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Dixie tops Carlisle to halt 4-game skid

Dixie coach hopes win builds momentum going into tournament.

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer Updated 12:22 AM Saturday, February 11, 2012

NEW LEBANON — A four-game losing streak sabotaged Dixie’s league title chances and the potential for a higher seed at Sunday’s boys basketball sectional tournament draw.

But don’t count the Greyhounds out yet.

With a 72-59 win over Carlisle on Friday, Dixie snapped a four-game losing streak — while extending the Indians’ skid to three — and gained some momentum with tournament play looming.

“We still feel like we’re one of the better teams in our league,” Dixie coach Kregg Creamer said after moving into a second-place tie with Carlisle in the Buckeye Division of the Southwestern Buckeye League. “We haven’t always lived up to that. We still believe we can win a championship of some kind this year, whether that be a sectional or a district title.”

Having a healthy duo in John and Matt Isaacs helps. The brothers combined for 31 points and contributed heavily to Dixie’s 29-17 advantage (unofficially) on the boards. They combined for six points in Dixie’s 70-62 loss to Carlisle in the season opener.

Andrew Barnett added 17 points off the bench for the Greyhounds.

“Dixie is certainly a talented and quality team and I felt they hurt us on the boards,” Carlisle coach Jeff Waugh said. “They were physical and we’ve got to try and learn from this and get ready for the tournament.”

Both teams are 12-7 and 7-4 in the league, trailing only Waynesville.

Carlisle led 6-0 and 12-6 for its largest leads, but Dixie’s up-tempo attack ignited a 20-6 run to take control.

The Greyhounds led by as many as 17 in the fourth quarter, the final time 56-39 with five minutes left. The Indians chipped the deficit down to 63-53 with 2:17 to go, but couldn’t get the defensive stop they needed.

Michael Kruse (18 points) and Jon Back (17) led Carlisle, which was sitting at 12-4 at one point this season after a 1-4 start.

“We’re playing some top-notch teams at the end of the season and we’re going through a difficult stretch ourselves,” Waugh said. “I feel like our kids are playing hard. We just need a couple breaks to go our way and we think we can turn it around.”

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