Canton Township Wildcats Basketball of 1937-38

By Jack Bennett and Gene Sponseller

Coach Herb Hackenberg's 1937-38 Canton Township Wildcats were highly successful. So much so that they were seeded with Canal Fulton, Waynesburg, and Uniontown at the county Class B tournament at Massillon. Only losses to Canal Fulton, Waynesburg and Uniontown marred their record. They drew Marlboro for their first appearance and coasted to a 58 to 20 win. The Wildcat's Cramer and Battista were the heavy hitters, both scoring in double figures. In their next outing, they trounced Navarre to battle the Waynesburg Mohawks in the semi-finals. Ford and Battista led Township's scoring in the 36 to 24 rout. It was a battle royal from start to finish when the Mohawks and Wildcats took the floor. The Wildcats edged Waynesburg 20 to 19 in the last five seconds of play when Ford broke the 19 to 19 tie by sinking a one-pointer. The win enabled the Wildcats to meet the Class B League's undefeated champion Indians of Canal Fulton. The spunky Wildcats battled the Indians on even terms until the last minutes of the clash only to lose 41 to 29 in a game much closer than the score indicated. Sponseller swished the nets for 13 points to keep the Wildcats in contention throughout the contest. Greentown, St. Johns, Canal Fulton, Hartville and the Wildcats advanced to the sectional tournament at Kent.


A rangy Randolph quintet was no match for the classy Wildcats and was dumped 33 to 15 in the first round at the sectionals. Township's stellar forward Ed Ford threw in 12 markers in the run-away. A highly touted Hudson combine challenged the Wildcats in the sectional finals but the challenge fell short and the Wildcats advanced to the districts with a resounding 23 to 18 victory. Deckerd was the Township's scoring ace in the fray. Fairport Harbor was an overwhelming favorite to end Canton Township's trek to the state finals. The Fairport Harbor crew had played a largely Class A schedule with great success. The Wildcats didn't realize they were the underdogs and jumped into a 16 to 3 lead at halftime. The Wildcat's tough defense held the Sailors scoreless in the second quarter. After their dismal first half, Fairport regrouped and narrowed the margin to 25 to 24 with only seconds remaining on the clock. Deckerd sank a one-pointer to insure a two point win for the Wildcats. Victory and a trip to the state finals seemed certain for the Wildcats when they battled Canfield in the district finals. They led with only 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Then Lady Luck deserted the Wildcats. A desperate long shot and a one-pointer gave Canfield a 32 to 30 win and ended the Wildcat's dream. It was no disgrace. They had fought the good fight and given their all. Who could ask more?

The Wildcats of 1938 by Gene Sponseller

We had a good basketball team in my junior year at Canton Township. We won 21 of our 26 in a league that was considered the toughest Class B league in Ohio. Several of our teams were capable of holdong their own with the Class A teams. Herb Hackenberg was our coach and he probably knew more basketball than anybody else. While he was coaching us, he played for various teams in Canton's Class A League and made their All-Star team time after time. He could be hot-headed but he was very fair and it was fun to have him as our coach. He wanted to win as bad as any of us. If we lost, he didn't berate us but we knew he felt just as bad as we did. I learned a lot from Hackenberg and it was a great experience for all of us to have him as our coach.

We meet Canal Fulton in the finals of the Class B tournament and it was a close game until the last four minutes. Then they pulled ahead to win the game. It was probably the best game that I ever played. Usually I didn't score many points but in that game everything that I threw seemed to go in. We played a good Fairport Harbor team at the districts. It was a close one. We led 16 to 3 at the half. The second half was just the reverse. We lost Ed Ford on fouls and that was one of the reasons the game was so close. I haven't forgotten Canfield's Hood brothers and McPhee brothers. Those four gave us a lot of trouble and losing Ed Ford on fouls really hurt us. Battista, Cramer, Houtz, Cugini, Stauffer and I would be back next year and Hackenberg regarded our chances of bettering the record as very good.