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Mineral Ridge wins wild one over Campbell

MINERAL RIDGE — The Mineral Ridge Rams (14-9) survived a Division III sectional first round game against No. 11 seed Campbell Tuesday evening, posting a 77-71 victory.

The No. 6 seed Rams will travel to No. 3 Champion Friday night at 7 in a sectional bracket final.

“From start to finish, both teams battled,” Mineral Ridge coach Steven Hughes said. “We played Campbell earlier in the season. They’ve improved a ton since then. I was proud of the way our kids were able to come back in the end and finish the game.

“Every kid on the team played an integral role in helping us get the win. A lot of kids stepped up. It’s great to see as a coach.”

Mineral Ridge led 18-13 after one with 7 points in the quarter from Koby Zupko leading the way. Jordan Zupko had 15 first half points, and his steal and lay-in gave the Rams a 10 point lead with two minutes to play in the second. Three 3-pointers from Kevin Moore, and a pair from Skevos Kouros (11 points) kept Campbell within eight at the half at 35-27.

Sophomore Austin Governor began the third with a lay-up for Mineral Ridge. Governor scored 18 points on the night and was one of four Rams in double figures.

“We worked as a team,” Governor said. ” We depend a lot on 3s. We weren’t hitting from the outside like we usually do. So we really attacked the hoop tonight. We came together in the fourth quarter to take the win.”

Before the Rams put it all together, Campbell looked like it might be advancing. Rodney Miller got Campbell within three. Then, Moore hit another trey and the game was tied, 43-43. Xavian Leonard (12 points) put Campbell ahead.

Moore (team-high 19 points) canned his fifth 3 of the night, and Campbell built a 52-45 advantage. Campbell outscored Mineral Ridge 25-14 in the third quarter, but the Rams cut the deficit back to three heading to the fourth.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Campbell coach Nick Canterino said. “We’re familiar with their kids and coaches. We liked the match-up. We’re proud of our seniors, and we’ll miss them. We’re excited about our future. We never stopped fighting all year.”

Koby Zupko’s and-one put the Rams back on top, 58-56, with six minutes to go in the game. Joe Rozzi (10 points) gave Mineral Ridge a seven-point lead. The Rams built the lead to 10 with three minutes to play, but Campbell got as close as four with 40 seconds to go.

Mineral Ridge outscored Campbell 28-19 in the final quarter. The story of the fourth quarter was at the free throw line. The Rams went 16 of 18 at the stripe with the pressure on in the fourth. Koby Zupko was a perfect 7 of 7 and finished with 16 points. Jordan Zupko was 6 of 8 but didn’t miss in the fourth, going 4 for 4, and finishing with a game-high 25 points.

He also became the Mineral Ridge boys all-time leading scorer with 1,218 career points. He trailed Gary Pugh by one point and passed him with a free throw in the first minute of the game.

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