HIGH-SCHOOL

Campbell County sweeps Brossart in basketball

James Weber
Cincinnati Enquirer
Campbell County senior Joel Day is guarded by Brossart freshman Ethan Eilerman during a 37th District boys basketball game between Campbell County and Bishop Brossart Jan. 5, 2018 at Campbell County Middle School, Alexandria KY.

ALEXANDRIA The Campbell County basketball programs want to be the kings and queens of the 10th Region and beyond this year.

That’s a longterm goal, and the Camels want to take care of short-term business in their city and district first.

Both teams took big steps Friday night in the Alexandria Crosstown Shootout, as Campbell County beat Bishop Brossart in both ends of a girls/boys doubleheader. Campbell dominated the girls meeting 67-18, and the boys team rallied to win 64-51. All four teams have to play Scott in 37th District seeding.

The rival Camels and Mustangs played at Campbell County Middle School in front of a standing-room only crowd, which is normal for this rivalry.

“It’s the Crosstown Shootout,” said Campbell senior Joel Day. “It’s the best atmosphere in Kentucky. It’s always fun to play in these. It’s my last one so I had to end it on a win.”

Day made sure of it, scoring 10 of his game-high 27 points in the final five minutes of the game, as the Camels closed on a 16-2 run after Brossart took a 49-48 lead on a 3-pointer by JD Schumacher.

After Schumacher’s trey, senior Nathan Schaefer shot a trey for Campbell. Junior Reid Jolly, who came back after missing last week with an ankle injury and the flu, got position for an offensive rebound and scored a layup to give the Camels the lead right back.

Day scored consecutive baskets on tough drives to the hoop, and it was 54-49. Tanner Clos hit two free throws with 2:44 to play, and it was 56-49. After a basket by Brossart, Day went 6-for-6 from the foul line, and Jolly made two foul shots after an offensive rebound.

Day, a returning starter from last year, came in averaging over 14 points per game. The Camels were playing with Jolly, the team’s leading scorer at nearly 18 per contest and also posting 10 boards a game, bouncing back; and without guard Drew Wilson, one of the team’s top guards and perimeter defenders.

“We tried to keep our composure, run our stuff,” Day said. “We were out of sync for a while and turning it over. We knew we would be fine if we ran our stuff. I knew I had to step up a little bit and do what I could.”

“Joel Day took the game over and put it on his back and made some big plays,” said Campbell head coach Aric Russell. “He was hitting shots early, then they tried to take it away and he started driving to the hole. He had a great game tonight. That’s what you want your seniors to do. We were without a couple of guys battling sickness and stuff and I was happy with how they were able to gut that one out.”

The Camels, 10th Region champions in 2014 and 2015, have won four straight district championships. Their seasons have ended in the regional tournament the past two years on acrobatic, heartbreaking buzzer-beaters, to Mason County’s Pig Williams in the 2016 quarterfinals and to Scott’s Jake Ohmer in last year’s final.

“We want to get healthy then just work on our stuff,” Russell said. “We’ve played a lot of games, now we got to get in the gym and work on things, fix some things. We’re fine, we just got to figure out some roles for guys off the bench.”

Bryce Donnelly led three Mustangs in double figures with 18 points. Campbell led by 11 at halftime but Brossart outscored the Camels 15-6 in the third. Bryan Duffy had two baskets  early in the fourth.

The Campbell County girls team, ranked second in the state in the Litratings, showed why by running Brossart out of the gym for a 67-18 win. The Camels (17-1), have won seven straight since a 74-71 loss to Mercer County Dec. 21, the defending state champions. The Camels have won their last six by an average of 43 points, including two wins by an eye-popping combined score of 198-57 on Dec. 28 in Bowling Green.

“We’re just trying to keep rolling,” said head coach Beau Menefee. “We just try to look ahead and not look behind. Tonight is typical of what we’ve been doing in many ways. We got out to a fast start. They got a nice group and they’re going to make some noise in the All ‘A’, and next year they’re going to have a heck of a team, too."

Brossart senior Ally Schultz tries to pass the ball over Campbell County senior Taylor Clos during a girls basketball game pairing Alexandria rivals Campbell County and Bishop Brossart Jan. 5, 2018 at Campbell County Middle School. Campbell County won 67-18.

Campbell led 61-11 at halftime using a fast-paced offensive attack and withering pressure defense. Senior Taylor Clos had 20 of her 28 points in the second quarter. Senior Lexie Stapleton had 16 points in the half and senior MacKenzie Schwarber scored all 12 of her points in the first quarter. All three of them sat in the second half.

“We were focused right from the beginning,” Menefee said. “We were working on our press and not letting people out of it. We’ve been missing assignments on the press lately and that was something we focused on in practice and we came out and we did it.”

Clos and Stapleton both scored their 2,000th career points in December. Most of Stapleton’s came in a Scott uniform before coming to Alexandria this season. Clos, averaging 22 points per game, has been part of a Camels team that went to the state quarterfinals in 2016 and experienced tough regional losses in 2015 and 2017. She thinks this team can outperform all of those.

“A lot of us have been playing together since we were in third, fourth grade,” she said. “I like that everybody can play pretty much any position at any time, and anyone can step up and have a big moment. We’re really good defensively and we know where each other is.

“We’re in really good shape, we have guards who can play post. It’s really hard to guard us. It’s a different experience to have the versatility that we have.”

As part of their experience and confidence, neither Clos nor Menefee looked at the Mercer loss as a moral victory. Mercer County was the preseason state title favorite after returning all five starters.

“They’re a really good team,” Clos said. “They’re a lot like us in the skill standpoint. It shows us that there are teams that can beat us and it motivates us to work harder and want to beat them. It keeps us humble. They’re the number one team in the state and that’s what our goal is.”

BOYS

Campbell County (14-2): Wirth 1 0 2, R. Jolly 6 3 15, Schaefer 2 2 7, Clos 2 8 13, Day 7 9 27. Totals: 18 22 64.

Brossart (8-6): Schumacher 1 0 3, Donnelly 8 1 18, C. Schirmer 0 2 2, Duffy 2 4 8, Eilerman 5 0 10, Hamberg 4 0 10. Totals: 20 7 51.

Halftime, Campbell 36-25: 3-pointers: CC 6 (Day 4, Clos 1, Schaefer 1), BB 4 (Hamberg 2, Schumacher, Donnelly).

GIRLS

Bishop Brossart (9-5): A. Schultz 1 1 3, Kiefer 4 1 9. Frommeyer 0 2 2, Cropenbaker 0 2 2, Crowe 0 2 2. Totals: 5 8 18.

Campbell County (17-1): Fleckenstein 0 1 1, Clos 10 4 28, Schwarber 5 0 12, Miller 1 0 2, Jackson 1 0 3, Wells 1 0 2, Holbrook 1 0 3, Stapleton 4 8 16. Totals: 23 13 67.

Halftime, Campbell 61-11: 3-pointers: CC 8 (Clos 4, Schwarber 2, Jackson, Holbrook), BB 0.