HS HOOPS: Campbell Hall wins third title in four years

ANAHEIM – With a lethal combination of tight defense, smooth fundamentals and deadly outside shooting – plus a lot of Jrue Holiday thrown in – Campbell Hall High of North Hollywood’s burgeoning basketball dynasty expanded in a big way Saturday.

The Vikings (27-5) defeated eight-time section champion Price of Los Angeles in the Southern Section Div. III-A championship at Honda Center – and it wasn’t even close, a 73-38 victory that could have been even more decisive had a running clock not been employed for the final six-plus minutes after Campbell Hall stretched the lead to 40 points.

Appearing in its fourth consecutive final, Campbell Hall won its third title since 2005 and fifth overall, this time over a Price program that had won eight in a row from 1999 to 2007, a stretch that has included five state titles.

“The (newspaper) called Price ‘Valley killers’ because they’ve beat Valley teams in the final (six) times, and we took that personally,” Campbell Hall coach Terry Kelly said. “We wanted to beat the Valley killers and establish ourselves as a top-notch program.”

Holiday, the area’s third-leading all-time scorer, finished with 20 points, including several awe-inspiring drives to the basket, with 12 rebounds and eight steals. Freshman Austin McBroom added 13 points, Dallas Rutherford chipped in 12, and Bryce Brady scored 11.

Price (29-3) proved competitive for about five minutes, leading 13-12 before Campbell Hall reeled off a 17-0 spree to gain control. Later, the Vikings scored the first 14 points of the second half to make it 57-19, and the Knights could only shake its head and wonder what hit them.

“We’re always confident, and we did what we had to do,” Rutherford said. “I wouldn’t say overconfidence. We just followed our game plan.”

gerry.gittelson@dailynews.com