DOVER - The Midvale Blue Devils will seek their 6th County League Tournament title, while the Gnadenhutten Indians will shoot for No. 4 in the finals of the 31st Annual Tuscarawas County Class B Cage Festival at Memorial Hall tonight. In the preliminary tussle which will decide the Consolation Division title and a trip to the Sectional Tournament along with the 2 finalists, the Strasburg Tigers and the Stone Creek Golden Panthers will collide for the 2nd time in this tournament.
The Golden Panthers, the team that sent the Tigers reeling into the Consolation Division bracket on the 2nd night of play, stopped an inspired Port Washington Purple Riders team with a last-half rally that buried the Purple Riders 81-66, last night. The Bengals gained a berth in the Consolation Division finals trimming the Baltic Eagles 61-43.
Sixth-Year Head Coach Ken Newlon's Stone Creek Golden Panthers (2-1) (23-37) rebounded from a cool night against the Gnadenhutten Indians and poured on the coal to amass the highest total in the tournament thus far with Big Junior forward Jim Lorenz grabbing 32 markers to mark up the individual high. The Port Washington Purple Riders (3-2) (15-9) (19-49) whose Junior center Ken Huston was right behind with 30 points, but the Purple Riders "ball of fire" started too late as he racked up 14 points in the final canto and 20 in the last half, after the Golden Panthers had begun to roll to an 81-66 victory.
The Riders suffered a severe blow to their chances when they lost Senior guard Bob Gray near the end of the 2nd frame. The Porters spark-plug of the past 2 upsets threw his knee cap out of place and after it was set back in, did not return to the contest. Seventh-Year Head Coach Bray Toot's chargers sizzled off to a good start, leading 6-2 and 10-6 before the Panthers could get set, but Port Washington moved out in front 16-11 at the end of the 1st quarter with Senior guard Carl Poland sticking to Huston's side like a shadow.
Port's big gun, held to a field goal and 2 free throws in the 1st period of play, collected another fielder and 4 charity tosses in the 2nd stanza as Stone Creek moved up 3 points closer 30-27 at intermission. In the 3rd frame, the Golden Panthers roared out in front on Sophomore center Bill Jones layup and moved to a 37-32 lead before Port could stem the tide as the contest settled into a see-saw affair with Jones and Lorenz balancing the Panthers' side against the counter scoring of Huston and Sophomore forward Paul Frank.
Going into the final period leading 52-46, the defending tournament Champions pulled away with Lorenz, sitting out a big part of the canto with 4 personal fouls on his account, Senior forward Gasser and Jones paving the way. Both Gasser and Jones finished up with 19 points each, while no one came close to Huston's terrific bid to keep the Purple Riders in the tournament. The Riders had defeated Stone Creek by 2 points on 2 different occasions in the regular season.
STONE CREEK GOLDEN PANTHERS - 81
Jim Lorenz F 11-10-32
Gary Grimm F 0-0-0
Jerry Gasser F 7-5-19
Dave Gross F 0-0-0
Earl Hothem F 0-0-0
Bill Jones C 8-3-19
Ken Heid G 2-0-4
Stan Phillippi G 2-2-6
Carl Poland G 0-1-1
Floyd Patrick G 0-0-0
PORT WASHINGTON PURPLE RIDERS - 66
Paul Frank F 3-1-7
Homer Schwab F 0-0-0
John Kochner F 1-0-2
Larry Combs F 2-1-5
Jim Landon F 1-1-3
Ken Huston C 9-12-30
John Hursey G 3-1-7
Bob Gray G 4-0-8
Fred Welsch G 0-4-4
Jim Parker G 0-0-0
Saturday, February 21, 1953
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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