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Tigers cruise past Clarkton into Campbell semis
CAMPBELL — The Neelyville Tigers boys basketball team notched its first win of the season Tuesday night with a 68-40 rout of the Clarkton Reindeer in the first round of the Campbell Invitational.
Casen Stephens led the offensive attack with a 30-point game while Neelyville kept winning the turnover battle giving them plenty of looks at the basket.
“Defensively, I feel like we did a good job putting pressure on the ball,” Neelyville coach Brad Burdin said. “We caused a little chaos on the floor, and a big focus for us going into the season was limiting the amount of times we turn the ball over.”
Zak Cowley contributed to the chaos, getting a couple of easy buckets on fast breaks with his nine-point total for the evening. Kye Wolfram was also in double figures for the Tigers with an even 10 points for the game.
The lopsided affair also allowed Burdin to get some of his younger players on the floor for some varsity minutes.
“I’m not too worried about shots falling in December,” Burdin said. “That’s more of a concern come February, but I really liked our effort. We were fairly patient and we were able to get some fresh legs in there late in the game and get them some experience.”
For Clarkton, the Reindeer fall to 0-2 to start the season.
James Johnson led the team’s offense with 17 points while Caleb Redden contributed 11.
Neelyville stepped on the gas from the opening tip and did not look back with the duo of Stephens and Wolfram dropping all 15 points the Tigers scored in the first quarter to Clarkton’s six points.
Clarkton was able to generate a little more offense in the second quarter and even got a few trips to the free-throw line, but couldn’t really get anything going as Neelyville went into halftime up 32-18.
Clarkton only went 3-for-8 from the charity stripe for the entire game while Neelyville made a little over half of its free throws, going eight of 14.
Neelyville kept on rolling in the second half with a comfortable lead as the Tigers were able to cruise through the final 16 minutes for the win.
Neelyville will advance to face the hosting Campbell Camels at 8 p.m. on Thursday. The hosts defeated Bloomfield 66-45 in Tuesday’s other first-round contest. Meanwhile, Clarkton will face Bloomfield in the consolation bracket with that game starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday.