Friday, March 23, 2007
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- In the first quarter, Poland High kept Mr. Basketball in check.
But the Bulldogs' tight defense against Upper Sandusky's Jon Diebler came with a huge price tag in personal fouls, and Jon Diebler's teammates strutted their stuff in the Rams' 89-58 victory over Thursday night in the Division II state semifinal game at Value City Arena.
In the first nine minutes, Diebler had one point. But Poland's big man, Lou Coppola, picked up his third personal foul 35 seconds into the second quarter.
Ben Umbel, who scored 10 of Poland's 22 first-half points, was assessed his fourth foul before the second quarter ended.
Diebler, an Ohio State recruit, took charge of his future home court, scoring 17 second-quarter points for a 45-22 halftime lead.
"It was awesome playing Mr. Ohio -- it was a dream come true," Poland senior Charlie Carchedi said. "I never thought we would make it this far to be playing against this kid but I had a fun time playing against him."
Coppola, Umbel and Chris Lovell fouled out in the fourth quarter.
"We knew we had to try and control the tempo," Poland coach Ken Grisdale said. "It's almost impossible to slow them down. They invite you into what you think are easy looks, and you get going faster.
"We didn't take advantages of some finishes," said Grisdale, referring to when the game was tight. "When you get into their tempo, you're walking into a deathtrap."
Turnover battle
Poland (22-4) committed 30 turnovers to Upper Sandusky's 14.
Diebler scored 24 points and added 12 rebounds, nine assists and nine steals to put the Rams in the state title game for the second time in three years.
"Our goal was try contain him," Grisdale said. "We thought if we could keep him in the high 20s, we had a shot, but the other guys shoot the ball well."
Sophomore Alex Falk's 20 points included three 3-pointers. Travis Bachtell also netted 20 while Jarryd Nelson had 14.
"This is not a one-man team and I think we demonstrated that again tonight," Upper Sandusky coach Keith Diebler said. "We don't get a lot of credit for playing good defense ... it's a combination defense. It's never zone, it's never man-to-man, it's complicated and it's taken us this long to get it down.
"It starts with tremendous ball pressure up front and I think Travis and Alex do a good job."
Plenty of fouls
Despite their foul trouble, Umbel and Coppola led Poland with 16 and 11 points. David White came off the bench to also score 11.
"I guess I came out played a little more physical than I should have," Coppola said. "I've never been called for three pushes in a game but that's just the way the ball falls sometimes."
As Poland's fouls accumulated, the run-and-gun Rams surfaced, outscoring Poland 28-14 in the second quarter to seize control of the game.
"We're from Earth and they're from Mars," Grisdale said. "They play a style that we don't see.
"Their defense fuels their offense," Grisdale said. "They just feed off the turnovers and if you don't make good decisions ... we're not extremely deep and when guys get tired decision-making gets worse."
Early on, the Bulldogs kept pace with the Rams, who average 94 points per game.
Umbel scored the Bulldogs' first six baskets as Poland jumped ahead 8-5.
"They're a good basketball team," Keith Diebler said. "We knew that might happen."
Turnaround
But a 10-0 run by the Rams put them in control and had Poland chasing. Six minutes into the game, Coppola had two fouls.
Jon Diebler said his slow start "didn't matter -- the important thing is that we won. Travis and Jarryd stepped up big, and Alex has been a monster down along the post.
"I haven't been putting up the points I had in the regular season because the guys have been stepping up, and that has just made us a better team," Diebler said. "I'll take 10 a night just as long as we win by 30."
Diebler made 6-of-13 shots as the Rams made 30-of-70 overall. The Rams were 13-of-32 on 3-pointers and Poland was 0-for-9. The Bulldogs were 26-of-64 overall.
"We say pick your poison," Keith Diebler said of his son's night. "Thirteen attempts is fine as long as we are up by 20."
williams@vindy.com