Too much pressure: Yoe defense overwhelms Lexington, Rogers

Before Friday’s game with Lexington, first-year Yoe basketball coach Nick Burns said that he had located an old Yoe basketball shirt. That shirt read “Running Yoemen”. He showed that shirt to his team and said that was going to be their theme this season and that they were going to bring that mentality back to the program.

That was validated on Friday, as Cameron totally dominated Lexington from beginning to end in a 76-30 win. The point total was impressive for Cameron, and the defensive statistics told all as 43 turnovers were forced with the full-court press causing the Eagles problems all night.

“We talk about putting together a buzzer to buzzer game, and I think that is the first one of the year outside of Whitney,” said Burns. “I felt our defensive intensity was there, and we were going to score off of it. We did not let up and I told the boys that we have to learn to put our foot on the pedal and not let up. I think we did that tonight.”

Cameron forced 14 turnovers in the opening quarter and held a 26-8 lead after the opening 8 minutes.

“I felt like we played at a speed that made them uncomfortable,” Burns said. “Any time you can get to the basket and help your shot percentage, you’re doing good things. That all comes from that pressure defense. I think tonight we played a lot more fundamentally sound.”

Sophomore Calvin Stewart took advantage of those early turnovers and scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the first and second quarters.

“We just have to keep moving with our hands,” said Stewart. “We work very hard in practice on defense every day and it translates into the game. I feel like when I work hard on defense, I can get others going.”

Another player leading the full-court press was senior Dondrick Moore, which also finished in double figures at 11.

“It’s all a team effort,” said Moore on the results. “We all put in the work at practice and it pays off in the game.”

Stat Leaders

Points: Calvin Stewart (16), Donrick Moore (11), Kobe Young (11), Levi May (9), LaRondre Booze (7), Nico Vargas (6), Keanu McCarter (6), James Shields (5), D.J. Daniels (5).

Offensive Rebounds: May (4), Vargas (4), Booze (3), Shields (3)

Defensive Rebounds: Booze (5), Shields (4), May (3), Vargas (3)

Rogers

Not every game is going to go as you would like it to. Tuesday was a prime example of that, as the Yoemen did not play their best, but managed to sneak by pesky Rogers, 40-36.

“Rogers always plays us tough,” said Burns. “They have great coaching. Every game the last four to five years has been tough.”

It was a rough go of it for three of the four quarters, as Cameron held a 16-13 lead at halftime and only scored 3 points in the fourth. The third was the difference maker with 21 points - 3 more than the other three combined.

“We missed about 15 layups in the first half. We could have won by a lot more if we just make our layups, but we have a lot of youth on this team,” said Burns. Every win teaches you something.”

Players were all smiles after Friday’s blowout win over Lexington, but Burns actually believes games of this nature will only benefit his young team later down the road.

“If we’re lucky enough to make the playoffs, you may have games where you blow someone out and another where you have to grind it all the way out to the wire,” said Burns. ‘I think this game, for a young team, is a great learning lesson. I think if we blew everyone out, it would be bad for us.”

Cameron built its biggest lead at 37-24 at the end of the third. On defense, Nico Vargas forced a turnover and quickly found Booze at the other end of the court, where the big man calmly sank a three. It was just enough to hold off a late Rogers surge.

Stat Leaders

Points: Vargas (14), Booze (7), Young (6), Moore (6), May (5), Stewart (2)

Offensive Rebounds: May (2), Stewart (1), Vargas (1), Moore (1), Shields (1), Booze (1), McCarter (1)

Defensive Rebounds: May (7), Moore (4), Stewart (3), Booze (3), McCarter (2), Daniels (2)

District Results and Standings

Friday: Cameron Yoe 76, Lexington 30; Jarrell 62, Rogers 29; Rockdale 93, Franklin 65; Hearne 57, Academy 53.

Tuesday: Cameron Yoe 40, Rogers 36; Jarrell 77, Hearne 46; Rockdale 54, Lexington 41; Franklin 60, Academy 52

Standings: 1. Jarrell (3-0); 2. Cameron Yoe (3-1), 2. Franklin (3-1), 4. Rockdale (2-1), 5. Hearne (2-2), 6. Academy (1-3), 6. Rogers (1-3), 8. Lexington (0-4).

Top 20 Rankings (Jan. 8)

1. Jarrell (15-4), 2. Brock (23-2), 3. S.A. Cole (23-1), 4. Central Heights (19-6), 5. Palestine Westwood (22-2), 6. Ponder (10-5), 7. East Chambers (20-1), 8. Peaster (15-8), 9. Edgewood

(17-2), 10. Bowie (14-6), 11. Nocone (17-4), 12. Wall (18-1), 13. Hitchcock (11-10), 14. Van Vleck (8-4), 15. Mt. Vernon (20-1),16. Kountze (14-7), 17. Van Alstyne (15-8), 18. Holliday (15-4), 19. Madison (3-16), 20. La Marque (9-11), 21. Central (17-6), 22. Teague (6-3), 23. Commerce (10-8), 24. Canadian (6-2), 25. Santa Rosa (7-9).

Up Next

Cameron (3-1) will travel to rival Rockdale (2-1) on Friday before getting back on the road Tuesday at Academy (1-3).