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Campbell rebounds for win
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Boardman's Tre Robinson, #3, goes up with the ball against Campbell's # 40 during their game at Campbell on Tuesday night.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
Campbell's Claxton LeBron takes the ball to the basket against Boardman's Dane Hammond, 24, durig their game a Campbell on Tuesday Night.
By Greg Gulas
CAMPBELL
The Campbell Memorial High boys basketball team scored just one bucket in the first quarter and fell behind by a 15-4 count just a little more than a minute into the second period on Tuesday against Boardman.
Buty when the Red Devils went on a 15-3 run to take a 19-18 halftime lead, senior guard Ty Underwood knew his team had the Spartans right where they wanted them.
Underwood scored 10 of his team-high 11 points in the third period and the Red Devils withstood a game-ending flurry by their Federal League opponent as they defeated the Spartans, 48-47 at the Nicholas A. D’Amato Field House.
“We started entirely too slow, but going into halftime with a lead was really big. Coach D [Brian Danilov] told us at halftime just to stick together and we would be alright,” Underwood said.
“We were sloppy offensively in the first half and felt that our defense would have to kick it up a notch after intermission if we expected to win,” Underwood said. “That’s exactly what happened.
“We’re a lot smaller school than Boardman, but tonight we proved that we can play with them,” Underwood said.
Each team exchanged a bucket to start the game, but Boardman’s Dayne Hammond then scored six of his game-high 15 points to key a 7-0 run as the Spartans closed the quarter with the early 9-2 advantage.
Lester Hughes, who also scored 11 points for the Red Devils, added six points in the second period as Campbell outscored the Boardman, 17-9, for a one-point halftime lead.
The fact that the Red Devils kept their composure and didn’t let an 11-point deficit affect them pleased the Red Devils’ head mentor.
“We have a very unselfish team and as a staff we preach to them not to play faster than the game; just take what the game gives you,” Danilov said.
“You play one possession at a time when you are trying to get back into the game and tonight, everyone stepped up when they had to,” Danilov said. “It’s a good feeling to be 2-0 because we felt that December would be a tough challenging month for us.
“We just got our football players back and at times we know we are going to look good. Other times, until we adapt, we are going to look like a pig on ice skates and after our free throw display tonight, we looked like a pig on ice skates,” Danilov said.
The Red Devils could connect on just nine of 25 charity tosses while the Spartans (1-1) weren’t much better, hitting on just nine of 20 from the free throw line.
Underwood’s 10 points after intermission then helped the Red Devils build a 39-31 margin, but the Spartans, who watched their first half lead dissipate, slowly and methodically worked their way back into the game.
“In the past, we might have folded but this team played with intensity and desire the entire game and that is a positive that we will take with us, despite the outcome,” Boardman’s first-year coach Dan McKeown said.
The Spartans tied the game at 46-all on two free throws by T.J. Irving but a lay-up by the Red Devils’ Claxton Lebron, who had seven points in the game, gave Campbell Memorial the lead for good at 48-46 with 32 seconds remaining.
Hammond hit one of his two charity tosses with 28 ticks left to pull the Spartans to within a point, 48-47, which allowed the Red Devils to hold on to their one-point victory.
“One of the things we have been battling is our consistent play,” McKeown said. “Brian’s teams come to play every night and we knew that we had to match their intensity.
“Intensity got us the lead but then it dropped off,” McKeown said. “As a program we are trying to build consistency from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
The Red Devils finished 18 of 42 from the field while the Spartans canned just 19 of 46 aerial attempts.
Campbell’s Dwaylon Letlo hauled in a game high 11 caroms while Hammond’s 10 rebounds gave him a double-double for the Spartans.