Campion College upset Meadowbrook to record a narrow 38-37 win to remain unbeaten at home as action continued in the Southern Zone of the KFC ISSA Basketball Competition. The match was close from the get-go as their previous match, with Campion eventually pulling it out in a 'must win' match for the Campionites in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. The match went back and forth as both teams exchanged the lead. At the end of the first the score was tied at 9. At halftime the score remained close with Meadowbrook having a narrow 20-18 lead. The third quarter saw much of the same with both teams exchanging baskets and deseprately vieing for the win. In the end Campion got it together and kept their cool as they came away winners by one point.
LOST?
Campion was allowed to dribble away the last 18 seconds of the match witho Meadowbrook not seeming to have the presence of mind to foul in order to get back the ball.
CLOSING SECONDS OF THE MATCH
REBOUNDING MONSTERS
Xavier Thompson and Leighton Samuels were monsters on the glass as they combined for a SEASON-HIGH 36 rebounds. Both had 10 rebounds each at the half and 18 rebounds (each)at the end of the match.
'MEN OF THE MATCH'
All starters contributed tremendously and all deserve an award for their outstanidng play.
REFUSED TO CHOKE
Even though they are well known for choking, the Campionites stuck to their guns and came away with an impressive victory.
BIGGEST HOME CROWD
Campion saw their largest crowd at a home match in a number of years. Campion is notorious for having away team crowds outnumber their own.
DAY OF CAREER HIGHS:
Xavier Thompson and Leighton Samuels both had whopping 18 rebounds each which broke their previous career highs. Prior to this Xavier Thompson's carEer high was 13 rebounds and Samuels 11. This made it back-to-back career highs for Xavier Thompson who had only the match before recorded a new career high in rebounds. Jason Blankson also tied his career high in points with 8.
UNDEFEATED AT HOME
Campion remained undefeated at home with their second win from as many matches.
DOING WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED
The Campionites who will lose all but one member of their Under-19 squad next year are doing way better than many pundits expected. Last year they were expected to show real improvement as many thought they had the 'dream team'. However, with injury to James Deane and obvious inexperience they slumped to yet another disappointing season winning only one match. This year many thought that with second-leading scorer Raymond Wilson gone, they would not have much of a season. As you can see however they have already won more matches than last year and 2 of their losses came in very close encounters away from home. It is obvious the players want to leave with a bang.
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FEATURE PLAYERS :
We continue our look at the individuals on the team Point Guard, James Deane:
James Deane is known as the 'tactitian' of the team with a very high basketball IQ. This is why he is the captain. He leads the team with vigor and obviously knows what he wants out of the members of the team. He always plays hard and with passion and is somewhat of a perfectionist on the court. An essential asset to this team and its success.
STRONG POINTS:
Great passer and vision of the court, great scorer/offense, stealing, great defender.
We continue our look at the individuals on the team Center, Leighton Samuels:
Leighton Samuels has become a very depedable center playing with much gusto and willing to challenge the big men inside. He is a great rebounder and blocker who gives his all and his best.
Xavier Thompson had this to say of Samuels
"I used to think of him as my protege a couple of years ago but he has really grown into his own. He is a great player to work alongside of."
STRONG POINTS:
Great rebounding, blocking and defender.
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Post Game Press Conference
Mikhail Mattis:
"We played pretty hard, straight through the game. We were definitely active on the boards, which was a great advantage, and the main reason I believe we got the win. Our defence was good, but not great, as i saw that Meadowbrook was definitely not a good shooting team, so i think we should have pressured them to make more jump shots. I don't think we hustled how we ought to, but we still got the W, and at the end of the day thats all that counts. I would have liked some more minutes, but sometimes you, got make sacrifces and just work hard, and the minutes will follow. But that win was good, and now we look forward for our next opponent."
Russell Thompson
"It was a good team performance. I was impressed with how Deane created a lot of chances for us."
Xavier Thompson
"It was a match where everyone and i mean EVERYONE played well. We really put our heart into this and dug deep to pull off this deserving victory. It was also great to have some support at home for a change which I'm sure made a difference to our intensity. I'm just hopoing we can win at least two more matches, that would be incredible!"
Leighton Samuels
"I was hoping we could've beaten them by more. I think we depend too much on Russel and James. It was an overall good effort but we need to beat the zone offense for the Ardenne and St. Catherine."
James Deane
"It was a splendid match and everyone played very well."
Jason Blankson
"I think it was a very good, hard fought match."
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STATS
Scorers
Russel Thompson 14 points
James Deane 11 points
Jason Blankson 8 points
Rebounders
Xavier Thompson 18 rebounds
Leighton Samuels 18 rebounds
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Starting Lineup:
C Leighton Samuels [6'4, 170 lbs]
PF Xavier Thompson [6'3, 205 lbs]
SF Russell Thompson (Vice-Captain) [5'10, 195 lbs]
SG Jason Blankson [5'9, 185 lbs]
PG James Deane (Captain) [5'11, 145 lbs]
Bench:
Graham Reid [5'11, 160 lbs]
Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
Mikhail Mattis [5'11, 165 lbs]
Darren Mitchell [5'10, 150 lbs]
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GAME NOTES
Russel Thompson, Xavier Thompson and Leighton Samuels played all 40 minutes of the match.
James Deane & Jason Blankson played the majority of the match.
Darren Mitchell, Mikhail Mattis and Kim saw minority minutes.
Graham Reid DID NOT PLAY (Coach's Decision)
James Deane, Russel Thompson and Jason Blankson were the main contributors offensively.
Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 36 rebounds [Thompson, 18 and Samuels, 18] - SEASON HIGH
This was the only match where ALL starters scored.
REMAINING SCHEDULE:
@ Ardenne - Wed. 23/1/08
vs. St. Catherine - Thu 24/1/08
vs. Tarrant - Mon 28/1/08
IN ATTENDANCE:
Ryan Brown, Audley Gordon, Miya Gentles, Kimberly Shaw, Steven Hamilton, Joni-Kay Johnson, Chad Brown, Steven Moore, Shaun Dufus, Patrica Taylor, Monique Smith, Sheree Henry
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