NEWCOMERSTOWN - Tears--some of joy and others of happiness--spattered down the cheeks of fans attending last night's "battle of the winless" between the Stone Creek Panthers (1-5) and Newcomerstown Trojans (0-4). The more joyous ones belonged to Panther partisans as their favorites defeated the host Trojans to end a 27-game losing steak. But for Newcomerstown fans a sad note continued to sound. It was their 46th Straight game without a victory. The victory drought is the longest in Tuscarawas County history. Newcomerstown was in command of the game with 5 minutes remaining to play, holding a 63-52 lead. But over-aggressiveness put 4 of the starting 5 on the bench in the fading minutes and the Trojans gave way to a superb foul-shooting performance by Stone Creek and their opportunity for victory. Outscored 25-21 from the field the Panthers more than made up the difference at the free throw line with a 25-15 edge. Newcomerstown had 25 charity tosses and Stone Creek attempted 39. The Panthers attempted 67 shots from the field for 32 percent and the Trojans tried 64 for 39 percent. Stone Creek's victory marked the end of a long famine that extended to the final game of the 1958-1959 county tournament where they bowed 56-53 to Gnadenhutten. The Panthers were 0-21 last year. Winless for 2 full seasons, Newcomerstown has not won a game since February 8, 1958 when it defeated Millersburg 70-61. Remarks from the respective 2 coaches had a striking contrast. "This is all we needed. Now we can start playing basketball," Stone Creek mentor Ken Lawhun remarked. On the other hand first year Trojan mentor Jim Shamel said, "I have no praise for anyone." Lawhun was quick to add, "It was a team victory all the way. We beat them with our press and because of the tremendous desire of the boys to win this one." By the time the 2 1/2 minute mark had arrived Stone Creek had chopped Newcomersotwn's 11-point lead. It then turned in a near perfect ball handling job to retain possession thereafter and keep the upper hand in the battle. Gale Sauser led the victory with 27 points, while Bill Fisher topped the losers with 18 points. Newcomerstown lost 3 starters via the 5-foul route, while another was ejected by officials when tempers reached a fever pitch late in the game. The Newcomerstown Reserves downed the winless Stone Creek Reserves (0-6) 51-34.
STONE CREEK PANTHERS - 67
Gale Sauser 7-13-27
Dale Lehman 1-1-3
Larry Stephon 5-4-14
Jim Billman 5-1-11
McAfee 1-4-6
Verle Endlich 2-2-6
NEWCOMERSTOWN TROJANS - 65
Bill Fisher 7-4-18
Fantin 2-0-4
Best 2-5-9
Gunn 2-1-5
Skip Smith 5-0-10
Art 2-4-8
Berg 5-1-11
Wednesday, December 14, 1960
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
No comments:
Post a Comment