Right Down The Line (1-18-55)

We hope the Dover City Fathers were looking in Saturday night at Memorial Hall. The twin bill staged by Strasburg High School was really a success as far as the attendance was concerned. There aren't any figures on which to base this supposition, but we talked with several people who stayed away thinking that there wouldn't be enough room. That's the same old story. The place was filled. Wednesday night's March of dimes benefit should attract a good crowd despite the fact that there aren't any unbeaten teams in the lineup. We're sure the fans in the five villages represented will be there plus a few more who like to watch basketball. Baltic and Gnadenhutten staged a thriller earlier in the season and Port Washington nipped Sugarcreek-Shanesville in an overtime. The rematch of these teams should bring more close competition.
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THE CITY Council's decision to remodel Memorial Hall should get a boost after Saturday night's successful venture. There are some who want to build a fieldhouse under school auspices, but let's face it, that is a near impossibility at the moment. There are still two grade schools to be paid for and a new grade school to take care of the Sixth Street pupils will be a must in the very near future with the high school students expected to branch out into the wing now used as a grade school. Memorial Hall is the only answer to the problem and Dover has a chance to get in first with a suitable building for basketball and many other activities.
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IF HISTORY repeats itself, and they say it does, Strasburg could well be on the way to another great basketball season despite the Saturday night upset. In three of the last five years, Strasburg teams have gone at least as far as the District Class B finals. One year they went all the way to the Regional finals before losing out. And if memory serves us correctly, in all of those years the Tigers moved ahead in the tournament picture despite an upset defeat somewhere along the line in the county tournament.
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IN 1950 it was Bolivar who upset the Tigers. Strasburg went on to win the consolation and upset an undefeated Scio team in the District before losing to Yorkville in the finals. In 1953 it was Stone Creek who turned the tables. The Tigers came back to once again defeat a strong Scio team and go on to the Regionals after upending a highly-touted Northwestern ball club. In 1954, Tuscarawas upset Strasburg in the finals of the county meet and then did it again in the District finals after both teams plowed through the sectional and preliminary District tourney tilts.
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WHAT IS significant about all of those upset defeats? They all occurred on the Memorial Hall hardwood. In each of those three seasons, Strasburg went on to tournament successes after the Tiger suffer an upset lacing on the Memorial Hall court. Saturday night, West Lafayette pulled the upset over Strasburg on the Memorial Hall floor. The season is little more than half over with eight more games on the Tiger slate. Strasburg should come back strong in this last half and history, which has already repeated partly, may complete the job.
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Tuesday, January 18, 1955
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio