Lady Dragons rebound with 50-46 victory over KIPP
The Cameron Lady Dragons did not let the sting of Monday’s 72-24 loss to arch rival Chillicothe last long after picking up their first win in CHS Shootout Tournament action with a 50-46 victory over the Knowledge is Power Program Lady Gators.
Cameron junior guard Eme Teel, who scored a team-leading 25 points, accounted for half of the Lady Dragons’ offensive production and kick-started Cameron in the first quarter with a 3-pointer and a close-range basket.
“[CHS junior forward Ella Jameson] gets me open half of the time. I would not be able to score as many points without Ella. She passes every ball to me honestly,” Teel said.
Although handily defeating KIPP Tuesday, the Lady Gators did not go down without a fight. Ja’Princia McDonald and Jazmen Fennix, who scored 17 and 12 points respectively, kept KIPP in contention but their contributions came too late with most of their offensive production coming in the second half. Three second-quarter 3-pointers by Teel, and a pair of free-throws, separated Cameron and KIPP; taking the two teams into halftime with the Lady Dragons leading 26-17.
“[KIPP] applied a lot of pressure, which was good for us to handle. There were a lot of hands, and we have to get used to that. We did a pretty good job,” Cameron coach Matt Wenck said. “We didn’t foul them in the first half, which kept us out of foul trouble. We handled ourselves pretty good. We did hit the people who were open … In the second half, Eme got some cuts off of some flex-plays and that made the difference.”
With KIPP focused on slowing down Teel, her only third-quarter points coming after a fast-break off a steal, Cameron’s other offensive weapons emerged. Jameson added a pair of buckets to open the third, then sophomore Addi McVicker hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead. Both teams traded basket for basket until a mid-court steal by senior guard Addison Shanks found its way in senior forward Mady Jessen’s hands, then into the basket, but Fennix’s 3-pointer before the third-quarter buzzer made it a two-possession game. Despite outscoring Cameron by a point in the fourth quarter, the Lady Dragons maintained their lead and eventually pulled away after a Shanks 3-pointer and a pair of successful drives by Teel with the latter resulting in 3 points after she sank the subsequent free-throw.
“This was a learning experience. Knowing we can handle that pressure, and knock down shots, is important especially going into those tougher (conference and district) games,” Jameson said.
The Lady Dragons return to the hardwood Friday for the third game of the CHS Shootout against MEC rival Maryville. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
