Soup’s on: Campbell nabs title
Red Devils clinch AAC Blue Tier title with win
Senior Jerah’me Williams scored 18 points for Campbell.
CAMPBELL — Campbell High boys coach Brian Danilov believes in old cliches just as much he believes in defense, so if you spend five minutes talking basketball with him, you’re going to hear things like:
UWe have to play together as a team.
UFive will beat two.
UFive will beat three.
UEverybody needs to play their roles.
UIn this league, anybody can beat anybody on any given night.
The fifth one is a little iffy, mainly because the Red Devils follow the first four.
To wit: Campbell had four different players lead a key statistical category in Tuesday’s 66-47 win over Newton Falls.
Jerah’me Williams led the team in scoring (18 points) and tied for the lead in steals (three), Dwalyn Letlo led in rebounds (10), Nate Hodge led in assists (five) and Claxton LeBron tied for the lead in steals (three).
Also, six different players scored at least six points.
That’s balance.
“All the old cliches you hear, they’re true,” said Danilov, whose team won the outright title of the All-American Conference Blue Tier. “Five will beat two. Five will beat three.
“You need five.”
Letlow and Hughes each added 11 points for the Red Devils (13-3, 9-0), who have integrated five first-year players on a team that returns its core from last year’s Div. III district championship team.
Campbell enters next month’s tournament as the No. 2 seed behind unbeaten East Canton and has a good chance to win its fourth crown in five years.
“We’re fortunate to be in such a great league with great coaches and great teams,” Danilov said. “So they’re going to force you to step your game up or they’re going to kick your [butt].”
Newton Falls (15-4, 6-3) is the league’s second-best team and the one most capable of knocking off the Red Devils.
But with their leading scorer, Brian Sole, out with the flu, the Tigers could only hang in for about 21‚Ñ2 quarters.
Sophomore Cody Dillon scored 16 points with seven rebounds — both team-highs — but also picked up three first-half fouls and played much of the second half with four.
Tigers coach Roy Sembach thought the key was Campbell’s penetration and his team’s poor free throw shooting (11 of 24).
“If we make those free throws, we hang much tougher,” he said. “That team, you don’t want to come from 10 down.
“You have to keep them within striking distance.”
Here’s one more key stat: Campbell had just six turnovers, compared to 20 for Newton Falls.
“We aim to keep our turnovers 10 or below,” Danilov said. “We’re starting to be a little bit more patient. We’re not forcing as much and still looking for our teammates.
“I just hope we can continue to improve on that.”
scalzo@vindy.com