Campbell holds off Salem, 41-40

The Red Devils rallied in the third quarter and then
survived the Quakers’
comeback.

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

SALEM — With a young team featuring a pair of sophomore guards, Campbell Memorial boys basketball coach Brian Danilov is still waiting to see some consistency over four quarters. In the meantime, he’ll take one solid quarter at a time and hope it’s enough to win a few games.

The Red Devils (7-2, 2-2 MAC) rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third quarter by outscoring Salem 18-7 and fought off a Quaker comeback in the final seconds to escape with a 41-40 victory Tuesday night.

Trailing 41-39 with 3.5 seconds remaining, Salem had an opportunity to force overtime with a pair of free throws. The Quakers hit the first, but missed the second.

“We knew Salem plays tough for four quarters,” said Danilov. “We played them in summer league and they were good. We’re a young team and we just haven’t played a solid four quarters yet. We just need to mature a little bit.

“Anytime you come to Salem and get a win, it’s big. There are no cupcakes in the MAC, so you have to be ready every night. We just need to get stronger on defense, take care of the ball and get better rebounding.”

Campbell’s third-quarter run was keyed by sophomore guard Jeraime Williams, who drilled three 3-pointers in the quarter. He finished with a game-high 13 points and added three rebounds and three assists.

His triple with 5:30 left in the third, gave Campbell its first lead of the second half at 28-27. Another trey at 5:04 increased the advantage to 32-27. The Red Devils took a 38-31 lead into the final quarter.

“They did a nice job in the third quarter with their 1-3-1 zone keeping us from getting to the right spots,” said Salem (6-4, 2-2) coach Will Klucinec. “They were able to extend their lead and we were able to come back, but just fell short tonight.

“It was a pretty even game and we have chances down the stretch, but couldn’t capitalize. We found ways to claw back into it, we just needed to make plays. But our kids didn’t quit.”

The Red Devils led by as many as nine points (40-31) in the fourth quarter and looked to be in control with under four minutes left. But Salem scored six straights points to get within 40-37 on a jumper by Jordan Strabala.

Austen Hutton scored on a drive to the hoop with 21 seconds left to trim the deficit to 41-39.

Campbell missed a free throw that would have iced the contest with 13 seconds left, leaving Salem with a chance to force the extra session.