Right Down The Line (1-27-54)

Jim Lorenz, who wound up his scholastic career with 22 points for a total of 427 this year, started a search for the all-time individual scoring record for a single game in the county. Many thought that Frankie Baurnholtz's 49 points scored in a game against Stone Creek was the high, but the former Midvale ace and present Chicago Cubs outfielder wasn't the highest single-game scorer, according to information from County Supt. W. E. Laws. Seems as though the top mark was a 52 point output by one Elmer Harris of Mineral City still stands as the highest number of points ever scored in a single game in the county. Lorenz dumped in 42 for a Stone Creek record recently, while Jake Lengler had 45 for Dover's high several years ago. Dave Leggett of New Philadelphia was the top for the Quakers with 38 points in one game.
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Harris scored his high total back in 1929 when they were still having the tip-off after every score. Imagine how good a shot he must have been to run up that many points in one game. Mr. Laws, who was coach of Mineral City at the time Harris made his record, recalls that the Tigers literally crushed Midvale that night by a score of 96-4. And we think that today's basketball has been speeded up to include too much scoring and running. With a tipoff after every score this game must have been like a track meet with Mineral hopelessly outclassing Midvale. Harris, who now works at Timken in Canton, was an all-around ball player and he was classed as an outstanding performer by all those who saw him play at Mineral City.
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The Tigers were undefeated in that season and they won the county league championship, but lost in the tournament, which was a single-elimination affair in those days. Other members of that team were Bob Markley (forward), who is now with a plastics concern in Cleveland; Eugene Gordon (center), a funeral director in East Sparta; Walter Eyster (guard), now a Methodist minister in Bowling Green and Julius Mathey (guard), a supervisor at the East Sparta Ceramics. Laws remembered a close game at Dundee that season. Seems as though he'd set up a new defense for the game and Dundee broke it open and was leading at the half. Mineral City; however, came back in the last half and pulled out a close one to remain undefeated in the league. Laws, who came to Mineral City as Superintendent and coach after five years at St. Clairsville, was coach of the Tigers four years before going to Midvale for five years and then taking over as county superintendent in 1936.
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Wednesday, January 27, 1954
Art Cicconetti
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio