Lady Yoe lose gritty battles to Lexington, Rogers

Lexington

With 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter of Friday’s game with Lexington, Cameron had a lead of 32-29 after buckets from Marquazia Workman, Lauryn Leftwich and NaQuiria Gibbons. It was Cameron’s biggest lead of the game, but it could not hold up as the Lady Eagles came back and snuck out of Yoe Gym with a 40-35 win.

It was not pretty throughout, as Cameron (1-4) shot just 8-44 from the floor and turned the ball over 21 times while Lexington (3-2) was 12-40 with 19 turnovers.

“I knew Lexington would put up a fight,” said Lady Yoe coach Corey Cunningham on what he expected entering the game. “They are always physical and I knew they would be tonight. We held them to 15 at half, and with our low output, it kept us right in the game. We preach defensive stops, but we just have to find a way to score.”

While the offense was not able to finish shots off, there were also issues at the free throw line, where Cameron was just 15-36. That was also a point of emphasis after the game.

“We didn’t finish a lot at the rim,” said Cunningham. “I know our free-throw shooting percentage was well below 50 percent, and that hurt us bad. We have to control the controllables, and that is one of them.”

Stat Leaders

Points: Lauryn Leftwich (10), Terryn Adams (10), NaQuiria Gibbons (9), Marquazia Workman (4), Marly Spink (1).

Offensive Rebounds: Adams (5), Leftwich (2), Spink (1), Brianna Collier (1)

Defensive Rebounds: Leftwich (14), Workman (4), Adams (4), Spink (3), Collier (2)

Rogers

If there was a time for Cameron to pick up a win over traditionally tough Rogers, it was going to be on Tuesday night in yet another home contest. Rogers and Cameron had equally struggled heading into the game with 1-4 district records, and each desperately needed a win to keep their playoffs hopes alive in 20-3A. It was also worth noting that the Lady Eagles had multiple players sitting out the game with injuries.

At the end of the night, if you would have told Cunningham that his defense would hold Rogers to 36 total points, he was certain that would have led to a win. Unfortunately, it was not to be as Cameron’s offense was simply held in check the entire night in a 36-28 loss.

“I would have thought we would have won the game,” said Cunningham. “When we held them to 10 at half time, I told the girls that our defense has us in control. It was our best defensive game of the night.”

For the second game in a row, while struggling from the floor, Cameron shot just 5-14 from the free-throw line, while Rogers was able to put a little distance down the stretch with those same shots.

“When you look at a game that close, it would not have been an issue if we were sinking some of those free throws,” said Cunningham. “It made the difference in the game in my opinion.”

Stat Leaders

Points: Workman (11), Adams (7), Leftwich (4), Gibbons (3), Spink (2), Collier (2).

Offensive Rebounds: Leftwich (3), Spink (2), Adams (1)

Defensive Rebounds: Spink (6), Adams (3), Leftwich (2), Gibbons (2), Workman (1)

District Results and Standings

Friday: Lexington 40 Cameron Yoe 35; Rogers 63 Jarrell 53; Academy 69, Hearne 22; Franklin 68, Rockdale 59.

Tuesday: Rogers 36, Cameron Yoe 28; Academy 69, Franklin 58; Rockdale 61, Lexington 52; Jarrell over Hearne

Standings: 1. Academy (6-0), 2. Franklin (5-1), 3. Rockdale (4-2), 4. Jarrell (3-3), 4. Lexington (3-3), 6. Rogers (2-4), 7. Cameron Yoe (1-5), 8. Hearne (0-6).

Top 20 Rankings (Jan. 8)

1. Canadian (17-4), 2. Jim Ned (17-6), 3. Pottsboro (21-4), 4. Mt. Pleasant Chapel Hill (22-2), 5. Wall (16-4), 6. Little River Academy (16-3), 7. Idalou (19-5), 8. Brock (19-6), 9. Winnsboro (14-10), 10. Leonard (19-3), 11. Teague (20-2), 12. Sunnyvale (19-3), 13. Mt. Vernon (14-8), 14. Shallowater (18-3), 15. Cisco (19-3), 16. Poth (16-5), 17. Odem (20-6), 18. Woodville (24-5), 19. Industrial (20-5), 20. Hitchcock (18-6), 21. Grandview (16-8), 22. Karnes City (21-3), 23. Franklin (20-3), 24. Schulenburg (22-5), 25. Yoakum (16-6).

Up Next

Cameron (1-5) will travel to rival Rockdale (4-2) on Friday and will be at Academy (6-0) on Tuesday.