Grind continues for Cameron girls

Jarrell

Entering a road 20-3A tilt at Jarrell, the Lady Yoe sat at 1-7 in district play and out of the playoff picture.  For head coach Corey Cunningham, the last few week’s of this season are not really about the wins and losses, but about the continued effort and fight to get better each and every game despite a limited roster.  

It was a struggle early on to stay competitive on the scoreboard, but Cameron continued to grind out minutes late in a 72-37 loss to the Lady Cougars. 

Jarrell (6-3) came out hot of the gate, building a 26-4 lead after one and extending that to 45-15 at the half.  

“We started off the game slow with a lot of turnovers against their press, but we kept trying to reinforce effort,” said Cunningham.  “Nothing replaces effort and we kept trying to encourage them to keep giving it their all no matter what the score was.”

When you think of effort, one of the first things that comes to mind is hustle rebounds.  Cameron (1-8) finished with 13 offensive rebounds on the night, which led to second-chance scoring opportunities.  Lauryn Leftwich had a team-high seven offensive boards.   

“It’s huge when you're shooting what we’re shooting,” said Cunningham.  “We need to give ourself every opportunity we can at this point and any game.”  Cameron converted on 14 of 40 shots from the floor for a 35 percent shooting percentage.

Jarrell had seven different players contribute in the first, including forward Julie Tucker, which finished with a team high 21 points.  Fellow forward Jorden Vick was second of the team with 15 points.  The pair combined for 40 points in the first matchup between these two teams.  The Lady Cougars finished 27-49 from the floor.

Marquazia Workman laid in the first bucket for Cameron at the 5:00 minute mark in the first to cut the lead to 12-2.  Workman also scored the lone other bucket for Cameron in the period.

In the first, the Lady Yoe had other scoring opportunities from the free-throw line, but could not cash in.  Cameron was just 3-14 in the first half and finished 6-19. 

“This is something we work on every day in practice,” stated Cunningham.  “When the free throws come around I don’t really know, but it would allow us to be in more games.  When we get in that early hole, it’s tough.”

Jarrell opened the third on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 52-15.  The momentum turned with a steal followed by an eventual transition lay-in by Terryn Adams for Cameron’s first bucket of the second half.  Adams had six points in the half and had an all-around good performance with 12 points and seven rebounds.  Leftwich was third in scoring with six points and nine rebounds. 

Cameron forced 19 turnovers on the night while giving up the ball 30 times. 

Hearne

Grit was the word that came to Lady Yoe head coach Corey Cunningham’s mind when he described Tuesday game with Hearne.

Cameron’s Za’Kara Bryson had gone down with an apparent leg injury in the second quarter and a once manageable four-point deficit had grown to 32-17 in the third.   

Though the situation looked bleak, adversity is something this team thrives on.  Cameron proceeded to go on a 37-17 run to pick up their second district win of the season, 54-49. 

“The girls kept fighting and never gave up,” said Cunningham after losing his third starter due to injury this season.  “We had a similar situation in Hearne and we got the win over there.”

Both rosters were down to just six players in the second half.  The big momentum swing came early in the fourth when Hearne (2-8) lost their second player to fouls and was down just four eligible roster members.

That is when the likes of Adams, Leftwich and Workman went to work.  Leftwich had four inside shots in the fourth before fouling out.  Adams and Workman each came in with nine during the five on four mismatch. 

“We never give up,” added Adams on the comeback.  “When we're down, we still have to keep pushing no matter the scoreboard.”

Adams finished with 14 points for the Lady Yoe (2-8).  Workman had 15, Leftwich came in with 13 and Zabrian Sowders had 7.