(Anita) The CAM girls basketball team has enjoyed a terrific start to their 2019-20 season. The Cougars are 6-1 with with their only loss coming in the first game of the season against an AHSTW team that is ranked 12th in Class 2A.
Coach Joe Wollum says the team is shooting the ball well. “We’ve made timely three’s and we’ve made them in bunches. That’s been a bright spot how well we’ve shot the ball and executed on offense.
Wollum wants to see improvement on the defensive end of the floor. “Defense has been a work in progress in trying to find what is going to be our calling card and we are still working on our transition game, but it has been a great start to the year and I’m very proud of the girls.”
During the holiday break practices they want to focus on limiting turnovers among other things. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball. We also want to work on boxing out and getting out in transition to run our fast break.”
Returning starters Zoey Baylor and Sammi Jahde have shouldered much of the load. Baylor is averaging 13 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 3.4 steals per game. Jahde averages 14.3 points points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. She’s made 19/39 (48.7%) of her three-pointers. Only two players in the state in Class 1A have made more three’s per game than Jahde.
The supporting cast has been solid as well. It includes, but is not limited to starters Marissa Spieker, Allison Spieker, and Molly Venteicher along with bench players Mallory Behnken and Reese Snyder. Coach Wollum says, “They may not have the points right now, but I think they are going to start knocking down shots for us.”
Coming up after the holiday break are Woodbine, #14 Exira-EHK, and Paton-Churdan. Coach Wollum says his team will get tested right away after the break. We’ll have the CAM vs Exira-EHK matchup on the air on KSOM Tuesday, January 7th. Both teams are 6-1 overall and undefeated in the conference.