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Campbell Camels clinch home tournament title over Bernie
CAMPBELL, Mo. - The third-seeded Campbell Camels faced off against the fifth-seed Bernie Mules on Campbells' home floor Friday night for the right to claim the Championship of the 2024 Campbell Invitational Tournament.
Campbell took the opening tip and 20 seconds later, Layden Kellum, the fiery senior guard for the Camels, sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a downtown three-pointer at the top of the key. Furthermore, the defender crashed into Kellum, fouling him for a chance at a four-point play. This sparked the crowd and motivated their players even more to start the game ahead 4-0.
Cade Arnold, the senior center for Bernie, quickly responded with a neat jumper to cut the lead in half at 4-2.
After the adrenaline and nerves settled down, the focus, flow of the game and the seriousness of what was at stake took over. The two teams began feeling each other out, trying to determine what the other team was trying to do and what they could do to counter the defensive moves presented to them.
Neither team scored again until there was 3:30 left in the quarter. Campbell’s Kennen Siebert, the junior off the bench, struck the three-pointer to stretch the lead to 7-2. However, Campbell would only score one more two-pointer in the quarter.
They were outscored by Bernie with a flourish of timely consecutive buckets from their stars. This included sophomore Chase Guiling, senior Taven Owens and their great perimeter shooter Cane Hobgood, a sophomore. They went on an 11-2 run to end the quarter with a big momentum swing and the lead at 14-9.
In the second quarter, Bernie turned the tables on the long-range bombing Camels. They connected on three three-pointers of their own compared to only one for the Campbells. However, the one three-pointer was a buzzer-beater by senior Ben Rowland who reduced a possible 10-point lead by Bernie at the half.
A bookend opening four-point play to a buzzer-beater three to cut the lead to only seven points at 25-18 was a huge momentum swing for the Camels.
And, oh, did that momentum swing continue for Campbell at the start of the third quarter.
In the first four minutes and thirty seconds, Campbell erupted for another 12-5 run to tie the score up at 30 with 3 minutes and thirty seconds left. From there to the end of the third, several controversial calls all went Campbell's way. Including a walking call on a Bernie player under the basket, which the coach for Bernie highly objected to. He began showing the referee with his feet how his player held his pivot foot and was only turning his other foot in a swivel motion. This led to a technical foul and two free throws made by Campbell to increase the run to 16-5 and gain a 34-30 lead.
Five points in a row by Kellum and Fowler for the Camels compared to only one bucket for Bernie from sophomore Hunter Massey, followed by a last-second three-pointer again by Rowland for the Mules completed the dominant third quarter. Campbell outscored the Mules 26-7 and finished the quarter ahead 44-32 virtually ending the game.
Campbell and Bernie would swap buckets for the entire fourth quarter, which favored the Camels since they were up by 12. Bernie made three three-pointers to try to reduce the deficit, but Campbell made three of their own to keep pace. This gave the Camels 11 total three-pointers for the game, which is remarkably right at their average.
Bernie outscored the Camels in the final period 15-14 and 14-9 in the first period, but the deficit of 26-7 in the third proved too large to overcome. The high scorer for the game was Drew Fowler, the 5'10” junior for Campbell. He was held to only two buckets in the first half and just 5 points, but exploded in the third and fourth quarters. Fowler scored 11 in the third along with 9 more in the fourth to complete 20 points in the second half. He ended up with a game-high 25 points. His starting co-partner Landen Kellum poured in 12 points, and the super sub, Kennen Seibert poured in 11 during the second half. This included three three-pointers to finish with 17 big bench points.
Campbell is now 2-0 on the young season and CIT 2024 Champions.
When Coach Fowler was asked about their slow start in the first half, he jokingly said there was a lid on top of the rim on their end of the floor. Seriously, he said he knew they were getting great shots against Bernie’s zone defense, but were not executing the results. He began the third period focusing on better ways to finish the plays and stay with the plan. He was especially proud of the way his team finished at the end of the half, making that crucial three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit from 10 down to 7 at halftime and carry it deep into that run in the third quarter that sealed the game.
Campbell, now 3-1 on the young season, can rest and celebrate for a few days before they face off against Neelyville again at home on Dec. 10. This game begins at 8 p.m.
Bernie, now 2-1, has two tough road games against Woodland on Dec. 17 and Bell City on Dec. 19, both beginning at 7:30 p.m