Yoe basketball tops Fairfield to move on to next round

The Cameron Yoemen boy’s basketball team came from behind to defeat the Fairfield Eagles on Monday 76-69 in the bi-district playoff round. 

The game did not start off with the normal tip off. There was a technical foul on the Yoemen bench before the game had a chance to begin. This allowed the Eagles to shoot two free throws to start the game. The Eagles shooter missed both of them. After that, the game officially started. 

The Yoemen got off to a fast start, pushing the ball up the floor. Cameron’s first three-pointer of the game was made by Zakorien Spikes (1) with another followed by Kaleb Burks (32). After a great spurt by Cameron, Fairfield started to go on a run and took the lead 16-15. Cameron went into the second quarter trailing 19-15. 

Cameron came out slow to start the second quarter, scoring only one basket in the first four minutes of the second quarter. The Yoemen had trouble making shots and was unable to keep up in transition defending the Eagles impressive offense for most of the second quarter. 

“We knew coming in that Fairfield is a very well-coached team that plays hard and is committed to their style of play,” Coach Chris Reid said. “Rather than slowing them down, we actually did our best to make them play fast over the course of the game. All year, we place a heavy emphasis on wanting to be the best conditioned team on the floor so that we can outrun our opponents by the fourth quarter.” 

Spikes made a big three-point shot to slow down the Eagles momentum. Fairfield did not seem to be bothered by Cameron’s effort to break the momentum and continued to dominate, mostly with scoring inside. Cameron went into halftime trailing 39-26. 

“In the first half, we played to Fairfield’s pace and style, allowing their tough half-court zone to limit us to three-point shots,” Reid said. “In the second half, we wanted to speed the game up with our full-court pressure and attack the basket more off of the dribble.” 

Cameron started the third quarter off strong, going on a 7-2 start. Both teams played even after that, but Cameron still continued to fight. The Yoemen trailed at the end of the third quarter 53-47 with an impressive finish in the quarter cutting the Eagles halftime lead from 13 to six. The Yoemen showed more aggressiveness to start the fourth quarter, as they put more pressure on Fairfield’s offense with full court defense to try to get them off balance. Their offensive momentum was ignited by key baskets by Spikes, including a fastbreak layup to take the lead 60-59. He ended the game with 28 points and was stout on defense with seven steals. 

“Spikes stepped up in a major way, showing great poise, senior leadership, and competitive spirit,” Reid said. “I feel like the boys definitely followed his lead down the stretch.”

Cameron quickly gave the lead right back. After that, the game turned into a battle as the two teams traded baskets consistently for the next couple minutes. Eventually, the Yoemen extended the lead with the help of Spikes and Phaibian Bynaum (5). Cameron also spread the lead with the help of their defense and ability to force turnovers, forcing 25 overall. Once they got the sizeable lead, the Yoemen were able to stop any chance of a comeback by draining time off the game clock during the last two minutes of the game.  

“I’m very proud of our players for being very patient, disciplined, and unified in executing our stall game to kill some time from the clock,” Reid said. 

Cameron held on to win 76-69 to complete the thrilling comeback to advance to the next round of the playoffs against the Lorena Leopards on Wednesday. 

Other top scorers for the game were Phaibian Bynaum with 14 points and six assists and KeVaughn Booze with 14 points and five assists.