02-08-18
BY JACK BULLOCK
DIETERICH – With all of the hoopla surrounding their annual “Senior Night” it took the Dieterich Movin' Maroons a few minutes to get “Movin” in their home game against Flora on Thursday night.

However once the game got a few minutes old, Coach Josh Krumwiede saw his club take over in a hurry.

Like a spark turning into a bonfire, Dieterich “fired up” the visiting Wolves by nailing 9-of-16 3-point attempts as they broke away from Flora in the second quarter.

Dieterich held off every challenge the rest of the way as they cruised home with a commanding 74-57 victory in front of a packed house of most Maroon clad fans.

“When you score 70-points, you like your chances in the end. Our offensive rebounds was what kept us that lead in the first half,” said Coach Krumwiede. “They (Flora) played that zone and it was tough to get rebounds. We were shooting and missing the following shots, which was a little bit of an issue.”

It was truly fitting that the senior starters for Dieterich shined as the club moved to 19-6 on the season.

Six-foot-one senior forward Callaway Campton led the way with 29-points while classmate 6-foot guard Ryan Radloff matched his jersey number with 23-points.

These two led by example in the win.

Campton netted 9-of-9 from the foul line.

“There have been three or four times this year when at the end of the game I told him (Campton) that was the best game you have played this year. When you have a senior leader that can not only shoot but can steal the ball and rebound, he can play the full game and that is what he has done,” said Coach Krumwiede. “He really sets an example for the other guys.”

Coach Krumwiede also got 12-points from 6-foot-3 senior Tyler Higgs.

Earlier in the day, the Illinois High School Association release the seedings for the upcoming sectionals in 1A and the Maroons are the top-seed in their sub-sectional.

This is much deserved and they did nothing to blemish the coaches' opinions on this night.

For head coach Phil Leib and his Flora Wolves, things didn't go as planned as they struggled guarding the Maroons on this night as they saw their record slip to 12-12 on the season.

Flora got 16-points each from guards 6-foot-3 senior Drew Woodrow and 6-foot-1 senior Trenton Brown.

Their numbers were identical as they both hit two 2-point field goals and four 3-point field goals for 32 combined points.

Five-foot-ten senior Landon Carder chipped in 12-points for the Little Illini Conference squad.

If you pull out the stat sheet from the night, it is easy to add up the numbers in the host's victory.

Not only were the Maroons good from the floor (25-of-54 overall) but behind Campton's work after getting fouled, Dieterich canned all 15 of their free throw attempts.

Not only did they get to the foul line, they kept the Wolves from doing the same as Flora was just 5-of-6 from the stripe.

Perhaps the most telling figure was the rebounding totals.

Dieterich commanded the backboard on this evening, with a 32-20 edge.

When the Maroons missed shots, they crashed the glass for 14 offensive rebounds, which led to a 32-20 advantage overall.

“That (14 offensive rebounds) is probably the most we have given up all season,” said Coach Leib. “And we have played some really good teams. But they (Dieterich) were just relentless on the boards. We did a very poor job blocking out and finding people. Credit Coach Krumwiede. He has done a great job. They are playing hard and playing together. They are playing well at the right time and they will make a big splash in the postseason in 1A.”

Dieterich also took care of the basketball, committing just eight-turnovers on the night, with two of them coming late in the contest after the outcome was a forgone conclusion.

“They (Dieterich) are very good. They have a good inside guy (Campton) and 23, Radloff, he just lit us up in our zone,” said Coach Leib. “We had some success early but they got us right out of that (defense). If he missed or others missed, Campton cleaned it up. Those two guys had 26 of their 34 points at the half. We tried to lock them down man-to-man in the second half but they do such a good job passing the ball and finding the open guy.”

Although the figures were all good for Dieterich, the contest didn't begin that way as the hyped up kids took a few minutes to settle into the task at hand.

The Maroons hit just 1-of-6 field goal attempt to open the game.

Nevertheless, Dieterich got hot in a hurry.

Radloff hit a pair of long range bombs in the first frame and Campton added a conventional three-point play.

Campton added to the Flora issues by picking the pocket of Woodrow for a steal and fast break score to close the first quarter at 15-11.

Woodrow, who hit one of his 3-pointers in the first quarter, added two more long range shots in the second quarter in an attempt to keep the Wolves in the game.

Unfortunately for Coach Leib, Radloff also added a pair of bombs to the Flora bunker.

Campton stepped back and nailed one of his four 3-pointers on the night for a 26-15 Dieterich lead with 5:41 remaining in the half.

Six straight free throws by Campton (4-of-4) and Higgs (2-of-2) along with a drive to the basket by Radloff gave Dieterich a 34-22 halftime lead.

The Movin' Maroons appeared to have put away the Wolves in the third quarter as they extended the advantage.

Campton dished a nice assist to Higgs for an easy score and then the senior forward added to his free throw parade with four more made charities that pushed the score to 42-27 Dieterich.

But to the Wolves credit, they never laid down.

A 9-2 scoring run, the best of the night for Flora, cut the lead down to just eight.

Carder nailed his only 3-pointer as he had seven of the points.

He had two free throws and a drive to the basket for a score to cut the deficit to 44-36 at the 2:21 mark.

But as Flora made moves on this night, the Maroons countered each time.

Campton hit another 3-pointer and Higgs added two inside baskets; one on a back door cut with an assist from Radloff and the second one on a inbounds lob pass in the paint for a 56-45 lead going to the fourth quarter.

Campton closed the curtain on the senior night celebration by scoring 10-consecutive points for Dieterich.

Six of the points came on back-to-back 3-pointers. He added a mid-range shot from near the foul line to his arsenal along with another steal and fast break bucket.

His lay in gave the Maroons a 68-51 lead.

Both coaches used reserves to close out the night.

Six-foot-six senior Clayton Mellendorf, who has battled a knee injury (ACL), got in on the fun late in the game for Dieterich as he scored a basket late in the game and then closed the free throw shooting perfection as he added a pair of shots from the line with just a minute remaining.

“It was really nice to get the guys in the game tonight. We have seven seniors. Clayton Melledorf, who is 6-foot-6 and coming off of an ACL injury from last year, got into the game and also Dalton Bloemer got into the game early and again late. It is nice to be able to put some of those guys in tonight,” said Coach Krumwiede. “These guys are human and they get tired. When they work as hard as they did tonight, especially in the first half, you have to have guys who can come in off of the bench. And also keep that same intensity level. We were able to do that tonight.”

Flora was just 21-of-50 from the field in the contest and they committed 10-turnovers.

Five of the turnovers were in the first quarter as they aided the Maroons early success.

They were pretty good from the 3-point arc (10-of-22) but not nearly as accurate as the hosts were on this night.

“I think our defensive energy and our defensive pressure gave them some problems tonight. We had some trouble matching up early but you could see that our defensive pressure and our man-to-man was giving them some problems,” said Coach Krumwiede.

Dieterich will play Saturday at the annual Little Okaw Valley Conference vs. National Trail Conference Shootout at Cumberland against Bethany Okaw Valley at 7:30 pm.

The Maroons close out their season the following Friday at Patoka.

“We try to motivate the guys to do the best that they can all season so we can get a better position in the postseason,” said Coach Krumwiede. “Being seniors, I believe there is a sense of urgency. You get one team that has one good game (against you) and you could be done. Hopefully our guys know that.”

Flora plays Friday night at home against Paria and then they have a pair of games against Fairfield at home and Bridgeport Red Hill on the road February 16 before beginning play in the 2A sub-sectional.

“I felt like we competed but we couldn't the stops. We cut it down to seven but we need that desire within us to get those defensive stops but we didn't get them,” said Coach Leib. “When the postseason comes around, your offense can come and go but your defense has to be a mainstay. To make the deep runs in the postseason to the semifinals and the finals you have to be able to get stops when your offense struggles.”