Mirror Sports 1-19

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Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Decades have passed since Earl Dieterich coached his last basketball game, yet all these years later he’s still

King of the court By ALEX RILEY Mirror sports writer

Earl Dieterich sits on a chair at an island in his kitchen. Spread before him are green scoring books with black marker on the front identifying the season the book represents. Assorted photos that once hung in the high school showcase his teams throughout the years. Each photo has the year, record and last names of the players on that squad. There are scrapbooks filled with box scores, small stories and photos from 14 years of coaching. Every loss, every win and every honor that ever ended up in print neatly put into book form. Some pages have his notes on them about a player doing something noteworthy or a happening that made the game special. Dieterich diagrammed his last play in 1975. He hasn’t coached a game since that year’s bi-district game. That’s been nearly 36 years. All those seasons later and the former Midlothian coach knows exactly what season stat book to grab and what page to point to for a memorable game or moment. He knows which players have passed on and which are still in town. Dieterich might have left the game but the game never really left him.

An inauspicious start

How Dieterich, a native of Reisel, Texas, landed in Midlothian is quite simple. He was a student teacher who landed a job teaching and coaching in the district. He started as a middle school football coach but eventually became the inaugural coach for the eighth-grade basketball program. “We had a real good team. We went 14-2 and I think the only teams that beat us were Waxahachie and Duncanville,” Dieterich said. “From there, then the head basketball job (at the high school) came open and I took it. My first bad season.” “Your only bad season,” Marthalu, his wife of 50-plus years, interjects. If you count 16-11 as such, then yes it was Dieterich’s only “bad season.” Of course basketball wasn’t his only concern in those early years. Along with heading the boys program, Dieterich was, at one time, the head varsity football coach and the school’s athletic director. He also taught classes and even coached girls basketball for part of a season. All this for a guy who was a junior college baseball letterman. See DIETERICH, Page 3C

Recognition worthy of man who put team on map

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Courtesy photo

Former Midlothian basketball coach Earl Dieterich will be honored Friday during the halftime of the Panthers’ home game against Mansfield. Dieterich won eight district titles and 300 games in 14 years.

arl Dieterich side steps most compliments. Praise is not his style. Sure, he doesn’t mind reliving his coaching days. His scrapbooks and scoring book collection are a reminder of his days roaming the bench. They are mementos of his past, no different than a yearbook. He doesn’t want any special treatment or recognition. But on Friday, he’ll get it. Dieterich will be the center of attention as former players join up to honor his efforts at Midlothian during the Mansfield game. And, without question, the recognition and respect are both things he has earned. To understand why Dieterich deserves this day in the spotlight, you have to understand the Panther basketball program. For all intents and purposes, the program became a true established team in 1956, the first season it has on record as having a coach, classification and record at the same time. Over the next four years, there were three coaches, each of which posted a winning record or two before moving on. Then came Dieterich. Then came stability.

Then came real winning. In 14 years, the Panthers won more than 300 games, claimed eight district titles and posted 20-win season after 20win season. Without a question, Dieterich put Midlothian basketball on the map. But that’s not where Alex Riley the story ends. In a sense, Mirror that’s almost where it Sports begins. Dieterich doesn’t want writer to discuss exactly why he left the head coaching job. He stayed out of coaching as a conscience choice to be a family man, watching his daughters grow and succeed in their own endeavors. He never left the Midlothian community, living just a short walk See RILEY, Page 4C

Case’s defense, resurgent offense aid in big win Panthers dominate division-leading Martin for fourth straight victory By ALEX RILEY Mirror sports writer

EULESS – Third time was the charm and Jimmy Case just happened to be the lucky rabbit’s foot. Case spent all 45 minutes in net for Midlothian, recording 24 saves in 24 shot attempts to shut down the normally potent Arlington Martin offense in a 6-0 win for the Panthers. It was the team’s first win over the Warriors in three tries this season. “There is no words that I can say about Case. Case played amazing, he played exactly like a championship goalie should play,” teammate Brent Jones said. For much of the early portion of the game, Case was Midlothian’s strongest weapon. The Panther offense got off to a slow start as Martin came on strong. Late in the first

period, Midlothian was out shot 10-0 and doubled up early in the second period 16-8. While his teammates were struggling to find a groove, Case was keeping everything the Warriors threw at the net in front of him. He made stop after stop, including a pair that looked like sure goals in which he had to dive back across his body in the second period. Eventually, the offense relieved the pressure by going on the attack. “I just knew that even though we started off with a slow start I had to get it going,” Case said. “I knew they’d come out on top of us and I knew once I got the momentum going they would get their momentum going. I think that’s where it started.” With Case dominating on defense, the team’s offense settled

in and began taking control at the other end of the ice. Joseph Dancy scored the first goal of the night just :54 into the second period, sending Chris Green and Trent Newman assists in for a powerplay score. Exactly :20 later, Trent Williams followed that up with a goal off Jason Spencer and Blake Parker assists for a 2-0 lead. The bunched scoring took a respite for about 10 minutes before Dancy, Jones and Parker scored three goals within two minutes of each other later in the second period. Dancy got his second of the game off assists from Jones and McClain Williamson, Jones scored on a powerplay with assists from Doss Allen and Parker while Parker

Photo by Alex Riley/The Mirror

Midlothian goalie Jimmy Case is congratulated by teammates after making one of his 24 saves in the team’s 6-0 win over See HOCKEY, Page 4C Arlington Martin last week.


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