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Campbell free throws lift Tigers past Butler
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
BUTLER, Mo. -- With two seconds left in a tie game, NHS senior Bryan Campbell coolly stepped to the line and sank both free throws as the Tigers overcame the Butler Bears Monday, 55-53.
Campbell's attempts came after he drew a foul driving to the basket on a play drawn up by head coach John McNeley, as the Tigers played for the last shot and made it count.
"We were going to get it in Bryan's hands and let him take it," McNeley said. "I'm not very smart but I learned a long time ago that in a situation like that you put it in your best player's hands and let either him decide it for you or let the officials decide it for you."
The officials took the burden.
The Tigers (3-1) ran an isolation play that had Campbell's teammates clearing out of the lane to the left, leaving the 6-1 guard free to drive to his most comfortable side, his right. He drew two Butler (1-6) defenders once he got to the paint, generating a lot of contact with the second defender, but the first one had already fouled him reaching in, allowing the four-year starter to reach the charity stripe.
From there it was a matter of hitting some pressure-packed free throws.
"I had no doubt he'd make those," McNeley said. "Bryan's been there before."
McNeley marveled at how confident Campbell was at the line. After making the first free throw, Campbell looked to his coach and asked if he wanted the next free throw made or missed intentionally.
The Tigers' final shot came out of a timeout by McNeley with seven seconds on the clock after Nevada had run nearly 50 seconds off by keeping the ball between the circles.
After Campbell made the two free throws, Butler called a timeout to set up a full-court inbounds play. Once Nevada saw how the Bears were going to line up, McNeley called another timeout to set up his defense. Butler coach Steven Miller countered, calling the third successive timeout after viewing the NHS defensive set up.
All the posturing was for naught, as Bears inbound passer Will Burch overthrew Schaller just past the half-court line, and the Tigers took possession as the final two seconds ran off the clock.
Butler had tied the score at 53 with just under a minute to play on a pair of free throws by senior Renner Schaller, who scored a team-high 17 for the Bears.
Butler shot 13 free throws in the final period, making nine of them. The free tosses by Schaller and a pair by Brandon Fischer helped the Bears overcome a 53-49 deficit in the final minute of play.
Meanwhile the Tigers were six-for-eight at the line in the final period, with Campbell hitting all five of his attempts in the period.
The Tigers actually trailed much of the game, going down 20-10 early in the second period. After both teams exchanged baskets, Drew Weatherly hit three 3-pointers in a span of 1:09 to close the gap to 22-21.
The Tigers took a 26-25 lead into halftime, but the Bears came out strong in the second half and led by as many as six.
Nevada's biggest lead of the game was the 53-49 advantage late in the contest.
James Tumm scored 12 for the Tigers before fouling out on a questionable call midway through the fourth period. Weatherly added 11.
Butler's Fischer was also in double figures, scoring 12.
Nevada's junior varsity also won with late heroics as Trevor Foreman made a layup as time expired to give the Tigers a 44-42 victory.