Campbell comes up short against Portageville

CAMPBELL - The Campbell High School Boys Basketball Junior Varsity Camels took the Portageville High School Boys JV Basketball team to the boards here Tuesday in its 50-40 rout against the Bulldogs.

However, the Camels varsity squad came up short in its home game against the Dawgs, 47-44.

Campbell JV started Zander Mayberry, Kennan Siebert, Drew Fowler, Carson Belcher and Wyatt Janson. Portageville JV started Justus Sullivan, Mason Baab, Taner Hopgood, Jack Bell and Antonio Higgenbottom.

The Camels JV led the Bulldogs JV throughout the game, 12-5 after the first period buzzer; 19-9 at the half; 35-20 after the third quarter; and the final, 50-40.

High scorers for Campbell were Carson Belcher with 12 points and Zander Mayberry with 10.

The Bulldogs' top guns were Jack Bell with 14 points and Antonio Higgenbottom with 13.

Campbell JV drew first blood with a three-point missile from the corner and followed with a foul shot, 4-0 Campbell with 6:26 left to play in the first quarter.

The Camels' coaching and communication skills were evident on the court based on the numerous successful assists offered among players throughout the game.

Portageville JV players' excellent coaching was on point as well, and the team seemed to confuse the Campbell squad with a number of cross-court, high-velocity passes as the Bulldogs JV worked toward the goals.

But that just wasn't enough to topple the Camels JV and the Campbell boys ended the game 10 points on top, 50-40.

The Camels varsity team featured 6' senior point guard/shooting guard Logan Townsend, 6' senior shooting guard Sam Bunting, 6'2" junior power forward Ben Rowland, 6'3" junior shooting guard Tanner Smart and Beckett Hanners.

The Bulldogs came out gunning and drew first blood, then ran up the score 15-6 to draw the first period to a close.

The second period was slow, with both teams' defensive games running hot and the Camels trailed the Bulldogs by 10 at the half, 19-9.

The Camels went on a roll, fought back and took the Bulldogs to task 21-15.

But it didn't take long for Portageville to answer. With 2:32 left in the third after a couple of three-point conversions, the Bulldogs pulled ahead 32-18 with Campbell committing five fouls and Portageville three.

The Dawgs plowed on 37-25 against the Camels with six minutes left to play.

And the Camels powered back 38-28 with 5:20 remaining on the clock.

If the Camels started the contest as strongly as the players finished, the game might have had a different outcome. But the Bulldogs held on and the Camels bowed in the final seconds, 47-44.

Camels' Head Coach Steve Fowler noted the varsity team played two ferocious squads back-to-back.

"We came out super flat with no energy," Coach Fowler said. "We played super hard last night against a solid Risco team.

"Then we turned around and played another solid team, Portageville, tonight," he added. "We looked to be in slow motion for too long. We finally picked up energy in the fourth quarter. But it was just too late. You have to be ready to compete at your highest level to be able to beat a team like Portageville. We'll have to learn from this game and get ready for another tough conference game on Friday."

Bulldogs head coach T.J. Smith, in his second year coaching the team, said his squad's 8-4 record speaks to the quality of area players.

"We played in the Clarkton championship game and got beat by Risco by one," Coach Smith said. "We played in the Christmas Tournament at Bloomfield and lost to Richland and placed sixth."

Coach Smith said the game against the Camels "was a tough one, definitely," all around.

"They were consistent both ways," Coach Smith said. "That makes it hard to finish inside when a team plays that physical.

"I knew it was gonna be a low-scoring game," he added. "They hit a couple of threes there late to make it interesting, which was what I was worried about because they are a really, really good shooting team. A couple of those fall for them and we don't have a couple to respond? It turned into what it did. A lot closer game at the end than it was for the majority of it."

The Portageville Bulldogs face the Sikeston Bulldogs on the road tonight.