ON THE MOVE – Indian Creek’s Bryson Kamarek tries through a trio of Cambridge defenders during Friday’s game. – Mike Hughes
WINTERSVILLE – Cambridge lost its first three games by a combined 10 points.
The Bobcats had to withstand a late-game lead with a homestand at Indian Creek on Friday, but did enough to earn their first win, edging the Redskins 49-45 in Wintersville.
“This first win is more of a relief than anything else,” Cambridge coach Kyle Berthuset said as the Bobcats improved to 1-3. “The kids needed it, I needed it, and they’ve been through a lot, especially recently with injuries. It was a great win for them.”
Cambridge were able to attack the Creek attack early off the dribble, with Josiah Barnett and Regan Rogers both getting past defenders for late lay-ups or offloads to their teammates.
That allowed Cambridge to lead after the first and second quarters.
What kept Creek in the game early was that the Redskins grabbed 12 offensive rebounds in the first half, capitalizing on second-chance opportunities as Caleb Bodo and Bryson Kamarec attacked the offensive glass and repeatedly giving the Redskins new life.
“We had 17 offensive rebounds and only eight on Tuesday, and we missed a lot of shots so there should have been more, but we were able to do (Friday) what we didn’t do on Tuesday (against Edison),” Indian Creek said. said head coach Joe Dunleavy.
At the beginning of the second half, it seemed clear that both teams focused their energy in the first half on stopping what was working in the opponent’s favor early.
For Cambridge, the offense wasn’t entirely successful at attacking the basket off the dribble. In return, the Bobcats kept Creek off the offensive glass, cutting the total from 12 in the first half to five in the second half.
“This is something we talked about, which is that it was necessary to find a way to reduce that (rebounding) deficit and we did a better job on the glass,” Berthuset said. “We needed to get 50-50 balls and (Friday) the kids answered the buzzer. We did enough at the plate to put off that huge run late.”
Cambridge led by as many as 14 when Rogers hit the bucket to start the fourth quarter, putting the visitors up 41-27.
Creek regrouped and a Carl Boncater three in the corner sparked a 13-2 run that ended with a Kamarek triple from the corner.
So the score was 43-40 before Barnett stole the ball from half court and put it in for a five-point lead for the Bobcats.
Bonecter followed with a floater from the side to put Creek back to within three at 45-42.
Barnett and Rogers each hit the back end for two fouls late.
Creek got one last shot, but a three was cleared from the corner and this time, Barnett shut down the two and made two free throws for the final margin.
Rogers finished with 18 points for the Bobcats while Barnett trailed by 16 points.
“Reagan played like a top player trying to get us to victory, and it’s very difficult to stay in front of Josiah, and I’m glad I don’t have to try to guard him,” Berthuset said of his team’s leading scorer.
Drake Freshwater led the Redskins with eight points with Bonecutter, Bodo and Kamarec all chipping in seven points and Tweedy adding six in a balanced effort.
It was a step in the right direction for the Creeks, a team that lost two four-year starters this season.
“They say in football you see your biggest improvement from the first game to the second, but we got that from the first game to the second half of the second game,” Dunleavy said. “We have some experience, but everyone is playing a different role than last year, and this one is coming too. We’ll be fine.”
Cambridge 49, Indian Creek 44
C – Jeffrey 0 1-2 1; Barnett 5 5-6 16; Greg 2 0-0 5; John 0 1-2 1; B Greg 2 0-0 4; mile 0 0-0 0; Rogers 7 1-2 18; Matthews 3 0-0 6; Homeco-Green 0 0-0 0; Totals: 18 8-12 49.
I – bone cutter 3 0-0 7; Budo 2 3-6 7; Eddie 1 0-0 2; Kamarek 3 0-0 7; mor 0 0-0 0; Leicester 1 1-1 3; Tweedy 3 0-1 6; Schultz 2 0-0 4; fresh water 3 0-0 8; Totals: 18 4-8 44.
3-point goals: Freshwater 2, Kamarek, Boncater.
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