Campbell-Savona's season ends in state semifinals
BY BOB BENZ THE LEADER

ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Members of the Campbell-Savona basketball team react following the Panthers' loss to Friends in the Class C state semifinals in Glens Falls Friday, March 16.

GLENS FALLS - It wasn't supposed to end like this.

Following a furious firsthalf comeback that saw Campbell-Savona slice a 13- point deficit to three by halftime, the defending state champion Panthers appeared to have momentum on their side.

And when Campbell- Savona opened up a fivepoint advantage early in the final quarter, it seemed even more likely the Panthers were ready to book a repeat appearance in the Class C state championship game.

But instead of pulling away for its 18th straight victory in Friday's, March 16, New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C semifinal, Campbell-Savona slowly ran out of gas.

After forcing overtime, Jon Williams netted the first eight points of the extra session to help Friends Academy stymie Campbell- Savona's quest for a state repeat by pulling away for a 69-58 victory at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

"It was kind of tough coming out after getting down that much - you've got to work your way back two points at a time and at that time we were worn out," Campbell-Savona senior Sean Mourhess said. "Everybody gave it their best, but we just couldn't do it."

As a result, Friends, and not Campbell-Savona, moved on to meet Section IV's Sidney in Saturday's, March 17, Class C state championship game.

"They're just one heck of a ballclub," Campbell-Savona head coach Merlin Button said. "They did not quit, they came back and they just kept after us. It was one of those nights when their shots were falling and ours weren't."

Campbell-Savona (24-2) - which had held opponents to less than 50 points in eight straight playoff wins - struggled to slow down Friends (14-7). The Quakers shot 44.2 percent from the field for the game.

"They're a good team and they made some tough shots and we couldn't come back far enough," said Campbell- Savona senior Will Cornett, who scored a team-best 15 points.

Aside from igniting the Quakers' 8-0 run to begin overtime, Williams - Friends' lightning quick point guard - poured in a team-best eight points.

Friends, which opened up a 23-10 lead after an 8-0 run to begin the second quarter, appeared to have its collective backs against the wall early in the final quarter.

The Panthers opened up their largest lead of the game when Camden Wright followed a nice pump-fake, by pulling up to hit a 15- footer, wh i c h g a ve Campbell-Savona a 48-43 lead two minutes into the fourth quarter.

"I certainly wasn't thinking about (Saturday) night, because I knew how good they could make a run, but I thought when we got up by five, we could maintain that lead," Button said.

But Friends answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 50-48.

Both teams then traded buckets before Maynard Crane's putback in the final minute of play knotted the score at 54-54 to force overtime. Although Friends had a chance to score late with just a five-second difference between the shot clock and game clock, the Quakers turned the ball over with 3.6 seconds left.

Despite doing an admirable job to set up a 3-point attempt from the top of the key before the buzzer, Zach Simpson's hurried shot at the end of regulation was off the mark.

In overtime, though, Williams took over, scoring on a quick layup off the overtime tip and a pull-up jumper in transition. He then tacked on four free throws as the Quakers opened up a 62-54 lead with two minutes showing in overtime.

The Panthers' cut their deficit to four on layups from Will Cornett and Crane, but never got closer. Friends' Alex Petrossian provided a dagger by getting position inside and scoring with just 25.6 seconds left in OT.

Cornett played admirably and finished off a brilliant career at Campbell-Savona with a team-best 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Cornett did much of his scoring on aggressive drives up the lane for layups. In fact, he

capped the Panthers' 7-0 run to finish the first half on a layup.

Zach Simpson added 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Sean Mourhess chipped in with 10 points.