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Late Bridgeport rush comes up short

WOLFHURST – It was the tale of two halves at John J. Havlicek Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Cameron Dragons, playing without two injured starters, owned the opening 16 minutes, building a 19-point lead at one juncture before settling in for a 38-21 halftime advantage.

Bridgeport, however, came to life during the final two quarters, closing with a massive rush. Coach Donnie Cash’s Bulldogs’ valiant bid came up a bit short, falling to the Marshall Countians by a 66-62 count on Frank Baxter Court.

“We played team ball in the first half and our press was effective,” Cameron head coach Tom Hart said. “In the second half we tried to play one-on-three and one-on-four basketball. We didn’t executive our sets either.

“We could have made things easier if we did a better job at the foul line. We work on foul shooting every day,” he added, after witnessing his young club go 2-of-8 at the charity stripe in the final quarter. “Give Donnie credit. He had his kids playing hard until the end. They made a great run.”

The win was the 10th in 13 starts for Cameron. The Dragons posted an earlier 67-55 against the Dogs.

Bridgeport, which played without the services of top scorer Trevonn Ray, dropped to 3-13. The Bulldogs visit Beallsville Friday.

“We can’t play a lackadaisical quarter or two. We have to play four solid quarters of basketball if we are going to be successful,” Cash said. “Their press hurt us early on. We played really well in the second half. We just dug too big a hole early on.”

Cameron, coming off a 19-win campaign, shot out to a 25-13 lead after one quarter. Talented 6-5 post Dillon Meintel fueled the surge with 10 points while the hosts proved their own worst enemy by committing nine turnovers in the frame.

The Dragons controlled the second quarter as well, using seven points from junior Noah Neeley to take a 17-point cushion into the locker room.

Cash’s halftime speech hit home as his Bulldogs came out a rejuvenated group. Senior John Stark was the catalyst for the hosts, scoring seven points in the third quarter to bring the Dogs to within 48-35 entering what proved-to-be a wild final session.

Stark poured in 13 more counters in the final period, including a bucket with 52 seconds to play, cutting the deficit to 64-57. After a Cameron charity toss, Bridgeport sophomore Dylan Gregorcic buried a trey with 27.9 seconds left, making it a 66-60 reading.

After another Dragon miss at the foul line, the Bulldogs’ Cooper Dulesky goaled for a 66-62 lighting with 10.1 seconds showing. Cameron missed two more free throws with eight seconds to play but grabbed the offensive rebound to seal the verdict.

Cameron exhibited ideal offensive balance with five players reaching double digits. Meintel led the way with 18 points while hard-working Aiden Lucey netted 16 counters. Travis Mickey and Jessop Broughton evenly divided 22 lightings while Neeley donated 10 points.

Stark was exceptional in defeat, pouring in a game-high 27 points. Gregorcic and Adam Sommer each recorded nine markers while Dulesky finished with eight tallies.

Bridgeport committed 20 turnovers on the night, one more than the winners. The Bulldogs posted a 38-19 reserve contest triumph.

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