The Ellwood City Lincoln High boys basketball team lost in Campman’s return to the bench to a big and athletic Vincentian team that took advantage of 29 turnovers by the Wolverines, 82-71.

“They’re a very good team,” Campman said of Vincentian. “They trap and run all over the place, so that’s a very difficult style to play against, especially with only 14 days of practice. But they’re really tough. If Rochester and Lincoln Park weren’t in Class A, they would be the favorite, that’s how good Vincentian is.”

The Royals opened up a 27-17 first-quarter lead, but Ellwood City stuck around and trailed, 44-36, at halftime. Vincentian’s size (Campman said the Royals’ smallest player was 6-foot-3) and athleticism was too much down the stretch. The Royals kept a comfortable lead in the second half, slightly outscoring the Wolverines, 38-35.

Ryan Horgan led Ellwood City with 26 points, while Brandon Lucarelli poured in 20, including six 3-pointers. Gino Ceriani added 11.

“We played well enough to win a lot of games, but it’s hard when we shoot 10 for 21 from the free-throw line and turn the ball over 29 times,” Campman said. “At least we know what we need to correct.”

Chris Koryak led the Royals with 27 points, and John Bray was right behind with 25.