01-17-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARLYLE – In a game that only a mother could love, someone had to step forward and make a difference in winning and losing.

The contest between Freeburg and Carlyle would never be mistaken for a “Game of the Century.”

However it was the Midgets who stood tallest at the end.

More precisely, 6-foot-9 senior Justin Diecker was the one rising up to secure the 43-34 win on the road Friday night.

Diecker took over the fourth quarter of the game by hauling down 12 of his game best 19-rebounds during his double-double.

His 20-points, with 10 of the markers coming from the foul line, was just enough to give Freeburg a key road victory in the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference.

Diecker also blocked four shots and was a deterrent to the Indians when taking the ball to the basket.

In a mistake prone game that saw the two clubs combine for 34-turnovers and a field goal percentage of 30.3 percent, Freeburg ended up with enough good plays on each end of the floor to hold off the Indians.

Head coach T.J. Hoover saw his team win its fourth conference game of the season, which matched the squads’ conference win total last season.

Although Freeburg was 15-of-24 from the foul line in the game, the Midgets hit 11-of-15 in the final eight minutes.

“Coming here and playing the team I thought personally was going to win the conference and getting a second win against them was great,” said Coach Hoover. “Things went our way tonight.”

The big run that Coach Andy Palmer’s Indians needed to get the victory never materialized as the Tribe saw its mark fall to 2-2 in the league and 8-6 overall.

Meanwhile Freeburg remains in first place in the Mississippi Division, a spot they haven’t held since before the division split back in 2006-07.

Behind Diecker in the scorebook was Jack Kemper, a 6-foot-1 senior, who netted 11-points in the low-scoring affair.

Carlyle was topped by 6-foot-3 senior Matt Hilmes with 14-points while Gunner Bretz and John Becker each added five points.

Coach Palmer can turn to a stat sheet full of mistakes in defining this loss as the Indians were as cold as the weather outside on this evening of play.

Carlyle was just 13-of-54 from the floor (24 percent) and committed nine of their 16-turnovers in the first quarter alone.

“I think in the 20-years I have been coaching I have experienced maybe three or four games where we shot so poorly. And it’s not like we don’t have good shooters because we do. We have kids that can shoot it well but for some reason we just can’t seem to make a shot. And then we are 5-of-15 from the foul line. You’re not going to beat anybody like that,” said Coach Palmer. “Having that many turnovers and missing that many free throws, you’re not going to win.”

The Midgets were considerably better shooting the ball but they handed the Indians a chance to rally several times on a platter, only to see Carlyle not take advantage.

Nine first quarter turnovers by Carlyle wasn’t exactly the beginning the hosts wanted on Friday night.

But the first couple of minutes of the game had the Tribe in front 4-2.

Becker and Hilmes scored on back-to-back shots for a 4-2 lead.

Freeburg responded by scoring six-consecutive points to close the frame.

Diecker, senior guard Nick Yung and Kemper each hit shots. Diecker closed the scoring with a nice spin move on the blocks for a slam-dunk and an 8-4 lead at the end of the first.

Again Becker and Hilmes scored points in the early part of the period and but these two seniors could have put their club in charge but failed to convert four-straight free throws.

Leading 13-11, this duo could have put more pressure on the Midgets but they watched in dismay as Freeburg closed the half with a 7-0 run.

Diecker, Kemper and junior guard Jacob Mueller all came up with points for a sprint to halftime complete at 18-13 Midgets.

“There were lots of missed free throws both ways and bonehead plays. They (Carlyle) had five unforced turnovers in the first quarter. It wasn’t pretty but we will take it,” said Coach Hoover. “We jumped out 10-4 and then we let them back in it.”

While the Midgets tried to give the game away in the third quarter, Coach Hoover’s club found no takers, as Carlyle didn’t make a move.

The Indians got to within 20-19 in the frame, but a 3-of-16 performance from the floors stopped the victory idea.

“I’m not sure we can play a worse first half. We had nine turnovers in the first quarter and we were 0-for-4 from the foul line and we are only down four at halftime. I told the kids it was a miracle we were still in the game,” said Coach Palmer. “And then we are just down four at the end of the third quarter. We just couldn’t make a shot.”

Kemper and Mueller scored twice on drives to the basket with Mueller scoring on a fast break after a long rebound for a 24-30 lead heading to the final quarter.

Diecker stole the show in the next three minutes of play, scoring seven points on three shots in the lane.

A conventional three-point play and two in close shots got the lead to 31-24 with 5:07 left.

The Indians could get no closer than six points the remainder of the contest that turned into a free throw parade for Freeburg.

“We did a good job of trying to speed them (Freeburg) up a little bit and force some turnovers but we didn’t capitalize on it,” said Coach Palmer. “But we couldn’t make shots and we couldn’t make our free throws to get our press set up. It was just a frustrating night all around.”

Those Midgets proceeded to end the contest by connecting on 6-of-8 foul shots.

Freeburg survived 18-turnovers, including nine in the fourth quarter.

Carlyle ended up with a slight 34-33 and grabbed 11 offensive boards.

As it turned out it was just more opportunities for missed shots for Coach Palmer’s club who heads back to action on Saturday night against Columbia in a make up game from January 7.

The Indians will then play five games at the Benton Invitational Tournament next week starting on Monday.

“Inconsistency has been the story of our season. We have played well in stretches where we are a pretty good ball club and then we play some games where it just leaves you scratching your head,” finalized Coach Palmer. “We’re a senior ball club and we told our kids afterwards that we have one of two ways we can go. You can get mad and bow your necks and be ready to come to play tomorrow night or you can start feeling sorry for yourself and keep your heads down. We’ll see what happens tomorrow night. We have another tough conference game.”

Freeburg has a date Wednesday night of next week against Teutopolis at the Nashville Invitational Tournament.

“We had a discussion there heading into the fourth quarter about if we should go zone because we were in foul trouble. But we decided to stay with our man-to-man and fortunately they stayed cold on the outside,” said Coach Hoover. “It made a difference because we were able to get five guys to the boards. One of our assistants said ‘its nice to have a 6-9 guy out there’.”