Campbell boys basketball upsets Conant on last-second shot

LITCHFIELD – The Campbell High School boys basketball team shocked the state with Monday’s 50-49 upset win over previously unbeaten Conant, but the person who got the biggest surprise might have been Orioles head coach Eric Saucier.

Despite suffering their only loss last season at Campbell, the team the Orioles also defeated to win the Division III title in 2013, Saucier felt his players came out uninspired.

“We didn’t show up to play,” Saucier said. “I tell my guys, you’ve got to show up to play every night. I said if you can’t get up for this game, I can’t understand.

“We don’t have a lot of games on our schedule where we know we’ll get a good game for the whole time. With Campbell, it’s kind of like a rivalry and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to go every single night.”

Even after trailing for the first two-plus quarters, Conant was in position to win, up 49-42 after two free throws by Nick Panagiotes with 2:18 to play. It was still a seven-point lead when the Orioles turned the ball over with 1:23 left and Campbell turned the miscue into a layup by Kyle Shaw to make it 49-44.

Following a missed basket by Conant, Zach Bergeon made two free throws for Campbell to cut the lead to three. After another Conant turnover, Bergeon got a tough layup to go to make it a one-point game, 49-48, with 18 seconds left.

The Cougars quickly fouled Eli Hodgson on the inbounds pass, but Hodgson missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Campbell’s Harrison Vedrani grabbed the rebound. The Cougars nearly turned the ball over, but Andrew Smarse scooped it up and found Vedrani alone on the baseline for the game-winner with one second left.

“I want to take it to the rim,” Campbell coach John Langlois said of the final basket. “That’s what I was telling Andrew (Smarse). I didn’t know if they were going to miss the foul shot or not, but I said take it to the rim. As he started to come, they wanted to stop him and it left Harrison wide open.”

Bergeon finished with 14 points – 10 in second half – to lead Campbell, while Vedrani added 12. Robert O’Brien led Conant with 15 points, but only had six in the second half, and none in the fourth quarter. Hodgson scored all 13 of his points after halftime.

Conant opened the game by missing its first four field goal attempts, allowing Campbell to jump out to an early lead. The Cougars closed the first quarter with a 6-1 spurt to put them up 14-7 going into the second,  but the Orioles were twice able to get within one before going into halftime down 24-21.

“That’s real big because it’s instant confidence right away,” Langlois said. “They aren’t coming in to blow us out. We’re going to compete and we’re up a few points at half and there’s confidence there.”

Campbell still led by three early in the third, but Conant went on an 8-2 to run, taking its first lead of the game, and was up 31-28 with 2:27 left in the quarter. The Cougars tied it at 33, but a 3-pointer by Josh Degrenier put the Orioles up 36-33 going into the fourth, and Hodgson hit another 3 to start the fourth to make it a six-point game.

The Cougars continued to hang around, cutting the lead to one three times, the final time coming on a jumper by Justin DiBenedetto that made it 43-42 Conant with 4:35 left.

“I thought in the second half we played a little harder, but we weren’t smart down the stretch and that’s my fault,” Saucier said. “I didn’t do a good job coaching those guys at the end. I told the guys, it’s only January. Right now, you’re mad you lost and you should be. It gets you ready for tournament time.”