DIETERICH — Calloway Campton carried Dieterich during a pivotal third quarter in a 75-68 National Trail Conference victory against South Central on Saturday.
Campton, who led all scorers with 32 points, had 12 third-quarter markers and posted 12 straight points to give the Movin’ Maroons a 10-point (54-44) lead until 7:50 remained.
Dieterich head coach Josh Krumwiede was impressed with his 6-foot-1 senior forward.
“Calloway has played really well late because he’s found a bunch of different ways to score,” Krumwiede said. “When he’s hitting his jump shots and getting to the rim, he’s really hard to guard. Thirty-plus points is a really nice game, but his efficiency was also really nice. He was 10 of 12 from the field and, when you’re that efficient, you’re causing a lot of problems for the defense.”
Campton turned a three-point (43-40) Movin’ Maroons’ third-quarter advantage into a double-digit gap early in the fourth. He drove for two layups and converted 6 of 8 free throws during the final 2:59 of the third and, then, began the fourth with another layup.
The Cougars, who had stayed close with long-range shooting until that point, managed a driving layup from Cauy Blomberg and two free throws from Hunter Brandt as Campton erupted.
After Campton’s 3-point play made it 59-48 Dieterich with 6:19 to play, the Movin’ Maroons went the final 5:45 without scoring a field goal. Instead, four different DHS players stepped up to the free-throw line to connect 16 of 22 times.
The Cougars were able to make a 9-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to trim their deficit to 65-61 on a 3-point play from Logan Lotz (14 points), but could get no closer with 2:12 remaining.
“Defensively, we were having problems trying to find ways to stop South Central,” Krumwiede said. “Most coaches would say that our defense could have been better, but the Cougars were making shots, especially 3’s, they were getting to the rim and they were making free throws.”
Free throws played a major factor. The Movin’ Maroons ended up 26 of 37 at the charity stripe, compared to South Central’s 10 of 19 performance. Bryce McClain finished with nine points for Dieterich on a 9 of 10 effort at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter while Campton was 11 of 15 overall.
“We were right there as both teams performed well, offensively. There even were stretches when we dominated,” South Central head coach Jamie VanSyoc said. “One of the major differences is that Dieterich shot about 20 more free throws than we did. They got to the free-throw line a lot more.”
The Cougars had an early 3-2 lead before Dieterich took over, but never had more than a five-point, first-half advantage.
Dylan Radloff (18 points) knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first 16 minutes, handing the Movin’ Maroons leads of 13-8 and 23-20. After a transition layup from Campton, Radloff hit a jumper and scored a layup for a 29-25 edge.
Four 3-pointers in the final 8½ minutes of the first half from Trent Geiler (two), Ean Fox (one) and Ryan McCown (one) allowed South Central to stay within five points (33-28) at halftime.
A third-quarter basket from Tyler Higgs (10 points) gave Dieterich its first six-point lead (38-32), but the Cougars went on an 8-2 run highlighted by a 3-point play and a mid-range jumper from Lotz and a free throw from McCown tied the game at 40.
Higgs broke the tie with a reverse layup before Campton took control.
McCown finished with 15 points while Geiler, Brandt and Lotz each added 14 more for South Central (8-9, 1-3).
DIETERICH 75, SOUTH CENTRAL 68
South Central 15 13 16 24 – 68
Dieterich 18 15 19 23 – 75
SOUTH CENTRAL (8-9, 1-3): Lotz 6 2-2 14, Roberts 1 0-1 2, Fox 3 0-0 7, Geiler 5 1-4 14, Brandt 4 4-4 14, Blomberg 1 0-0 2, McCown 5 3-8 15. Totals: 25 10-19 68.
DIETERICH (12-5, 5-1): E. Bohnhoff 1 0-0 2, Flach 1 2-6 4, McClain 0 9-10 9, Bloemer 0 0-0 0, Radloff 6 4-6 18, Higgs 5 0-0 10, Campton 10 11-15 32, Niebrugge 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 26-37 75.
3-point FG: South Central 8 (Geiler 3, Brandt 2, McCown 2, Fox); Dieterich 3 (Radloff 2, Campton).