Camden drops two to tourney host USJ
The Camden basketball teams were feeling too kind over the holidays and dropped two games to the First Bank Christmas Classic Tournament hosts USJ. The Lady Lions ran into a streaking hot Lady Bruins team and got blasted after the half to end up 82-55. The Lions were feeling hospitable, and dropped the night cap and tournament closer to USJ, 51-50 at the buzzer.
The Lady Lions played into USJ's strength and lost 82-55. The strong USJ squad led early and had a 16-13 advantage after the first period. Camden worked their way closer, and with 3:49 left in the 2nd, Carmen Medina made a steal, fed the ball to Jenna Evans, Jenna scored and was fouled. She made the free throw, and the game was tied at 27-all. Camden finished the half down by four, 36-32.
The Lady Bruins revved it up during the break, exploded for a 10-2 run and it was never a game after that. The third ended with USJ up 62-41, and they cruised to a 82-55 final. Scoring for Camden:
Carmen Medina 23
Jenna French 9
Anna Martin 6
Karen Farmer 5
Jenna Evans 5
Savannah Cox 4
Melissa Guajardo 3
The Lady Lions face a road stretch with two important district games in the next two weeks. They start with a game at Huntingdon on Tuesday January 6th, then Friday night at McKenzie.
GO LADY LIONS!
The Camden Lions faced a regular season one-win USJ Bruins team in the closing game of the First Bank Christmas Classic and lost 51-50. Camden had height at every position and it felt as though they would break the game open with the next play, but a hustling USJ team never stopped running plays or shooting three-point shots and they were able to take their second win of the tourney (also beat Riverside). USJ led at the end of the first period, 13-11, but Camden edged into the lead at the half, 25-22. After three, it was a 40-all tie, and the stage was set for a nail-biter finish!
With 51 seconds left, Ben Reed drove the lane and laid the finger roll into the hoop to give Camden a one-point lead, 50-49. USJ made the two pointer on their trip down, and Camden took a timeout with 13.8 seconds left. Our final play looked somewhat disorganized, Reed's desperation shot at the buzzer didn't make it, and USJ came away with the shocker over Camden 51-50. Scoring for Camden:
Jarrod Bain 21
Ben Reed 16
Kyle Harris 5
Brian French 5
Desmond Zollicoffer 2
Josh Boyd 1
Camden will next do battle at Huntingdon on Tuesday, and then at McKenzie on Friday. The road stretch of District games ends on January 13th with a game at Riverside. Let's all make the trip to Huntingdon to support our team!
GO LIONS!
Special thanks to everyone at First Bank for their continued support of this annual Tournament. Thanks First Bank!
Photos by Tony Dillon