Campbell snaps eight game skid at Carter’s expense, 53-50

CLINTON, TN (WLAF) – Campbell began its holiday break with some afternoon basketball on Tuesday in the Anderson County Christmas Tournament. On opening day on Maverick Court, the Cougars squared off with the Carter Hornets.

Gavin Owens opened the scoring with a two-pointer, and from there, it was a back and forth first quarter with two lead changes and two ties. Carter built what would end up being its largest lead of the day at four, 9-5. Campbell clawed back to knot the game at 13 on a Will Croley jump shot as the quarter wound down.

Campbell’s first quarter run continued into the second quarter. Luke Browning heating up didn’t hurt. Number 10 hit a two and then ripped the ropes three times beyond the arc for 11 points. Campbell caught Carter at 18 and then scored 10 of the next 12 points starting with a bucket from Gavin Cox giving the Cougars the lead for good. Jake Hatmaker’s put back at the first half horn was icing on the cake through the first 16 minutes as Campbell took a 28-20 lead to the locker room.

Carter outscored Campbell 18-14 in the third quarter though the Cougars were determined not to let their lead slip away as it was 42-38 at the end of three. The third quarter saw more Browning buckets including a key tip in.

“It’s been a tough last eight games (losses). We’ve been playing in spurts and runs, and today, we showed a determination to win. I’m very proud of our team,” said Campbell Head Coach Ernie Clawson. “We changed up our line-up, and I felt like this starting five had been taking better care of the basketball during practice (Gabe St. John, Luke Browning, Gavin Cox, Gavin Owens and Jordan Day), and that’s who we started today,” said Clawson.

Browning rang up 11 first half points finishing as the game’s top scorer with 20. Gavin Cox and Gavin Owens had nine each followed by seven from Will Croley and six from Jake Hatmaker, both freshmen. Jordan Day and Cole Miller chipped in one-a-piece.

Campbell plays William Blount on day two of the three day tourney on Wednesday at 4:30. Josh Parker will be on hand for the live radio coverage here over WLAF.

“We’ve both seen ’em twice, and I’ve watched more of them on film. They’ve only been beaten once. It’ll be a tough task, but we’ll give it all we got for William Blount,” said Clawson.

The Cougars are 4 & 8. It was Campbell’s first win since November 20. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 12/19/2023-3:30PM)

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