The Campbell County Camels boys basketball team (20-11) had been playing good basketball lately besting their first three post-season opponents by an average of nearly 40 points.
In the semifinals at Holmes on Monday, the Camels hoped to keep their 12-game winning streak going and earn a shot at the top-ranked George Rogers Clark Cardinals (32-1) in the 10th Region title game Tuesday. The Cardinals edged the Camels, 60-59 in the title game last year.
But it did not happen. The Bracken County Polar Bears (24-9) pulled off a 71-69 overtime victory. The Camels also lost a tight game in to the Polar Bears on Jan. 4 in Brooksville, 75-73 during the regular season. This is the most wins Bracken County has recorded since going 30-7 in 1955 when the Polar Bears won their last region championship.
“You’re going to have to grind everything out when you’re a Class A school,” said Adam Reed, Bracken County Head Coach. “If we’re better or not better than a team, it really doesn’t matter because the numbers finally come up when you get in foul trouble or size hits. You have to continue to work your game and hopefully, you make plays down the stretch. We were able to the right ones and get the win.”
Every free throw went a long way in this one. The Polar Bears made 8 of 10 for 80 percent and the Camels made 15 of 23 for 65 percent. Bracken County also won the rebounding battle, 33-30.
Tied at 69 with under a minute remaining in overtime, Bracken County freshman guard Cayden Reed found his brother in sophomore guard Blake Reed cutting to the rim. Blake Reed ran into Campbell County junior power forward Des Davie putting the shot up short as the two fell to the floor. That’s when junior guard JuShod Commodore found it and put it in for the game-winning score. Campbell County’s final shot did not go.
The Camels took two one-point leads in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Jake Gross made a free throw with 3:23 left in overtime to put Campbell County up 67-66 and Davie had an offensive rebound with 2:07 left to put the Camels up 69-68. Blake Reed made a free throw with 1:32 left to tie the game at 69.
The Camels built a nice lead in the first half pounding the ball inside to Davie. He finished with 21. Gross followed with 16 and junior forward Ayden Hamilton scored 14.
Blake Reed scored 23 points to lead the Polar Bears. He ranks sixth in the state in points per game averaging 28.7 points per game. Cayden Reed scored 16.
Players like Blake Reed are tough to stop from scoring their points. But coaches have said teams can’t let other players go off. That’s where sophomore Devante Jefferson came in for the Polar Bears scoring 22. Commodore added eight.
The Camels often threw two players at the Reed brothers trying to get the ball out of their hands. Campbell County recorded some turnovers off that strategy.
“I thought we did well early on trying to get the ball out of (the Reed brothers’ hands),” said Aric Russell, Campbell County Head Coach. “But they got some run-outs on us. We didn’t do a good job rotating a few times out of it. I think it kind of wore us down near the end. (Jefferson) did what he should have done when we left him. So then we had to adjust to that.”
Campbell County led 13-10 after the first quarter. Davie scored nine in that quarter. The Camels built a 25-12 lead with 3:44 left in the first half after sophomore Nathan Smith made a three.
The Camels led 35-23 after Gross made a triple from the right wing with 35 seconds left in the half. They had a chance to extend it. But Commodore had a steal and score with two seconds left to cut the lead to 35-25 at halftime. Davie picked up his second foul with 5:28 left and he had to sit a good bit of the second quarter.
Bracken County fought back and trimmed it to one twice in the third quarter. But after Blake Reed received a technical foul, Gross made two free throws. Then following a double technical on Davie and Cayden Reed, Davie made one of two free throws to put the Camels up 52-46. That marked Davie’s fourth foul and he had to sit some in the fourth quarter. Cayden Reed hit a lay-up with 32.6 seconds left to trim the Camel lead to 52-48 after three quarters.
“Both kids said they didn’t say anything, which I didn’t see them say anything,” Russell said. “It’s one of those things where it is hard to get (Davie) going when he’s in foul trouble.”
Bracken County started the fourth quarter with nine in a row to go up 57-52 following a Commodore jumper. But Gross made a three and senior guard Garrett Siry made a lay-up to tie the game at 59 with 3:10 to go.
Tied at 63, Campbell County freshman guard Garyn Jackson recorded a steal and lay-up with 19.4 seconds left to put the Camels up 65-63. Campbell County then had a chance to put the game away after Smith recorded a steal and passed it to Jackson.
Jackson made one of two free throws to give Campbell County a 66-63 advantage with 8.5 seconds left in regulation. But Blake Reed brought the ball up the court and found his brother trailing the play. Cayden Reed made triple from the right wing to tie it with two seconds remaining.
“I contemplated calling a timeout and I didn’t. Hindsight 20-20, I didn’t want to call it. That was the last one I had,” Russell said. “I guess I should have called it. But (Cayden Reed) made a great shot.”
The Camels still won their eighth straight 37th District championship. They only graduate two seniors in Siry and forward Trent Sorgenfrei.
“It’s made high school a lot better,” Siry said of his basketball experiences. “I had friends that turned into family. This year, we didn’t get as far as wanted to. But it was a great season and I’ll always remember it.”
Campbell County has won four region championships since Russell took over the program in 2010. The Camels lost 42-40 against eventual state champion Louisville Trinity in the state semifinals in 2019.
“I’m going to miss (Siry and Sorgenfrei),” Russell said. “I’m glad they gave me a lot of good years. I know they’re going to be real successful in whatever they do next. We’re pretty young, really. We’re going to have a lot of good senior leadership next year. They got a lot of good experience this year.”
The Camels will still be among the region contenders next season. GRC graduates six seniors with Mason County and Bracken County graduating five and two respectively.
10th Region Boys Basketball Tournament at Holmes:
Quarterfinals on Wednesday, March 2:
Mason County 69, Bishop Brossart 50
George Rogers Clark 103, Robertson County 50
Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 3:
Campbell County 66, Paris 34
Bracken County 63, Harrison County 60 (2OT)
Semifinals on Monday, March 7:
George Rogers Clark 57, Mason County 45
Bracken County 71, Campbell County 69 (OT)
Championship Game on Tuesday, March 8:
George Rogers Clark (32-1) vs. Bracken County (24-9), 7 p.m.
