Junior Jim Kuecher (33) of the Strasburg Tigers and Senior Morris Kosikowski (14) of the Yorkville Ductillites waitS under the basket, while 6-4 Senior (Goose) Von Kaenel (44) of the Tigers goes up in the air for a shot with 6-5 Senior Henry Josefczyk (31) of the Ductillites attempting to block him. Freshman Dom Di Napoli (24) of Yorkville moves in at right. (The Daily Reporter Photo)
DOVER - The Strasburg Tigers (6-0) (24-2) whose victory express gathered speed and power as the game progressed last night and when the decks were cleared the Tigers had racked up the Yorkville Ductillites (17-10) 118-71 and gained a berth in the Saturday night finals. Head Coach Ken Newlon's smooth operating basketball machine rolled along at will to record a new Memorial Hall, District Tournament and Tuscarawas County scoring mark in garnering the 118 points.
The one-sided triumph assured an All-Tuscarawass County finals for the 2nd straight year with the Bengals and the Tuscarawas Broncos having battled in the Championship contest at Brilliant last year. The Ductillites' hopes for an upset victory were dashed in the very 1st quarter when the Cats, after breaking a 5-5 deadlock, rocketed to 14-5 and 21-8 leads before the Ducats began catching fire.
Sophomore Jerry Froman's driving play kept the Orange and Black in the driver's seat in the opening period with Senior Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel and Senior Jerry Haswell each adding 5 points. The slashing Strasburg attack hit a temporary snag near the close of the 1st frame and Senior Morris Kosikowski shot Yorkville back up into contention with 2 quick baskets as the score read 25-18 at the 1st stop.
Junior Ed Baran and Kosikowski combined to help shave the Tigers lead to 5 points, 29-24, in the 1st minute of the 2nd quarter, but the roof fell in with a resounding crash and the Ductillites hopes were buried under the powerful Bengal thrust. The Cats roared away with the throttle wide open to amass a 40-24 advantage before Baran could hit from the corner. That one goal ended the Ducats' scoring in the 2nd period and the talented Orange and Black once again accelerated their attack and whisked to a 51-26 half time lead.
Strasburg's powerful offense has been steadily gathering power throughout the tournament and last night the Tigers hit a new high as they scored from all over the court almost at will. A 38-point spree by the Bengal's juggernaut in the 3rd stanza buried the Ducks' 22-points and the Cats went farther ahead 89-48 at the far turn.
Coach Newton sent his club into a semi-stall at the outset of the final canto, but this lasted very briefly before the Orange and Black racked up 6 points and the Varsity retired to the bench in favor of the Reserves.
Yorkville lost Junior Nick Gerolimos and Baran on personal fouls in the 3rd quarter with 6-0 Junior Jim Azzi going out in the 4th quarter. Kuecher of Strasburg was also thumbed out on personals shortly before the 3rd stanza ended. With 5 and a half minutes left in the contest, the Tiger Reserves took over and set the new scoring records and racked up a new high for the Bengals.
The 118 points broke a Memorial Hall high of 109 set by the Dover St. Joseph Ramblers' earlier and the tournament record of 102 set by the Tuscarawas Broncos a few years back. The mark of 111 which the Broncos had set this season for the county was also cracked.
Froman was high scorer for the Bengals as he tossed in 26 markers and had a string of 8 consecutive free throws going into the 3rd quarter. Four other Cats hit in douible figures with Goose getting 21, Kuecher tallying 18, Haswell collecting 15 and Senior Gene Hensel 13. Senior Henry Josefczyk was the Duck's top scorer with 24, 12 of which came in the final stanza against the Strasburg Reserves.
The victory sends Strasburg into the District finals for the 3rd time in the last 3 years.
STRASBURG TIGERS - 118
Jerry Haswell 6-3-15
Jim Kuecher 6-6-18
Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel 8-5-21
Jerry Froman 9-8-26
Gene Hensel 3-7-13
Will Rieger 2-0-4
Bob Grimm 0-0-0
Don Weber 0-1-1
Lloyd Diebel 2-0-4
Woody Norris 0-5-5
Ron Gray 2-2-6
Bill Hensel 1-3-5
YORKVILLE DUCTILLITES - 71
Jim Azzi 2-0-4
Morris Kosikowski 3-8-14
Henry Josefczyk 9-6-24
Nick Gerolimos 1-0-2
Ed Baran 5-2-12
Carducci 3-2-8
Lollini 0-0-0
Vionci 0-0-0
Raush 0-0-0
Dom Di Napoli 0-5-5
Rungo 0-0-0
STRASBURG 25-51-89-118
YORKVILLE 18-26-48-71
Friday, March 11, 1955
Art Cicconetti, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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