Gnadenhutten Eliminated 65-61 (3-6-58)

Tuscarawas County's last tournament contender, Gnadenhutten, was shunted to the sidelines last night in absorbing a 65-61 loss in a spine-tingling District battle with Powhatan at Brilliant. Holmes County's entry, Big Prairie-Lakeville, also was eliminated by a 72-54 loss to Dillonvale. Both victims had advanced to Brilliant from the Dover Sectional. Powhatan and Dillonvale will collide Friday night for a berth in the Regional event at Canton next week. Gnadenhutten's Indians literally were robbed of victory by the Powhatan Indians. Leading 61-59 with 1:05 remaining, Gnadenhutten saw Jaron Knight, a 6-foot-4 performer who was a big factor in the Powhatan win, hit on a jump shot. He was fouled in the process and cashed the free throw to put his Tribe ahead 62-61. Seconds later Carrington Price made the lead 63-61 with a foul. With 55 seconds left, Coach Dick Scott of Gnadenhutten called for time. When play was resumed, Gnadenhutten took the ball down the floor and began to stall for the last shot which, if successful, would have tied the score. But Lou Brown, playing an alert game for Powhatan, stole the ball from Gnaden's Larry Clark and tossed it to Price, who whipped it through the nets to ice the decision. Not since the first white man set foot into the Ohio Valley has there been such a skirmish as the two Tribes staged. There never was more than seven points separating the two quintets. Gnadenhutten several times being ahead that many, and the count was tied eight times. Gnadenhutten held quarter leads of 20-15, 36-35 and 50-43, but finally gave way before Powhatan's repeated thrusts. The two biggest reasons for Powhatan's triumph were Knight, whose height enabled him to score 14 points in the final period when mates consistently fed him the ball, and Price, who hounded Gnadenhutten's Clark for four quarters and limited the usually high-scoring all-countian to 12 points. Gnaden, which usually hit 50 percent on its field shots, had an off night in that department, sinking only 26 of 73 shots for a 35.6 percent. On the other hand Powhatan took only 53 shots from the floor and tallied on 28 for 52.8 percent. It hit on 9 of 14 fouls, while Gnadenhutten tallied on 9 of 16. The first period saw Gnadenhutten exhibit top-notch ball when it tallied on 9 of 18 shots from the field. Larry Gooding hit on a layup shot early in the period to make the score 4-2 and the Tribe rushed on to a 20-15 margin by the time the period ended. Powhatan finally tied the game at 27-27 with 3:55 remaining in the second stanza when Jan Saner notched a foul after Lou Brown had scored on a set shot. But, a short time later Clark tallied on his accurate off-balance jump try from the corner to put the Indians ahead. Two fouls by Knight tied the score before Ed Shull notched for the Tribe making the score 31-29. Goals by Knight and Price and one by Tom Roth of Gnaden tied the game at 33-33. Then Saner put the Ohio Valley Indians into the lead 35-33 on a jumper. But a foul by Roth and a jump shot by Bradley gave Gnaden a 36-35 lead at half time. Both clubs wre inaccurate in the third period, but Gnaden managed to forge to a 7-point, 50-43 lead by outscoring Powhatan 14 to 8. With time running out Powhatan began to feed Knight early in the final frame. And the lanky cager came through with eight straight points before Gnadenhutten could score one and Powhatan led 51-50 with 5:45 remaining. From there the lead changed hands seven times before Gnaden went ahead 61-59 with 1:05 remaining. The rest is history. Knight led all scorers with 13 goals and six fouls for 32 points, while Saner tallied 17. Leading the Tribe was Ron Bradley with nine goals and two fouls for 20 points, while Tom Roth added 14 and Clark 12. Gnaden ended the season with a 19-7 mark.
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POWHATAN INDIANS 65
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Jaron Knight 13-6-32
Lou Brown 1-1-3
Butterfield 2-0-4
Jan Saner 8-1-17
Carrington Price 4-1-9
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GNADENHUTTEN INDIANS 61
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Ron Bradley 9-2-20
Larry Clark 6-0-12
Larry Gooding 3-3-9
Tom Roth 6-2-14
Ed Shull 2-2-6
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Thursday, March 6, 1958
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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Season Note: This marks the end of the Tuscarawas County Basketball League for 1958. An area hardly ever given any attention at all in the league are the Reserve Teams. This year it appears that one reserve team that needs recognition is Baltic. If there was a league title for the reserves it would probably be Baltic in 1958. Their record was 18-1 and that loss was to Walnut Creek. Congratulations all!