59 - Devils Kayo Gnaden Rival In 69-52 Tilt (2-21-59)

PHOTO: MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS STARTING FIVE - (left to right), Tom Krocker, Dave Belknap, Ronnie Breniser, Hanes Hairston and Bill Housel.
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Midvale (18-1) started out with intentions of sending the Indians back to the wigwam with their tomahawks hanging mightly low and it didn't waver from its goal. The tourney-hardened Devils were primed for their third meeting with Gnaden (14-7) and before the large turnout had barely settled themselves for the action at hand, had raced to a 12-3 lead. They closed the initial stanza with a 20-8 lead. Controlling both backboards, Midvale was ahead 24-8 early in the second period before the Tribe started to regain its senses and launch a war party of its own. With pint-sized Ron Clark and ace scorer Ron Bradley leading the way, the Indians started chipping away. At intermission, they had narrowed the count to 36-30. While it maintained momentum until the latter minutes of the final stanza, Gnadenhutten didn't have the speed to go all the way. In the third period, it closed the gap to three points on six occasions. The Indians were behind by six points when they tallied their last basket of the game with 4:05 remaining. Midvale just waltzed to the win from that point.
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Midvale meshed 29 of 78 shots from the field for 37.2 percent, while Gnaden made 23 of 68 for 32.4. The Devils' balance showed up again with three scorers ending in double figures. Hanes Hairston copped point honors with 19, while Bill Housel added 17 and Tom Krocker 14. Bradley, who had averaged over 25 points a game in regular action, was limited to 16. Clark added 11 and Gary Rank followed with 10.
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MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS 69
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Dave Belknap 3-2-8
Jim Clark 0-0-0
Bill Housel 8-1-17
Tom Krocker 6-2-14
Vince DeNoi 0-0-0
John Everett 0-0-0
Hanes Hairston 8-3-19
Ron Kaderly 1-0-2
Leonard DeMattio 0-0-0
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GNADENHUTTEN INDIANS 52
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Ron Bradley 7-2-16
Paul Gooding 4-0-8
Bill Horsfall 0-0-0
Harmon 0-0-0
Ron Clark 5-1-11
John Hall 2-1-5
Ray Rank 5-0-10
Carl Dichler 0-2-2
Struchen 0-0-0
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Saturday, February 21, 1959
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio