover.