Crossroads Holds the Line Against Campbell Hall

A roofer was supposed to stop by to plug the holes, but a persistent rain kept him from his appointed rounds.

As a result, water dripped through the gym roof at Campbell Hall High on Thursday night, and Crossroads nearly took a spill.

Campbell Hall almost pulled off an improbable comeback before falling, 72-62, in a Delphic League game between defending Southern Section divisional champions.

With players slipping and sliding on wet spots, Crossroads (9-3, 1-0 in league play) nearly took a huge header. Campbell Hall (5-8, 1-1) trailed by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter before mounting a spirited comeback.

But the finger in the dike was the Roadrunners’ free-throw shooting.

Crossroads led, 53-37, with seven minutes to play and began to substitute liberally. Campbell Hall, led by senior guard C.J. Thompkins, promptly went on a 16-2 run to close within two points with 3 minutes 7 seconds left.

Thompkins, who finished with a team-high 19 points, knocked in a pair of three-point shots during the run. Campbell Hall kept charging well after Crossroads’ starters were reinserted.

“We finally made some shots and stopped turning it over,” said Campbell Hall Coach Jon Palarz, whose team committed a season-high 24 turnovers. “When you do something good on one end, it sometimes means you do something well at the other.”

If Crossroads had missed some free throws, the Campbell Hall comeback might have been completed. Crossroads, the defending Division IV-A champion, made 17 of 18 free throws in the fourth quarter to hold Campbell Hall, the defending V-AA titlist, at bay.

“We had that same experience with them last year,” Palarz said of the free throws. “They’re a senior team, and some of them have been together since they were in junior high. They stuck together.”

And stuck it to the Vikings, who actually have had this type of experience more times than they care to remember. As a result of Crossroads’ performance at the line--22 of 25 overall--Campbell Hall still has not defeated the Roadrunners in 10 years of boys’ basketball.

As usual, Crossroads was led by its senior threesome of Bakir Allen (22 points), Austin Croshere (24) and Travon Dugar (12), all three-year starters.

Dugar, the only one of the three that did not sign an NCAA Division I letter of intent last fall, made six of six free throws in the fourth quarter. Five players were fouled in the fourth quarter, and only Allen, who is bound for UC Santa Barbara, missed.

After cutting the lead to 55-53, Campbell Hall surrendered only one more basket--by Houman Fardin with 10 seconds to play--but the damage inflicted at the line was more than enough. Fardin’s basket was Crossroads’ only field goal in the last seven minutes.

Alex Lopez, a 6-foot-10 Campbell Hall junior, traded offensive moves throughout with the 6-9 Croshere, who has signed with Providence. Lopez scored 18 points on eight-of-11 shooting but only two in the fourth quarter when the tempo picked up.