Campbell's Colton Martell goes to the hoop against White Mountains' Avery Woodburn during Friday night's Division III quarterfinal in LItchfield. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

LITCHFIELD – Big Country came to visit Cougar Country on Friday night, and things didn’t go as the hosts planned.

No, it was a tough ending to an otherwise great season for the Campbell High School boys basketball team, which watched White Mountains Regional’s 6-foot-9 senior Avery Hazelton torch the Cougars for 25 points and 18 rebounds in a 73-57 Division III quarterfinal win.

Fourth seeded Campbell, which came in riding a nine-game winning streak, saw its season come to an abrupt conclusion at 15-4. The No. 5 Spartans (15-4) move on to face No. 1 Gilford in Tuesday night’s semifinals in Bedford.

It just wasn’t Campbell’s night, as the big crowd in the packed Cougars Den looked up at the scoreboard early and saw its team down 10-2. Campbell closed to within 16-10, but it was 22-10 after the first quarter and the Cougars were incredibly down 41-17 by halftime.

“We got off to a slow start, we were a little shell-shocked,” Campbell coach Justin DiBenedetto said. “Big fans, with off and on with COVID, we haven’t had those huge crowds, both sides’ fans were in it.

“We just came out a little flat today. You could see in the second half we could score, but we got pummeled inside.”

Blame Hazelton, a.k.a. Big Country. The Cougars were able to figure out how to attack him on offense in the final two quarters, but he dominated the paint in the first half.

“Most of the year, we try to play our game, run when we can, and we try to finish with Big Country, he’s got soft hands,” Spartans coach Mike Curtis said. “Campbell is very, very good. I didn’t know if our man (defense) would work. The kids bought in.”

“We knew it was going to be a battle regardless,” Hazelton said. “We couldn’t give up, couldn’t let up or get comfortable. Just take care of business.”

The other factor, almost as big as Hazelton, was one of the smaller players on the team, 6-0 senior guard Brody LaBounty. He was coming off a tough game in the Spartans’ prelim round win over Conant, but nailed six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 27-point night.

“He’s been my guy for four years,” Curtis said. “The best game of his high school career in the quarters.”

After three, White Mountains led 56-35. It wasn’t over, as Campbell’s full court pressure kept the Spartans from the flow they had been enjoying. A 3-pointer by Dylan Rice cut the margin to 56-40 with 7:08 left, and you could feel momentum shifting – almost. A big LaBounty drive to the hoop and a putback by Hazelton brought the lead back to 67-45 with 3:47 left. It was over.

Colton Martel, who is one of eight potential returnees for 2022-23, led Campbell with 19 points while Rice had 16. It was a tough ending for this Campbell crew, which DiBenedetto felt was special.

He went down the bench and slapped every player’s hand in the final minute, and admitted later he was fighting back tears. He loses seven seniors, but the team all asked if they could get back in the gym on Monday.

“It doesn’t end for us. These kids I’d go to war with any day,” he said. “They’re the greatest bunch of kids I’ve ever had. It’s a good group, and I’m happy I got to coach them.”