4th Time A Charm For Cameron Boys
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WEIRTON -- For the second year in a row, the fourth time was the charm needed to capture the Section 1 title.
After falling to Madonna both times in the regular season and in the OVAC Class A Championship, Cameron reversed the roles from a year ago and got a little revenge, out-lasting the Blue Dons for a thrilling 72-70 overtime victory to claim the Region 1, Section 1 Championship.
“Madonna pretty much dominated us the first three games, but our kids were focused and ready,” Cameron head coach Tom Hart said. “This type of game in this type of atmosphere is normally how Cameron-Madonna games go, down to the wire.
“It’s kind of funny how it turns out, last year we beat Madonna three times and they beat us at home in the sectional championship, and this year they handled us three times and we beat them for the sectional championship on their court. That just speaks to the rivalry.”
The No. 2 seed Dragons (13-11) had to dig deep late after a 13-point third quarter lead was almost singlehandedly erased by Madonna’s Anthony Mascio and the Dons led by three twice late in the fourth quarter.
Cameron rebounded to get the game to overtime, and, after Madonna led by two in the final minute of the extra stanza, Cole Burkett scored the final four points, including a go-ahead bucket-and-one with 12.8 seconds left, to lift the Dragons.
Burkett, who also grabbed a game-clinching rebound on the defensive end after Madonna’s game-tying shot missed, finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds for Hart’s club.
“Cole is an athlete and a player, he likes to have the ball in his hands in those critical situations,” Hart said. “He did a good job and made some big plays there at the end.”
Colson Wichterman and Lance Hartley each recorded double-doubles for the Dragons -- Wichterman by netting a team-high 22 points and dishing 13 assists and Hartley by netted 12 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.
“It was a total team effort,” Hart said. “Everybody made a contribution. We had a complete team effort, I’m really proud of my guys.
“Also, my hat’s off to (Madonna coach) George (Vargo) and his guys, they were down 13 and didn’t fold. You gotta give them credit.”
After the game was knotted at 20 apiece after one, Cameron’s defense turned up the pressure and allowed the visitors to pull ahead 31-27 at the break.
The Dragons started the third quarter on a 9-2 run to lead by 13 before Mascio, who was held to just four points in the first half, started a furious rally by the top-seeded Blue Dons (14-10).
Madonna trimmed the margin to six after three, and, after Cameron led by nine once more, Mascio drained a 3, then another on the next possession as he was fouled, sinking the shot from the line for a four-point play to cut the margin to two.
Another Mascio trey knotted the score at 59-all with more than three minutes to play, then he got a basket-and-one on the next possession to give Madonna its first lead since the opening quarter.
Mascio, though, who tallied 30 of his game-high 34 in the second half, was held off the scoresheet in overtime, and the Dons missed the back end of two one-and-ones, each of which would have made its lead three, before Burkett’s late heroics.
“It was another great game of high school basketball,” Vargo said. “This region we’re in, it’s a dog fight every night. I imagine (the regional co-finals) next Thursday are going to be the same way.
“Winning basketball games at every level, the NBA, NCAA, high school, peewee, comes down to making foul shots. I told the kids at the end if we make those shots, it’s a different ballgame. We had opportunities and didn’t take advantage.
“I’m proud of our kids, they were down by 13 and came back. Mascio got hot and showed the crowd what he could do. I thought everybody played well.
“It was a good basketball game, that’s all I can say. It just didn’t go our way those last 10 seconds of it.”
Santo DoBraska finished with 12 points and nine assists for the Dons, while Lucca Muzzi netted 16 points and Luke Amaismeier pulled down five rebounds.
“Myself and the Madonna coaching staff congratulate Cameron on the sectional championship,” Vargo said. “It was a great game and they played well.”