Head Coach Chuck Lorenz of the Tuscarawas Broncos with his arm around Larry (Doofy)Myers (14) and Assistant Coach Bob French pose happily in the dressing room with the rest of the team after the Broncos won the 1st District Tournament Championship in the school's history by defeating the defending Champions the Mighty Strasburg Tigers 52-49 at Brilliant last night.
The Tuscarawas Broncos' cheerleaders are shown as they lead the yells for the Blue and White. They are Sophomore Jean Decker - Senior Marliyn Miller and Freshman Marjorie Ruth.
Senior Guard Ralph Vesco of the Tuscarawas Broncos is shown dribbling the ball around the court in the last 2 minutes of last night's game. Teammate, Senior Guard Jim Henry, is directly in front of him as Senior Guard Fred Peters of the Strasburg Tigers tries to steal the basketball.
These 4 Tuscarawas Bronco players (unidentified) are representing the team as they gather awards for winning the District Tournament at Brilliant last night.
Senior Guard John Shetler of the Strasburg Tigers is seen accepting the Runner-up Trophy from The District Tournament Manager.
BRILLIANT - The Tuscarawas Broncos (7-0) (22-2) whose Tournament Express rolled up still another first at Brilliant last night by defeating the Strasburg Tigers (6-2) (26-2) defending Champions 52-49 to annex the 1st Class B District Basketball Championship in the history of the school. The Broncos were the 1st to defeat the Tigers this year when they upended the Bengals in the County Tournament finals. They made it another first by handing the Flushing Orioles its 1st setback Wednesday night. But last night's triumph was top on the list.
It avenged the 1945-46 edition of Tuscarawas Broncos who was the 1st Tusky quintet to get as far as the District finals. The Blue and White dropped only 4 games in 29 outings that season and all were to the Strasburg Tigers which went undefeated until the Regional Tournament finals, losing to the Worthington Cardinals 32-31. Strasburg grabbed a 3-point decisison in that 1946 All-Tuscarawas County finals at Zanesville by beating Tusky 47-44. The Broncos had lost to the Tigers twice in the regular season and once in the county tournament, but won the Consolation Division Crown to stay in the tournaments.
A crowd of more than 1,800 fans, over 1,200 of whom made the long trip from Tuscarawas County, squeezed into the auditorium-gymnasium in the River Village last night expecting to see a slam-bang battle from start to finish. The overflow crowd saw just that. The longest lead of the game was a 6-point spread engineered by Tuscarawas midway in the 3rd stanza and the outcome wasn't decided until Senior guard Ralph Vesco stepped up to the free throw line to sink 2 free throw shots and give Tusky a 52-47 lead with just 5 seconds left to play.
Victory for the Broncos was achieved by means of an effective stall that threw the Bengals off-balance in the last 2 minutes of play. The Bronco-Busters went into the stall with a 3-point lead after Senior forward Larry (Doofy) Myers had cashed in on 2 charity shots to make the score 50-47. Strasburg then got a crack at the basket, missed and Tuscarawas went back into the stall. Junior center Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel tied up Vesco after a full minute had gone by, but Tusky gained control of the tip and the freeze was on once again.
The Tigers got possession of the ball and moved down the floor, but missed a shot and once again the Broncos came up with the ball and went back into the stall which ended in Vesco being fouled. Junior forward Jerry Haswell's last-second heave that swished through the nets made no difference in the final outcome. The game was a see-saw affair from the very outset with the Bengals holding almost complete control of the backboards in the opening quarter and taking away an 11-9 lead at the close of the period.
Scoring honors were evenly divided among the 2 teams in that opening stanza as they sparred for the advantage against tight zone defenses. Goose and Doofy split control of the boards in the half and each came up with 2 field goals on rebounds, while Haswell and Senior guard Jim Henry staged a duel from out front.
Tuscarawas trailed most of the 2nd frame, but eased into a 24-22 halftime intermission lead with a scoring burst near the end of the 2nd period. Both teams continued to spar at the outset of the 3rd stanza, but Tusky grabbed control and shot into command of the tussle with Henry and Vesco connecting from outside, off-setting the deadeye shooting of Senior guard John Shetler, who kept Strasburg in contention.
Goose shot the Tigers back into the picture with 2 rebounds which were converted into 2 field goals near the end of the 3rd period yet the Broncos were still leading 38-35. Shetler continued to spear the hoop with is push shots in the final canto, but after Tuscarawas had deadlocked the count at 43-43. Junior forward Terry Deems, Senior center Harry Thompson and Vesco brought Tusky back to a 5-point lead. Strasburg moved back into the limelight with a scoring burst by Shetler as the score went to 48-47 with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Deems' free throw shots gave the Broncos the chance it wanted to stall after Strasburg lost the ball under its own boards.
Henry's outstanding shooting gave Tuscarawas the edge they needed as the Senior marksman collected 6 field goals for 12 points, while Vesco contributed 15, nine of which came in the last half. Shetler's 16 points were high for the Tigers, while Goose and Haswell each canned 13.
TUSCARAWAS BRONCOS - 52
Larry (Doofy) Myers F 3-3-9
Terry Deems F 3-4-10
Harry Thompson C 3-0-6
Rich Davis G 0-0-0
Jim Henry G 6-0-12
Ralph Vesco G 5-5-15
STRASBURG TIGERS - 49
Jerry Haswell F 6-1-13
Eldon (Zeke) Mullett F 1-3-5
Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel C 5-3-13
Jim Kuecher C 0-0-0
Fred Peters G 1-0-2
John Shetler G 7-2-16
Saturday, March 13, 1954
Art Cicconetti, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
NOTE: REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
The Tuscarawas Broncos now moves into the Northeastern Ohio Regional Class B Basketball Tournament along with the Vienna Mustangs (30-0), Copley who is 23-0 and the Columbiana Clippers (19-5). Drawings for the meet will be held at the Robinhood Restaurant in Kent on tuesday at 6:30PM with the site of the Regional Tournament to be named at that time. The 3 sites open are:
Kent State's Fieldhouse at Kent
Canton Memorial Fieldhouse
Youngstown South Fieldhouse
No comments:
Post a Comment