Tigers Don Wallick (54) and Rick Hall (44) battle big Wildcat Ernie George (45) for possession. In rear is Tiger Vic Gessner.
Action here involves Tigers Ron Lab (left), Don Wallick (54), John Peters (hidden center) and Rick Hall and Wildcats Bob Bookwalter (15), Dave Winkleman (51) and Ernie George.
CANTON - Strasburg's Tigers (22-2) didn't have any luck against Mogadore (15-6) in Regional Tournament action here Friday night. Bob Shahan's cagers tried their best against Walt Evans' Wildcats, but they just couldn't overcome Friday the 13th jinxes and were ousted from the tourney trail. Mogadore thus will return to Memorial Fieldhouse tonight, meeting Northwestern for the right to enter the State finals next weekend in St. John's Arena on the Ohio State University campus. Northwestern gained the Regional finale by upending Brilliant 68-57 here Friday. Four thousand fans saw the 2 games. The Tigers needn't be ashamed of their work against Mogadore. They played their hearts out and didn't give up until the final whistle. But, it appeared as if they just weren't supposed to win. Many of the Tigers' shots came so close to going through the nets. In fact, several started in only to spin around and come back out. Others hit the rim and bounced off into the waiting arms of a Wildcat.
Defensively, the Tigers were alert. But here again their hustle seemed to go to no avail as when they managed to pry the ball loose from a Wildcat, it would take a tricky bounce and go out of bounds, thus enabling the Wildcats to maintain possession. On the other hand, nearly everything the Wildcats did turned out right. Their shots went in from all over the court, rebounds fell right into their hands and any erratic passes somehow were deflected by a Tiger. The Tigers, usually very accurate shooters, couldn't buy a basket against Mogadore and wound up with only 21 field goals in 59 tries for a cool 35 percent. The Wildcats popped in 27 of 58 for a hot 46 percent. Hottest Wildcat was 6-2 Senior Bob Bookwalter who tore the nets for 33 points, getting most on 20-foot jumpers. He seldom missed. He was backed up by 5-8 Bob Harris with 15 and 6-4 Ernie George with 12. George's presence was a big factor for the Wildcats as the 230-pounder got several key rebounds and many of his points on out-of-bounds plays, taking the ball from a teammate and merely flipping it up and in.
Hustling Don Wallick did great work for Strasburg, working his way to 22 markers. Rick Hall added 13 and battled for 13 rebounds, high for the game. John Peters, experiencing his worst night of the season, was able to get just 10. Peters got 9 against Garaway February 8, but that was in a control game. Against Mogadore he just couldn't get off many shots. The Tigers started off as if they might have an easy time, taking a 7-2 lead by 5:10. The Wildcats caught up at 10-10 by 2:40 and took an 18-16 lead at the stop. Strasburg battled back on top, 33-32, by intermission, but after 4 exchanges, Mogadore took a 40-39 lead by 4:01 of the 3rd and led 50-44 at the stop, never trailing again. A tight full-court press was the undoing of the Tigers as they weren't able to work the ball in bounds against the taller Wildcats. Strasburg led 39-36 when Mogadore called time and put on the press and before the Wildcats "eased" up they had a 44-39 advantage. Despite the loss, all the Tigers, Peters, Wallick, Vic Gessner, Hall, Rock Van Fossen and Ron Lab, in addition to other members of the team, can look back upon 1963-64 with pride. How many teams were able to win 22 of 24 outings?
MOGADORE WILDCATS - 62
Bob Bookwalter 13-7-33
Raddish 0-0-0
Ernie George 6-0-12
Dave Winkleman 1-0-2
Bob Harris 7-1-15
STRASBURG TIGERS - 54
John Peters 5-0-10
Vic Gessner 2-0-4
Don Wallick 10-2-22
Rick Hall 3-7-13
Rock Van Fossen 1-3-5
Ron Lab 0-0-0
Saturday, March 14, 1964
Dan Kopp, Sports Editor
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
Note: John Peters of Strasburg and Dean DeMattio of Midvale Tuesday, gained berths on the 2nd team in the United Press Internation voting for All-Ohio laurels.
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