By Les Dixon / Sports Editor
If there was any good news that came out of Lynn Camp’s disappointing 66-63 season-opening loss to Berea, it’s the fact that the Wildcats can quickly erase the loss today with a win over Middlesboro.
The game pits two of the top teams in the 13th Region All ‘A’ Classic Tournament and Lynn Camp coach Anthony Pennington hopes his squad can recover from their 20-of-36 effort from the free-throw line against Berea.
“This is a game that we will be able to gauge ourselves,” Pennington said. “We’re looking to bounce back in a big way and we’re hoping to do that at home against Middlesboro.
“We know we need to correct the mistakes we made against Berea, so if we do that, I believe the fans will get to see a very good ballgame,” he added.
The key for the Wildcats is to get into an offensive flow, which is something they didn’t do against Berea.
“We had a lot of chances to put them away, but we didn’t,” Pennington said. “You never want to lose, but this game will serve as a wake-up call for us. I think the guys now realize that they need to play as a team and good things will happen.
“I know we’re a good team, but we’ve got to play as a team,” he added. “I believe we played better on defense, but I also realize we’ve got a lot of work, too.”
The Wildcats could never get into the flow of the game offensively. Lynn Camp shot a dismal 20-of-59 from the floor. The Wildcats also turned the ball over 26 times, including 10 of those coming in the game’s final eight minutes.
“There is no doubt about it, we have a lot to work on,” Pennington said. “But I would rather have a game like this now compared to later in the season. We just need to get everyone on the same page. We rushed the ball too many times when we had the ball on offense.”
To beat the Yellow Jackets, who will enter the game with a 1-0 record after opening the season with a 74-54 victory over Oneida Baptist, Lynn Camp has to be able to contain both Chad Cowan and Blaine Green.
The duo combined to score 48 points during Middlesboro’s 20-point win, as Cowan led the way with a 26-point effort, while Green followed with 22 points.
“If we can contain those two guys, then I believe we will have a good shot at winning the game, but if we don’t it might be a long night,” Pennington said.
Cowan shot an impressive 78 percent from the floor against OBI, after connecting on 11-of-14 shot attempts. He also hit four-of-four shot attempts from three-point range.
“They’ve got a good team,” Pennington said. “Of course, every game is important, but we want to use this game to gauge ourselves to see what we need to work on down the road.”
Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. today.
