THE STRASBURG TIGERS. In the above individual photos are: Junior Jim Kuecher (left), Sophomore Dick Froman and Senior Gene Hensel.
In the photos here, on the left is Senior Jerry Haswell and the individual on the right is Senior Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel. The group in the middle are Strasburg Reserves: Junior Bill Hensel (left), Sophomore Bob Grimm, Junior Will Rieger, Sophomore Don Weber and Junior Lloyd Deibel, all 1st-line Reserves. Two individual players, Junior Ron Gray and Sophomore Woody Norris do not appear in the photos, but will be with the team seeking to rocket the Orange and Black into the State finals when they enter the Kent Regional Tournament.
The Strasburg Tigers Head Coach Ken Newlon. This was Coach Newlon's 1st year at Strasburg as Head Coach after his 7 years as Head Coach for the Stone Creek Golden Panthers. In his 1st-Year at Strasburg he has, so far, coached his way to the Regional Tournaments.
KENT - The talented Strasburg Tigers will make their bid for a berth in the Class B Regional finals Friday night when the tangle with the scrappy Bulldogs of Boston Township in the opening contest of the Northeastern Ohio meet on the Kent State University fieldhouse hardwood. Five other Tiger basketball teams have journeyed into the State Tournament beyond the District jousts, but only 2 of those aggregations have been able to get past the 1st hurdle. No Bengal outfit has leaped over the 2nd obstacle.
The Orange and Blue's 1945-46 combination got all the way to the Regional finals at Athens before losing to the Worthington Cardinals 32-31. The 1952-53 Strasburg team battled its way to the Regional finals at Canton and then dropped a 60-57 heart breaker to the Canfield Cardinals. Two of the year's squad were regulars on that 1952-53 combination and were the top scorers for the Tigers in the Canfield game. Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel and Jerry Haswell, both of whom have been regulars for the last 3 years, will be getting their last crack at tournament glory this season.
In the Bulldogs of Boston Township, the Bengals will face a comparatively small and speedy squad which has a reputation for being a group of accurate shooters and a group which can turn on the fast break as well as hold down the opposition. The tallest man on the Summit County team is 6-2 Freshman Jim Jones, who has been the Bulldogs' ace in tourney play thus far. The top scorer on the club is 6-foot Senior Gillette, who has been in the shadow thus far in the tournaments.
The remainder of the probable starting lineup of Boston Township has Doug Bigelow, 6-0, pairing off with Gillette at a forward post, while Bob Conger, 5-10 and Bob Kovach, 5-11, are expected to be stationed at the guards. The Bulldogs have compiled an average scoring total of 72 points per game in winning 21 and losing 2. Boston Township permitted the opponents an average of 50.4 over the 23-game span.
The regular season average of the Bulldogs crew was 77.8 offensively and 47-7 defensively, while in 7 tournament games up to this point the totals are 73 and 56.3. Strasburg has compiled a better per-game average on the overall picture. The Tigers had an average 79.8, while winning 25 and losing 2 games, while their opponents totaled a very low 42.3 in that span.
On the regular season, the Bengals had a 75.7 average, while permitting 49.1, but the averages have soared in the tournament games to date with Head Coach Ken Newlon's charges having racked up a 91-7 average per contest to 61.5 for the opponents. The Eastern Ohio District Champs will tangle with Boston Township in the opener at 7:45PM, with the Vienna Mustangs (27-0) and Liberty (25-4) scheduled to meet in the nightcap.
The winners will meet at 8:00PM Saturday for the right to advance to the State finals to be held in the Cincinnati Gardens' Arena on March 25 and 26. Doors to the Kent State Fieldhouse will open at 5:30PM. There will be no Reserved seats in the arena which holds over 1,000. A capacity house is expected for Friday night's games.
The Boston Township Bulldogs' record is as follows:
BOSTON TOWNSHIP BULLODGS (21-2)
Independence 89-21 W
Mogadore 85-43 W
Northdonia 74-27 W
Manchester 84-44 W
Copley 72-58 W
Revere 74-58 W
Twinsburg 71-53 W
Independence 99-57 W
Mogadore 50-57 L
Hudson 89-43 W
Northdonia 82-49 W
Highland 67-42 W
Revere 74-63 W
Manchester 84-49 W
Buckley 95-38 W
Twinsburg 76-51 W
COUNTY TOURNAMENT
Revere 83-53 W
Northdonia 68-53 W
Copley 51-69 L
SECTIONAL TOURNAMENT
Randolph 80-71 W
Northwest 64-35 W
DISTRICT TOURNAMENT
Fairport Harbor 93-56 W
Columbiana 72-57
REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
Strasburg vs Boston Township
Thursday, March 17, 1955
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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