Farmers holds off Campy’s, moves to 4-0

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

After his team went 0 for 24 from 3-point range in a loss Tuesday, Campy’s Pizza coach Naz Victoria wanted to see a better effort.

He got it Thursday, but it still wasn’t enough as Farmers Insurance remained unbeaten with a 73-70 win over Campy’s in Mon Valley Independent Summer Basketball League play at Marx’s Court Time Sports Center.

Farmers held an 11-point lead early in the second half only to watch Campy’s battle back and tie the game with just over two minutes to go.

Right after they tied it, Farmers scored the next four points and hit their free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win.

“I think we really started to come together in the second half,” Victoria said. “But we just keep making dumb mistakes. Right after we tied it up, we made a couple bad decisions and it allowed them to get four quick points.”

Laurel Highlands’ Caleb Palumbo led the scoring for Farmers for the second straight game, scoring a game-high 20 points. Devin Whitlock provided the motor for Farmers, scoring 17 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out six assists.

The game was close in the first half with Campy’s holding an 18-16 lead until Farmers went on a 12-2 run over three minutes.

Omar Faulkner, who finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, scored six straight points to start the run.

Whitlock, Palumbo and Washington’s Tayshawn Levy scored in succession to make it 30-18 with 4:10 left in the first half.

Levy finished with 10 points for the winners.

Farmers carried a 39-28 lead into the second half before Campy’s started playing as a cohesive unit. 

The lead swelled to 45-34 before McKeesport’s Traverese Rowe scored five straight points to cut the lead down to six.

Rowe finished with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Faulkner and Palumbo went on to score four straight points minutes later for Farmers and McKeesport’s Robert Robinson added a 3-pointer to give his team a 13-point lead.

“There were some situations in which we took a bad shot or passed up a layup to kick it out. A long rebound and they were off and running,” Victoria said. “That’s the stuff we need to stop doing.”

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