Ashley High School - Ashlian Yearbook (Ashley, OH)

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That's Buck tbl waiting for Dick Cummins to come down with the ball. BASKETBALL Coming through with one of the best years in Ashley basketball history, the Aces roared through the '48-'49 schedule with sixteen victories and three defeats. Getting off to a slow start, the Ashlians dropped two of their first four contests, one to Fredricktown and one to Cardington. Then, with a victory over Harlem, the Aces began a thirteen- game winning streak, which was broken only when Hyatts triumphed in the closing game of the season. The winning streak included ten Delaware County League victories, thus winning the second consecutive league title for the Aces, a return triumph over Cardington, 62-40, and one-point margins over Mt. Gilead and Marengo. ln a post-season tilt the Aces overcame Centerburg, 48-39. Ashley's teams have long been jinxed by tournament play, and although this year's Aces were determined to win the county eliminations, the jinx caught them in the finals and they succumbed to Hyatts by a 36-34 count. However in the three previous games, the Aces had shown no signs of their affliction, winning handily from Ostrander, 55-36, Galena, 58-36, and Orange 59-37. On the whole, the Aces played good ball defensively as well as offensively this year, holding the average opponent to 40 points a game while the Ashley lads were racking up 52 points per contest. The worst slip in the Ashley defense came when the dead-eyes from Fredricktown slaughtered the boys in black, 70-21. From this contest the Aces learned one important lesson: that a good man-to-man defense is hard to beat. By the time of the county tourney the Aces were able to execute a pressing man-to-man and not once did the Aces switch back to the zone. This proved most effective against Orange, when the Aces held that high-scoring outfit to 37 points. A. H. 45 21 33 43 66 58 55 46 63 69 62 46 57 52 46 61 56 45 S. Brown 33 Fredricktown 70 Harlem 28 Cardington 44 Powell 31 Galena 47 Sunbury 50 Alumni 44 Caledonia 21 Radnor 49 Cardington 40 Orange 40 Marengo 56 Berlin 32 Mt. Gilead 45 Bellpoint 35 Ostrander 35 Hyatts 50 Ball:-t si la linrtll-tt 18

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C K IST ROW: Bartlett, Murray, Davis, Cummins, Hershey, Boring. ZND ROW: Gardner, Masters, D. Gale, McGrath, W. Gale, Jackson, Howard. 3RD ROW: Manager Bennett, Martin, V. Redd, Kipp, D. Redd, Pendleton, Reid, Manager Cummins, Coach lhnat. , s 1 4 . s 4 3 1 E r FRONT: W. Gale, Murray, Boring, Bartlett, Davis. Coach Ihnat, Masters, McGrath, D. Gale, Hershey, Curnmins. 17

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SOME HIGH LIGHTS OF THE PAST SEASON The Mt. Gilead game- In this contest the Aces handed their cocky visitors a defeat, but not by much. The Ashlians were hard put to win it by a single point, the final score being 46-45. This game stands out because in it the Aces proved that they could win against a man-to-man defense. The Marengo game- Also a non-league game and also a one point victoryg the Aces matched the Wildcat sharpshooters bucket for bucket to win 57-56. At Marengo Hershey proved that there was more than one set shot artist on the team by plunking in several longs. The second Cardington game- Ah, sweet revenge! The Blackies proved that their earlier defeat at the hands of Cardington was a mistake by swamping the Morrow Countians, 62-40. Davis racked up Z5 points in this contest via the fast break and Bartlett bagged 19, mostly with his set shots. The Sunbury game- Ashley traveled to Sunbury to hand the Wildcats a 55-50 defeat in a wild and Wooly battle which saw one Ashlian and three opponents leave the game via the personal foul route. Dick Cummins went out early in the fourth quarter when the issue was still in doubt, but the Aces pulled this one out of the fire without their high- riding center. The Radnor game- Ronnie Murray, laid low by illness, didn't start this game, but Dick Boring filled in to hold the fort. The home team was hepped up in a big way for this game, but the Aces proved to be too much for Radnor. lt was a hard fought contest in the first half, with Radnor leaving the floor in the lead, ZZ-21. However, the Aces boomed back and won going away, 69-49. TOURNAMENT GAMES The Ostrander game- The Pirates, paced by Forward Smart, made a real game of it for two quarters, but the Ashlians woke up in the second half and left the floor with a 55-36 victory under their belts. The Galena game- This tilt was virtually the same story as the Ostrander game. The Aces again had trouble getting started, but once the Ashley machine began turning over smoothly, it rolled up a 58-36 score. The Orange game- The boys from Lewis Center c0uldn't find the basket in this contest, and the Aces took advantage of it to win 59-37. One outstanding fact to be gathered from Ashley's tournament play is that the Aces have no one star who makes all the points, but over five. The Hyatts game- It couldn't last forever, and the night of the finals the Aces play- ed shaky ball in losing to Hyatts, 36-34. Neither team could find the basket with regularity, but the margin of victory proved to be the inaccuracy of the Aces at the foul line. Making only 4 out of 17 tries, the Ashlians lost the game in this manner rather than by field goals. In spite of the loss to Hyatts, Ashley retained claim on second place, which is somewhat better than Ashley teams have done in recent years. 19