Maybe they were taking a page out of Highlands playbook from a few nights ago.
But whatever Campbell County (4-3) did on Friday night, they’ll want to bottle that up and save it for the rest of the season.
After seeing Highlands hit 15 three-pointers on them Tuesday night in a 101-85 defeat, the Camels hit nine first half 3-pointers on their way to a rout of Bishop Brossart (5-3), taking the crosstown shootout, 86-66.
“We shot well. We were wanting to get up-tempo and get going up the floor. Jake (Gross) kind of got us going hitting three’s early. And he also got us going defensively and then others guys got started,” Camels coach Aric Russell said. “They were keying in on Aydan (Hamilton) so bad guys were wide open. Even guys coming off the bench were doing what we asked them to do. We got some stops early and then it just kind of snowballed, but yeah, we were shooting really well tonight.”
They’d cool down a little from deep in the second half, but the game was virtually decided by halftime, Campbell County posting 52 points by the break in building a 52-30 advantage.
Jake Gross had the hot hand early, draining three early triples as the Camels hit four in the opening frame on their way to a 24-16 edge after eight minutes of play. Gross finished with 16 points, 13 of them coming in the first half flurry.
“When you get the jump early, it’s kind of hard to come back from and you just keep pushing. We just pushed the ball and found the open man,” Gross said.
His teammates followed suit, Nathan Smith hitting one, Aydan Hamilton fighting off early foul trouble to hit two in the second quarter, Garyn Jackson and then Broc Sorgenfrei hitting two, the last one before the first half horn to break open the 22-point lead. The Camels were amped up in front of a packed house at Campbell County Middle School.
“It’s such a fun game for the kids because you get it in the middle of the season, you get a playoff type, district type atmosphere. Every year it’s a really big game and the whole town comes out to see it. It’s really special for kids. They’ve grown up watching this and then when they get their shot they are ready to go and that’s for both teams. It’s just a really fun game and it’s good for for Alexandria. It’s good for both schools,” Russell said.
Turnovers were a culprit for the Mustangs in the first half, committing 10 of them as it helped the Camels get out in transition for a lot of open looks. After things were all square at 10 apiece is when things started to go downward for the Mustangs.
“We just didn’t take care of the ball. We dribbled too much and kind of played into their hands with with those turnovers. A lot of self inflicted wounds and give them credit, they hit shots,” Mustangs coach Ben Franzen said.
From there a 12-2 fourth quarter run was one of the only other bright spots for the Mustangs, dropping to 5-3 on the season and losing three of their last four. They were led by Luke Schumacher and Logan Woosley with 18 points apiece, Mason Sepate chipping in 14 as Franzen got his first taste of the crosstown shootout and got to face his alma mater for the first time in his head coaching career. Franzen is a 2009 Campbell County grad, all too familiar with the rivalry.
“You see a lot of atmospheres, but there’s not too many like this. I was with the Colonel Crazies for years at Covington Catholic. This rivals that and if you like basketball that atmosphere doesn’t get much better than that,” Franzen said.
But the Camels now have the leg up in the 37th District, as has been the case for pretty much the last nine seasons in winning nine straight 37th District titles.
They were paced by Hamilton’s 17 points, Gross with 16, Connor Weinel and Jaidan Combs with 12 apiece as they had 10 different players enter the scoring column.
“I’m proud of all my teammates. Sharing the ball, moving it and getting wide open looks,” Hamilton said. “Defensively we were just physical with them. Watching film we saw teams be physical with them and they were having a hard time scoring against teams that were physical with them.”
Both teams have the weekend off before returning to action next week. The Mustangs take on Bellevue on Monday at 7:30 p.m., while the Camels host Calvary Christian on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.