Campbell cruises to fourth straight victory

By DOUG CHAPIN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BROOKFIELD — High school basketball in December is a far cry from what area fans will be seeing when tournament time rolls around in late February. As Campbell Memorial High coach Brian Danilov said Friday night after his team’s 77-55 victory over Brookfield, “It’s only the fourth game. We’ve got a long way to go.”

Coming off a district championship season, the Red Devils have two sophomore starters and have gotten off to a 4-0 start.

“Everybody is coming along,” Danilov said, “but for us to get to where we hope to be and to play our very best, we’ve got to put our game together for four quarters. We’ve got a great group of kids and they have a lot of intangibles going for them.”

Senior forward Antwan Dawson led the way Friday with 35 points on 16-of-21 shooting, 12 rebounds, six blocked shots, four assists and four steals. Sophomore guard Nick Hodge scored 21 points, including a 6-of-8 shooting performance from behind the 3-point arc. He also had seven rebounds and five assists. The other sophomore, guard Jerah’me Williams, dished out seven assists, and senior Anthony Moses had seven rebounds and two blocks.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” Danilov said. “We are too inconsistent in too many areas. Coming in here, Brookfield, no matter what their record is, they’re always going to play you tough for four quarters.”

The Warriors (0-2) were led by senior Chad Kostra who scored 25 points. Brookfield hung with the taller, quicker Red Devils through the first 11 minutes of the game and led 18-17 with 5:16 to play in the second quarter.

But Campbell went on a 13-0 tear to lead 30-18 at the 3:43 mark. Senior Marcus Boyd came off the bench and scored five points and Hodge nailed two of his 3-pointers during the run. Campbell outscored the Warriors 15-8 the rest of the half for a 45-26 halftime advantage.

The Red Devils’ largest lead was 28, the last time at 60-32 with 3:10 left in the third quarter. The closest Brookfield came was within 15, early in the final quarter.

Campbell played zone defense for most of the night, but put solid pressure on the ball out front. The Devils held Brookfield to 33 percent (20-of-60) shooting and recorded 10 steals while forcing four turnovers.

“We’ve got a few different defenses,” Danilov said. “We’re not really dominant in any area. We don’t have exceptional quickness and height, but we’ve got some of both, so we’re going to look at our opponent’s strengths and play defense accordingly.”

Campbell shot a blistering 54 percent (32-of-59) from the field, including nine-of-17 from 3-point range.