(Anita) CAM has an undefeated boys basketball record at the holiday break. The Cougars have paired a balanced scoring lineup with a strong defense and the result is a 6-0 start to the season.
With five players averaging between eight and eleven points per game the CAM boys basketball squad has made things difficult on opposing defenses. Coach Nick Hodges on the team’s depth in scoring, “We do it by committee and the fact that they are willing to share with each other, we are never going to have that guy that shows up every night and drops in 15-20 points. As a coach I think it’s much easier to stop one or two guys than it is to stop five, six, seven, or eight of them.”
With that said, the defense has been arguably the biggest bright spot with an average of just 39.5 points per game allowed. “I think our defense has been pretty solid.” Hodges says, “We held a lot of teams to some low scoring margins. I think we’ve only had one team top 50 on us…defense is definitely where we hang our hat right now.”
While they know there’s a long ways to go in the season, they are proud of where they stand now. “We are pretty excited. This is one of the first times in a while that CAM’s been able to go into the holiday break undefeated. We want to not settle for just being undefeated right now, but come out and get some wins right off the bat to get started once again.”
Some difficult challenges are in their immediate future. Woodbine was a popular pick to win the conference in the preseason and the Tigers come to CAM on Friday. They also have an improving Exira-EHK squad on the road on Tuesday plus a rematch with Boyer Valley the following week.
The Cougars have put together the 6-0 record despite rarely being at full strength due to illnesses and injuries. The holiday break practices gave them a good opportunity to work together with all of their available players.
Colby Rich is the team’s top scorer at 10.4 points per game. Ethan Arp averages 9.5, Connor McKee 8.6, Nathan Hensley 8.5, and Ben Tibken 8.3 points per game. Jacob Holste and Lane Spieker are two more capable scorers who have been limited with injury and illness early in the year. CAM shoots 48.4% as a team, led by Tibken at 66.6%.
The full interview with CAM coach Nick Hodges is available here: