Another balanced scoring effort paved the way to a third consecutive regional title for the Cameron boys basketball team after a 75-54 win over Spring Valley in a Division 4 regional final on Saturday night in Cameron.
“The best part of Saturday’s win,” Cameron coach Troy LaVallie said, “was the fact that we did what we have done all year — played great defense and shared the ball on offense. We had five guys score in double figures and our sixth guy had nine points. All year we have had such a balanced scoring attack and tonight was the perfect example of that.”
Second-seeded Cameron (24-2) advances to Thursday’s sectional semifinal in Amery against No. 1 Unity, which edged fourth-seeded Ladysmith 50-49 on Saturday night. Cameron and Unity have battled in the sectional semifinals in each of the last two seasons with the Comets winning each matchup.
In Saturday night’s victory over third-seeded Spring Valley (19-7), it was a dominant second half that allowed the Comets to pull away.
Cameron had jumped in front 15-6 with early 3-pointers from Kobe Sevals, Tyson Lucas and Treye Zimmerman, but Spring Valley cut into the lead and at halftime the Cardinals were up 33-32.
“Our guys knew we were playing good and just missed some shots in the final 7 minutes of the half,” LaVallie said. “We made a couple changes on defense and they paid off big in the second half.”
It was a 16-0 run by the Comets that put some distance between them and the Cardinals. Triples by Zimmerman and Sevals got the run started and then the Comet defense turned steals into fast break scores. With 5 minutes left in the contest, Cameron had pulled in front 59-44.
Zimmerman led the Comets with 18 points, while Lucas had 15. Sevals, Kory Murray and Brady Quinn scored 11 and Carter Cherney had nine. Quinn added 10 rebounds and five steals, while Murray had six assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Cameron 69, Shell Lake 42A strong close to the first half helped the Comets dispel the Lakers in Friday’s regional semifinal.
Early in the contest the Comets had pulled in front by double-digits but Shell Lake (15-11) trimmed its deficit to one with about 8 minutes to halftime. It was a 16-2 run by Cameron that built up a cushion the Comets didn’t let disappear.
“Shell Lake played really hard, but the run we made to end the half put the game away,” LaVallie said. “Our defense forced turnovers, and we capitalized in transition.
“I give their kids and coaches a lot of credit. They never gave up and made it hard for us on both ends of the floor. Their 1-1-3 zone was something we hadn’t seen all year, and at times it gave us some trouble.”
Lucas scored a game-high 22 points and added seven assists and six rebounds. Cherney scored 18 and had 12 boards and seven blocks. Quinn chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds. Zimmerman scored nine points, had six boards and three assists.
Unity, winner of the West Lakeland Conference, is 25-1 this season with its only loss to Somerset. The Eagles are led by their defense, which only allows 34.6 points per game. It’s a contrast of styles as the Comets are led by an offense averaging 73.3 points per contest.
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