Yoemen top Lexington, fall to Academy
The Cameron Yoemen basketball team traveled to Little River Academy to take on the Bumblebees on Saturday. Cameron would lose in a 73-70 heartbreaker. The Yoemen were back at it on Monday when they hosted the Lexington Eagles. Cameron soundly defeated Lexington 69-39.
“Losing to Academy was tough, and we knew we had to rebound, and come take care of home court advantage here in Cameron,” Yoe coach Calvin King said. “This is our next to last home game; we have nine seniors this year, and I know it was really important for them to finish this thing out the right way, and I was real proud of the way we responded. We started off a little slow today and we were able to capitalize on the things we do well.”
Cameron started the game with two consecutive layups by Connor Barton (15) for an early 4-0 lead. Lexington went on a 5-0 run to take the lead 5-4. The Yoemen retook the lead with a nice layup by Trayjen Wilcox (12) to make the score 6-5. Cameron would stay ahead with a basket by JW Hollas (3) to maintain their lead 10-7. The first quarter ended with Cameron up 12-9.
The second quarter started with a basket by Braylan Drake (1) for a 14-9 lead. Hollas would add on with a layup off of a missed free throw to make the score 16-11. That would be followed with a three pointer by Ryan Host (5) to make it a 19-11 lead. The Yoemen started to pull away with a transition three pointer by Hollas off a monster block by Charlie Mayer (4) to make the score 24-16. They would add on with four technical free throws by Hollas to take a 28-16 lead.
“We were able to get a little bit of momentum,” King said. “I felt like that was the first time we actually had things going our way. Once we were able to go, JW was able to knock down his free throws. We talked about keeping the pressure on, keep extending on these guys, and seeing if we could get to where they couldn’t catch back up. They haven’t really shown that they can score at a super high level. So, we knew if we could punch it out to a 15-20 point lead, they were going to have a hard time coming back on us.”
Cameron went into halftime winning 33-19.
The third quarter started with a layup by Mayer to make it a 35-19 lead. That was soon followed with a three point shot by Host for a score of 39-22. The Yoemen continued the onslaught with two consecutive three pointers by Hollas to take a whopping 49-27 lead. Damon Flemings (2) continued to pile on with a floater to go ahead 51-27. The third quarter ended with Cameron ahead 54-29.
The Yoemen started the fourth quarter on 8-0 run to go ahead 62-29. Cameron extended the lead to 66-34. The Yoemen stayed aggressive with a three pointer by Dillan Akin (23) for a 69-39 lead, which would be the final score of the game. Due to weather complications, the Yoemen had to play once again the next day against the Bulldogs of McGregor.
“Right now, it’s neck and neck for getting in that third position,” King said. “They beat us the first time in a well tight game. I expect a hard-fought battle tomorrow. Having to come back to play back-to-back games is challenging, but I think our guys will respond like they have all year and put us in a position where we can work on our seeding for playoffs. I’ve told them from the very beginning, we’re trying to work on ourselves, and we want to keep improving every week and making ourselves a tough out once we get into the playoffs. I like the progress we’ve had, and it looks like we can be a dangerous team if we start clicking.”
Sadly, they would be defeated by McGregor 68-58. With this loss, Cameron has a district record of 6-6 and an overall record of 17-10.
Up next for the Yoemen will be the Rockdale Tigers on the road. The game will be on Friday and tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.