Campbell Hall Looks Sharp as Lopez Steps Up : High school basketball: Senior center has 18 points, eight blocked shots in 60-50 victory over Montclair Prep.

Only the scowl, which rarely leaves his face once the whistle blows, remains the same.

The rest of Alex Lopez’s game doesn’t bear much resemblance to that of his freshman year, which seems a long, long time ago.

The 6-foot-10 1/2 center from Campbell Hall High, a four-year letterman, has saved the best for last.

“We’ve seen him all four years,” Montclair Prep Coach Howard Abrams said. “His biggest improvement has been from his 11th-grade year to right now.”

Now or never is Lopez’s new rallying cry as he led Campbell Hall to a 60-50 victory over Montclair Prep in a nonleague game Thursday night at Campbell Hall.

This season, much of Campbell Hall’s fortunes will rise and fall on the lanky senior’s angular shoulders. And that’s just the way he wants it.

“I’m the leader, finally,” Lopez said. “ Finally. I’m playing my best offense, rebounding, blocking shots. It comes from being a senior and wanting to take control.”

Lopez, who has signed a letter of intent to play at Washington, scored a game-high 18 points and added eight blocked shots to lead the Vikings, who struggled to put away persistently pesky Montclair Prep.

The Mounties (7-2) were neck and neck throughout the first half, though Campbell Hall seemed to snap out of its funk in the opening moments of the third quarter after 6-6 junior center Carlos Roubicek rejected a shot by Lopez. It was a rare sight, indeed, and it made Lopez the instant target of some good-natured jeers.

Lopez gave the crowd a sidelong glance and responded with . . . a smile? “I heard it,” he said. “I had to show them it didn’t bother me.”

The block came on Lopez’s first shot of the second half, and Campbell Hall (10-2) immediately countered by reeling off an 8-2 run to take a 37-28 lead with 5 minutes 20 seconds remaining.

Lopez sparked the rally with a slick turnaround baseline jump shot.

Lopez, averaging 16.8 points entering the game, added another turnaround jumper with 36 seconds left in the quarter to extend Campbell Hall’s lead to 48-32.

Montclair Prep, despite a strong performance off the bench from sophomore forward A.J. Jones (17 points), couldn’t make up the lost ground in the fourth quarter.

After Wes Hinkston scored on a drive to the basket with 4:40 left, Lopez helped render the knockout punch when he scored on a baseline sky hook, a new shot in his bag of tricks.

“I know I’m the main guy this year and everybody’s looking to me at times,” Lopez said. “Sometimes, I have to take charge.”

Sophomore guard Akil Anderson of Montclair Prep, plagued by foul trouble, was held to 13 points, and no other Mountie player reached double figures.