Campbell County squeezes past Newport 43-40, moves on to Sweet 16 quarterfinals
The final game of the first round of the Sweet 16 tournament on Thursday night at Rupp Arena was a nail-biter — a back-and-forth battle between Campbell County and Newport.
Ultimately, the No. 14 Campbell County Camels came out on top over the No. 2 ranked Wildcats, 43-40, to advance to the Sweet 16 quarterfinals.
Newport’s star sophomore, Tay Kinney, came into the game dealing with an injury but ultimately decided to tough it out. He played just five minutes before the pain became too much and forced him to the bench. In his place, James Turner paced the Wildcats with 14 points and five rebounds, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Newport’s Deshaun Jackson opened the game with a layup, a defensive rebound, and an assist to Griffin Starks’ dunk to spark a 4-0 lead. It was another two minutes before either team made a shot, a drought ended by Campbell’s Garyn Jackson, who finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
A fast break drive to the basket by Campbell’s William Johnson tied the game 4-4 with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter. The Camels took the lead with under two minutes to go in the first, thanks to a tip-in, then a layup by Broc Sorgenfrei. Newport’s James Turner immediately answered with a dunk to end the first quarter.
Starting the second, Campbell County led by only one. It was a full two minutes before a ball found the bottom of the basket, much like the first quarter. The two teams were trading shot attempts and defensive rebounds until the 6:06 mark in the second quarter, thanks to a Garyn Jackson jump shot.
At that point, Campbell County started to turn on the burners. Xavier Fancher drained a three-pointer, and then Jackson added yet another bucket. Campbell County forced Newport to take a timeout with the score at 18-10. The Wildcats didn’t score a basket until almost three minutes left in the half.
Campbell County took a double-digit lead at the half, 24-14, after Newport scored just four points total in the second quarter.
The Wildcats weren’t going to give up there, however. Newport opened the second half with a 10-3 run to cut the Camels’ lead to three. Finally, Campbell County got some points on the board with a three by none other than Sorgenfrei. For the remainder of the third quarter, it was a back-and-forth battle. Both teams were knotted at 32 going into the final eight minutes.
Deep into the fourth quarter, Campbell County was up one point with less than 10 seconds to go in the game. A Newport timeout and two Campbell County timeouts were called one right after another in the final seconds. Through efforts to stop the clocks with timeouts and fouls, the Newport Wildcats were unable to hold on and fell to the Campbell County Camels.
Sorgenfrei powered Campbell County with a team-high 12 points. He was aided by nine points and 10 rebounds from Connor Weinel. The Camels shot 42.4 percent from the field compared to just 36.7 percent from Newport, including a 2-12 clip from deep for the Wildcats. Campbell County also attempted 10 more free throws than Newport.
Up next, Campbell County plays Harlan County in the Sweet 16 quarterfinals on Friday, March 22, at 6:00 p.m. EST.
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