Sophomore Forward Jerry Haswell picked up his 86th point total in 7 tournament games when he led his team with 19 points in another important win...this time over the Jewett Wildcats 59-57. He averages 12.3 points per game.
A tense moment in the Strasburg Tigers-Jewett Wildcats game in a cat-fight at Memorial Hall won by the Tigers of Strasburg.
DOVER - The Jewett Wildcats bared their claws and put on a 4th canto rally that all but swept the Strasburg Tigers off their feet and had the packed house bringing the raffers down with noise, but Head Coach Don Martin's crew hung on and stalled out the last 30 seconds to pick-up a 59-57 victory in the opening game of the Class B Eastern District Tournament at Memorial Hall last night. Head Coach Stan Straight's whirlwind's trailed throughout most of the ball game with the Tigers controlling the backboards and pushing the game their way after a brief flurry in the opening quarter.
But forward Larry Townsend and center Gary Thompson caught fire in the final quarter and started a blaze that threatened to envelop Strasburg and send them out of the tournament, but the Tigers once again proved equal to the task and raced right with the Wildcats, never relinquishing the lead after Jewett had deadlocked the count at 47-47 with 4:45 left to play. Tonight's contest will send the Scio Panthers up against the Killbuck Bucks at 8:00 with the winner meeting Strasburg for a Regional Tournament berth Saturday night. The Panthers have won 23 games thus far in the season with the only loss coming at the hands of the Wildcats in the finals of the Harrison County Tournament 2 weeks ago.
With Bill Spiker standing 6-6 and the rest of the Scio squad boasting height, the Panthers of Head Coach Frank Samuels will go into the contest with a heavy advantage over the Battling Bucks of Head Coach Gabe Lever.
The capacity crowd in Memorial Hall last night saw the Strasburg Tigers (7-1) (24-4) and the Jewett Wildcats (19-4) battle on even terms through half of the 1st quarter with the score tied 4 times...before the Tigers, with Sophomore forward Jerry Haswell leading the attack, broke into the lead and roared to the end of the stanza with a 20-14 edge. Both clubs put on a ragged exhibition in the 2nd frame as the Tigers, still controlling both backboards, managed to add 2 more points to their lead and walk off the floor leading 32-24 at intermission.
The 3rd stanza was a repeat of the 2nd as neither team could get rolling. The ball was turned over many times with the Wildcats gaining some control of the boards, even after big forward Gary Telfer was pulled out of the contest. Coach Martin juggled his lineup in the 2nd and 3rd quarters in an effort to get the club rolling once again, but the spark that ignited the Bengal stretch drive came from Jewett's twin-scoring mechanism in the final 8 minutes.
With the Strasburg team leading 40-32 and appearing an easy victor in the sluggish contest, the Wildcats shook the crowd and the Tigers out of their complacency and brought the house down. Forward Larry Townsend drove in under the basket for an easy layup shot and seconds later center Gary Thompson scored the 1st of his 6 last-quarter field goals to lock up the contest tighter than a bass drum, 40-40 with 6 minutes and 30 seconds remaining.
With the crowd going wild, the Bengals took time out to look over the situation and then came back with Big Sophomore center Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel and Junior guard Eldon (Zeke) Mullett putting 2 baskets together for another 4-point lead. Thompson was unstoppable; however, and the Jewett center threw in another of his twisting jump shots before Haswell connected on a drive-in jump shot and Goose Von Kaenel added a free throw to make the count 47-42 in favor of Strasburg.
But once more the 1-2 punch of the Wildcats roared into the breach and Thompson heaved in 2 more of his specialties sandwiching a free throw by Townsend to tie the game again, 47-47, with 4 minutes and 45 seconds left. Mullett meshed a hook shot to put the Tigers back on top and the Bengals stayed there the rest of the way. Gary Telfer made a free throw shot, but Haswell and Junior forward John Shetler scored from the field to give Strasburg another 5-point lead.
Townsend came in with a drive-in basket and Senior forward Max Bonifant connected on a free throw before Thompson pushed in a jump shot to make the score 54-52 in favor of the Tigers at the 3-minute mark. But Haswell, whose long push shots kept the Bengals in control in those hectic minutes, added another 2 points from action with Townsend connecting on one of 2 free throw chances to make the score 56-53 at the 2:15 mark.
Von Kaenel scored on a layup and Thompson dunked one with his twisting jump shot and the score was 58-55 at 1:15. That's when Strasburg started its stall with Jewett stretching for the ball. The Wildcats, grabbed the ball and raced down court, but lost the sphere on a dribbling miscue and the Tigers brought it back up and went into the stall again with Shetler being fouled. He made the 2nd shot and Jewett took the ball all the way down with Townsend scoring to narrow the score at 59-57 with 30 seconds left to play, but Strasburg stalled it out for the sweet victory.
Von Kaenel and Haswell were the big offensive punch for the Tigers with 17 and 19 points respectively. Thompson was high for the Wildcats with 20, 12 of which were scored in the last canto. Townsend, who entered the fracas in the 3rd period, scored one fielder in that frame and 10 more in the last quarter when the Wildcats threw in 29 markers, 22 by Thompson and Townsend.
Jewett outscored Strasburg from the field 22 to 21, but the Tigers tallied 17 of 29 free throw attempts, while the losers could mesh only 13 of 26 to account for the difference in the final score.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 59
Jim Weinmann F 0-2-2
John Shetler F 2-1-5
Max Bonifant F 3-1-7
Jerry (Moose) Von Kaenel C 6-5-17
Eldon (Zeke) Mullett G 2-5-9
Fred Peters G 0-0-0
Jerry Haswell G 8-9-19
JEWETT WILDCATS - 57
Cerett F 0-2-2
Larry Townsend F 5-2-12
Gary Telfer F 2-3-7
Coutts F 0-0-0
Gary Thompson C 9-2-20
O'Toole G 3-4-10
Schuman G 2-0-4
L. Telfer G 1-0-2
Thursday, March 5, 1953
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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