By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After the Campbell County boys’ basketball team lost two of its last three regular-season games, coach Aric Russell told the seniors on the roster they needed to step up their level of play in the 10th Region playoffs.
The five seniors responded as the coach hoped and the Camels won the regional title for the second straight year, but senior guard Blake Losey was the one who impressed Russell the most.
“He turned it up a notch and I think he was the reason why we were a different team during the tournament,” Russell said. “He was our best defender the whole week and came up with a lot of big plays, defensively and offensively. I just felt like he set the tone for us in every game that we played.”
Campbell County (25-9) won all five of its district and regional playoff playoffs games by double-digit margins, including an 89-57 win over Scott in the 10th Region final. With that victory, the Camels earned a return trip to the Whitaker Bank/KHSAA boys’ state tournament. They’ll play 9th Region champion Covington Catholic (29-5) in a first-round game at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
CovCath is the defending state champion and beat Campbell County earlier this season. But Russell feels good about Wednesday’s rematch because of the way his players have been performing in the playoffs, particularly Losey.
“After talking to coach and knowing this was going to be my last season, I thought ‘why not play my hardest and leave it all on the floor,’” Losey said. “I’ve just been playing with more fire. That’s all I can say.”
The senior guard scored a team-high 18 points in Campbell County’s first two regional tournament victories and had 16 points in the championship game. He made 55.2 percent (21 of 38) of his field goal attempts overall in the three wins.
In the regional semifinals, Losey injured his hip colliding with another player and sat out the entire fourth quarter. But he was back in the starting lineup the next night for the championship game.
“I didn’t want that to be my last game,” he said of the regional semifinal. “I wanted to lead by example and show we’re not done yet. We want to go to Rupp and hopefully we can come back with a state championship.”
Campbell County lost in the first round of the last year’s state tournament. One of the senior starters on that team was guard Corey Holbrook, who averaged 16 points per game. Losey said he’s trying to provide the same senior leadership during this year’s playoffs as Holbrook did last year.
“He actually came over my house a few times and we talked about it,” Losey said. “I knew I had to be more like Corey in the post-season if we were going to win the region. He was a big leader on our team last year.”
With Losey providing another scoring threat, the Camels netted 241 points in three games during the regional tournament for an 80.3 average. He adds another dimension to the Campbell County offense that revolved around senior shooting guard Deondre Jackson and center Matt Wilson for much of the season.
“When Blake kicked it into high gear, it took a lot of pressure off because once he gets going it gives me and Matt more open looks,” said Jackson, who has a team-high 16.9 scoring average. “I’m glad to see him playing like that. He’s a senior so I think he wants to go out with a bang.”
In addition to picking up his scoring, Losey has turned up his intensity on defense during the playoffs. He guarded the opponent’s leading scorer in each regional tournament game and held two of them below their season average. In the opening round of the state tournament, he’ll likely be guarding CovCath sophomore guard Cole Von Handorf, who’s averaging 17.9 points for the Colonels and was named most valuable player on the 9th Region all-tournament team.
“He’s got good fundamentals and he’s pretty quick,” Losey said. “I’m just going to have to work hard and contain him.”
BOYS STATE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
at Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Wednesday – Upper Bracket
Collins (26-8) vs. Owensboro (27-4), noon
Taylor County (28-4) vs. Hopkinsville (26-5), 1:30 p.m.
Covington Catholic (29-5) vs. Campbell County (25-9), 6:30 p.m.
Williamsburg (25-4) vs. Louisville Doss (26-6), 8 p.m.
Thursday – Lower bracket
Johnson Central (23-9) vs. Louisville Ballard (31-2), noon
Lexington Catholic (24-8) vs. Boyle County (26-6), 1:30 p.m.
Bowling Green (28-5) vs. Elliott County (22-7), 6:30 p.m.
Knott County Central (30-2) vs. Calloway County (29-3), 8 p.m.
Friday
Upper bracket quarterfinals, noon & 1:30 p.m.
Lower bracket quarterfinals, 6:30 & 8 p.m.
Saturday
Upper bracket semifinal, 6:30 p.m.
Lower bracket semifinal, 8 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 2 p.m.
Terry Boehmker, NKyTribune sports writer, is former sportswriter and editor for The Kentucky Post. He is an award-winning writer with extensive background in both print and digital. Reach him at terryboe@yahoo.com.