Campbell Hall Wins 91-86 in OT against Providence Pioneers

Holiday Scores 40, Marcus Lovett 47

The Campbell Hall Vikings pulled out a hard fought 91-86 overtime road victory over the Providence Pioneers in front of a raucous crowd Wednesday night. The highly competitive contest featured a scintillating matchup between sophomore guards Marcus LoVett Jr of Providence and Aaron Holiday of Campbell Hall. Both standouts proved to be better than advertised.

Providence guard Marcus LoVett Jr is the total package and a nightmare for opposing defenses to contain. LoVett's ultra quick first step and silky smooth jumper helped the Pioneers jump out to an early lead. Lovett finished the game with 47 points.

His counterpart, Campbell Hall guard Aaron Holiday was up to the challenge and led the Vikings back into the game and a 41-40 halftime advantage. Holiday demonstrated great body control as he weaved through the Pioneers defense.

The third quarter belonged to the Vikings as they picked up the defensive pressure and forced some Providence turnovers. Campbell Hall cashed those miscues into easy buckets and built a seemingly insurmountable 69-55 lead heading into the final frame.

Providence, led by LoVett and junior Christian Ware-Berry mounted a rally and cut into the deficit. Campbell Hall suffered a setback when Holiday, who scored 40 points, fouled out of the game.

With Holiday on the sidelines, LoVett went to work and drilled a cold-blooded game-tying three pointer to tie the game at 77 with less than a minute to play. The Vikings were unable to score on their final possession, sending the game to overtime.

In overtime, Campbell Hall sophomore guard Kahlil Simplis took over the game and hit several clutch medium range jumpers to lead the Vikings. Simplis finished the contest with 24 points and showed tremendous heart in gutting out the victory.

Campbell Hall improves to 11-4 and will host league rival Pacific Hills Friday night.

Marcus LoVett vs. Aaron Holiday: Game Highlights

Providence will be one of the host sites for the Pioneer Hoops Showdown featuring several talented squads from around the state and as far as Indiana.

The event is sponsored by CLA, Gatorade and Further Gen and will be held at Providence High School and Bell-Jeff High School on Saturday. The first game tips off at 10am and the final contest is expected to tip at 8:30pm.

Providence will host Notre Dame at 7pm.

CLA will be in attendance to document the action and get post-game interviews from the players in what promises to be a quality showcase of high school basketball.