Dillon stars in Falls’ win

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

HOWLAND

Cody Dillon looked puzzled as his teammates, coaches and fans gave him a standing ovation after a layup and drawn foul.

After all, Dillon thought it was just another play like he had done so many times in his career. But this time it was special. Dillon, a junior, earned his 1,000th career point with the basket. To celebrate, he and his Newton Falls teammates went on to defeat Mineral Ridge 73-23 in a Division III sectional semifinal at Howland High on Tuesday night.

Dillon said he had no idea he was that close to the milestone and was happy to earn it the way he did.

“Coach [Roy] Sembach told me I needed 31 points [to earn 1,000] so I didn’t even know what was going on,” Dillon said. “Everybody stood up and started clapping and I didn’t know until I saw my teammates laughing.”

Dillon missed the ensuing free throw, but not much else. He posted a game-high 20 points in about 31/2 quarters — he and the other starters got some quality time on the bench as the game got out of hand.

The Tigers (17-4) scored 23 points in the first quarter and never looked back. Sembach said his team knew a fast start would put them in the driver’s seat for the rest of the game.

“I thought our kids took care of business tonight,” he said. “We could have gotten real sloppy and I don’t think we did. We stayed pretty dedicated to the details on the defensive end instead of just gambling. I thought we stayed focused on winning each possession.”

The Rams (0-21) had a much more difficult time winning each possession. Of their possessions, 22 were turnovers and most of the other clanked off the rim or missed completely. The Rams shot just 15 percent from the field —something that coach Bryan Durig said has plagued the team all season.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle all the way and our kids worked hard on the game. We just can’t score and we can’t execute,” he said. “We’ve had probably a half-dozen games this year where we haven’t scored more than 25 points ... They just really struggled with putting it in the basket. And once their confidence is shot, it’s over.”

Jon Kirby, Zak Woolley and Tom Robbins each had four points for Mineral Ridge. Tyler Kernan had 13 for Newton Falls.

Cardinal 54, Brookfield 52

Brookfield suffered a heartbreaker in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader. After leading by 14 points and having a comfortable lead at the half, the Warriors saw Cardinal charge back and come out with the 54-52 victory in another sectional semifinal.

Brookfield (16-5) led by nine going into the third quarter, but the Huskies (9-12) went on a 12-2 run to start the game’s third quarter. After that, both teams matched the other’s shots.

But the shots Brookfield had made in the first half weren’t finding the basket in the second. The Warriors shot 48 percent in the first half, but saw that figure cut in half in the second.

Brookfield coach Chris Fahndrich said his team just didn’t have the same flow it had in the first half.

“I think we got a little bit out of rhythm, and naturally their defense was a part of that,” he said. “We had some foul trouble late, but that’s no excuse. We just didn’t execute as well as we should have.”

Cardinal had four players score in the double figures. T.J. Minnick led the was with 15 points, and was paced by Brookfield’s Jimmy Hawley. Jeremy Quinlan added 10 for Brookfield.

“I just told them I’m proud of them,” Fahndrich said. “The effort was there, but it just wasn’t our night tonight. We didn’t play up to our capabilities, and sometimes that happens.”