Campbell outpaces Salem 65-42

Running with the Devils too much for Quakers

By Jon Moffett

CAMPBELL — Salem coach Will Klucinec may have learned an important lesson about his squad after watching them run up and down the floor with Campbell Memorial High.

The Quakers just aren’t up to speed. Literally.

“They’re just a very fast team,” he said. “A very fast team. And you can prepare for that all you want in practice, but you can’t simulate that kind of quickness in practice.”

And the Red Devils (15-3) were running up and down the court at will in a 65-42 victory against the Quakers Tuesday.

When asked if he thought his team’s overall athleticism helped with the victory, Campbell coach Brian Danilov said he didn’t think so.

“They don’t look very fast in practice when they’re running those line drills,” he joked.

Campbell got off to a fast start, scoring 24 points in the first quarter and 41 in the first half.

The Quakers (9-10) were just not able to keep up with the Red Devils, scoring 14 points in the first half.

“It’s one of those things where you have to give Campbell a lot of credit,” Klucinec said. “They’re a good basketball team and Brian [Danilov] does a good job with them. I think they’re going to do some good things here at the end of the year headed into the tournament.”

The game was just as much a showdown between a pair of coaches with mutual respect, as evident by a spirited conversation following the game.

“We were fortunate to win tonight,” said Danilov. “Salem is a very well-coached team and they’ve got a lot of tough kids. We were able to come out and hit some early jumpers and open it up a little bit.

“We got some deflections, some 50-50 balls, and [turnovers] that helped us to go on a little bit of a run.”

That run was 16-2 in favor of the home team to start the game.

Early in the game, Claxton LeBron resembled LeBron James, knocking down two 3-pointers and stealing the ball twice to start the game. LeBron also had six assists, which led the team.

The run forced Klucinec to burn two quick timeouts in an effort to regroup his team. But the Red Devils continued to put the pressure on the Quakers.

Rather than playing soft with a comfortable 41-14 lead at halftime, the Red Devils came out firing in the third quarter.

Danilov said his team didn’t want to take its foot off the gas and allow the Quakers to rally.

“The kids knew who they were playing,” he said. “Salem isn’t going to back down. Will [Klucinec] and his staff do a great job, so you knew they were going to come out and compete. It doesn’t matter what they score is, they’re going to compete.”

Eventually, Danilov did acknowledge his team’s athleticism.

“They all worked really hard in the offseason and we’ve done a lot of different conditions drills to play to our strength,” he said. “But we’re not very big.”

The tallest players on the Red Devils roster are senior Doug Jones and junior Devan Johnson, who each measure in at 6-foot-4.

Danilov said the team’s speed makes up for some of the height discrepancy, but knows the plan will be tested in the tournament.

“We don’t necessarily want to get into a half-court slowdown, but eventually, and to be a very good team, you have to play great half-court defense and play half-court man-to-man.”

Although the defense may not be the biggest, it works.

Salem’s leading scorer, junior Jake Madison, had 10 points.

Klucinec said some forced shots and missed uprightness were ultimately what hurt the Quakers.

“We need to do a better job of doing the simple things; doing the easy things,” he said. “We missed a lot of open shots, a lot of easy shots, and gave them way too many easy points on free throws or in transition.”

The Red Devils were led by LeBron and fellow senior Jerah’me Williams. Williams led all scorers with 21 points.

LeBron’s 11 points, including nine from beyond the arc, tied him with teammate and classmate Nate Hodge. LeBron fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

Klucinec was very complimentary of the Red Devils, saying they have a deep roster and a lot of talent on the floor at any given time.

“Again, they’re very athletic, they’ve got a lot of guys who can put it on the deck, a lot of guys who can shoot it and a lot of guys who can rebound and get after it,” he said. “All around, they do a lot of things well and they can exploit that. And they did that tonight.”

Having gone a perfect 10-0 in the All-American Conference’s Blue Tier, the Red Devils will begin tournament play March 3.

Campbell, who earned a bye, in the first round of the Division III men’s tournament, will play the winner of the first-round game between Rootstown and Canton Central Catholic March 1.

Salem will also focus its attention to the postseason, as it prepares for a game against Ravenna in the first round of the Division II tournament.

The Quakers substituted some of their younger players, which Klucinec said will work in their favor come tournament time.

“We’re trying to learn and get better every minute we’re on the floor,” he said. “So that was great game experience for them.”

jmoffett@vindy.com