Campbell County stifles Newport in Boys’ Sweet 16 upset to close first round

UK’s weren’t the only Wildcats upset in postseason play Thursday night.

Campbell County held on for a 43-40 win over Newport at Rupp Arena, earning a berth to the quarterfinals of the UK HealthCare Boys’ Sweet 16. The Camels next were to get Harlan County at 6 p.m. Friday.

Newport, the reigning All “A” Classic champion and winners of 24 straight coming in, was ranked third in the Sweet 16 field behind Great Crossing and Evangel Christian, whom it defeated for the small-school state title in January.

The Wildcats (32-4) were without their top scorer, Taylen Kinney. Newport’s point guard pulled a hamstring less than a minute into the 9th Region finals but was a game-time decision. The Wildcats prepared as if he would come off the bench Thursday night, and he did, but only for five minutes. He missed his only shot attempt.

“I know these guys were all hoping that he could maybe get in a flow or get going, but the hamstring’s just really nagging and it’s hard to get yourself doing that,” Newport coach Rodney Snapp said.

Campbell County (27-6) moved its own win streak to 13 games. The Camels suffocated Newport in the first half, allowing just six makes on 21 shot attempts, en route to a 24-14 halftime edge. Jabari Covington scored seven of Newport’s points in the third quarter, 18-8 in its favor, to tie the game going into the final period.

A 5-0 run pushed the Camels back up, 39-34, before baskets from Covington and James Turner got Newport back within a point with 2:15 to play. The teams exchanged misses and turnovers before Campbell County’s Nathan Smith — a 50 percent free-throw shooter on the year — stepped to the line and calmly hit two with 38 seconds to go.

DeShaun Jackson answered 10 seconds later with a jumper for Newport, who on multiple Campbell County inbound attempts tried to get a tie-up (it had the possession arrow) or steal, before relenting with nine seconds to play. Xavier Fancher sank two more free throws for the Camels before Smith blocked a 3-point heave by Amontae Lowe to end the game.

Campbell County coach Brent Sowder held onto four timeouts deep into the fourth, using three of them inside the final 28 seconds as the Camels tried to get the ball into play without coughing it up.

“That’s always been my style,” Sowder said. “I tend to just let them play through it. It depends on the team, but these guys are so mature. They can have a whole crowd going nuts but they’ve got each other and that’s enough.”

Broc Sorgenfrei led Campbell County with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting. He connected on the final basket, a layup, of the Camels’ 5-0 run early in the fourth. Connor Weinel had 10 rebounds and nine points. Garyn Jackson, who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the 10th Region championship to put Campbell County in the Sweet 16, chipped in 11 points and four assists.

“We played hard,” Weinel said. “We went out there and played as a team.”

Notes

▪ Shelby Valley’s 2010 team remains the last All “A” Classic champion to sweep both state tournaments in a single season.

▪ Campbell County last made the Sweet 16 in 2019. Those Camels made the semifinals before finding themselves on the wrong side of another low-scoring affair, 42-40, against Trinity. The two teams could meet again Saturday afternoon.

This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 11:24 PM.