Photo by Cody Tomer Cameron’s Connor Powell, left, takes a shot while guarded by Paden City’s Joey Baker Tuesday.

CAMERON — Cameron boys’ basketball coach Tom Hart has been wanting to see his squad get off to stronger starts to open up games.

The Dragons picked a good time to do just that as they rolled out to a 26-2 start on Tuesday and ran away with an 83-26 triumph over visiting Paden City in the Class A, Region One, Section One Semifinal.

“We were really sharing the basketball and trying to find the open man,” Hart said. “We were really trying to execute right from the get-go and that was the key to getting off to a fast start (Tuesday).”

The victory sends Cameron to the sectional final, which it will host on Friday against Madonna.

In three previous contests this year, Cameron has defeated Madonna 67-63 and 58-50, along with a 71-45 victory in the OVAC semifinal.

“This time of year you have to take it one game at a time,” Hart said. “It’s going to be a tough game come Friday night. We’ve got a couple more days to get ready for that and we’re happy to get this win (Tuesday) and advance to another game.”

Paden City wraps up a 5-win season but for coach David Riggle, it was a campaign he will not forget.

“For the first time in my coaching career I can look in that locker room and know that all eight of those guys were fully 100% committed,” Riggle said. “From Day 1, they were locked in. Wins are great but that’s all you can ask for. They would do anything for each other and they worked hard for a common goal. Obviously that goal is more than five wins but I’d rather have that than a bunch of guys that are half in and get 18 wins.”

Cameron’s hot start to the game was sparked by a monster dunk from returning all-state standout Trevor Beresford, who netted eight points in the opening stanza.

Lance Hartley paced the Dragons in the first with nine points as they took a commanding 28-5 upper hand into the second and never looked back.

In fact, Cameron didn’t allow a single point in the second quarter and enjoyed a 48-5 halftime cushion.

That lead ballooned to 70-13 after three in large part due to 10 third-quarter points from Beresford, before Hart went to his bench in the final frame.

“There were times in the first half where we were forcing some passes and Paden City was able to knock them down,” Hart said. “But, we did a little bit better of a job in the second half of being a little bit more patient and making better decisions on offense. So the execution part of it on both ends is very important, especially in the postseason.”

Beresford was the game’s top scorer with 24 points, followed by Hartley with 19, Connor Powell with seven and Mason Scott, Cole Burkett and Nathan Haeberle with six for Cameron.

The three seniors paced the Wildcats in their final game as Shane Anderson recorded eight points, Brandon Hizer bucketed six points and Ashton Howard tallied five points.

“We have two foreign exchange students that will be gone next year and they are great kids,” Riggle said. “We also have three seniors and two of them have been with me since sixth grade in Shane Anderson and Brandon Hizer. Four years is hard enough so seeing these boys go is heartbreaking but I’m excited to see them go off and do great things in life.”