BASKETBALL BOYS’ PLAYOFF SEMIFINALS : Campbell Hall Topples Brethren Christian

For Brethren Christian High basketball Coach Richard Thomas, Harvard-Westlake High has become his personal house of horrors.

Last season, Brentwood held Brethren Christian to 22% shooting and clubbed the Warriors by 28 points at Harvard in a Southern Section boys’ Division V-AA semifinal playoff game.

Tuesday night, Thomas returned to Harvard in another V-AA semifinal, against Campbell Hall.

Talk about deja vu.

Campbell Hall held Brethren Christian to 30% field-goal shooting and defeated the Warriors, 44-36, to advance to Friday’s final against Faith Baptist.

“I hate this place. The first half I think we were brain dead,” Thomas said.

The first half was a nightmare for Brethren Christian (25-3), the Olympic League champion, which shot just 19% from the field and trailed, 25-12, at intermission.

But the Warriors rallied in the third period, outscoring Campbell Hall 19-5, to take a 31-30 lead on Tim Osborn’s three-point basket just before the buzzer.

Campbell Hall (18-9), the Delphic League’s No. 3 representative, regained the momentum in the fourth period behind senior guard Austin McKellar, who scored six consecutive points to break a 35-35 tie and give the Vikings the lead for good.

McKellar finished with a game-high 14 points--eight in the fourth period. C.J. Thompkins added 12.

Chiron Hart led Brethren Christian with 13 points and Osborn added 12.