The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1943-03-04
|BLUFFTON : PAIRED
WITH MIDDLE EPOINT
IN TOURNEY PLAY
Pirates to Meet indicated Op-
ponents in Opening Round
Friday Night
BIuffton Defeated Middlepoint
In Sectional Opener at
Last Years Tourney

ponent in the Sectional Glass B
basketball tournament at Celina this
Friday night will Be an undefeated
Middlepoint team, snpde up for the
most part of the same players de-
feated by the Pirates in the sec
tional opener last year.
The game will start Friday at 8
p. m. "slow" time % p. m. Bluffton
time.)
Undefeated MiddIepoint is one of
the tournament favorites, and the
crippled Bluffton squad will face one
of its most severe tests of the season
in attempting to get by the first
round hurdle.
The game is F'naturap from
several standpoints and particularly
in relation to its comparison with
last year. In the 1912 tournament,
Middlepoint had an indicated rec
ord until the team clashed with
Bluffton in the opening round of the
sectional. Bluffton emerged from the
contest victorious, winning AZ to Sd,
and the memory ofathat setback will
be smarting when Middlepoint's
second undefeated team in as many
years makes it's sectional bid.
With their usual run of bad luck
holding true again this year in
tournament drawinSs, the Pirates
were assigned t0 the stronger
bracket.
Four county champions are in the
same bracket. These include Middle
point, Van Wert county; St. Henry,
Mercer coqtty; New Bremen, Aug
laize cou !, and Conner, Allen
county. Il
Five a eoun6 teams are in
the btacl lsEtok 6ner, Llme
St. Johns, Delphos st. Johns and
Lima St. Rose. st3
If Bluffton is successful in its
first tournament bid, the Pirates will
play the winner of the st. Henry
Lima St. Rose game, Saturday night.
The tilt is scheduled for 9 p. m.
slow time 90 p. m. Bluffton time).
In the second section of the lower
bracket, New Bremen is paired with
Delphos st. Johns and Conner will
play Lima St. Johns.
During the regular season Bluffton
defeated Lima st. Johns and Lima
st. Rose, altho both tits came early
in the year before Bluffton's team
was crippled by an unprecedented
streak of bad luck.
Four of Bluffton's rangiest MEM
bers of the first string will not be
in uniform for the sectional because
of injuries and ineligibilities, thereby
casting some shadow on Buttons
hopes for another tournament cham
pionship.
Weldon Deppler regular senior
forward, is out with torn ligament
in his left ankle; John Schmidt, sub
center, has an. injured right knee;
Fred Hermann, regular center, and
James Hermann, sub guard, are in
eligible.
Starters for Bluffton will include
the following who last week gave
Upper Sandusky its worst defeat OF
the season: David Smucker, junior,
forward; James Gratz, senior, guard;
Bob Burkholder, junior, center; Var
den Loganbill, junior, guard, and
Neil Schmidt, sophomore, forward.
Others who will see action are
Bob Gratz, sophomore guard;
Ronald Zimmerly, sophomore guard;
Hubert Basinger, freshman guard
and Arthur Hilty, freshman center.
Draft troubles also are dogging
Bluffton,s tournament entry. Coach
George Swank left Wednesday to be
inducted into the army, but will take
advantage of the seven-day furlough
granted new inductees. This will
permit him to be with his team fol
this weeks games, altho he must
leave for the army again next Wed
nesday.
This is the second year the tourna.
ment has been played in Celina's fine
field house, which the Pirates prefer
to Shawnee's stage-foor gymnasium
Officials who will work the tourna
ment games are H. w. Scheuerman
Lima, and j. J. Winter, Bucyrus. ID
B. Spangler, former Bluffton man
will act as timekeeper.