01-17-08
BY JACK BULLOCK
LOUISVILLE - The electronic scoreboard wasn't operational on Thursday night at the Midland Trail Conference Tournament.

But that malfunction didn't stop the Dieterich Movin' Maroons from 'lighting up' rival Clay City in the championship semifinals.

Using an 11-0 run to open the second half – head coach Jamie VanScyoc saw his club improve to 11-7 on the season while advancing to the title game with a 54-37 win.

In fact the Maroons used two first half runs to get separation and then took the drama out of the outcome when the dust settled in the third quarter.

Dieterich (11-7) laid an outstanding rebounding effort on the Wolves – allowing only four Clay City offensive boards in a 36-20 overall edge.

Clay City (10-6) head coach Adam Ellis saw his team commit eight first quarter turnovers (16 for the game) while falling into the MTC Tournament third place game.

“I felt like we had some possessions where we just gave them (Dieterich) the ball,” said Coach Ellis – who saw his club drop into the third place contest with Cisne on Friday. “Physically we did alright but mentally we maybe weren't prepared like we should be.”

Dieterich's Eric Heuerman topped all scorers with 16 points as his team will get a return game with South Central on Saturday night.

The Maroons dropped a 52-42 decision on the road last Friday to the Cougars.

“We came out on a third quarter run to put them (Clay City) down and that kind of took the wind out of their sails,” Coach VanScyoc said. “At halftime we talked about execution and about running the offense. When we do that everything is a whole lot more simple for us.”

Clay City had no one in double-figures in scoring as Cody Lynn lead the way with nine points.

“You can't have breakdowns against a team like Dieterich – just plain and simple,” added Ellis. “Offensively our execution was very poor on the night. Defensively I think tonight was a positive for us – especially in the first half.”

From the outset the game Clay City was out of sync like the computer system running the scoreboard.

The Wolves committed eight first quarter turnovers – including a pair of over-and-back violations – that helped fuel Dieterich's first quarter run to close the scoring at 16-8 Maroons.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Brock Zumbahlen and Blake Kuhl finished an 8-2 run.

Zumbahlen's trey from the top of the arc hit home just before the first quarter horn (operated manually from the scorers table) that signaled the end of frame.

The scoring crew also called out the clock and game score as the MTC Tournament night went on.

A 7-0 scoring sprint gave Dieterich its first double-digit edge with 1:24 remaining.

Heuerman scored twice in the run off of inbound passes in a half-court set.

His second bucket pushed the lead to 20-12.

Reserve Cody Hinterscher came off the bench and found an opening against the Wolves' 1-3-1 zone.

He nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to close the run.

Clay City got a pair of 3-pointers in the first half from Cody Lewis.

His second bomb with :26 remaining cut the Dieterich lead to just 23-17 at the break.

Whatever momentum the Wolves took to the lockerroom stayed there as Dieterich romped out to a quick run to take care of the outcome from the beginning of the third quarter.

Six-foot junior Tyler Niemerg got the Maroons movin' in the first two minutes of the second half with a pair of scores.

A drive to the basket and a baseline bucket pushed the lead back to double-figures at 27-17.

Then Alex Wright drilled home a 3-pointer that forced a Clay City timeout at 30-17 with 6:15 to go.

Heuerman scored the next four points for Dieterich and the rout was on.

Evan Bloehs scored five of his eight points for Clay City in the third quarter which included a 3-pointer to temporarily stop the bleeding at 34-20.

But the 11-0 run turned into a 15-3 march that finished off the Wolves.

A score near the basket by Kuhl and a driving bank shot by Mitch Nosbisch made it 38-20 with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Coach VanScyoc club gradually finished the game with the lead reaching 20 at 51-31 on a score by Darin Worman whose shot bounced around the rim and fell through with just over four minutes remaining.

Skylar Frank came off the bench and gave Clay City a brief spark with a 3-pointer and a nice drive to the basket for a reverse lay late in the game.

Dieterich ran clock for most of the final minutes as the Maroons now have a chance to win their final MTC Tournament title after announcing earlier in the year that they are leaving the league to eventually join the National Trail Conference.

“We talked about before the game that we had to control the boards,” explain VanScyoc. “We knew that they were big but for three and a half quarters we controlled the glass.”

The Maroons were 21-of-47 overall for the game from the field but just 4-of-14 from behind the arc.

Worman finished with eight points as did Niemerg to follow Heuerman's 16.

Clay City was a dismal 12-of-40 from the floor (30 percent) and that combination of shooting, turnovers and being crushed on the boards produced a 'sputtering' offensive effort.

“They (Dieterich) are monsters on the boards and we knew that before the game,” Ellis explained. “You have to do the fundamental things – you have to box out and we didn't do that on every possession tonight. We are going to go and regroup tomorrow and try and win third place. We didn't play like we wanted to tonight but the kids aren't going to give up.”

That third place game against the Cisne Lions is slated for Friday night at 8 pm.

South Central advanced to Saturday night's title game with a 60-50 win over Cisne on Wednesday night and Coach VanScyoc knows his team will have to play better on against the Cougars.

“This is a big win for us,” said VanScyoc. “We have had an up-and-down year because we have had some guys hurt and out for different reasons and we are finally getting everyone back playing together. But we are definitely going to have to take better care of the ball down the stretch against South Central on Saturday."

Clay City (37) - Lynn 2 0 5-5 9, Allison 0 0 0-1 0, Frank 1 1 0-0 5, Fehrenbacher 2 0 1-2 5, Lewis 0 2 0-0 6, Duvall 1 0 2-2 4, Duff 0 0 0-0 0, Bloehs 2 1 1-4 8.
2FG-8, 3FG-4, FT-9-14, PF-14.
Dieterich (54) - Worman 4 0 0-2 8, Zumbahlen 1 1 0-0 5, Wright 0 1 0-0 3, Nosbisch 2 0 0-1 4, T. Niemerg 4 0 0 0-1 8, Heuerman 4 0 8-9 16, Teichmiller 1 1 0-0 5, Kuhl 0 0 0-0 0, Berg 0 0 0-0 0, Hinterscher 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-17, 3FG-4, FT-8-14, PF-15.
Fouled Out - Bloehs - Clay City.
Technical Fouls - None.

NORTH CLAY 61, WEST RICHLAND 55
In the consolation semifinals the host Cardinals rode the hot hand of Colton Bailey into the title game with a big win in the opening game Thursday night.

Bailey topped all scorers with 23 points while teammate Andrew Grahn added 19 in the victory.

West Richland put three players in double-digits but couldn't overcome an early deficit in the loss.

Senior Chris Brant led Coach Keith Redman's club with 19 points while Dalton Utley and Tyler Hickey added 13 and 12 respectively.

The host NC club outscored WR 12-4 in the second quarter to get the lead for good and held off the Wildcats in the second half.

Bailey and Grahn combined for nine of those 12 markers as the Cardinals took a 23-17 lead to the half.

North Clay (7-11) polished off the Cats with an 11-of-14 showing from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals will play Odin in the consolation championship game at 6:30 on Friday.

Odin advanced to the consy title tilt with an 94-58 win over Sandoval Wednesday night.

North Clay (61) - Zink 2 0 1-3 5, Cox 2 0 4-4 8, Colton Bailey 3 4 5-8 23, Levi Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, Yates 2 0 2-4 6, Hawks 0 0 0-0 0, Grahn 5 1 6-6 19.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-18-25, PF-18.
West Richland (55) - Utley 1 3 2-2 13, Manuel 0 0 0-0 0, Scherer 1 0 1-4 3, Mitchelll 1 0 2-3 4, Brant 8 1 0-1 19, Wille 0 0 0-0 0, Hickey 5 0 2-2 12, Fryburger 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-18, 3FG-4, FT-7-12, PF-19.
Fouled Out - Brant - West Richland.
Technical Fouls - None.