Campbell Hall Win Triggers Adulation

Tiny hands grabbed, their owners seeking attention, at not-so-tiny basketball shorts Thursday night. And pencils and scraps of paper were thrust into hands that dwarfed those of the young admirers.

Players on the Campbell Hall High basketball team were surrounded by kids in search of autographs. Sophomore center Alex Lopez, all 6 feet 10 inches of him, drew a particularly large gathering.

Dozens of Campbell Hall grade-school students, who attend classes at another campus, could not camouflage their adulation. Nor did they want to.

“The little kids love being around the basketball team,” junior guard C.J. Thompkins said. “That’s what Campbell Hall is all about.”

And since the playoffs have begun, nearly every opponent has been dwarfed by Campbell Hall. The latest victim was Bel-Air Prep, which fell, 69-51, in a Division V Southern regional semifinal at Harvard-Westlake.

Campbell Hall (20-10) will face Delphic League rival Faith Baptist in the regional final at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Campbell Hall defeated Faith Baptist, 60-40, in the Southern Section Division V-AA final last Saturday.

In seven playoff games, Campbell Hall has outscored its opponents by an average margin of 22.9 points. This from a team that finished third in Delphic League play. Most of the credit for the resurgence goes to Campbell Hall’s guard tandem of Austin McKellar, a senior, and Thompkins. The pair scored 25 and 12 points, respectively.

“Austin is in the twilight of his high school career right now and he’s at the peak of his game,” Campbell Hall Coach Jon Palarz said. “He makes everybody else better.

“C.J. is growing and getting stronger each time out.”

All the timeouts in the world probably couldn’t have stemmed the Campbell Hall tide. Bel-Air Prep, which had fallen to Campbell Hall twice in Delphic League play by a total of five points, was bloodied in the second quarter and never recovered.

Campbell Hall trailed, 16-12, after the first quarter but righted the ship almost immediately. The Vikings opened the second quarter with a 13-2 streak, which included two three-point baskets by Thompkins and another by swingman Taylor Williams.

Campbell Hall outscored Bel-Air Prep, 15-4, in the quarter to take a 27-20 lead at the half.

It was over soon thereafter. Campbell Hall made seven of its first nine shots in the third--Thompkins scored seven in that stretch--to take a 42-24 lead with 4 minutes 40 seconds left in the quarter.

The Vikings, guarding against a letdown against a team they had twice defeated, suffered no letdown.

“We’ve been through so much, after winning the championship we couldn’t back off the intensity,” Thompkins said. “We’re peaking at just the right time.”

Bel-Air Prep (19-11) started with a bang, making eight of its first 13 shots. Sophomore swingman Danny Brummel scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the quarter but soon was a marked man.

Thompkins took on Brummel and McKellar dogged Bryan Sterling (eight points). Bel-Air Prep’s offense came to a grinding halt, and the Campbell Hall defense forced a total of 22 turnovers--seven in the second quarter.

Palarz even cleared the bench, which made for an interesting scenario when the final buzzer blared. Just about every player had a pint-sized fan club.

“Even the substitutes are signing,” said Lopez’s mother Deborah as she surveyed the scene. “Everybody is famous tonight.”

* FAITH BAPTIST WINS: C13