Cardinals rely on dazzling duo

By Bruce Lerch / City Boys Hoops | Saturday, February 20, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Other High School

The moment Madison Park point guard Spencer Braithwaite was able to establish the two-man, high-low game with center David Campbell was the moment that spelled doom for New Mission.

Campbell scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the second half and the top-ranked Cardinals captured their second consecutive Boston City championship by defeating the Titans, 66-59, in front of a packed house at Madison Park High.

“The game plan was to get it inside to the horse, to the man,” MP coach Dennis Wilson said of Campbell. “There’s no big man that can stop him. He’s so athletic, he can shoot, he can take you off the dribble and he can post you up. The game plan was (to) take it inside, two-man basketball, and they made it work.”

New Mission (19-2) led 37-36 midway through the third quarter before Braithwaite started connecting with Campbell. Four straight times he put the ball in his big man’s hands, and Campbell’s array of post moves proved unstoppable. Braithwaite kept one for himself, draining a 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in the third quarter to cap a 11-0 run that gave MP a 47-37 lead.

“Spencer and I have been playing together for four years now and we really know each other’s games inside and out,” Campbell said. “He was able to get me the ball in space and I went strong to the hoop.”

Despite dominating the action, the Cardinals still couldn’t put the Titans away, and Osmel Odena (17 points), the man responsible for New Mission being in the finals, drained a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to five (58-53) with 2:53 to go.

New Mission kept fighting, closing to within three points after a two-handed dunk by Kachi Nzerem made the score 62-59 with 47 seconds to play. However, with the Titans looking to make it a one-point game, Jamal McCollum came down with the biggest rebound of the game and fired an outlet pass to Braithwaite, who then hit Campbell in stride for an easy layup, and the final dagger was inserted.

“We came out in the second half and went inside to DC a couple of times and he was hot,” said Braithwaite, who dished out 11 assists. “We knew we had to ride him from there, so we kept looking down low.”

The other key was Madison Park’s defense and rebounding. Campbell (12 rebounds) and Khayree Hudson (15 boards) dominated the glass, while Braithwaite (15 points, five steals) and Kevin Stokes (six steals) were responsible for harassing the New Mission guards.

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