Campion College Basketball: The Finale! [2007-2008 Season]

TEAM LEADERS

Points: Russell Thompson (16+ points per game)
Rebounds: Xavier Thompson (11+ rebounds per game)
Assists: James Deane (3+ assists per game)

Blocking Leaders:
Leighton Samuels
Xavier Thompson

Stealing Leaders:
Russell Thompson
Jason Blankson

Team MVP: James Deane
--------------------------------------------
AFTER THE SEASON

2008 - 2009 Season
This will begin the rebuilding period for Campion College Under-19 (Varsity) Team. The next two years should be rough but in a matter of time players such as Javier Gordon, Jonathan Mitchell & Leekem Brown, among others, should have the team back on track.

Season (League) Awards
James Deane was awarded a plaque for being the best 3-point shooter of the league.

In-house Awards
At their graduation, multiple members of the team were awarded plaques for their dedication and contribution to Campion College Basketball. These Players were as follows:

Jason Blankson
James Deane
Graham Reid
Leighton Samuels
Russell Thompson
Xavier Thompson


The Sports Chronicles would like to congratulate the 2007-2008 Campion College Under-19 (Varsity) Team for their achievements this year and for putting together a very exciting season and the best finish the school has seen in over seven years.


............

Campion College Basketball: Campionites end season on high, trouncing Tarrant

Date: 31/01/08 [56-10] {Record: 3-5} Venue: Radley Reid Arena (Campion College)
[Home: 3-1][Away: 0-4]

Campion College finished their season in the same manner in which they started it - with a win - as action continued in the Southern Zone of the ISSA/KFC/Pepsi Basketball Competition. Campion soundly beat the lowly Tarrant High to complete and cap off a better than average (and expected) season. Though playing slopely, possibly due to their season having being over AND/OR the fact that they knew Tarrant was winless, the Campionites still managed to demolish their opponents 56-10.

Impressive Home Record

Though a sloppy match, the Campionites ended their season with an impressive home record of 3 wins and just one loss. The fans obviously playing a factor with this year being the only year in recent times that Campion fans came out in their numbers and actually outnumbered opponents. All-in-all, it was a great sending off for the Campionites with all but one of their members playing their last year of basketball with the school.
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STATS

Leading Scorers
James Deane 29 points
Russel Thompson 13 points
Jason Blankson 6 points

Leading Rebounders
Xavier Thompson 11 rebounds
Leighton Samuels 11 rebounds
Jason Blankson 9 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:
Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
Graham Reid [5'11, 155 lbs]
Darren Mitchell [5'10, 150 lbs]
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GAME NOTES
The second game more than two players had 8+ rebounds (X. Thompson, Samuels, Blankson).
Blankson, Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 31 rebounds [X. Thompson, 11, Samuels, 11 and Blankson, 9]
Russell Thompson, Xavier Thompson, Leighton Samuels, James Deane & Jason Blankson played the majority of the match.
Darren Mitchell, Graham Reid and Kim saw minority minutes.
Mikhail Mattis did not play due to injury (knee).


IN ATTENDANCE:
Racquel Dawkins, Shawntoll Buchanon, Damar Pessoa, Leikim Brown, Javier Gordon, Ashton Blankson.

Campion College's Xavier Thompson finishes fifth in Jamaica in Uefa Fantasy Football

Campion College's Xavier Thompson finishes fifth in Jamaica in Uefa Fantasy Football (Euro 2008) with his 'team' "Ardion"(Ardenne Prep + Campion College)

Jamaica's TOP 50(FIFTY) FINISHERS/TEAMS

# Team Manager Mat Tot
1 EuroBombers Joel Polson 53 836
2 dutty ball Burke Hamilton 40 739
3 BarbicanPool S Stowa 46 515
4 Rosedale Chris Charlton 27 482
5 Ardion xav thompson[Xavier Thompson] 28 464
6 The Playerz Ragga Muffin 24 452
7 Gerzy-Side Nicholas Mahabeer 38 424
8 KJAH FC Julian Hudson 49 417
9 Jamaica Oscar Otero 35 412
10 Realest Team Arif Roberts 17 404
11 Yardies Donovan Bunting 25 396
12 BUTCHERS FC Carlton Lyons 27 392
13 Jam-azuris Tahric Johnson 29 391
14 screw_face fc Leon Jarrett 31 385
15 omane Omane Willaims 39 381
16 Italian All Stars Kemar Francis 25 380
17 hollowman robert sanjay 34 368
18 FR Shaine Thetford 42 364
19 GANGSTERSFC Sean Reid 35 353
20 jdfallstar andrew Daley 27 340
21 Deschamps desroy smith 21 317
22 World Superstars leighton atkinson 21 313
23 Crouch's 11 Andre Daley 17 305
24 UCSCLogan Sheldon Logan 30 302
25 JogaBonito Peter Tosh 30 301
26 Juan Warren Kurt Warren 13 281
27 nontugal Mauri Lomelakas 11 280
28 Fenerbache? Gareth Ayriss 6 277
29 madness gianmarco fifi 40 274
30 Brandon FC Kereisha Lewis 27 272
31 SCHOOLAS FC Marvin Morgan 34 272
32 tatty rohan brown 24 269
33 classic XI ernest denton 20 266
34 kavon kavon kinlocke 51 257
35 J-Neal FC Jerry-Neal Richards 15 253
36 YAHMAN daisuke yamashita 20 237
37 Portmore United Alex Conie 14 229
38 The masters Jermaine Simon 32 227
39 polpetta.p Pietro Loperfido 13 208
40 alig Alison Gillespie 10 203
41 feeal F.C Shaunakay Stirling 31 196
42 T-rizzle FC troy baker 29 190
43 Rae Town Christopher Rose 38 182
44 borkor Boris Koren 23 170
45 Darkcloudmon JJ Thompson 22 165
46 France FC Nigel Francis 16 164
47 delgaooo tomas delgado 20 163
48 bobdino mikus wedd 15 158
49 portmore United leon williams 40 142
50 bomboclat david bryan 20 134
51 kkkfc kavon kinlocke 34 131



http://en.euro2008fantasy.uefa.com/M/stats.mc?stat=table&country=107&phase=1

Campion College Basketball: Campionites season comes to an end, with loss to St. Catherine

Date: 24/01/08 [44-58] {Record: 2-5} Venue: Radley Reid Arena (Campion College)
[Home: 2-1][Away: 0-4]

St. Catherine High officially put an end to Campion College's bid for a playoff/quarterfinal spot as action continued in the Southern Zone of the ISSA/KFC/Pepsi Basketball Competition. The Campionites, who came into this match needing to win, went down in a match that was for the most part closely contested. At halftime the score was 17-26 and the Campionites looked a bt shaky. However they made great efforts in their comeback and drew close to St. Catherine team before finally allowing the match and hence their season, to slip away. The match eventually ended 58 - 44.


SLIPPED AWAY
As the match came down to the final five minutes Campion had drawn withint two points of their opponents. However, offensive blunders turned into easy fast break points which allowed St. Catherine to balloon back the lead to double digits. As the match came to a close, they knew that their spirited season was over.

FIRST HOME LOSS
This match was the first home loss for the Campionites who had previously been undefeated (2 - 0). (Though the loss to Calabar came at their home, it was scheduled and is still regarded as an away encounter).

ONE MATCH TO GO
They still have one match to go against Tarrant and the team is hoping to end their season on a high, not only due to pride but also the fact that most of these players are also seniors meaning this is their last year of high school basketball.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATS

Scorers
Russel Thompson 23 points
James Deane 9 points
Xavier Thompson 8 points

Rebounders
Xavier Thompson 14 rebounds
Jason Blankson 13 rebounds
Leighton Samuels 8 rebounds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Lineup:
C Leighton Samuels [6'4, 170 lbs]
PF Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
SF Graham Reid [5'11, 155 lbs]
SG Darren Mitchell [5'10, 150 lbs]
PG Jason Blankson [5'9, 185 lbs]

Bench:
James Deane (Captain) [5'11, 145 lbs]
Xavier Thompson [6'3, 205 lbs]
Russell Thompson (Vice-Captain) [5'10, 195 lbs]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GAME NOTES
Benching Russel Thompson, Xavier Thompson & James Deane was a coaching strategy.
This was the only match where Campion's top three scorers (Deane, R. Thompson & X. Thompson) all came off the bench.
The first game more than two players had 8+ rebounds (X. Thompson, Samuels, Blankson).
Blankson, Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 35 rebounds [X. Thompson, 14, Blankson, 13 and Samuels, 8]
Russel Thompson, Xavier Thompson, Leighton Samuels, James Deane & Jason Blankson played the majority of the match.
Darren Mitchell, Graham Reid and Kim saw minority minutes.
Mikhail Mattis did not play due to injury (knee) and is doubtful for their match against Tarrant.

Campion College Basketball: Campionites get trampled on by Ardenne

Date: 23/01/08 [22-64] {Record: 2-4} Venue: Ardenne Arena (Ardenne High)

Ardenne High further dampened hopes of the unlikely Campion College of qualifying for the playoffs/quarterfinals as action continued in the Southern Zone of the ISSA/KFC/Pepsi Basketball Competition. Th Campionites, who came into this match needing to win at least 2 of their last 3 matches, went down to a handy 22-64 defeat at Ardenne. Th Campionites who managed to take an early lead and obviously caught Ardenne a bit by surprise did a good job defensively of containg the Ardenne offense. However, the Campionites faced their own problems as Ardenne too played great defense nullifying the Campion offense to only 10 points in the half (Season Low), to their 22. The second half seemed to be the breaking point as Ardenne began to exert more effort and caught out Campion College on many fast breaks. Further more, the defense of Ardenne kept the Campion offense locked up tight, resulting in their season-low in points scored in a game.

Dunking Phenomena & Triple Double
As with most blowouts that Campion College faces, there was one outstanding player who, though not scoring a lot of points,15, is the only player to come this close to a triple double againt the Campionites, missing it by only ONE block. Yes Ardenne's #15, Alex Lubsey, blocked anything and anyone in sight repeatedly, with quite a number of his 9 blocks done at the 3 point arc. He also had a 10+ rebound game to go with the fact that he dunked the ball at least 6 times throughtout the match, especially the second half.

Season in Jeopardy
Campion College's home record will be severely tested when they come up against their toughest competitor's at home, St. Catherine. They very well know that a loss tomorrow would ultimately mean the end of the season for the guys.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STATS

Scorers
James Deane 11 points
Russell Thompson 9 points
Darren Mitchell 2 points

Rebounders
Xavier Thompson 7 rebounds
Leighton Samuels 6 rebounds
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:
Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
Mikhail Mattis [5'11, 165 lbs]
Darren Mitchell [5'10, 150 lbs]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------GAME NOTES
Russell Thompson, Xavier Thompson, Leighton Samuels, James Deane & Jason Blankson played the majority of the match.
Darren Mitchell, Mikhail Mattis and Kim saw minority minutes.
James Deane, Russel Thompson and Darren Mitchell were the only contributors offensively.
Xavier Thompson was the main contributor defensively.
Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 13 rebounds [Thompson, 7 and Samuels, 6] - SEASON LOW
This was the only match where only two starters scored.

Campion College Basketball: Campionites upset Meadowbrook to remain undefeated at home

Date: 16/01/08 [38-37] {Record: 2-3} Venue: Radley Reid Arena (Campion College)

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

Campion College Basketball: Campionites lose close encounter to St. Jago

Date: 14/01/08 [32-37] {Record: 1-3} Venue: De La Vega Arena (St. Jago)

Campion College came up unlucky yet again, away from home, as they lost a close encounter to St. Jago, as action continued in the Southern Zone of the KFC ISSA Basketball Competition. From the opening whistle the match was closley contested with both teams playing great defense. The teams were tied going into the half, at 16. The Jagonians extended their lead in the third quarter as the quarter finished 30-25. The game came down to the wire with Campion within a 3-point shot from the lead. However this did noot materialize and though coming close, Campion fell short going down 32-37.

Best Defense
This was the best defensive tactics used by Campion. It was very effective and St. Jago had a arduous time scoring.

3 pointers
Campion's offense was not as effective as it might have wanted to be due to St. Jago's disciplined defense but kept close with perfectly-timed three point shots. Russel Thompson went 4 of 7 behind the arc and scored a timely three in the closing seconds of the match.

Rebounding Tossle
The first half saw St. Jago outrebounding Campion. However, the second half saw Campion turning the tables and outrebounding the home side.


Career High
Xavier Thompson had a career high in rebounds as he recorded 13.
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Highlights and Stats:

Scorers:
Russel Thompson 16 points
James Deane 13 points
Xavier Thompson 3 points

Rebounders:
Xavier Thompson 13 rebounds
Leighton Samuels 7 rebounds

Main highlights
James Deane driving and hitting critical free throws.
Russel Thompson's 3 point shooting.
Xavier Thompson's circus 'ballerina' shot.
Leighton Samuels opening block.
Graham Reid's surprising burst of energy of the bench.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GAME NOTES
James Deane, Russel Thompson and Xavier Thompson played all 40 minutes of the match.
Leighton Samuels had played the majority of the match before fouling out.
Jason Blankson played majority of the match.
Graham Reid and Mikhail Mattis saw substantial minutes.
James Deane, Russel Thompson and Xavier Thompson were the only contributors offensively.
Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 20 rebounds [Thompson, 13 and Samuels, 7]
Kim Sing Yung was sick and only able to play a few minutes of the match.
Campion's coach was not present at the match and they were coached by a stand-in coach.
Mikhail Mattis made his debut for Campion.
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RESCHEDULED MATCH - The match against was postponed due to rain and will be rescheduled.

Remaining Schedule for Campion

January 10 - vs. Tarrant

January 14 - @ St. Jago

January 16 - vs. Meadowbrook

January 16-22 - @ Ardenne *

Janaury 24 - vs. St. Catherine


* The Ardenne match has not yet been officially rescheduled.

Features on James Deane, Leighton Samuels and Jason Blankson will be done in-toe with the three next matches. Features of members on the bench will be done within the last two matches.


Matches already played:
vs. Innswood [W] (64-24)
@ Jamaica College [L] (35-47)
@/vs. Calabar High [L] (27-81)

Record: 1-2


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, 150 lbs]

Bench:
Graham Reid [5'11, 160 lbs]
Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
Darren Mitchell [5'10, 150 lbs]
Mikhail Mattis [5'10, 165 lbs]

Campion College Basketball: Calabar demolishes Campionites

Date: 13/12/07 [27-81] {Record: 1-2}

A lot of lessons were taught and learnt with the end result seeing Calabar easily put aside Campion as action continued in the Southern Zone of the KFC ISSA Basketball Competition . Calabar put on a display which seemingly mesmorized the Campionites who found themselves down by a whopping 30 points at the end of only the first quarter! Campion was obviously not prepared for the up-tempo minded "Lions" and offensively were shut down by the seemingly mind boggling press Calabar employed throughtout the first quarter. Obviously a ploy to tire out Campion and to bury the game as early as possible, Calabar saw there defensive mechanism reward them generously as they burst out to 10-0 lead. Campion were not able to generate much offense in the first quarter because of this and the quarter ended 34-4. Signs of Calabar tiring were evident though at the end of their blistering first quarter blitz and saw them turn down the heat a bit. They didn't turn it down too much however and kept up their efficient play throughtout the match thus keeping Campion from recovering. The "Lions"/"Rabalac" , their goal being to score 100 points fell 19 short as the match ended in a 81-27 blowout.

One Man Show

Campion was also subjected to a one man offensive onslaught by Calabar's #8 who collected 30 points to go along with 19 rebounds. He was dominating in the post with noone being able to slow him down or stop him. This was similar to Campion's match last year against J.C. where then center, Eugene had 44 points and almost 20 rebounds.

Injury Scares

James Deane was clearly winded as he was knee'd in the stomach region in the first quarter. Though he finished the match strong, he seemed to still be suffering from the blow at the end of the match.

Russel Thompson complained at the end of the match of back pains resulting from a fall in the second half as he drove the lane and was fouled by a Calabar player.

Both should be okay however and their injuries not seen as threatening.

Is there a lesson to be learnt?

Even though they were blown out Campion could take some positives as well, from Calabar's play. They were very efficient and demanded only perfection (or something close to it) of their team. They were organized and though much teams may have come and 'relaxed' against Campion who is seen as a 'beating stick' by most opponents, they came with a plan and wanted to carry it through to the end.

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FEATURE PLAYER :

We continue our look at the individuals on the team by starting with the teams Shooting Guard/Small Forward Russel Thompson:


Known for being the joker of the team, Russel Thompson has always been a great offensive player with a variety of plays in his arsenal. Always energetic he puts his all out on the court on both ends as he is also a great defender. He leads the Campion team in scoring and on a good day is their most dangerous player.

TSC: How did you feel about your perfomance today?
Russel Thompson:

"I was playing like a punk. That's about it. That's all i have to say right now. I had very little shot attempts and turned over the ball too much. It wasn't a pretty performance."

TSC: How did you feel the team on a whole played?
Russel Thompson:

"The team tried. We just couldn't get it going offensively or defensively."

STRONG POINTS:
Great scorer/offense, stealing, great defender.

IDEAL PLAYER (inspiration): Dwyane Wade (yes that's how it's spelt)

FEATURE PLAYER (CONT'D):

Xavier Thompson:

STRONG POINTS:
Great overall defense/defender, rebounding, blocking.

IDEAL PLAYER (inspiration): Carlos Boozer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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, 150 lbs]

Bench:
Graham Reid [5'11, 160 lbs]
Kim Sing Yung [5'10, 150 lbs]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAME NOTES

All starters played majority of the match.
James Deane, Russel Thompson and Xavier Thompson were the major contributors offensively.
Leighton Samuels was the major contributor defensively.
Samuels and Xavier Thompson collectively tallied 20 rebounds [Samuels, 11 and Thompson 9]
The match was played at the Radley Reid arena (Campion's home) due to Calabar not having home facilities.
Campion were once again subjected to a series of "No calls" as the referees allowed a lot of fouls on Campion to go by.

Mikhail Mattis has been cleared to play in the remaining games according to team captain James Deane.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

REMAINING SCHEDULE - This will be posted in the next blog.

Campion College Basketball: J.C. shut down the short-handed Campionites

Date: 3/12/07 [35-47] {Record: 1-1}

Jamaica College shut down the short-handed Campionites in the 4th and final quarter to come away with an umimpressive victory over Campion College as action continued in the KFC ISSA Basketball Competition (Southern Zone). The Campionites, playing with only 6 players gave J.C. a scare, a team with their full compliment of 12 players, all the way through to the last quarter. Heading into the 4th J.C. led by one,29-28, after allowing Campion back into the game. HoweverJ.C. ran away after James Deane and Leighton Samuels both fouled out before 4 mins into the last quarter, leaving Campion to play the rest of the match with only 4 players. Their problems were compunded as Xavier Thompson and Jason Blankson were on the verge of fouling out. This was too much for the Campionites, who allowed the most points in a quarter for the match. Campion is away to Calabar on Thursday the 13th of December.


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, 150 lbs]

Bench:
Graham Reid [5'11, 160 lbs]


GAME NOTES:
Xavier Thompson played all 40 minutes of the match.
James Deane and Leighton Samuels fouled out.
All remaining starters played majority of the match.
Jason Blankson played very aggresively and was at points the most dangerous player for Campion.

Campion College Basketball: Season begins with victory!

Date: 30/11/07 [64-24] {Record: 1-0} VENUE: Radley Reid Arena (Campion College)

For the first time in many years Campion Under-19(Senior/Varsity) AND Under-16(Junior) teams won their first match of the season in the KFC ISSA Basketball Competition (Southern Zone). The matches against their Innswood counterparts both ended in blowouts as Campion strolled to victory.

Under 19 game review:


Q uarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Campion College 7 19 18 20 64
Innswood High 2 18 4 0 24

Points leader: Russel Thompson (28)
Rebound leader: Xavier Thompson (12)
Assists leader: James Deane (10)

Noticeable Stats:
Russell Monteith: 28 points 3 assists
James Deane: 15 points 10 assists
Xavier Thompson: 9 points 12 rebounds



Xavier Thompson had his biggest OFFICIAL game of his career:
As you would remember last year he had 8 pts (tieing a career high) and 14 boards (career high)...However that match was forfeited from the beginning so though the teams (Campion & Jose Marti) did play the stats were not registered/recorded officially. Today Thompson had 9 points - 7 of which came in the second half - (a new career high) and 12 rebounds (OFFICIAL career high) and also set a new career high in amount of shots taken as he had 14 shots.

Russel Thompson (no relation to Xavier) also had a career night racking up 28 points. He caught fire in the 2nd Half scoring on a variety of shots. He is expected to be the teams' leading scorer as he was last year.

James Deane though not starting was the only player with a double double as he came on a few minutes into the first quarter and controlled the game, scoring and assisting with ease. His leadership is crucial to the team and its progress and expect him to consistently play great baskeball.

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FEATURE PLAYER:

We begin our look at the individual's on the team by starting with the teams Forward/Center,
Xavier Thompson:


Points: 9
Rebounds: 12
Assists: 3
Blocks: 2
Steals: 2
Turnovers: 3
Fouls: 0
Shots scored: 4
Shots taken: 14
Free throws scored: 1
Free throws taken: 2
3 pointer scored: 0
3 pointers taken: 0
Minutes played: 40 minutes (the whole game)

Note (NB): The Rebounds were not accurately recorder and it is estimated that Thompson had about 16-18 rebounds in all.

He showed great tenacity and hustle play and his performance was only outshun by leading scorer Russel Thompson and James Deane.


After the game Xavier Thompson had this to say:

"It feels great to finally win an official match. It was just a rejuvenating and wonderful experience, one i probably won't ever forget. I just hope that we can continue to play good basketball. I realized that I missed some shots that I shouldn't have but overall I was pleased with my shot selection and I definately will be more mindful of techniques to ensure I score easy buckets. Right now we have to gather ourselves and play well on Monday as Innswood is the only team persons probably expected us to beat (and I'm sure some didn't think we could) so if we want to prove the masses wrong, we have to win more matches. So even though we played a pretty good game, we have to refocus and think about the rest of our opponents."

We will continue this feature with Russel Thompson on Decemeber 13, 2007.
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Starting Lineup:
C Leighton Smauels
PF Xavier Thompson
SF Kim Seou
SG Jason Blankson
PG Russell Thompson (Vice-Captain)

Bench:
James Deane (Captain)
Darren Mitchell
Graham Reid


GAME NOTES:
Xavier Thompson and Samuels played all 40 minutes of the match.
James Deane starting on the bench was a strategic move.
Russel Thompson and Deane played majority of the match.
Mitchell and Blankson played very substantial minutes.
Kim and Reid played minority of the match.

IN ATTENDANCE:
Lianne McNaughton, Kourtni Hines-Smith, Ryan Brown, Audley Gordon, Mikhail Mattis (player).
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Under-16
Jonathan Mitchell led them with scoring with a fine array of shot selection and driving. He scored 21 points.

What's with the slump?

Any body notice lately how a certain MVP has seemingly taken a backseat? Well if you are an avid fan of basketball you would probably have a clue about who I am referring to. It's none other than Mr. Dirk "i can't handle pressure" Nowitzki. Being a fan of the Dallas Mavericks for the past six seasons , I have seen this player grow into a mega superstar in the NBA and I'm not using this word lightly. Last year seemed to be the year where everything was coming together and I as well as the millions of other Mavericks fans would finally be compensated for our loyalty. I mean, we were only TWO games out of tieing the nba record for most wins in a season (67-15), so what could go wrong? Lamentably, this dream was not realized as the Mavericks slumped to a 4-2 series loss to the upstarts from Golden State (coached by our former coach & GM, Don Nelson). This was of course riding behind the lacklustre play of Mr. Nowitzki himself, who of all times decided to go to sleep in that crucial series. Of course other factors were at fault as well, such as Avery Johnson's bad decision to not play a full squad in a near-end season match against the same Warriors who were battling for dear life to clinch a playoff berth. As everyone knows, we were disgraced and sent crashing out of the playoffs, my second time experiencing this in my 'tenure' as a fan. Now you're probably wondering where I'm going with this and why I won't just get over it? Well after that season of two tales I was expecting the Mavs to make trades and for the 'great one' to go back to Germany, use his anger to fuel his off-season training and come back this season better than ever before;come back with a vengence. However, what have I been subjected to? A Maverick squad FIFTH in the West, THIRD in the Southwest and 13-8. Now you're probably saying I'm just overreacting and that it's only the start of the season. But being a fan who likes and is used to seeing my team in the top 3 for the past 4 seasons, this start has me a bit shaken. Sure it's nothing like the 0-4 start we had last year, but most will remember that after that 0-4 start we went 40-4! Granted, maybe that's the reason we lost out in the first round, playing too hard in the season and being too tired to play an up-tempo team in a series. The concern I have really lies in how 'on & off' Nowitzki has been. Most would be shocked to know that he isn't even our leading scorer this season. In addition he has had only 2 30-point games in 21 matches. Yeah, sure, maybe I'm expecting too much but if we're not playing as well as last season you begin to look around for the reasons and to me a big reason is due to his play. Then again maybe he's just waiting for the right time. Maybe over the off-season and while playing for Germany he realized that he has to wait for the playoff run to get heated. Maybe he is wary of what happened last year and is conserving energy. Maybe he's distracted. Maybe he's been instructed by the mastermind Avery Johnson to 'cool' it for now and lull opponents into thinking he's lost his mojo or has passed it on to Josh. Maybe he just needs fans like myself to start bad-mouthing him for him to wake up. One can only speculate but in my mind it's very likely that this guy is in a major 'superstar' slump and we may just be witnessing the fall of a star! Who wants to bet on him being a contender for MVP this year? Certainly, not me.

Maybe someone really has 'stolen' his mojo right from under him :)