Talk about a tale of two halves.
Campbell County’s first half just ended up being a little bit better.
The Camels shot out to a 46-20 halftime lead and hung on for dear life in a 71-67 victory over Montgomery County in Friday’s first 10th Region semifinal at The Fieldhouse.
It was a first half Camels clinic, shooting 66 percent and committing just two turnovers, Garrett Beiting and Aydan Hamilton combining for 33 points in the half.
“Just get one to go in, get the crowd going, get a little momentum and just want to win,” Beiting said. “Controlled the glass pretty much, our defense led to offense, transition buckets and then just staying to it, running the offense and getting to the hoop.”
Then it was the Indians turn. They’d turn the tables quickly in the third, outscoring the Camels 26-10 as Hagan Harrison caught fire with 14 third quarter points and getting them within 10 by the fourth.
Montgomery continued to inch closer in the fourth, getting within six, but a Harrison 3-pointer rimmed out in the closing minutes to get any closer and then a fifth foul came from the Indians junior on the Camels fourth drawn charge of the night.
Leading 67-61, Hamilton knocked down two free throws, Dane Hegyi followed with another to make it 70-61 with 38 seconds left. Rickey Lovette created three points for himself after hitting a free throw and intentionally missing the second, getting his own rebound and putback to make it 70-64. The Indians forced a turnover, but a 3-point attempt went long and that was pretty much all she wrote, a Camels free throw followed by a Lovette 3-pointer at the buzzer making it a 71-67 final.
“We had to keep rebounding the ball, take care of it. Couple shots didn’t go in, turned the ball over, but that fourth quarter just wanted to hang on. Held on,” Camels coach Aric Russell said. “Gameplan worked early and then they got hot. Anytime you run a zone and team’s start hitting three’s like that it’s tough, but we held on.”
Not many expected the Camels in Saturday’s 10th Region championship, but here they are making a sixth region final appearance in the last eight years, winning four of the five previous ones they were in.
“Crazy. Surreal. Golden age of Campbell County I guess. Good coaches, good kids that believe what I put out there as far as how the program is set up. Then we execute. It’s always my philosophy to get ready by March. I don’t really worry about early season losses and might try some things during the season that might lose me a game, but I’ll try it then and it might lose me a game, but I want to try it then and see if it will work and see if I can use it in the postseason. Kids believe in it, coaches believe in it and we executed tonight,” Russell said.
Beiting led the Camels with 28, Eric Davie adding 17 points and 10 rebounds, Hamilton with 15. Their next task comes with defending 10th Region champ George Rogers Clark Saturday night at 7 p.m., who defeated Mason County in the nightcap.
Harrison and Lovette both had 20 for the Indians and were named to the All-Tournament team. EJ Morgan added 14, Montgomery County’s season ending at 12-9 and featured a senior heavy team, five of the top eight players playing their last game Friday night.
CAMELS 71, INDIANS 67
MONTGOMERY COUNTY — 9-11-26-21 — 67
CAMPBELL COUNTY — 20-26-10-15 — 71
Field Goals: Montgomery 25/56, Campbell 28/50
3-Pointers: Montgomery 12/31, Campbell 6/13
Free Throws: Montgomery 5/9, Campbell 9/16
Rebounds: Montgomery 26 (Lovette 8), Campbell 32 (Davie 10)
Assists: Montgomery 7 (Lovette 4), Campbell 9 (Beiting 3)
Turnovers: Montgomery 12, Campbell 10
Fouls: Montgomery 17, Campbell 11
Records: Montgomery County 12-9, Campbell County 18-8
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