Ramble in Campbell: Camels beat Neelyville in Overtime

CAMPBELL, Mo. - The Neelyville Tigers and the Campbell Camels programs are very familiar with one another.

Having been rivals for many years and facing each other numerous times through the years, their contests are almost always epic highlight battles. Thursday's Semi-Final battle was no different, it was like a boxing match between two heavyweights.

Campbell started the game exactly as they had done last Tuesday night, raining threes from everywhere. They bolted to a 14-3 lead before their home crowd fans had even gotten seated.

However, due to Neelyville’s Carson Parker and his dominance under the basket, scoring eight points in the first quarter, the lead after one quarter was only 16-13 for Campbell.

The second quarter became a feeling-out process for both teams. Each squad and their coaches tried to determine the best way to attack the others' weaknesses. Not much of anything happened with both teams scoring a combined total of 15 points. Campbell barely led at halftime with the score being 25-19.

The second half began with Campbell hitting three three-pointers, but only scoring 11 points in the third quarter. Neelyville began to spread the wealth around and got scoring from five different players, totaling 18 points and taking a slim 37-36 lead.

The fans had no idea what they were about to witness in the fourth quarter. Five minutes into it, Campbell had outscored Neelyville 11-0 to jump to a 47-37 lead.

A quick timeout by Neelyville’s head coach Brad Burdin regrouped his troops. They finished with a flurry to outscore Campbell 18-8 in the final three minutes and send the game into overtime tied at 55.

The RAMBLE IN CAMPBELL finished with Cambell outlasting Neelyville 12-5 in OT, winning 67-60 in a thriller.

Campbell advanced to the finals to face off against the Bernie Mules on Friday, Dec. 6. The Neelyville Tigers slid into the third-place game against the Risco Tigers on that same night.