Lady Yoe begin second half of 20-3A play

Lady Yoe head coach Corey Cunningham and his team have had to deal with plenty of adversity up to this point in the season.  It’s one thing to play in arguably the toughest district in the region - with three teams in the latest rankings - but Cameron has had to deal with injuries to two key starters for a majority of first half of 20-3A play.  Cameron would try to overcome all of that as they rounded out the first half of district. 

Rockdale

Cameron hosted the Lady Tigers of Rockdale from Yoe Gym in one of the bigger rivalry games in the state on Friday.  The Lady Yoe led by three at the half, but could not hold off the Lady Tigers down the stretch in a 50-42 loss. 

Despite the loss, three different Lady Yoe players ended with double-digit scoring marks.  Terryn Adams (14), Zabrian Sowders (12), and Lauryn Leftwich (10) combined for 36 of Cameron’s 42 points. 

Leftwich yielded seven defensive and four offensive rebounds to finish with a double-double. 

“I thought our girls fought hard the entire game and they kept us in it,” said Cunningham.  “They hit some shots tonight, so that was good.  They kept fighting until the very end.”

Cameron trailed after one 14-13, but led at the half, 24-21.  Rockdale took control in the third (14-9) and fourth (15-9) quarters to close out the game.

20-3A Midpoint Breakdown

With the conclusion of Friday’s games, the first half of 20-3A action was in the books.  Current district standings: 1. Academy (7-0); 2. Franklin (6-1); 3. Rogers (5-2); 4. Jarrell (4-3); 5. Rockdale (3-4); 6. Cameron Yoe (1-6); 6. Hearne (1-6); 6. Lexington (1-6). 

Academy (3), Franklin (15), and Jarrell (23) were all ranked in this week’s Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll. 

Cameron’s lone win came over Hearne in the third game of district play.  Since that point, the Lady Yoe have had to deal the loss of NaQuiria Gibbons and Marly Spink to injury, resulting in four straight losses. 

In her 12 games played, Gibbons leads to team with 14.2 points per contest.  Marquazia Workman is at 9.8 points while Terryn Adams is third with 6.6. 

Leftwich has been a force inside, leading the club with a 114 rebounds.  Spink (77) and Adams (61) are second and third, respectively. 

Adams (41) and Workman (40) have team high’s in steals for the defense. 

Academy

The Academy Lady Bees are undefeated in 20-3A play and are ranked third in the state of Texas.  On Tuesday night from Yoe Gym, they backed up their past performances in a 74-23 win over Cameron.

The game was at 4-2 in favor of Academy three minutes into the first, but four turnovers forced a timeout from Brian Burshce.  All the momentum shifted to the green and gold side from that point forward with a 39-6 run to close the half.  Academy forced 33 turnovers in the game, with 23 coming in the first half while the full-court press was in play. 

“No doubt Academy is one of the best teams in the state,” said Cunningham.  “I told our girls at halftime that it was an opportunity to get some good playing time against one of the top teams in the state.  We needed to make ourselves better and not even play the scoreboard and improve our individual and team games.”

With the press off, Cameron managed to worked their offense in the second half.  The Lady Yoe scored a game-high 11 points in the third, with Marquazia Workman leading the way with five.  Workman connected on three 3-point shots and had 11 points. 

“Once they laid off that pressure a little more, we were able to move the ball,” said Cunningham.  “We stressed that we need to execute what we run.  We have to do those things in games to come.  I thought they played hard the entire game and we were able to execute some things.”

Academy generated offense in about every way that they could, with seven different players scoring the first.  In addition, seven Lady Bees contributed with at least five points.  Kenidi White had a team-high 21 points. 

“We have multiple girls on our team that can step up and hit shots,” said Pursche.  “We have done it in the past and we did it tonight.” 

Cameron’s Adams had eight points and Leftwich had three.  Leftwich also had nine rebounds. 

Cameron will on the road at Jarrell on Friday before returning home to take on Hearne on Tuesday.