Senior 6-0 Forward Jim Hammersmith, one of the stars in Ayersville's victory over the Midvale Blue Devils yesterday, makes a determined effort to stop the Blue Devils' 5-11 Senior forward Dick (Dandy) Leggett as the latter hustles toward the basket. No. 44 is Gene Weidenhammer, Pilots Reserve, while trailing the play are the Diablos' 6-0 Guard John Colombo (7) and the Cloudbusters' 6-1 Senior center John Zimmerman (55). (Associated Press Photo)
John Zimmerman (55) of Ayersville relies on a yell to prevent the Midvale Blue Devils' Dick (Dandy) Leggett from meshing a 2-pointer in the State Class A semi-finals yesterday. The Blue Devils star missed, too, as the St. John's arena baskets defied shot after shot by Midvale. (Associated Press Photo)
COLUMBUS - Tuscarawas County's "Cinderella" Midvale Blue Devils (11-2) (21-10) met an "evil step-sister" yesterday afternoon and their brilliant tournament play came to a disappointing end. The "step-sister" which ousted the Pete Hilliard coached cagers from the Class A playoffs went under the name of Ayersville.
The Ayersville Pilots, hailing from a high school with 110 pupils and located in a Defiance County town of only 500, downed the Blue Devils 71-57, mainly on a blistering hot, 1st half attack. Thus the Pilots, playing under the tutorship of Head Coach Lee Himmeger, who is in his 1st year of coaching, enterd this afternoon's finals against the Gratis Trojans, which eliminated the Bethel Blackhawks in a 73-72 thriller following the Cloudbusters' victory.
Midvale, endeavoring to capture the 1st Class A title for Tuscarawas County, didn't go down without a fight. Although there was a 14-point spread in the final score, the Diablos sent the crowd into a 3rd stanza frenzy as it whittled the Ayersville Pilots' 19-point half time lead to 7 points. But the Pilots found the throttle again and roared ahead, far beyond the reach of the Devils.
Head Coach Pete Hilliard's cagers, experiencing one of their "coldest" shooting performances, hit only 26 percent of their action shots for the entire game and only 18 percent in the 1st half. They trailed 38-19 at intermission. But a terrific fast break and a pressing man-to-man defense in the last half had the 12,000 fans screaming for the Blue and Gold of Midvale, who won only 10 of 18 regular season games before going on a winning spree to chalk up 10 consecutive tournament victories and eventually reach the State semi-finals. The 1st county team to advance that far in 16 years.
The Midvale Blue Devils once again hit a cold streak and never got any closer than 14 points in the final canto. Senior 6-0 Guard John Colombo led the losers with 17 points, but 6-2 Junior center Russ Hobart thrilled the fans with his outstanding rebounding, while also netting 11 points. Senior 5-11 forward Dick (Dandy) Leggett, who actually put the Blue Devils in the State semi-finals with his 2 last-second shots at the Canton Regional Tournament, netted only 8 points. Senior 5-9 guard John Beans tallied 10 points and along with Leggett, did a tremendous job on the pressing defense in the 2nd half.
Actually, it was 6-0 Senior forward Jim Hammersmith, only 6-0, but jumping as if he were 6-6, who broke the backs of Midvale. A terror on rebounds, he also hit 10 of 17 action flings in scoring 24 points to lead his team to victory. Senior 6-1 forward Marvin Hohenberger, averaging 22 points per game, hit for 20, while 6-1 Senior center John Zimmerman followed with 12.
Four of the 5 Diablo regulars participated in their last high school game. They were Leggett, Colombo, Beans and 5-10 Senior forward Lonnie Wolfe who will graduate this spring.
AYERSVILLE PILOTS - 71
Jim Hammersmith F 10-4-24
Marvin Hohenberger F 8-4-20
Retcher F 0-0-0
John Zimmerman C 5-2-12
Jim Martin G 2-9-13
Rohn G 0-0-0
Myer G 1-0-2
Tobins F 0-0-0
Harader G 0-0-0
G. Zimmerman G 0-0-0
Gene Weidenhammer G 0-0-0
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 57
Dick (Dandy) Leggett F 3-2-8
Lonnie Wolfe G 1-3-5
Russ Hobart C 4-3-11
Gary Haney C 0-1-1
John Colombo G 6-5-17
John Beans G 5-0-10
Tom Krocker G 1-1-3
Dave De Mattio F 0-0-0
Dave Belknap G 1-0-2
Fulp G 0-0-0
AYERSVILLE 25-38-52-71
MIDVALE........11-19-39-57
Saturday, March 23, 1957
Jim De Mello, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
NOTE: STATE CHAMPIONS
On Saturday night, the Ayersville Pilots became the State Champions by edging the Gratis Trojans 74-73!
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