Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charleston – James Monroe’s title defense got off to a stellar start Tuesday.
The Mavericks ripped a 33-0 run across the first and second half, turning a 13-9 game in the first quarter into a 46-9 contest early in the third, beating Cameron 74-32 in the Class A quarterfinals Tuesday evening in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
With the win the Mavs advance to the semis where they’ll face Clay-Battelle on Friday at 1 p.m.
James Monroe senior Eli Allen had another stellar outing in Charleston finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists to go along with 8 steals.
The Mavericks blistered the nets, making 33 field goals while limiting Cameron to 13 by the end of the evening. But keying their success was their effort on defense as they held Cameron scoreless in the second quarter and forced the Dragons into 27 turnovers.
“Our goal was to put pressure out front so that they couldn’t get into their halfcourt offense,” James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage said. “Their halfcourt offense is pretty tough and so our goal to not allow that to happen. I think our boys executed that really well tonight ion the defensive end.”
Cole Burkett was the only Cameron player to score in double figures to 13 points on 5 of 15 shooting.
