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CADIZ -- Facing off against No. 1 seed Wellsville in the OVAC Class 1A championship at Harrison Central High School Saturday morning, the Cameron Dragons were down 35-18 in the early goings of the third quarter and the first OVAC title in school history seemed far out of their reach.
That didn’t last for long, though, as the Dragons stormed back, forcing overtime and claiming the extra period with a 57-53 victory.
It wasn’t an easy victory. Wellsville ran a perfectly-executed matchup zone defense in the first half that suffocated Cameron's offense and all but erased the Dragons' standout senior Trevor Beresford.
Beresford scored just five points in the first half and the Dragons trailed 32-18 at the break. It got worse when Wellsville scored the first three points in the third quarter as they looked to have Cameron on the ropes.
"We just had to pick our heads up," Beresford said. "We were all yelling at each other, but it happens. We had to communicate on defense and come out, work hard and keep fighting."
Wellsville coach David Thompson explained that the Tigers' game plan in the first half was to put a lot of their focus on stopping Beresford inside.
Just as Wellsville had owned the first half of the game, it was like a switch had flipped and all of a sudden the Dragons took control.
Cameron's press defense caused turnovers and easy buckets on three possessions in a row and suddenly, the Dragons were right back in it.
"We didn't play well in the first half, but they got re-focused, we started pressing and we got some turnovers and kind of got flowing a little bit," said Cameron coach Tom Hart. "We didn't play very good defense in the first half, but in the second half we got a couple of turnovers, got our hands on the ball a few times and got a few easy baskets."
Those three quick baskets sparked an 18-2 run that spanned the entire rest of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth that made it a one-point, 37-36, game.
"We just couldn't handle the pressure," explained Thompson. "You can't win while throwing the ball away 10 times in a quarter. And they were all passes, it wasn't like they were stealing the ball, we were throwing it away."
The Tigers scored just five points in the third quarter and Cameron quickly tied the game at 39 in the fourth on a free throw from Beresford.
Wellsville bounced back to score 14 points in the fourth quarter to match Cameron's 16, including a last-second layup by Jaxon Brewer that tied the game at 51 and forced overtime.
In the overtime period, Beresford and Cole Burkett each scored three points as Cameron held Wellsville to just two and the Dragons won the first OVAC boys basketball championship in school history.
"It's amazing," Hart said. "We had a lot of adversity, we were down 17 points in the third quarter and we lost one of our starters to an injury, but the other six guys that played (Saturday) really stepped up."
Cameron starter Colson Wichterman suffered an injury on a hard fall in the third quarter, had to be helped off the court and did not return to the action.
After Wichterman's exit, Cameron only used six players in their rotation the rest of the game, but Hart said all six stepped up and made big plays at crucial times.
"Those six guys, each one of them made a play here or there," Hart said. "They all made some type of contribution or play whether it was a pass deflection, a steal, a rebound or hit a big basket. Those six guys, each made a really big contribution for us."
Burkett led the team with 18 points. Beresford finished with 13 while Connor Powell and Lance Hartley each scored seven. Chris McCauley added six and Nate Haeberle contributed three.
Saturday's win capped off an impressive week for the Dragons, who blew out No. 3 seed Madonna in an impressive OVAC semifinal match Tuesday before defeating Greater Beckley Christian, the No. 2-ranked team in West Virginia's Class A, on Wednesday.
"To beat (Madonna) by 30 and then come here and be down at half and still win, it means a lot," Beresford said. "It's the first (OVAC Championship) in school history. We had to get it."
"We're playing really well right now and the reason is because we're playing team ball," Hart added. "Got to give Wellsville credit, they were well prepared and they are a very good basketball team. Now we know why they were the No. 1 seed and why they had won 12 games coming into today."
Beresford was named the game's MVP, although he gave much of the credit for his performance to his teammates.
"It's really on my team," he said. "They're the ones that get me open and allow me to play my game.”