48 - Mighty Tigers Maul Purple Riders 79-46 (2-25-48)

Scoring ace Senior Guard Tom Haswell of the Mighty Strasburg Tigers lead the Tigers to a romp over the Port Washington Purple Riders, 79-46 by scoring 25 points and picking up game honors.  He has now accumulated 66 points for a game point average of 22.0.


DOVER - The Mighty Strasburg Tigers (3-0) (24-2) (72-17) showed no mercy against the Port Washington Purple Riders (2-1) (18-4) (13-35) on Wednesday night as the Tigers blew-out the spirit of the Purple Riders with a 79-46 shellacking at Memorial Hall in the 2nd game of the night.

With Sophomore guard Tom Haswell, Junior forward Jim Weber and Senior forward Roland Malcuit thredding the Port Washington defenses with set shots from the front and side courts and 6-6 Senior center Clarence Yackey racking up points from under the basket, Strasburg gave another exhibition of power that stunned the crowded hall as well as the dazed Purple Riders who were expected to give the Bengals a bitter battle.

At the end of the 1st quarter, the Tigers had run the count to 17-6 and Port Washington faded more noticeably with every period after that.  Strasburg held canto advantages of 36-17 and 59-30.  Midway in the 3rd stanza, Yackey had 4 personal fouls and Head Coach Emmet Riley pulled his towering ace with the count 51-24 in the Tiger's favor.

The carnage continued; however, as the deadly accuracy of Weber and Tom Haswell completely nullified Port Washington's efforts to draw near.  Haswell netted 12 doubledeckers and one free throw for a total of 25 points, while Weber was meshing 17 points and Malcuit 16.  Yackey, did not return to the game until late in the final quarter, garnered 11 points, his lowest total of the tournament.  Senior center Hal Houston of Port Washington led their scoring with 12 points, while his teammate Junior guard Dick Corbett meshed 11.

STRASBURG TIGERS - 79

Jim Weber F 8-1-17
John Reiger F 3-0-6
Roland Malcuit F 7-2-16
Clarence Yackey C 5-1-11
Lewin Vermillion C 1-0-2
Tom Haswell G 12-1-25
John Haswell G 1-0-2

PORT WASHINGTON PURPLE RIDERS - 46

Paul Day F 3-3-9
Hal Gallion F 3-0-6
Hal Houston C 4-4-12
Jack Davies G 2-0-4
Dick Corbett G 5-1-11
Vernon Furbay G 1-0-2
Hal Weber F 1-0-2


Thursday, February 26, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

48 - Sugarcreek-Shanesville Survives A Sharp Little Tigers Charge From Mineral City 39-35 (2-25-48)

Mineral City Tigers 2nd-Year Head Coach Bob R Tawzer is pictured above.  Tawzer guided the Tigers to an 11-12 season which included an upset of the Tuscarawas Broncos 49-37 during the county tournament.


DOVER - The Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates (2-1) (12-8) (46-29) side-stepped a Bengal charge from the Mineral City Tigers (1-2) (11-12) (10-38) as the Buccaneers came up with a 39-35 win at Memoral Hall in a Consolation Division contest on Wednesday night.

Sugarcreek-Shanesville's fast-moving raiders, after holding 1st and 2nd quarter leads of 10-8 and 16-14, fell behind the pace in the 3rd period and trailed 31-23 going into the final canto, but a brilliant rally, led by Junior forward Clayton Deetz, Senior forward Don Miller and Sophomore guard Jim Knox pulled the game out of the fire for 2nd-Year Head Coach Bill Ortt's Bucs.

With the score tied 33-33 midway in the final stanza, Strasburg's Miller meshed a field goal, Junior guard Clarence Fiddler of Mineral City knotted the count again, but Miller and Deetz sank 2 fast doubledeckers to give the Pirates the final decision.

Junior 6-0 center Dan Lechner, the Tigers ace, gave his usual stellar performance in racking up 13 points and playing a brilliant floor game.  Miller and Knox divided the scoring honors for the winners with 10 markers each.

SUGARCREEK-SHANESVILLE PIRATES - 39

Clayton Deetz F 4-1-9
Myron Beechy F 0-0-0
Don Miller F 4-2-10
Don Hostetler C 1-3-5
Jim Knox G 3-4-10
Glen Zimmerman G 2-1-5

MINERAL CITY TIGERS - 35

Gene Reidl F 2-1-5
Don Farnsworth F 1-2-4
Rich Lindsay F 1-1-3
Dan Lechner C 5-3-13
Clarence Fiddler G 1-4-6
Warren Binder G 0-1-1
Dale Adams F 1-1-3


Thursday, February 26, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

NOTE:  1948 MINERAL CITY GRADUATES

FRONT:  Iris Steinbaugh (Salutaturian) - Ageline Johns - Thelma Geckler - Clarence Abel - Ruth Rausch - Norma Gross - Greta Deubner and Delores Fowler.  BACK:  Evelykn Mathey (Valedictorian) - Dorothy Reidl - Mervyne Houston, Donald Steineck - Orwen Weaver and Donna Errington.

48 - Right Down The Line

Monday, February 23, 1948
Dover, Ohio


IF THE STRASBURG TIGERS can maintain the pace they set against the Gnadenhutten Indians Saturday night, they should have little trouble in copping their 4th consecutive tournament crown.  The Indians, given an outside chance of providing an upset over the Bengals after their win over the Tuscarawas Broncos Thursday night, were thoroughly scorched by the Tigers firing and never had a chance after the 1st quarter.  The result stunned the 1,200 spectators present.

IN ROLLING UP 26-POINTS, 6-6 All-Ohio Senior Clarence Yackey, Bengal center, took the lead for individual scoring honors for a single game.  Junior center Verle Buehler of the Stone Creek Golden Panthers held it formerly one night with his 21 points.  Senior guard Tom Haswell of Strasburg, matched the Panther ace as he racked up 21 on Saturday.

ALTHOUGH THEY WERE LEADING a lost cause, the Bolivar cheerleaders, Geraldine Rennis and Beatrice Widder, gave a grand A performance Saturday night as their Cardinals were losing to the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates.  The Buccaneers yell leaders, Wanda Mast, Carol Renner, Margaret Banks and Lois Miller also presented a very comely picture as they inspired their victorious team.

STRASBURG'S CHEERING CORPS has the only male member of the tournament.  Jerry Garber very efficiently augments the performance of Mildred Hensel.

48 - Strasburg Slams Gnaden 69-29 (2-21-48)

All Alone.  this may explain part of the disaster suffered by the Gnadenhutten Indians Saturday night in the quarter-final battle with the Mighty Strasburg Tigers in which the Bengals ripped the Redskins 69-29.  Senior forward Roland Malcuit (43), scored his only 2-points when he broke away from the Gnaden defenders and tallied an easy layup shot with no interference.

All-Ohio 6-6 Senior Center Clarence Yackey won game honors by scoring 26 points against the Gnadenhutten Indians.  Yackey scored 19 markers against the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates earlier and now is looking at a 22.5 points per game average with a total of 45 points in tournament play.

Another look at the Gnadenhutten Indians' Cheerleaders:  Ruth Jean Crouse - Betty Rankin and Harriet Hamilton.


DOVER - Strasburg's enormously fearsome Tigers and Port Washington's Purple Riders made preparations today for their Wednesday night clash in the semi-finals of the county basketball tournament at Memorial Hall as the result of a smashing 69-29 Bengal victory over the Gnadenhutten Indians in the feature quarter final clash Saturday night before a packed house of 1200, many of whom had come expecting the Redskins to press the Tigers, but instead witnessed an exhibition of marksmanship that completely overwhelmed the Warriors after the 1st quarter.

Sugarcreek-Shanesville's small, but efficient Pirates, snapping back strongly after a 1st round trouncing by the Strasburg Tigers, turned in a mild upset as they ground out a 56-43 decision over the Bolivar Cardinals, the team which nearly upset the Champion Midvale Blue Devils in the 1st round.  Stone Creek's Golden Panthers earned the right to meet Gnadenhutten in a Consolation tilt Wednesday night by defeating the Baltic Eagles 54-46 on Saturday.

Another feature clash Wednesday night will be the upper bracket semi-final tilt between Midvale and the Dundee Bulldogs, 67-61 victors over Stone Creek Friday night.

In routing Head Coach Ray Blickensderfer's Gnadenhutten Indians (1-1) (11-14) (40-31) the Strasburg Tigers (2-0) (23-2) (71-17) flashed what was probably their peak form of the year as the Bengals took complete command after the 1st quarter and rained points through the nets from all angles.

The tribe could make a ball game of it for only that 1st period when they held the Tigers to a 16-9 advantage.  Junior Dick Frey, Gnaden forward, collected 7 of his team's total in this period, while Senior guard Tom Haswell's deadly shooting accounted for 8 of the Tigers total.

However, in the 2nd canto the Gnadenhutten bid faded as 6-6 Senior All-Ohio center Clarence Yackey, Tom Haswell and Junior forward Jim Weber uncorked a point barrage that ran the Strasburg margin to 34-14 at halftime.  Yackey hit 4 doubledeckers on tip shots under the basket, while Weber was acing a pair of long shots and Tom Haswell ripped through the Indian zone to count twice from under the hoop.  The Strasburg defenses held Gnaden to a pair of fielders in this time period.

The rout continued unabated in the 3rd stanza and again in the 4th as Head Coach Emmet Riley let his regulars run wild over the game, but outclassed Warriors.  Yackey meshed 4 more field goals in the 3rd quarter and added 3 in the final period, while Tom Haswell was garnering 4 doubledeckers in the last half.  Weber added to the Indian's plight with his midcourt marksmanship which netted 2 field goals in the 3rd period and another in the 4th quarter.

Yackey led the point parade with 26, followed closely by Tom Haswell with 21 and Weber with 12.  Frey collected 12 markers for the losers.

STRASBURG TIGERS - 69

Jim Weber F 6-0-12
Roland Malcuit F 1-0-2
Clarence Yackey C 12-2-26
Tom Haswell G 10-1-21
John Haswell G 1-0-2
Rich Froman F 0-0-0
John Reiger F 2-1-5
Lewin Vermillion C 0-0-0
Junior Siber G 0-0-0
John Mizer G 0-1-1

GNADENHUTTEN INDIANS - 29

Jerry Virtue F 2-0-4
Dick Frey F 5-2-12
Gene Montague C 1-1-3
Jim Lindon G 2-3-7
Ernie Bennington G 0-0-0
Fred Crouse G 1-1-3


Monday, February 23, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

48 - Stone Creek Sends Baltic Home 54-46 (2-21-48)

DOVER - In the 2nd game Saturday night, the Baltic Eagles (0-2) (2-16) (24-38) attempted to halt the scoring punch of the Stone Creek Golden Panthers (1-1) (3-18) (12-29) by employing 2 men against 6-1 Junior center Verle Buehler in a Consolation Division tilt which saw the Eagles eliminated from tournament play as their strategy failed.  Although he was topped by 2 other Panther scorers, the attention given him by the Baltic defenses enabled his mates to break away and ice the game.

Stone Creek raced to a 9-point 14-5 lead in the 1st quarter of play.  In the 2nd canto, Baltic outscored the Panthers 16-12, but still maintained their lead at intermission...26-22.  Both teams netted 9 points in the 3rd stanza by scoring point-for-point.  A scoring spree (34 points) by both teams in the 4th quarter made for an exciting quarter, but Stone Creek outscored the Eagles by 4 points wrapping up the contest.

Stone Creek's Sophomore forward Jim Pfeiffer led his team with 18 points (8 field goals and 2 free throws), while Sophomore guard Hall Ridenour had 14 and Junior center Verle Buehler meshed 12 points.  Senior guard Bob Stauffer netted 17 (7 field goals and 3 free throws) points for Baltic, while Junior center Bill Snyder and guard Bob Brown swished 10 points each.

STONE CREEK GOLDEN PANTHERS - 54

Jim Pfeiffer F 8-2-18
Dick Kugler F 2-4-8
Verle Buehler C 4-4-12
Hal Ridenour G 6-2-14
Bob Bucher G 1-0-2

BALTIC EAGLES - 46

Myron Pepper F 2-1-5
Gene Rauschenbach F 1-2-4
Bill Snyder C 3-4-10
Bob Felton G 0-0-0
Bob Brown G 4-2-10
Bob Stauffer G 7-3-17


Monday, February 23, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

NOTE:  1948 Baltic Eagles Graduates

FRONT:  Pauline Levengood - Maxine Baab - Wilma Rauschenbach - Alice Iberg and Better Everhart.  MIDDLE:  Elmer Eiler - Clara Lorenz - Robert Stauffer - Ken Scheetz - Myron Pepper and Melva Goedel.  BACK:  Marian Stein - Norma Domer - Doris Fair - Marilyn Getz and Virginia Westhoefer.

48 - Pirates Return With 56-43 Win Over Bolivar (2-21-48)

DOVER - First-Year Head Coach Al Bricker's Bolivar Cardinals (0-2) (10-12) (39-34) tried to match the point making of the Sugarcreek-Shanesville Pirates (1-1) (11-8) (45-29) especially Senior forward Don Miller, Sophomore guard Jim Knox and Freshman guard Glen Zimmerman, but fell behind the pace and were eliminated from play by the fast moving Pirates of 2nd-Year Head Coach Bill Ortt in the 2nd Consolation Division contest of the tournament.

With Miller and Knox hitting the nets with consistency, the Bucs ran up a 12-9 first quarter lead and increased this to 27-21 at halftime, regardless of a deadly bit of shooting by the Cardinals' forward Chuck Swonger who meshed 3 doubledeckers.

Knox counted 4 times from the field in the 3rd stanza to help boost the Pirate total and give his team a 43-42 3rd quarter lead and in the last canto Zimmerman completed the rout by caging 6 points.

Zimmerman led Sugarcreek-Shanesville scorers with 16 points, followed by Knox and Miller with 15 markers each.  Senior forward Bill Haueter of Bolivar was high for the Red Birds with 16 points.

SUGARCREEK-SHANESVILLE - 56

Clayton Deetz F 2-3-7
Don Miller F 5-5-15
Don Hostetler C 0-1-1
Jim Knox G 7-1-15
Glen Zimmerman G 7-2-16

BOLIVAR CARDINALS - 43

Chuck Swonger F3-1-7
Bill Haueter F 6-4-16
Lee Lundenberger C 3-1-7
Dallas Seward G 1-1-3
Chuck Tawney G 3-1-7
Baker F 0-0-0
Ed Grossenbacher C 0-1-1
Gene Rex G 0-2-2


Monday, February 23, 1948
Rex Ridenour, Right Down The Line
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

48 - Right Down The Line

Saturday, February 21 1948

HE MAY NOT PLAY in another tournament game this year, but 14-year old Freshman forward Dick Kate of the Dundee Bulldogs can rest assured that no other player in the tourney will score 3 points which will be more important than those 3 he poured through the nets on Friday night in the Stone Creek game.

Little Dick, who is without doubt the tournament's smallest performer (he measures 4-8 when stretched), came into that game in the last quarter when the chips were down and the Stone Creek Golden Panthers were staging a torrid rally.  His brother, 5-10 Senior guard Paul Kate, a Dundee star, had just left the game via the personal foul route along with 6-0 Senior center Bob Gardner, another Bulldog ace and the Golden Panthers, paced by the gliding 6-1 Junior center Verle Buehler, were taking full advantage of it.

Stone Creek had trimmed the Dundee margin to 64-60.  Dick, not much larger at his 85 pounds than the minute that remained, flashed down the side and cut one loose...it was good.  Not only that, but it was a beautifully executed shot!

However, Dick, who has refused Head Coach Fritz Jacobs request that he wear glass guards over his glasses, was not through.  He was fouled under the Panther basket, while the teams were piled up trying to halt Buehler and he made the charity toss.  A big 3 points!

DUNDEE'S PAUL KATE, the senior half of the family combination and an excellent performer, was the high point individual for a single game at last year's tournament with 28 markers scored against Baltic as the Bulldogs lost to the Eagles.  Paul collected 15 last night against Stone Creek.

High man in the tournament after 2 rounds is Mineral City Tigers' 6-0 Junior center Dan Lechner with 28 points in 2 games.  Verle Buehler of Stone Creek went out in front last night for a single game when he meshed 21 against Dundee.  This topped the mark total of 20 achieved by Senior guard Tom Haswell of the Strasburg Tigers Thursday night.  Last year forward Junior Murry of Bolivar was high man with 77 points in 5 tilts.

The Dundee basketball club is not the only claimant to a "sharp" edge.  The Bulldogs cheerleaders, Dorothy Deetz, Dorothy Knipe and Grace Wright also looked very sharp in their blue ensembles as they headed the Dundee cheering section.

Wilma Rauschenbach, Ann Scarr and Pat Zinkon of Baltic also made a pleasing trio as they cavorted in front of Eagle supporters.

HEAD COACH RAY BLICKENSDERFER of the Gnadenhutten Indians found Head Coach Emmet Riley of the Strasburg Tigers outside our press box Friday night and there followed one of those "S P A R R I N G" conversations in which each participant does his best to appear casual and yet pick up bits of information which might be useful.  The Redskins and Bengals will meet tonight in a very important battle.

We, also, tuned an ear, but nary a word was dropped that might give a clue as to future events.  Very reticent and retiring, these cage coaches.  Interested listeners were Head Coach Al Bricker of the Bolivar Cardinals and Head Coach Bray Toot of the Port Washington Purple Riders.  Each had ideas concerning the method of defeating Strasburg, but none of them seemed feasible.

HEAD COACH JIM ROGERS' decision to suspend 3 of his Tuscarawas Broncos regulars before the Mineral City game last night was a courageous one and deserves commendation.  We do not know anything about the merits of the case, which involved late hours for 3 varsity men, 6-3 Senior center Joe Kerns, Senior center Floyd Blackwell and 5-8 Junior guard Hal Tharp, but we do know that Rogers' action was in keeping with the basic principle of amateur sports...which are designed to build character and discipline in the youth of today.

The Broncos, who finished in 3rd place in the County League race, might have caught fire in the tournament and upset someone, but genial Jim Rogers, adhering courageously to what he knew was right, fired the trio and bravely faced the inevitable consequence.

SHADES OF THE WATERLOO WONDERS, Ohio's schoolboy miracle team of a few years ago!  Five-Foot Ten-Inch Junior guard Dick Corbett of the Port Washington Purple Riders occasionally gives the fans a sample of the passing methods by the famous Wonders when he flips a pass to a teammate behind his back.  Dick does it very nicely, too...almost (but not quite) like the Waterloo performers.