CANTON - Strasburg Tigers (23-0) roll into the Canton Class A Regional Basketball Tournament on Friday night in the 2nd half of a twin bill to face a quintet of fighting Northwestern Huskies (22-1). Always a heavy tournament favorite, the Huskies are entering the Regional Tournament in the Canton Fieldhouse for the 7th time in the past 15 years. Coaching the Northwestern aggregation is 1st year Head Coach, Johnny Hull, a former teacher who took over from long-time coach and Athletic Director, Roy Bates. The highly touted Wayne County powerhouse was ranked 3rd in the final Associated Press weekly ratings and has captured 18 consecutive wins since dropping a one pointer to Dalton Early in the season.
Northwestern is rated as a top defensive combination with an offense sporting a 50 percent shooting average. The Huskies employ ball control and work for the good shot. Turnovers are a rarity for the Husky club. The 2 opponents for Friday's Clash last met in the 1953 Regional. Strasburg playing the role of the underdog, upset the Huskies 53-43 before bowing to Canfield in the Regional finals. Two top scorers cause double trouble for Husky opponents as Mike Gerhert, a 6-foot Junior averages 19 per game and 6-1 Larry Neumeyer 18, along with outstanding rebound ability. Rounding out the probable starting lineup will be Harold Kline, 5-9 Junior with a 10-point average and Jon King, a 6-1 Senior, with an 8 point average along with an outstanding reputation for cleaning the boards.
The remaining spot will be eaually divided between Jerry Herman, 5-10 Senior and Dick Jacobs, 5-7 Junior, who has recently crashed the starting lineup. The Huskies are tournament veterans having won State crowns in 1958 and 1965 and were semi-finalists in 1959. Northwestern captured the Wayne County League with a 13-1 record as Coach Hull stressed the traditionally solid Northwestern defense, which limited Huskie foes to a 41.4 points per game. Offensively the Silver and Blue garnered 63.5 for an average advantage of 22.1 over the opposition. Hull stated, "We change nothing in our offense or defense. Everyone knows our style of play, we only try to execute our methods to make less mistakes."
Four of the Huskies' starting combination were selected for the All-Area All-Star team, with Neumeyer and Grenert on the 1st team and Kenney and Kline winning berths as 2nd team selections. "Grenert makes our offense go," says Hull. "He can think out on the floor as well as any player I've seen." (He has a 4.0 scholastic mark). "Neumeyer is hitting a 56 percent clip from the field and is our leading rebounder with 157 grabs in the last 18 games." Kline was rated the area's best defensive player and, Hulls adds, "He has handled the best on our schedule. Jon King can play on anyone's club."
Tuesday, March 7, 1967
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
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