5A-SOUTH BOYS

Hot Springs overcomes hole

Little Rock Fair took it to Hot Springs in the first half of Tuesday night's game, but the Trojans decided to hit back after halftime.

Sophomore guard Caleb Campbell scored 19 of his game-high 25 points over the final two quarters as Hot Springs rebounded from a double-digit deficit to pull off a 63-61 victory at War Eagle Gymnasium.

Sophomore guard Jadyn Walker had 17 points and senior guard Eddie Miles finished with 11 points for the Trojans, who ramped up their defensive pressure in the third quarter after enduring an uneven first half.

"We hang our hats on the defensive end," Hot Springs Coach Antoni Lasker said. "When those kids made up their mind that they wanted to lock in and play defense, you get the results that we got. We got some key stops down the stretch, and we were finally able to limit [Little Rock Fair] to one shot after doing a horrible job of rebounding in the first half."

Junior forward Santiair Thomas added 4 points, 12 rebounds and 3 steals for Hot Springs (19-3, 7-1 5A-South), which hit 22 of its 47 shots.

Fair (8-11, 3-5) scored the first 11 points of the second quarter to carry a 33-26 lead into halftime. Fair extended its advantage to 37-26 after a short floater from senior guard Erlon Boose with 6:05 to go in the third quarter.

"The first half, they punked us, and there's no other way to sugar coat it," Lasker said. "They were more physical, they attacked the glass harder, they were getting every 50-50 ball. So the message at the half was to go out there and inflict that same physicality on them that they inflicted on us."

The Trojans pressed the War Eagles often in the backcourt, which resulted in a rash of turnovers. Those turnovers, coupled with Campbell's 11-point quarter, allowed Hot Springs to creep within 47-46 by the end of the third.

The teams were tied at 61-61 with less than a minute left when Campbell nailed a running 8-footer with 55 seconds remaining for the winning basket.

Boose had a team-high 20 points for Fair. Junior center Hakim Carter ended with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and senior guard Jacori Cranford finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Sports on 01/30/2019

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