Campbell puts distance between itself and N. Falls

The Red Devils stayed unbeaten in the Blue Tier, while the Tigers lost for only the second time in 13 games.

Vindicator staff report

CAMPBELL — One of the least unusual numbers emanating from the Newton Falls-Campbell boys basketball game Friday night was that Campbell’s final point total of 75 was the reverse of Newton Falls’ 57.

Now the most unusual:

Campbell drained 13 3-point goals to Newton Falls’ one and Newton Falls didn’t commit its first foul of the second half until the 4:19 mark of the fourth period.

At least Newton Falls coach Roy Semach found some consolation in that his Tigers played the Red Devils even through three quarters as evidenced by a 45-45 tie heading into the final eight minutes.

Then the visitors took their last breath as Jerah’me Williams, Lester Hughes, Nate Hodge and Claxton Lebron turned up the heat to help Campbell outscore Newton Falls, 30-12, in the All-American Conference Blue Tier encounter.

While Newton Falls relied on the services of 6-foot-11, 285-pound Marcus Fowler’s game-high 27 points and 11 rebounds, Campbell used the distribution system with Williams scoring 21 points, Hughes 20, Hodge 16 and Lebron 11.

Hodge, along with Williams and Hughes, was effective scraping away rebounds from the defensive boards, then taking the ball to the hoop.

Hodge also got his hands on passes, as he did at 2:34 of the third quarter when the 6-2 junior batted the ball back into freshman Cory Dillon before it went out of bounds in Campbell’s favor.

The Red Devils’ 13 3-pointers were by Williams (five), Hughes (four), Lebron (three) and Hodge (one).

“We practice those a lot,” Campbell coach Brian Danilov said of the long-range shots. “But it’s a credit to our kids that it was a team effort by virtue of how we spread the ball around.”

Lebron, a 5-10 sophomore, finished with four assists.

The Red Devils (9-3, 4-0) started to pull away after Newton Falls (11-2, 3-1) came up empty on consecutive possessions.

During the same stretch, Williams connected on a pair of 3-point goals to arouse the hometown crowd, while Hodge converted a three-point play to push the Red Devils’ lead to 61-52 with 4:19 remaining.

At that point, the Tigers incurred their first foul of the second half; it afforded Campbell the luxury of killing time.

Newton Falls, which played mostly zone defense to contend with Campbell’s speed, couldn’t shut down the Red Devils’ 26 of 60 field-goal shooting.

Todd Medallis added 10 points for the visitors, who connected on 21 of 52 goals. Medallis, a 5-7 senior guard, had eight assists for the Tigers, who made 14 of 19 free throws to Campbell’s 10 of 11.

Newton Falls’ lone 3-point goal was made by Tyler Kernen at the 3:04 mark of the first period.

Campbell out-rebounded the Tigers, 37-34, with Hodge grabbing 11 caroms.

Newton Falls’ only other loss before Friday was against Salem.