67 - Midvale Nips Gnaden 58-51 (12-30-66)

Don Finnicum (41) of Gnaden appears to have lost control of the basketball momentarily during last night's game at Midvale.  He is being closely guarded by Blue Devil Bob Grimm (22).

MIDVALE - The Midvale Blue Devils (6-3) made it 5 victories in a row last night with a thrilling win  over Gnadenhutten (2-5).  Although leading all the way, the Devils found the Indians to be a formidable foe, as they struggled to quarter leads of 15-13, 26-22 and 37-33.  Gnaden was hampered by fouls throughout the contest, as Bill Kohl, Dan Jinks and Don Finnicum all fouled out in the late going.

The Devils took advantage of the foul lines, canning 20 of 31 charity tosses compared to Gnadenhutten's 7 of 18.  The Indians held a 22-19 field goal margin.  Mike DeMattio led the way for the charges of Pete Hilliard, potting 25 points, including 9 important charity tosses.  He tallied 14 points in the final frame and connected on 4 straight foul shots to move the victors from a 54-51 advantage.  Lee Eberly did a fine job of covering Indian Jinks, limiting him to 9 markers.  Bob Carlisle also did a fine job defensively,holding Kohl to 9.  DeMattio had 10 and Carlisle 9 of the Devil rebound total of 25, but the Indians, led by Kohl's 12 rebounds, garnered 27.  Eberly canned 17 markers to follow DeMattio.  Leading scorers for Gnadenhutten were Finnicum and Ken Huprich with 12 each.  Midvale shot 19 of 52 action shots for 36 percent, the Indians 22 of 47 for 47 percent.  The Devils committed 12 turnovers, Gnaden 18.

Another Midvale (5-4) blow-out in the Reserve game, when they hit Gnaden (1-5) 59-27.

MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - 58

Tom Booth 1-0-2
Mike DeMattio 8-9-25
Bob Carlisle 3-3-9
Bob Grimm 2-1-5
John Tollotti 0-0-0
Lee Eberly 5-7-17

GNADENHUTTEN INDIANS - 51

Dan Jinks 4-1-9
Bill Kohl 4-1-9
Wayne Martin 3-1-7
Don Finnicum 4-4-12
Roger Huebner 1-0-2
Ken Huprich 6-0-12


Saturday, December 31, 1966
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio

STANDINGS

1.  Strasburg Tigers 2-0 (9-0)
2.  Garaway Pirates 2-0 (8-0)
3.  Midvale Blue Devils 2-0 (6-3)
4.  Tuscarawas Broncos 0-1 (3-4)
5.  Gnadenhutten Indians 0-1 (2-5)
6.  Port Washington Purple Riders 0-2 (4-4)
7.  Tuscarawas Valley Trojans 0-2 (2-4)