54 - Right Down The Line

RIGHT DOWN THE LINE
With Art Cicconetti
Tuesday, March 9, 1954
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

IF THE STRASBURG TIGERS is to advance into the finals of the Eastern District Tournament and defend the crown they fought for and won so zealously last year, then the Tigers must stop the Jewett Wildcats' central figure center Gary Thompson.  The bespectacled pivotman was touted as the Wildcats' top scorer last year before the 2 teams, almost identical in personnel, met at Memorial Hall.

Thompson, who also has a habit of drawing fouls quickly, did just that in last year's meeting and he set out part of the game.  He scored only 8 points in the 1st 3 quarters, but then came back in the 4th canto and racked up 12 of Jewett's 15 points.  That was the difference, but the Tigers held on and won 59-57.

THOMPSON has a jump shot, similar to that of Senior forward Harry Thompson of the Tuscarawas Broncos, but he has a twisting motion that is even more dangerous.  The Jewett hot-shot starts with his back to the bucket many times and twists all the way around and fires.  His height, 6-3, makes him a good rebounder and he has plenty of help in this department from Gary Telfer and Larry Townsend, who were also top performers for the Wildcats in last year's contest here.

Townsend tallied 12 and Telfer 7 points, while both helped give Jewett control of the boards for a brief time against Strasburg's team of Sophomore center Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel, Junior forward Elden (Zeke) Mullett and forward Max Bonifant of last year's Tigers.

THE ONLY member of last year's Jewett's team not on hand for this contest is Ed O'Toole, the slick-moving guard who scored 10 of the Wildcats' points.  Strasburg had Max Bonifant and forward Jim Weinmann last season, but the 2 members of this year's starting five, Senior guard John Shetler and Senior guard Fred Peters, moved effectively against Jewett in that game.

Shetler scored 5 points as a substitute, while Junior forward Jerry Haswell and Goose were the 2 big point-makers with 19 and 17, respectively.  Last year's tussle was just that.  A close, hard-fought game.  This year's game promises to be another of the same.

JIM HUFFMAN, All-County performer for Strasburg in the 1949-50 season, played center for the Argentia, Newfoundland Naval Air Base Team that won the Navy's All-Atlantic Tournament at Norfolk recently.