Panthers edge Vikings
BY SHAWN VARGO THE LEADER

ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Campbell-Savona players mob Zach Simpson and Camden Wright the Panthers topped Prattsburgh with a buzzerbeater Friday night, Jan. 26.

CAMPBELL - It was a fitting end to a basketball game pitting the top-ranked boys basketball teams from Class C and Class D.

Campbell-Savona's 6- 8 center Zach Simpson grabbed an offensive rebound and nudged it into the basket as time expired to give the Panthers a 46-44 win over Prattsburgh in front of a standing-room only crowd at Campbell- Savona High School.

"This ballgame was all it was cracked up to be - just a great, great basketball game from kids who played hard," said Campbell-Savona head coach Merlin Button. "We were lucky to have the ball at the end of the game and get what we wanted. It could have gone either way, but it was just a great ballgame."

"Awesome ballgame - what a night," Prattsburgh head coach Jim Burke added. "It doesn't get any better than it did tonight."

The game-winner was set up by Camden Wright, who netted four straight 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Panthers their first lead since the opening three minutes of the contest. Wright was good on five-of six 3-point attempts in the game on his way to a 17- point night.

"I got hot at the end and the team recognized that and they kept feeding me the ball and I made them," Wright said.

"Camden's been shooting it real well in practice. He just needed to get into a rhythm and he got into a rhythm," Button said. "It was huge for him to step up like that."

Burke agreed.

"If there was one negative for us tonight is that nobody should be left that open," Burke said. "That was the biggest mistake we made all night."

The defending Class C state champs had to claw for this win as Prattsburgh (14- 1) came to play physical, high-tempo basketball - putting the Panthers (15-1) in a large hole in the opening quarter. Following backtoback bu ckets from Campbell-Savona's Maynard Crane and Simpson, the Vikings held the Panthers scoreless for the remaining 5:11 as they proceeded to go on an 11-0 run.

Eli Applebaum led the charge with six points, while Kyle Parker chipped in with a 3-pointer.

Prattsburgh got the lead to 11 points twice in the second quarter following baskets by Patrick Wright, b u t Campbell-Savona's Wright was about to make his presence felt.

With 3:13 remaining in the half and the Panthers trailing 17-9, Camden Wright ended a long Campbell- Savona shooting drought with a 3-pointer from the left corner. His next basket came less than a minute later on a fast break as Campbell- Savona cut the lead to 19-14.

Prattsburgh's Parker and Wade Fuller combined for four free throws down the stretch as the Vikings took a 23-17 lead into halftime.

Campbell-Savona came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders and dominated both sides of the floor. The Panthers converted a trio of Prattsburgh turnovers into a 9-0 run to grab a 26-23 lead. Crane, Simpson, Sean Mourhess and Will Cornett all scored in that span.

"We talked about how we needed to control the tempo of the game," Button said. "Prattsburgh controlled the tempo in the first half and we just wanted to push the ball a lot more the second half - and we did that."

But Parker countered with a high-arcing 3-pointer and a field goal as the Vikings regained a 30-28 advantage entering the final eight minutes.

"I don't know why, but every game this year we've come out terrible in the third quarter - every game," Burke said. "We did the same thing tonight and that's the thing that really hurt us.

"We got back into it and got the lead back, but still, we let that six-point halftime lead go in about a minute and a half."

The fourth quarter was as good as it gets in high school basketball, as both teams traded baskets over the entire quarter. The only closest thing to a run either team saw was Prattsburgh's Patrick Wright hitting a layin after an Applebaum free throw.

Following Camden Wright's fourth 3-pointer of the fourth quarter, the Panthers' lead was 44-43 with 1:11 remaining.

Cambell-Savona got the ball back after Cornett blocked a shot and was trying to run some time off the clock, but Fuller came up with a loose ball and was fouled attempting a layup. Fuller connected on one of his free throws to knot the game 44-44 with 19.9 seconds left, but his second was off and Campbell-Savona came up with possession with 17 seconds left.

Under fierce pressure by Prattsburgh, Campbell- Savona got off three off-balanced shots as the final seconds ticked away. Simpson's game-winner just cleared the net as the horn sounded.

"It was crazy - I was pretty happy," Simpson said.

"Will Cornett was supposed to take the final shot and they didn't let him have it," Button said. "When I put Simpson in at the end, I told him I needed his best three minutes - and he gave me that - so I'm really happy."

Crane finished with nine points for Campbell-Savona, while Cornett added eight.

Patrick Wright led the Vikings with 14 points, while Parker netted 10 and Applebaum chipped in with nine.