Featuring area all-stars:
• Bluffton Sportsmen vs. Buckeye Coaches • Bluffton Dunrik vs. Findlay Zierolfs
April 7, 1948 Bluffton News – In a twin stellar attraction four outstanding basketball teams of the area will play a benefit performance for the Bluffton Community Sportsmen’s Club at the Bluffton High School gymnasium Wednesday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m.
The four teams in competition will be: • Bluffton Sportsmen vs. Buckeye Coaches
• Bluffton Dunbrik vs. Findlay Zierolfs
The teams have all made good showings this year. The players are all star athletes of the area and have made names for themselves in high school basketball.
In competition this year the Sportsmen team, managed by Harry Klay, has won 24 out of 30 games and copped the trophies in the Bluffton and Ridgeway tourneys held this spring.
Bluffton Dunbriks, composed of players employed at the Bluffton Cement Block, Inc., have outstanding talent from Bluffton High School and Pandora High School on their squad. Their record this year is 13 wins and 5 defeats.
Buckeye Coaches, from Beaverdam, also has a number of players on their team who graduated from Bluffton High School.
Other stellar talent on the squad are from neighboring high schools of Gomer, Delphos, Beaverdam and Cridersville.
The Coaches won the. Ada Rotary tournament and were runners-up for the title at Lima in the Northwest Ohio tourney.
They won better than 80 percent of their games this season and have been competing with the toughest teams of the area.
Findlay Zierolfs in the Gold Medal tourney held at the Findlay armory were only defeated by two counts to be eliminated by the Gar Wood team of Findlay.
The later team largely composed of players from the Findlay Chicks, which had an outstanding season and rated high at St. Louis, Mo., in the A.A.U. tournament.
Zierolfs won the Hancock County Amateur tournament and were in the semi-finals of the Fremont Gold Medal tourney. The Findlay team won 21 games this year and lost 5.
Ralph Reichenbach, representative for the Bluffton Sportsmen’s Club has planned an advance ticket sales.
Profit from the benefit game will be used or recreational sport in the community.
Players on the four teams include the following members:
Sportsmen
Lyle Everett, Mt. Cory; Keith Kirtland, Bluffton; Robert Wilch, Bluffton; Kenneth Moser, Bluffton; Maynard Pogue, Bluffton; Arthur Hilty, Bluffton; Romanus Zuercher, Bluffton; Kent Cotterman, Bluffton High coach; James Landis, Bluffton College; Dale Dickey, Bluffton College.
Zierolfs
Paul Howard, Dick Krause, Ted Capell, Jack Miller, Bill Lawrence, Ted Trask, all of Findlay.
Dunbriks
Wayne Amstutz, Dwayne Amstutz, Weldon Deppler, Casey Jones, Don Welty, Herb Kindle, Vern Augsburger, all of Bluffton.
Coaches Dick Arnold, Beaverdam; Roger Phillips, Cridersville; Fred Herrmann, Bluffton; John Herrmann, Bluffton; Howdy Ditto, Delphos; Richard Bourne, Gomer; Russ Gratz, Bluffton; Roger Miller, Delphos; Richard Fett, Beaverdam.
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