Port Riders Boast Height On 1954-55 Cage Combine (11-4-54)

Bray Toot, dean of Tuscarawas County athletic coaches, begins his ninth year at Port Washington and is in high hopes of posting a record with his Purple Riders that will keep them in the thick of the fight for the County League title. The Riders last season led by Ken Huston, chalked up a record of 13 victories as against nine defeats including tournament competition.
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PORT WASHINGTON concluded circuit action in a deadlock with Baltic for third place, each with a record of seven wins, three losses within the loop. "For the first time at Port," Coach Toot reports, "we are blessed with some six-footers on our squad." No less than seven of the Purple Riders stretch the tape to six feet or more, with sophomore Jim Emler the tallest at 6-2. Letterman Tom Jones and Bill McConnell, both juniors, are each 6-1, as are junior Dick Loper and sophomore Norman Frank. Paul Frank, a two-year veteran senior, and Ed Bates, a sophomore, are both 6-0 while the other letterman of the three veterans is Gary Dichler, a 5-10 senior. Coach Toot, who directed the Riders to the heights last year in tourney play as they forced the defending district champion Strasburg Tigers to the limit before bowing 61-60 in the last seconds, reported one of the largest squads he has ever had at Port Washington with 23 cagers working out.
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OTHER PROMISING prospects include Vernon Glazer, 5-6, and Dale Veley, 5-9, both seniors; Bob Welsch, a 5-9 junior; and sophomore Denver Glazer, 5-9. Others on the squad battling for positions include senior Don Jones, sophomores Jim Brown, Doyle Galbraith, William Gibbs, and Jerry Hannahs, and freshmen LeRoy Davies, Tom Gardner, Don D. Jones, Ronald Phillips, Dick Quillin and Terrance Urban. The Riders' schedule is as follows:
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Nov 16 - Stone Creek
Nov 19 - At Keene
Nov 23 - Strasburg*
Nov 30 - Gnadenhutten
Dec 03 - At Midvile*
Dec 10 - Bolivar*
Dec 14 - Open
Dec 17 - At Dellroy
Dec 21 - At Stone Creek*
Dec 28 - Midvale
Jan 04 - Keene
Jan 07 - Sugarcreek-Shanesville*
Jan 11 - At Madison
Jan 14 - Gnadenhutten*
Jan 21 - At Dundee*
Jan 25 - Tuscarawas
Jan 28 - At Baltic*
Feb 04 - Mineral City*
Feb 11 - At Tuscarawas*
*Tuscarawas County League Games
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Thursday, November 4, 1954
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio