(Anita) Despite an 8-0 start to the season, CAM is still focused on getting better during the holiday break.
Cougar girls basketball coach Joe Wollum admits there are still plenty of areas to improve on. “We have plenty to work on. We need to shoot the ball better.” Wollum says, “We can shoot better on free-throws. So shooting is going to be a big focus. Also we are going to have to work on some other defenses and get more efficient in the half court offense too.”
Depth and defense have been a recipe for success. “Our press and the number of girls we can bring off the bench and play and not miss a beat. We are able to wear teams out in the second half and just keep bringing girls in. I think that’s probably been our biggest bright spot.”
CAM’s last outing was a 53-46 win at Woodbine. It was by far their tightest conference game so far. “Their height gave us some problems inside and that was one thing we were concerned about was their offensive rebounds. We had a good lead going early and then we struggled to execute in the half court. They did a good job of slowing us down and limiting transition buckets. We are really going to have to buckle down and be more efficient when teams slow us down.”
Three freshmen have made an immediate impact for CAM. Eva Seffensen averages 12 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists per game, and 3.3 steals, Meredith Rich 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds, and Kiera Nichols 5.3 points. “I would say they’ve probably exceeded expectations. Eva’s come in and is our leading scorer right now, but she’s also very unselfish and is one of our best passers too. Kiera Nichols has probably exceeded expectations the most. She’s started some games for us. Her length on defense is a huge factor for us. If we can improve her shot a little over break I think she can be an even bigger bright spot for us. Meredith Rich comes off the bench and plays great defense. She’s taken some charges and is fearless. She knocks down some shots for us as well. As a group they are a big part of our success and they’ve done a great job.”
Freshmen aren’t the only part of CAM’s success. Zoey Baylor averages 8.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 4.5 steals per game, Reese Snyder 8.5 points, and Marissa Spieker 7.6 points and 3.0 steals per game. The Cougars have a huge Rolling Valley Conference matchup with fellow RVC unbeaten Exira-EHK coming up after break on January 5th.
