BELLVILLE — Mason Campbell did his best Kadin Chrastina impression Tuesday night at Clear Fork’s Les Hauenstein Gym.
St. Peter’s talented freshman sharp-shooter, Campbell scored 27 points and the Spartans rallied for a 57-50 win over the Chrastina-led Colts.
Campbell connected on three of his six 3-pointers in the third quarter as St. Peter’s (13-7) erased a 25-21 halftime deficit.
“They play good defense, but we moved the ball well and knocked down some open shots,” said Campbell, who nearly matched his career-high of 28 points set at Danville on Dec. 27. “We had to pick up our intensity and get focused.”
Campbell hit all three of his third-quarter treys during a 15-4 run to open the period, giving the Spartans a 36-29 advantage. St. Peter’s outscored Clear Fork (6-13) 19-8 in the quarter.
“If a team goes zone, I’ve got some kids who can shoot the ball,” St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick said. “Mason has had a couple of games like that. If you let him get his feet set like that, he will hurt you. We did a good job of finding him and he knocked them down.”
The Colts clawed back into it in the fourth. Chrastina, who came in averaging 17.5 points a game, scored seven of his team-high 19 points in the fourth.
“He’s a tremendous player. We were fortunate to keep him to 19,” Jakubick said. “He can hit from the outside and get to the rim. You just hope he misses a couple of shots.”
A Clay Leedy 3-pointer off a Chrastina assist cut St. Peter’s lead to 52-48 with 30 seconds remaining, but Jared Jakubick scored on a break-away layup off an inbounds play and the Spartans his three of four free throws down the stretch to seal it.
“They hit their free throws like they are supposed to,” Clear Fork coach Steve Bechtel said. “Down the stretch we would get a steal but we just couldn’t get a basket to fall when we needed it. I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Four Trouble: Clear Fork played much of the first half without Griffen Robinette. The senior, who averages 15.1 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, picked up his second foul with 5:01 to play in the first quarter and didn’t return until the third quarter. He scored eight of his 10 points in the second half.
“It changes a lot not having him,” Bechtel said. “We like having him out on the floor because of what he does for us offensively and defensively.”
St. Peter’s Kyle Osgar did an admirable job on Robinette.
“I thought Kyle did a pretty good job on him. He matched up with him pretty well,” Jakubick said. “With him being in foul trouble, it took the rhythm out of his game.”
Rematch: The Spartans will host crosstown rival Mansfield Christian in a critical Mid-Buckeye Conference showdown Friday. The Spartans are 7-0 in MBC action, while MCS is 6-1. St. Peter’s beat Mansfield Christian 55-53 at the Furnace on Jan. 16.
“Any time St. Peter’s and Mansfield Christian play, it’s going to be a big game,” Jakubick said. “I’m sure they were ready to play us as soon as the last game ended. We better be ready to play.”
“He’s a tremendous player. We were fortunate to keep him to 19,” Jakubick said. “He can hit from the outside and get to the rim. You just hope he misses a couple of shots.”
