Big fourth quarter keys Campbell victory

By Doug Chapin

NEWTON FALLS — In a game full of scoring runs, Campbell High put together the longest and the latest.

The Red Devils’ boys basketball team scored 22 consecutive points in the final quarter Friday night to record a 70-59 All-American Conference Blue Division victory over Newton Falls.

Senior guard Jerah’me Williams poured in 37 points on 12-for-17 shooting and junior forward Lester Hughes added 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Sophomore Chad Dillon led the Tigers with 22 points.

“This was two good teams playing with a lot of energy,” Campbell coach Brian Danilov said. “We’ve got a great league, that whole Blue Division. We’ve got great coaches in our league, we’ve got great kids.

“This is a tough gym to play in, they’ve got great crowds and great support. It was important we come out and hit a few.”

The Devils started quickly, leading 25-13 after one quarter.

“Their shooting, with Williams and Hughes … you can go out in practice and not make nearly that many,” Newton Falls coach Roy Sembach said. “They made them tonight, they made them with hands in their face.

“Give them credit, they are two really good basketball players, and they have a few other good players on that team, too.”

Campbell (8-3, 4-0 AAC Blue) led 35-27 late in the second period, but Falls scored the last two buckets of the half for a 35-31 halftime deficit. The Tigers (11-3, 2-2 AAC Blue) then scored the first 15 points of the third quarter to finish off a 19-0 run.

Falls held its largest lead, 49-37, with 1:36 left in the quarter, then Campbell closed out the period with an 8-2 run for a 51-45 deficit.

A 3-pointer just eight seconds into the third quarter by Tyler Kernen, who backed Dillon with 14 points, restored the Falls lead to 54-45. The Devils then put together their 22-0 run, holding the Tigers to 0-for-7 shooting from the field.

“Dillon and Sole are really good shooters. We wanted really to keep them off the foul line because they are such good foul shooters,” Danilov said. “Both of them account for a large percentage of their points. I mean, all the other players play their roles and do great jobs, but we focused on them.”

Hughes broke a 54-54 tie with 3:38 left in the game, drilling a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Williams followed with a steal and layup for a 59-54 lead. The Devils shot 9-for-10 from the line in the final 1:40.

Nate Hodge added 10 points, five assists and four steals to the Campbell effort and Claxton Lebron recorded four assists and six steals.

Newton Falls got 10 points and seven rebounds from Brian Sole.

“Campbell came out on absolute fire like they seem to every time they play us,” Sembach said. “They are a really good team and when they play us they are even better. They came out way ahead. I was so proud of our team, they hung in there, played tough and actually took complete control of the game. In the second and third quarters we absolutely dominated.

“They went into their 1-3-1 trap and though we got a couple quick buckets off of it, they stayed in it. The more they stayed in that trap, the more tentative we got. I wanted us to attack it more and then kick, and we kind of stood and passed the ball back and forth.”

That was Sembach’s biggest disappointment.

“I thought we had a good plan against their 1-3-1 trap, but I don’t think we executed it the way we needed to,” he said.

Danilov listed hard work as the reason for Williams’ success.

“He has worked, all the guys have worked very hard,” the coach said. “He’s a gym rat, we’ve got a lot of gym rats.

“Even on days off, on Sundays, they’re calling me to see if they can get in the gym and shoot. That’s to their credit.”