02-23-13
BY JACK BULLOCK
DIETERICH - Playing an opponent four times in a season is tough.

But when that opponent is as talented as the Oblong Panthers, it is even more difficult to deal with.

The Dieterich Movin' Maroons were hoping that the fourth time was the charm on Saturday night when they hosted the Panthers in the regional title game that was pushed back because of bad weather.

Having lost all three previous meetings, Coach Jeff Staser's club was looking for revenge at home in front of a packed house.

Unfortunately for the hosts, on this very cold night Oblong proved to be too hot to handle.

After struggling in the first three quarters to shake loose from the pesky Maroons, the Panthers finally got going by closing out the third quarter strong and dominating the final stanza.

Behind Anthony Johnson, who netted 17-points, and some big shots from the outside from senior guard Kurt Knollenberg, including a pair of back-breaking 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter, Oblong advanced to its second consecutive 1A Sectional with the come-from-behind 61-46 win.

Knollenberg, a 6-foot senior guard, nailed a pair of big shots to close that third quarter, giving the Panthers back the lead for good at 40-38 heading into the final frame.

Those two bombs began a game-changing 21-0 run in which Dieterich could do nothing to stop it.

Not only were the Panthers racking up points, their defensive pressure forced seven fourth quarter turnovers by Dieterich.

Back-to-back steals by senior guard Gerald Richardson turned into points.

Richardson made a steal and his pass to Knollenberg started a fast-break in which Knollenberg lobbed the ball back to Richardson for a score.

The next steal resulted in a pair of made free throws which closed the run at 55-39 with just 2:08 remaining.

For the Maroons, after playing a tough game the night before against surprising Windsor, they eventually wore down in the second half against the athletic Panthers.

“We ended up scoring one bucket in the last nine minutes and that is just not our group. That tells you that we ran out of gas,” said Coach Staser. “You could see it in the middle of the third quarter. We had our run (second quarter ending) and we knew we were in the ballgame at that point. But we just ran out of gas.”

Dieterich, winners of the National Trail Conference Tournament and co-champs in the regular season, failed to rally in the final minutes as its record and season ended at 22-9.

Junior guard Tanner Traub led the Maroons with 19-points while Dalton Hinterscher finished with 12-points as this high-scoring guard's career at Dieterich came to an end.

“It is one advantage of being the one seed. They (Dieterich) had to play last night. Your legs, at some point in playing back-to-back nights, come into play. I think it might have hurt them in the second half,” added Coach Harper. “We weren't patient in the first half against their zone. Once we started working the back side of their zone we started to get some good looks. We got a good rotation going and knocked some shots down.”

Oblong appeared ready to make quick work of the hosts in the first half when they made their first run in the second quarter.

Knollenberg scored twice in succession, on a drive on the baseline for a reverse lay in and then a 3-pointer was part of an 8-0 run for an 18-11 lead.

This advantage could have been much greater for Oblong had it capitalized on its chances at the foul line.

Although they closed strong in the fourth quarter from the line, Coach Brent Harper's club missed seven free throws in the first three quarters and four in the second quarter alone.

Dieterich's best move closed the first half and gave the faithful and the players hope for the upset.

Traub, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored five points in what turned out to be the Maroons best three minutes of the contest.

His 3-pointer from the left corner started a 11-1 sprint, capped by a steal and lay in by sophomore Alex Bohnhoff for a 22-19 lead at intermission.

“What hurt us in the first half was that we simply didn't take care of the ball. We were making silly passes and being careless. I told them (the players) before the game that Dieterich is a good team and we can't let them hang around,” said Coach Harper. “I thought we turned around in the second quarter and then in the third and fourth quarters we really turned it up (pressure) on them.”

In this contest, the stat sheet finally caught up with Dieterich.

The Panthers, behind Johnson's 11-rebounds, held a commanding 39-25 edge on the glass.

“When you look at their size and then look at us, I was thankful we were in the ballgame as long as we were,” Coach Staser explained. “Our kids worked hard. They (Oblong) started going baseline on us and we didn't rotate very well the first couple of times that Johnson got back. Once he got on the baseline he could do what he wanted to do. He could drive or he could kick it out. They spread the ball around. They are a good team. There is no doubt about it. I think that they will give Woodlawn a run for their money.”

Oblong shot the ball much better than the hosts.

Coach Harper saw his squad hit 22-of-40 overall (55 percent) while Dieterich finished 14-of-44 (31.8 percent).

The Maroons' 17-turnovers (11 in the second half) were costly.

Oblong had 11-turnovers but only four of them after halftime.

The Panthers improved to 20-11 and they now get a second chance at Woodlawn in the sectional at Altamont on Tuesday night.

The defending state champs derailed Oblong last season in the Red Hill 1A Sectional championship game, 53-51, on their way to the title.

Woodlawn won its sixth-consecutive regional title on Friday night at home.

“They (Woodlawn) are a very good basketball team, we found that out last year,” finalized Coach Harper. “We are going to have to play better than we did tonight to get past a team like Woodlawn. It's going to take 32-minutes.”