Grove City cruises to 67-43 win over St. Francis DeSales to advance to district semifinals

Campton Williams scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Greyhounds

Author:
Aaron Blankenship
Publish date:
Feb 25, 2023 9:44 AM EST

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Campton Williams put himself in a calm, positive state of mind while warming up for Grove City’s Division I district tournament game at St. Francis DeSales by listening to Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in his AirPods.

The Grove City senior post player then turned in a dominant effort on Friday, scoring a career-high 20 points to lead the 18th-seeded Greyhounds to a 67-43 upset victory over the 15th-seeded Stallions.

Grove City will face third-seeded Olentangy Orange in a district semifinal 7:00 p.m. on March 1st at a site to be determined by the OHSAA.

“I was really motivated because I knew this could be the last game of my high school career if we lost, so I just tried to stay cool during my pregame,” said Williams, whose squad improved to 16-8 overall. “We had a great couple of days of practice and a great warmup, and I was relaxed and ready to play with a lot of energy and emotion when we walked onto the court.

“This is the first time I’ve ever listened to Don’t Worry Be Happy before playing a game, but I may need to try it again after how well this one went.”

The burly 6-foot-4 competitor utilized a variety of spin moves inside the paint to get to the rim, as he made all six of his shot attempts in the first half and went 9-for-10 from the field overall.

“Campton’s a cerebral kid and a third-year starter for us, and he knows how to play to his strengths,” said Grove City coach Eric Saxton, whose squad lost to DeSales 48-45 at home on January 31st. “It helped that we just played DeSales a few weeks ago and are already familiar with what they do. This is the second straight year that we’ve had the same starting five, and our guys have played a lot of varsity basketball together and know who to pass it to at the right time.”

Williams scored the first six points of the game, giving the Greyhounds a lead that they would never relinquish. The senior also added a free throw to put Grove City up 12-2 by the end of the first quarter, and he scored six more points on 3-for-3 shooting in the second quarter to help the Greyhounds build a 28-16 halftime advantage.

Early in the third quarter, Williams converted a three-point play to expand Grove City’s lead to 38-22, and he scored four more points in the fourth quarter to help the Greyhounds cruise to a victory.

“Grove City was dominant inside, especially Williams who really killed us with baskets in the paint,” said DeSales coach Pat Murphy, whose squad finished 14-9 overall. “We let Williams get to his strong hand and he made us pay for it.”

The Greyhounds shot the ball exceptionally well in the second half, going 7-for-8 in the third quarter and making all six of their field goal attempts in the fourth quarter. Grove City also went 7-for-9 on field goal attempts in the second quarter and made 25 of their 33 field goal attempts overall.

Kevin Gallagher also scored 16 points for Grove City, including three 3-pointers.

Rounding out the Greyhounds’ scoring were Graydon Hutchinson (10), Daniel Fetty (9), Kraig Gilbert (6), Chris Burns (4) and Keegan Holmstrom (2).

“We were real patient with our passing and shot selection,” Saxton said. “That’s something we talked about, because DeSales is so strong on defense. We took good shots and we defended the right way, playing mostly man-to-man.

“We didn’t have any turnovers in the fourth quarter after they cut our lead to 12, and we made our free throws at the end of the game to keep it from getting any closer.”

Playing with a heavily-taped up, broken right index finger, P.J. Noles turned in a valiant effort for the Stallions, scoring a team-best 20 points on 7-for-14 shooting.

The 6-4 sophomore guard made two 3-pointers in the second quarter and another in the third quarter.

Also scoring for the Stallions were Isaac Pekarcik (11), Zane Patterson (6), Jack Elgin (4) and Carter Ward (2).

“I did my best for our seniors, because I love them all to death and I wanted to help keep their season going,” Noles said. “We defended Grove City really well the first time we played them, but I think they kind of figured us out and were well-prepared for us tonight.

“This sucks because we were a tight-knit group and we wanted to keep playing together. But most of our team is coming back next year, so I’m real excited for our future.”