It’s an early season test the two have scheduled for many years.

It’s also a gauge of where the two are, knowing a matchup in March is inevitable.

When Campbell County and George Rogers Clark meet, it’s typically the top two teams in the 10th Region, evidenced by a combined nine region titles between the two over the last 12 seasons.

“Come March, you know, they’re going to be right there,” Cardinals coach Josh Cook said.

So when the two met Thursday in Claryville, it was the Cardinals giving the Camels a gauge of where they needed to be with a 77-53 victory. GRC came in as one of the top five preseason ranked teams in the state while the Camels look to reload as 10th Region Player of the Year Garyn Jackson graduated.

“This is a good checkpoint of where we’re at and where we need to improve,” Camels coach Brent Sowder said.

The Cardinals used a big third quarter as their pressure defense made the Camels cave and outscored them 26-11 in the frame to turn a 32-26 halftime advantage into a 58-37 runaway.

PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton

They kept a comfortable distance in the fourth to show every bit of their top five preseason ranking. They were paced by three in double-digits led by Ryder Akins 19 points, Montez Gay with 16 and Malachi Ashford tossing in 13.

“It was a good growing point for us tonight because we were able to kind of tweak some of our pressure on the fly and kind of play it a couple different ways,” Cook said. “And when we did that, we were pretty good at it and it and turned them over and it gave us some easy transition points.”

After a season opening win on Tuesday over Dixie Heights, the Camels fall to 1-1. They were led by Austin Davie’s 13 points, Davie recording a triple-double in the season opener against the Colonels. Lucas Anthrop added 10 points.

Campbell County took a 9-8 lead in the first after a Cade Anthrop triple, but it was answered by a 6-0 GRC run to end the quarter. The run continued into the second as the Cardinals led by as much as 10 before the Camels answered with a 12-2 run to make it 21-all with three minutes to go in the half. GRC closed a quarter strong again as they scored the final five points of the half for a 32-26 edge. It was a promising stretch of 16 minutes of basketball for the Camels despite the deficit as Davie was plagued with two fouls in the first quarter while others stepped up.

“We played at a high level for two quarters, now we need to learn how to do it for four quarters,” Sowder said. “Just got to continue to grow. First half I saw the team I know we can be. Lot of good looks, moved the ball.”

The full court pressure really sped the Camels up in the third and so did the scoreboard operator for the Cardinals balance.

“Third quarter was an all systems fail,” Sowder said. “Put that on me. Their pressure got to us and we got the Mike Tyson upper cut. They mentally wore us down, rushed us and did a real good job of getting us to our breaking point. ”

Campbell County hits the court again on Saturday when they play at Calvary Christian in a 37th District matchup.

GRC hosts the Mr. Basketball Classic on Saturday and faces Jonathan Moss and Daviess County. Moss is a Mr. Basketball candidate committed to Tennessee-Chattanooga.

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 77, CAMPBELL COUNTY 53

GEORGE ROGERS CLARK — 14-18-26-19 — 77

CAMPBELL COUNTY — 9-17-11-16 — 53

Scoring

GRC (77) –Akins 19, Gay 16, Ashford 13, Johnson 9, Bartleson 9, Thomas 8, Anthony 3

Campbell (53) — Davie 13, L. Anthrop 10, C. Anthrop 7, X. Guy 6, Norwell 5, Elam 5, Eaton 5, B. Guy 2

Game Stats

3-Pointers Made: GRC 6, Campbell 5

Free Throws: GRC 5/7, Campbell 6/9

Fouls: GRC 13, Campbell 5

Records: George Rogers Clark 2-0, Campbell County 1-1