Cameron crushes East Buchanan 60-38
The Cameron Lady Dragons opened the 2020-2021 season in grand fashion after blowing out East Buchanan 60-38.
Working their size advantage with 6-foot junior center Olivia Moore, the Lady Dragons gave themselves a double-digit cushion they maintained through the final buzzer.
“I was ready to play. I’ve been waiting for a game for a whole year now,” Moore said. “I was tired of waiting. We have to keep a winning mindset early. We start strong and end strong.”
Hot off signing a full-ride scholarship with Northwestern Missouri State University, senior guard Laini Joseph showed her prowess as a game manager Tuesday night. After helping establish the Lady Dragons in the paint, Joseph let her perimeter shooter put the Lady Bulldogs away early on a pair of threes for 6 of her team-leading 26 points and giving the Lady Dragons an early 10-point advantage East Buchanan could not overcome.
“I thought we did some good things early. We got the ball inside and attacked the basket,” Cameron coach Matt Wenck said. “We shot the ball great in the first quarter. I think we were 8 of 11 shooting in the first quarter. When you do that, then you should come out on top.”
One concern this season was replacing 2019 senior shooting guards Caitlin and Arli Smith. What makes the previous sentence past tense is the sudden emergence of junior guards Mica Dunscombe and twin guards Braxton and Addison Shanks.
“I definitely think I stepped up a lot more this year than last year,” Dunscombe said. “Last year, I didn’t want to shoot at all and just passed the ball away. This year I needed to step up. It’s exciting. This team really meshes together. We have a good team bond.”