EMPORIUM – If you happened to be outside the Cameron County gym for the first three quarters, you could be forgiven for not knowing there was a game taking place on Friday night. There wasn’t a whole lot of excitement to be had.
That changed in a hurry in the fourth quarter as the Red Raiders (2-3) mounted a furious comeback to stun the Bradford Owls (2-4) 44-43 in the last game action before the holidays.
After being down for most of the game, the Red Raiders used a barrage of 3-pointers to propel themselves back into the game, then proceeded to force several late turnovers when they needed to. Cameron County coach Mark Guido was left emotionally exhausted but thrilled and proud with his team’s comeback victory.
“I saw a lot of composure and a lot of growth,” Guido said. “We’ve had some competitive games over the last couple of weeks and they’ve really grown.”
It was all Owls to start the game, as Deondre Terwilliger (16 points) got the scoring going early as Bradford jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in the first three minutes.
The Red Raiders’ shooters were unable to find any easy shots in the first quarter and struggled to finish on the few occasions they were able to get into the paint. Bradford’s great defensive rebounding helped them limit Cameron County to five points in the first quarter.
There wasn’t much offense to be had on either side in the second quarter; both teams were content to look for the shots they wanted. Buoyed by Terwilliger’s 12 first-half points, Bradford built a 26-13 halftime lead.
It was clear coming out of the break that Guido’s message to his team was simple: keep shooting. As a result, the Red Raiders got much better looks to start the third quarter.
“I told them at halftime, we’re just not making shots,” Guido said. “We wanted to make a concerted effort when we came out in the second half to get the ball inside. Eventually that was able to open up the outside for us.”
Those outside opportunities started to develop late in the third quarter; Marcus Brown (six points) hit a three at the 2:50 mark to cut the Owls’ lead to single digits at 34-25.
Near the end of the third quarter, Bradford coach Brian Hobbs tried to slow down the tempo, perhaps anticipating a surge by Cameron County.
“In the second half we tried to slow it down,” Hobbs said. “We had a lead and we were trying to value our possessions and we didn’t do a good job of that.”
After heading into the fourth quarter own 36-26, Cameron County turned to the hot shooting of Mo Yarborough (15 points); his back-to-back threes to start the final frame cut the Owls’ lead to 36-32 and marked a turning point in the game according to Guido.
“Mo’s threes were huge,” he said. “They were without a doubt the difference in the game.”
The long-distance shooting of Yarborough (four threes) and Brown (two) quickly helped make up the Red Raiders’ deficit, as they clearly heeded their coach’s advice to just keep shooting.
“You can’t pass up shots,” Guido said. “When that’s what the defense is giving you, that’s what you’re going to have to take.”
On the other end, Hobbs’ squad simply wasn’t getting the rolls they’d been getting earlier in the game.
“I thought our shot selection in the second half was not very good,” Hobbs said. “It’s a direct correlation: you take bad shots and they don’t go in.”
Another deep Yarborough trey from the top of the key with under four minutes to go tied the game at 40-40.
After several minutes of back-and-forth basketball, it was not a deep shot but a nice move inside that proved to be the decisive basket. Cameron County’s Derek Rieder (nine points, eight rebounds) made a nifty move underneath the hoop and banked in the shot with 26 seconds left to give the Red Raiders a 44-42 lead.
Terwilliger was then able to get himself two free throws but only made one, making it 44-43. The Owls had a couple of chances in the waning seconds but once again couldn’t get off a good shot as the Red Raiders completed the comeback. Both the players and coaches were thrilled to be able to take such a hard-fought victory into the break.
“It was a good way to go into the break,” Guido said. “It was a nice Christmas present.”
Bradford (43)
Boyer 4 0-3 9, Donny Pattison 5 0-0 10, Gigliotti 3 2-2 8, Deondre Terwilliger 5 4-6 16, Manion 0 0-0 0, Totals: 17 6-11 43.
Cameron County (44)
Mo Yarborough 5 1-2 15, Brown 2 0-0 6, Shaffer 1 0-0 2, Richnafsky 1 2-2 5, Hornin 1 0-1 2, Rieder 4 1-1 9, Bauer 1 0-1 2, Bush 1 1-2 3, Totals: 16 5-9 44.
Bradford 15 26 36 43
Cameron County 5 13 26 44
Three-point FGs: Bradford 3 (Terwilliger 2, Boyer), Cameron County 7 (Yarborough 4, Brown 2, Richnafsky)
Total Fouls: Bradford 15, Cameron County 12. Fouled Out: none
JV score: Bradford won
