Hornets shoot down Camels in overtime

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Campbell's Cale Weeks (42) shoots over Advance's Chris Welch during the second half of Thursday's high school boys' basketball game at Campbell. [Click to enlarge]

CAMPBELL, Mo. -- In an intriguing non-conference matchup, the Advance Hornets traveled to Campbell Thursday to meet the Campbell camels. With both schools having proud basketball traditions, it was expected to be an exciting matchup. It's safe to say the Camels and Hornets did not disappoint as Advance walked away with a 63-58 overtime win.

Jordan Baggett got things started on a high note for Campbell in the first quarter by penetrating numerous times and scoring eight of Campbell's 13 first-quarter points on their way to a 13-11 lead at the end of the period.

As the second quarter got underway, Advance caught fire making their first five shots from the field as they took a 28-26 lead forcing Campbell coach Steve Fowler to call timeout. A subsequent Andrew Pearson lay-up followed by a 3-pointer from Advance junior Jacob Bond gave the Hornets a 31-28 lead at the half.

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Campbell's Jake Tinnon (33) shoots over Advance's Chris Welch during the fourth quarter of Thursday's high school boys' basketball game at Campbell. [Click to enlarge]

Coming out of halftime the Camels showed a different look on defense and held Advance to just nine third-quarter points and were led on offense by Andrew Pearson, who added five of his eventual 14 points on the night, as the score was knotted at 40-40 going into the fourth and final quarter.

In a game that was fairly slow moving for three quarters, the fourth quarter provided plenty of excitement. When a game is tied heading into the fourth quarter, it becomes obvious that an individual from one of the two teams has to step up and be the hero. In this case, it was a player from both teams as Campbell sophomore Justin Fowler and Advance point guard David VanGennip took their games to the next level when it mattered most.

In the opening minutes of the final quarter it looked like Advance was poised to finally pull away as VanGennip drained a 3 from the top of the key along with a pair of layups from Bond gave the Hornets a 48-42 lead with five minutes to play as coach Fowler called timeout and called his nephew's number. As the ball was inbounded Fowler cut the lead to four points with a quick bucket, and following an Advance turnover, nailed a long 3 from the wing to cut the Hornet lead to 48-47.

Bond and Baggett exchanged layups on the next two possessions to make it a 50-49 score before Cale Weeks tied the game again after sinking a free throw. Things looked hopeless for the Camels, however, when VanGennip slashed to the bucket and got the shot to fall while drawing contact and knocking down his free throw to finish the 3-point play. As the Camels crossed half court with 15 seconds to go and down by three, Baggett hit Justin Fowler coming off a screen on the wing and he drained the 20-footer to send the game into overtime, and the Campbell crowd into a frenzy.

In the extra session, however, VanGennip simply wouldn't be outdone as he made 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in overtime to put the game away for Advance.

VanGennip led the Advance offensive attack with 27 points on the night, while Bond joined him in double digits with 14. On the Campbell side, Justin Fowler led the scoring effort with a total of 16 points as Baggett added 14 to help pace the Camels.