Reloaded Campbell too much for Poland

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

CAMPBELL

For the first time since Dec. 15, Campbell Memorial High boys basketball coach Brian Danilov finally dressed what he felt amounted to a full squad.

Tuesday, Poland stood in the way of the Red Devils’ coming out party.

Ty Underwood scored a team-high 16 points while Lester Hughes added 14 points and eight rebounds as the Red Devils defeated the Bulldogs, 60-52, in an All-American Conference intra-division clash at the Nicholas A. D’Amato Field House.

“We’ve faced our share of adversity in many ways this season, but we’re finally starting to become a team,” Danilov said.

“We’ve been through some tough times this year and haven’t had all of our components, but tonight we played hard, stuck together and were very unselfish,” Danilov said.

“Ty’s [Underwood] effort over the summer was absolutely great so his play tonight is really no surprise,” Danilov said. “He’s been phenomenal both on the court and in the classroom but his work ethic, honor and integrity is what makes him so very special.”

Colin Reardon scored all of the Bulldogs’ points in the first quarter, but the Red Devils (9-9) raced to the early 10-7 lead on the strength of two buckets by Hughes.

Reardon would finish with a game-high 20 points.

Underwood, who was scoreless in the opening quarter, hit six points in the second frame as Campbell outscored Poland (12-5), 19-14 in the quarter to forge a 29-21 halftime advantage.

Ironically, it was defense that Underwood said was the key to their victory.

“We played much better tonight as a team than we did our first time against them,” Underwood said. “On Senior Night, we didn’t want to disappoint; we wanted our seven seniors to go out a winner in their final game at home.

“Defensively, we were more aggressive and that allowed us to control the flow of the game. Last time we had to play catch up,” Underwood said.

On Jan. 21, the Bulldogs defeated Campbell 72-50, with Reardon scoring a game-high 24 points and 11 other players getting into the scoring column.

This time, five players carried the scoring load for the Bulldogs.

“They played with enthusiasm and spunk and did a great job overall so give them all the credit,” Poland coach Ken Grisdale said. “They were ready to play tonight.

“The last couple of games we’ve had different line-ups on the court, and that creates chemistry issues,” Grisdale said. “Hopefully, we’ll work through that and become a better team.”

Five points by Claxton Lebron after intermission offset nine markers by Reardon and despite the Bulldogs outscoring the Red Devils, 21-17; Campbell still held a 46-42 advantage heading to the final period of play.

Hughes and Underwood combined to score 12 of Campbell’s first 14 points in the final quarter as the Red Devils opened a 58-47 advantage and never looked back for their fifth consecutive win.

The Red Devils were 26 of 54 from the field but just one of 10 from beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs, who have dropped three of their last five outings, were 20 of 53 from the field but just seven of 27 from the three-point line.