Killbuck Meets Port (2-29-56)

Three Tuscarawas Teams will be shooting basketballs at the Dover Memorial Hall hoops tonight and when the smoke clears at least one of the six county schools in the class B sectional will be on the wayside. The sectional, which will send the survivors to the district tourney next week at Brilliant, opens at 7:30 with Port Washington, the "Cinderella" team of the county dribble derby taking on Holmes County Champion Killbuck. In the nightcap, at about 8:45, County Tourney Champion Midvale will vie with Dover St. Joseph's. The doors to the gym will open at 6:30. All tickets will be sold at the door. They are priced at 50 cents for students and 75 cents for adults. Both games tonight may be battles comparative scores indicates such and because tournament gold will be at stake. Port Washington, which took home its first county tournament trophy when it beat Gnadenhutten for consolation honors last Saturday night, will have an edge in size on the Bucks from Holmes County, but Midvale and St. Joe are about even when it comes to height. All four clubs are blessed with excellent shotmakers and high-scoring affairs may be in the offering.
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COMPARING SCORES
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Both St. Joe and Midvale have trounced two Carroll County teams, Malvern and Augusta, while both Killbuck and Port lost to County League Champion Strasburg, but topped Baltic handily. St. Joe, which has the poorest record of the teams in action tonight, trounced Augusta 77-42, while Midvale rocked the same club 83-20. The Ramblers from Dover; however, were upset in their tussle at Malvern (74-52), but later gained revenge by a 64-39 count at Memorial Hall. Midvale played the Green Hornets once and whipped them easily 80-44. All-Countians Larry Swinderman and Dick Leggett are the shining lights for Midvale, while George (Sonny) Zifer and big George Milylori are the scoring standouts for St. Joe. Swinderman has scored 503 points and Leggett 430 as the Blue Devils won 18 of 21. St. Joe has played 18 contests with Zifer getting 318 in 18 and Milylori tossing in 299 in 16. The other starters for Midvale and points scored include "Chuck" Seldenright at center 98, John Columbo at forward 227 and John Beans at guard 247. For additional rebound strength Coach Pete Hilliard can call on Gary Haney, who has tallied 87 points. Seldenright goes 6-3 and Haney 6-0, but the others are under the 72-inch mark.
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OTHER STARTERS
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For the Ramblers coached by Charley Lucas Forward Don Pace has tallied 142 points, and Guards Joel Spiker 148 and Bob Barkett 121. Their rebound power lies in the 6-2 Milylori and the 5-11 Spiker. 5-11 Bill Rieger who has scored 41 points in five games after becoming eligible the second semester is the sixth man, while Mike Seibold, 5-10, who has tallied 30 markers, is used for added board strength. Coach Bray Toot of Port Washington will likely go with his regular lineup of 6-1 Tom Jones and 6-1 Ed Bates at the forwards, 6-2 Nick Frank in the pivot and 5-9 Bob Welsch and 5-10 Denver Glazer at the guards. Ed Bates has scored 468 points as the Purple Riders have won 15 of 22. Nick Frank has accounted for 323, Tom Jones 298, Bob Welsch 209 and Denver Glazer 196. 6-1 Bill McConnell who has scored 165 is the sixth man. Killbuck Coach Virgil Allison will start 5-10 Jack Niehart and 5-10 Larry Haun at forwards, 6-1 Ron (Butch) Arndt at center and 5-11 Lee Tidball and 5-10 Ken Spurgeon at the guards. Tidball is a junior and Spurgeon a sophomore, while the other three starters are seniors. Arndt, an all-county choice, is averaging about 29 points per game. The Yellow and Black won 13 of 18 regular season outings and then beat Big Prairie-Lakeville and Berlin for the county tourney title. Killbuck gave Strasburg a battle before bowing 87-58, while Port fell to the Tigers 64-45. The Bucks whipped Baltic 81-62 and Port trounced the Eagles 103-73. The victor in the opener will play Malvern and the St. Joe-Midvale winner will meet the Strasburg-St. Mary's winner. Tomorrow night at 7:30 Berlin opposes Dennison, while the nightcap sends Strasburg against the Dennison parochials.
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Wednesday, February 29, 1956
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio