Campbell Hall had every reason to be motivated against Village Christian at the D1Bound SoCal Classic at La Salle on Tuesday.
It was Village Christian that defeated the Vikings in last year’s CIF-SS Division 4A semifinals, so revenge was on Campbell Hall’s mind.
After a slow start, the Vikings responded with a stellar defensive effort.
Campbell Hall won 69-58 in the third-place game as the Vikings (10-4) held Village Christian (13-5) to only one two-point field goal over the second and third quarters. It was a gigantic shift from the Vikings trailing 15-4 to start the game.
Aaron Holiday had 24 second-half points and finished with a game-high 31, and he also controlled the game with his passing (six assists) and defense.
“These guys have wanted to play them since last year,” Vikings coach Thomas Blunt said. “We came out slow, but once we got a feel, we didn’t worry about who wasn’t out there.”
Blunt was referring to Village Christian playing without leading scorer Bennie Boatwright, who rested after suffering a knee injury in Monday’s loss to De La Salle. Kahlil Simplis, who transferred from Campbell Hall over the summer, picked up the scoring load with 12 first-quarter points.
In the second quarter, Jerrick Ahanmisi hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Crusaders a 31-24 lead, but Holiday began to work his magic. He hit a 3-pointer and then assisted on the Vikings’ next three baskets, including one to Gabriel Bell-Williams to give them Campbell Hall its first lead at halftime, 34-33.
Campbell Hall turned up its defense in the third after Simplis hit a 3-pointer to give Village Christian a 41-38 lead. With Holiday fueling them, the Vikings went on a 19-0 run as the UCLA-bound guard scored or assisted on 15 of the points.
“I had a lot of energy and everybody just followed my lead,” Holiday said
Bell-Williams finished with 15 points, and he led the Vikings’ rebounding efforts to atone for being outrebounded by Bishop Montgomery on Monday.
“That was something we focused on in shootaround today,” Bell-Williams said. “We had to get a lot tougher and crash the boards harder.”
Village Christian struggled to match Campbell Hall’s execution as the Crusaders turned the ball over often and could not find many scoring opportunities inside.
Simplis led Village Christian with 21 points while Ahanmisi had 15.
“We just stopped executing and had too many defensive lapses in the second half,” said Simplis. “We definitely missed Bennie, but our mindset has to be tougher no matter what.”
