TRI-COUNTY LEAGUE Columbiana controls Diaz

Southern's sharpshooter scored 22 points, but the Clippers prevailed.
COLUMBIANA -- It's been quite a season already for Southern High's Josh Diaz.
With his first shot of the season, he scored his 1,000th career point. And with every rebound he grabs, Diaz extends his school's career record.
But those individual accomplishments aren't what Diaz is concentrating on.
That's because heading into Tuesday night's Tri-County League game at Columbiana, the Indians were tied with Sebring for the top spot in the league.
"We are capable of beating anyone in this league if we play up to our potential," said Diaz. "It's just the little things we have to work on to get better."
The little things -- like making shots.
Defense was controlling
Columbiana's 1-3-1 zone defense denied Diaz the ball inside and Southern's perimeter shooting wasn't up to the task, as the Clippers pounded out a 50-44 victory.
"They pretty much stopped our inside game and we couldn't step up and hit our outside shots," said Diaz, who led Southern with a game-high 22 points. "We need to rebound better and make smarter decisions in crunch time -- me included."
The Clippers, who have a hard time matching up inside because of their small lineup, got excellent guard play from David Vitko, David Jackson and Jared Patton. The trio combined for 32 points.
Vitko did his damage with three 3-pointers, while Patton hit two critical free throws in the fourth quarter.
"There were times when we had lapses with trying to do what we wanted, but we never gave up the lead that we established and I think that was key," said Columbiana coach Herman Miller.
"This was a big game for us as we tried to stay in the thick of things in the TCL. We feel good about the way our schedule is laid out and we just need to tune up some things and keep working."
Halftime lead
The Clippers' defense held Diaz to just eight points, mostly on putbacks, in the first half, in building a 29-20 lead at intermission. Miller felt that if his defense could make Diaz work inside and put pressure on the outside shooters, good things would happen.
"We felt like Diaz could get 20 and we could still win," Miller said. "We wanted to pressure their outside shots and not give them open looks."
Southern got within three points midway through the third quarter on a pair of Diaz free throws at the 4:15 mark. The senior scored nine of the Indians' 11 points in the quarter.
But the Indians finished 17-of-50 from the floor (34 percent) and 8-of-14 at the free throw line.
"Columbiana made shots and we didn't," said Southern (3-3, 2-1 TCL) coach Jeb Whittaker. "We hung in there and fought back but we just aren't hitting perimeter shots on a consistent basis right now and we couldn't get the ball inside."
The Clippers (3-2, 2-1) extended their lead to 46-38 with 1:59 remaining in the fourth quarter on a jumper from Jackson.
But Southern didn't go away. Aaron Boston cut the deficit to 46-43 with 20 seconds to go. After the bucket, the Indians came up with a steal, but in the scramble to get the loose ball at half court, two Southern players bumped into each other and the player with the ball was called for over and back.
Columbiana took advantage of the turnover as Patton converted a pair of free throws to give the Clippers a 48-43 lead.