ONEIDA | The Indians battled back in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but ultimately, Monday's (Nov. 28) home opener went to Campbell County, as the Cougars prevailed with a 55-54 win.
The Indians trailed by seven points as the final period began, but rallied to take the game into overtime, and had the lead for much of the extra session. But Campbell County came up with a key defensive stop late, hit a layup with under a minute remaining, and then rode that advantage to the narrowest of wins over the Indians.
Junior Mason Keeton finished with 17 points and four steals, while fellow junior Gavin Keeton finished with 10 points.
Zeb Spradlin was Oneida's leading rebounder, with six boards to accompany nine points. He also had three steals.
Devon Jones had 14 points to lead Campbell County.
Oneida, which will visit Class A power Pickett County on Friday, is off to a 1-3 start that belies the Indians' potential. All three losses have come to teams that are Class 3A or greater. Oneida started the season with games against David Crockett and Fulton.
In Monday's game against the Class 4A Cougars, Oneida played them evenly in the first half, before Campbell County built a seven-point lead in the third quarter.
Gavin Keeton and Sam Bell had key 3-pointers down the stretch in the fourth quarter to power the Indians' comeback. Spradlin scored four points in the final period.
In overtime, Grady Keeton, Caden Rector and Spradlin each scored a bucket for Oneida. But Jones scored five of his 14 in OT to power his team to the win, and a free throw by Jones wound up being the ultimate difference, even though Campbell County was only 1 of 5 from the line as a team in the OT period.
ONEIDA (54): M. Keeton 17, G. Keeton 10, G. Keeton 9, Spradlin 9, Limburg 2, Rector 2, Brawner 2.
CAMPBELL CO. (55): Jones 14, Long 14, Cox 9, Adkins 8, Day 6, Sanogo 4.
