A look at Campbell County’s win over No. 4 Brossart Friday night at Campbell County Middle School…
Overall: With a packed house at Campbell County Middle School providing a tremendous atmosphere, these two crosstown rivals gave each other blow after blow, and when the final bell rang a winner still hadn’t been decided. Campbell County scored the first seven points of the game before Brossart would even get on the board. The Mustangs pulled themselves up off the mat though, and responded with an 8-5 run to finish off the first quarter trailing just 12-8.
Brossart’s Justin Saunders scored four straight points to open up the second quarter and tie the game up at 12-12. The star power started to shine through as Saunders continued to make impressive shots and Nate McGovney got it going for the Camels. The result was an offensive explosion by both teams as Brossart outscored Campbell 19-16 in the quarter, but the Camels held the one point advantage, 28-27, at intermission. McGovney led all scorers with 16 at the half, while Saunders had 12 for Brossart. Midway through the second quarter though, McGovney picked up his second foul, which forced him to sit and watch for a few minutes.
The third quarter was played even, as Corey Holbrook hit a floater right before the buzzer to give the Camels their one-point lead back heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter got off to a bad start for Campbell County when McGovney was quickly whistled for his fourth foul on a charge call. The Camels were able to keep the Mustangs from making a big run with him out of the game by playing a 3-2 zone and packing it in. Brossart had some great looks but were unable to get them to go down. McGovney returned with four minutes left and made his presence felt. With under a minute left though, Holbrook eliminated Brossart’s 46-43 advantage by nailing a clutch three. Brossart called a quick timeout and went straight into their big man Joe Jennings on the ensuing possession to take the lead back at 48-46. After Campbell County turned it over with under 25 seconds left, they fouled Saunders to send him to the line. Saunders missed the front end of a one-on-one and the Camels were given a second chance. Campbell County tried driving the lane but after the shot was missed the ball was tipped way back out to the perimeter where McGovney chased it down and head coach Aric Russell called a timeout with 8.6 seconds left. The plan was to get the ball to McGovney, but after being triple-teamed, the standout wing wisely kicked it to his open teammate, Dalton Griffin. Griffin nailed a high-arching shot with his foot on the 3-point line to send it into overtime.
The Mustangs struggled to score and McGovney took over in the extra period, as the Camels outscored the Mustangs 10-6 to pull off the 58-54 upset over their crosstown rival.
Star of the game: McGovney was easily the star of the game. There might not be a more efficient scorer in the area. He doesn’t need a ton of shots to end up with a huge scoring night like he had on Friday with 26 points. He plays under control, he initiates contact to get to the free-throw line and he did a great job of playing with four fouls and not letting the officials take him out of his game. He superior athleticism and physical strength also makes him one of the toughest matchups in Northern Kentucky.
Top Performers:
Campbell County – Nate McGovney 26, Dalton Griffin 13, Corey Holbrook 10
Brossart – Joe Jennings 20, Justin Saunders 16
Turning Point in the Game: Obviously when a game goes into overtime, the easy suggestion for the turning point in the game is the final possession or two. In this case though, I’ve selected the second easiest suggestion – Griffin’s buzzer-beater to send it to overtime. That shot took a lot of wind out of the Mustangs’ sails. That’s not to say that they didn’t compete in overtime, but Campbell County had that, “No way we can lose this game now,” swagger to them at that point.
Why Campbell County Won the Game: There are several reasons why the Camels were able to pull this one out, but maybe the most important to their success going forward is that they got a team effort and saw multiple players step up. McGovney was incredible and still led the way for them with 26 points, but his minutes were limited a bit due to foul trouble. During stretches when he was out of the game, the Camels found a way to hold serve and even saw some guys step up and take charge. Sophomore guard Corey Holbrook had a strong game and is starting to play the role of creator off the dribble, as opposed to just a spot-up shooter. Also, Jared White stepped up and made some big shots. Last but not least, Dalton Griffin canned a 19-footer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime after McGovney was triple-teamed with the ball and deferred.
Why Brossart Lost the Game: If you had to pin the loss on one aspect of Brossart’s play, it’d have to be their shooting. Teams have started to try and go zone against the Mustangs and pack it in to keep their bigs from dominating on the block, and it seems to be working. The Mustangs haven’t been able to get consistent points out of their backcourt, and on Friday night they connected on just 2-of-22 from beyond the arc with both triples coming courtesy of senior Zach Fardo.
Up Next: Campbell County’s next game is at home against the Conner Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday night. Brossart will host Holy Cross on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
