By Destiny Grant
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – The Camden County College Lady Cougars lost a close game Tuesday against the Harcum College Bears, 69-66.
Harcum started off the game with a layup within the first five minutes. The Lady Cougars quickly answered with a series of scores, but a series of successful 3-pointers and free throws solidified Harcum’s lead in the first quarter of 22-20.
The Lady Cougars closed that gap in the beginning of the second quarter with a free throw from Amia Green (#10). Harcum held the lead and ended the first half 38-30.
Kayla Franklin (#24) started off the second half with a jump shot scoring two points for the Lady Cougars. Harcum’s Shaylynn Waiters (#2) returned the favor, directly followed by a three-pointer from Ashanti Chapman (#3), widening their lead. Harcum still held their lead to the end of the third quarter with a score of 50-46.
Camden County College’s Isabella Boyle (#5) started off the last quarter with a layup, bringing the score to 50-48 with Harcum in the lead. The Lady Cougars and Harcum were able to score 8 and 7 points respectively within the last 2 minutes of the game. This put the final score at 69-66 with the win going to the Harcum College Bears.
Foul after foul against both teams is a part of what made this such a close game.
Some star players from the game were CCC’s Kayla Franklin, Amia Green and Chloe Crago (#21). Crago scored 18 points for the Lady Cougars, making her Camden County’s highest scorer. Franklin and Green each made a 3-pointer and Green made 6 free throws. Harcum’s Shaylynn Waiters and Ashanti Chapman also made 2 3-pointers each and Chapman stood out with ball handling and controlling.
When asked about the game, Lady Cougars’ Coach Charles Reitano said, “We never like to lose, of course. So we would’ve preferred a better outcome. But I mean, the girls played hard, you know, they worked, but we just, a few too many mistakes early in the game.”
A similar sentiment was shared by Franklin. She said, ”I think as a team, we weren’t there all the way, especially in the first half. That wasn’t who we were. That’s not how we play. But I think that this is definitely a learning lesson from us.”
The Lady Cougars also blamed the events of the game on not having a consistent playing schedule. They have already had 3 games canceled for this season so far.
Reitano said, “We’re not playing enough games right now. OK, I mean, we’ve had a number of games canceled over the first month of the season, so it’s hard building that continuity when you’re playing a game and then you don’t play for another week and a half.”
The Lady Cougars are now preparing for their region standard games. Their next game is scheduled for Dec. 2 against Brookdale Community College.