Tony Campbell had another double-double with 18 points and 17 rebounds.
Holy Cross hadn’t played in an All ‘A’ State Tournament game since 1999, and Thursday evening they made sure they’d get the chance to play at least one more game.
Behind the efforts of their two top scorers, Tony Campbell and Jake Burger, the Indians were able to hold off Barbourville and their hot-shooting guard Josh Hildebrand to advance to the second-round where they’ll face Owen County.
Erik Goetz’s squad got off to a slow start offensively, as they led just 7-5 at the end of the first quarter, with their big bucket coming on a banked in 3-pointer by eighth-grader Markel McClendon.
“To me, it looked like we were anxious to shoot the basketball,” Goetz said after the game about his team’s slow start. “As we talked about at halftime, there was a reason we had so many open 3-point shots in the first half. They wanted us shooting 3-point shots and we played right into their hands in the first half. We did not do what we talked about, which was get the ball inside and work inside out. Combine that with some nervous energy out there and it just took us a while to get going offensively.”
The Indians got things going in the second quarter by going into their big man, Campbell for a quick two. That prompted an 11-0 Holy Cross run to start the quarter. Campbell scored seven points during that stretch.
Barbourville came storming back though. Hildebrand tallied 11 of his game-high 27 points in the second quarter, including burying three of his seven 3-pointers. The Tigers responded from an 18-5 deficit to tie the game up at 21-21 with 1:06 left in the half on Hildebrand’s third three.
On the heels of an 18-3 run by Barbourville, Campbell refused to let his team go into the half tied. The big man finished with an exclamation point in transition by throwing down a monster two-hand slam over top of a Barbourville defender, who also fouled him.
“It was pretty good. I think it got us going momentum-wise,” Campbell said about his thunderous jam. “We were nervous in the beginning and after that dunk, it seemed like we just got pumped.”
Leading 23-21 at halftime, Goetz was knew his team’s style and depth would wear down the opposition. However, he did implement minor adjustments to slow down Hildebrand.
“We’re still going to pressure, but we just tried to be more aware of him and have guys shadow him, not look to help off of him or even rotate off of him,” Goetz said about the message to his team at halftime. “Of course, he still got loose and got a couple in the second half. He’s just an excellent shooter. We’re so accustomed to trapping you and chasing you, it leads to open shots some times. That’s just part of the deal.”
The Indians were able to extend their lead again to start the third quarter with another big run sparked by their defense. Five Barbourville turnovers resulted in seven points for the Indians, and they held the Tigers without a point for the first 4:55 of the half.
That allowed Holy Cross time to go on a 9-0 run, and extend their lead to 11. The Indians led by seven at the end of the third quarter.
“Every time we pushed it out to double figures, we hoped we could keep pushing it out. I thought eventually they’d have to wear down, because they weren’t playing as many guys as we were,” Goetz said. “We talked about how explosive they are offensively, especially Broughton and Hildebrand, as Hildebrand showed tonight. You never want a team like that to hang around because of their shot-makers. I felt good that with our depth and our pace, we would prevail in the end. I felt better about the way we played in the second half.”
The fourth quarter was a battle between Burger and Hildebrand, as they carried their respective teams down the stretch. Burger put the Indians up by six, after a quick 5-0 start to the quarter for the Tigers. Hildebrand immediately cut it to a one possession game with a three at the other end. Not to be outdone, Burger answered with a 3-pointer of his own at the other end. After a Barbourville turnover, Burger extended the Indians lead to nine with 2:52 left to play, as he completed an old-fashioned 3-point play.
Burger had 14 points in the quarter, but even more important than his scoring was his offensive rebounding. The Indians had 10 second chance points in the quarter, and were able to kill the clock by extending their possessions.
“That’s what that kid does. He just goes and gets the ball better than any 6-1 or 6-2 kid I’ve ever been around,” Goetz said about Burger. “We didn’t shoot it very well from the free-throw line, but he was going getting the rebound and sticking it in. He just pursues the ball relentlessly and got some huge baskets for us down the stretch to put them away.”
The Indians closed the game down the stretch and escaped with a 57-47 win.
Burger led Holy Cross with a team-high 23 points and eight rebounds. Campbell added 18 points and 17 rebounds.
The difference in the game could be seen easily in the stat line. The size, athleticism and speed of the Indians was too much for the Tigers to overcome. Holy Cross converted 16 Barbourville turnovers into 19 points and outscored them 23-6 in second-chance points.
Holy Cross takes on Owen County Friday night at 8 p.m.
Holy Cross Scoring: Jake Burger 23, Tony Campbell 18, Christian McClendon 6, Travis Gabbard 3, Travis Thompson 3, Markel McClendon 3, Jared Fortner 1
Barbourville Scoring: Josh Hildebrand 27, Tanner Broughton 8, Devin Mills 4, Darrin Mills 3, Tyler Tye 3, Steven Rudd 2
Video:
