PHIL CAMPBELL - As they adjust to life without a handful of key seniors from last year’s team, Brett Thomas knows his Phil Campbell boys will face their share of challenges this season.
He does not expect scoring points to be one of them.
“People think I’m lying,” Thomas said, “but I think this can be one of the best offensive groups I’ve had. We can put five guys on the floor who can shoot, penetrate and post up. And this is a really unselfish group. These guys share the ball well.”
The Bobcats looked sharp offensively on Friday night, shooting 49 percent from the field and assisting on more than half of their 24 made baskets in a season-opening 67-34 rout of visiting Tharptown.
Guards Rhett Benford and Nate Owens each knocked down three threes for Phil Campbell (1-0), and senior Peyton Thomas finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds and a team-high five assists.
It was Thomas, the Bobcats’ leading scorer last season at 15.8 points per game, who set the pass-first tone right from the start, assisting on an early basket by senior post player Brody Nix that made it 9-0 less than two minutes into the game. Thomas, who entered the night just 30 points shy of 1,000 for his varsity career, didn’t even attempt a shot until midway through the second quarter and finished a highly efficient 6-for-8 from the field.
“I’ve told Peyton in front of the whole team, we’re gonna go as he goes,” Brett Thomas said. “He’s our leader. For a guy like him who’s such a profound scorer to come out and get his teammates involved the way he did tonight, that really set the tone. He’s capable of putting up twenty-five or thirty a game, but he was really unselfish tonight.”
Maybe a little too unselfish.
“There were times when we might have shared the ball a little too much,” Brett Thomas said with a smile. “I may have to kick Peyton in the tail to get him to be a little more aggressive. He should never go a whole quarter without taking a shot.”
With Thomas in set-up mode early, other scorers stepped to the forefront for Phil Campbell. Benford and Nix combined to score all nine points in the game-opening 9-0 run, and senior reserve Daniel Smith buried a three midway through the first quarter to quell a 6-2 spurt by Tharptown (1-2). A layup by senior Joe Hardy—off an assist from Thomas—made it 16-6, and the Bobcats led by eight at the end of one quarter.
The Wildcats hung around for most of the first half, trimming the lead to 22-14 on a basket by Misael Saldana midway through the second quarter. Thomas then found reserve post player Cody Cotham for a bucket to push the lead back into double-digits and spark a game-turning 12-0 run by Phil Campbell.
Thomas knocked down a mid-range jumper for his first field goal to make it 26-14 with 2:35 left in the first half and then followed it up with a pair of free throws. Benford added a free throw and a layup to push the lead to 31-14 and then closed out the half with a key defensive play. He stole an inbounds pass on the press and then found Thomas for a back-breaking three that pushed the lead to 20 at 34-14 with just 12 seconds left before the break.
Benford, wearing a brace on the surgically repaired knee that slowed him down considerably throughout the second half of last season, finished Friday’s game with 16 points, two assists and two steals. He also keyed a Bobcat defense that held Tharptown to just 28-percent shooting (14-for-50) and forced 22 turnovers.
“Rhett really set the tone for us on defense tonight,” Thomas said. “He’s not all the way back to where he was, but he’s getting there. He was really disruptive tonight. He did a good job keeping them from getting into any kind of a fluid rhythm on offense.”
The Bobcats kept their own rhythm going early in the third quarter, getting a three-pointer from Owens and four quick buckets from Thomas to open up a 45-18 lead. Edward Lopez scored seven points to try and keep Tharptown close, but Phil Campbell shot 7-for-9 from the field in the fourth quarter to pull away. Back-to-back threes by Owens and Benford midway through the fourth pushed the lead to 30 and triggered the running clock.
Owens finished with 13 points and four rebounds, and Nix added seven points, four boards, three assists and two steals. Hardy also scored seven, and Cotham had four points and four rebounds off the bench. Isaac Cummings added two points.
The Bobcats hit eight threes and shot 11-for-15 from the foul line, but their head coach was less than pleased with 19 turnovers.
“That’s too many,” Thomas said, “especially for a team with the experienced guard group we have. We also gave up a few backside rebounds, but those are things we can work on in practice and get corrected. Overall, I think we did okay. Our kids busted their tails the whole game, and that’s what you’re looking for first and foremost in the first game of the year.”
Lopez led Tharptown with 12 points and six rebounds on Friday. Saldana added eight points and six boards. Senior guard Levi McCormack, who torched Waterloo for six threes and 26 points in a win on Thursday night, managed just five points against Phil Campbell, though he did add five rebounds and three assists.
The Bobcats will play in a Thanksgiving tournament in Hanceville next week, opening with West Morgan on Tuesday. Tharptown will open area play at home Tuesday night against Belgreen.
In previous action:
Tharptown 64 Waterloo 23
Levi McCormack scored 13 of his career-high 26 points in the third quarter of Thursday’s road rout.
McCormack also set a new career-high with six threes made. Cole Daniel added 14 points, and Misael Saldana had seven. Edward Lopez scored six.
Covenant Christian 63 Tharptown 50
Cole Daniel led the Wildcats with 14 points in Tuesday’s loss at Covenant.
Edward Lopez added eight points for Tharptown, and Misael Saldana and Levi McCormack scored seven apiece. Carson Petree and Winston Nolen each had six.