Following in footsteps

Kevin Cameron takes pleasure in the fact that he played a part in offering inspiration to high school teams across the state.

The senior point guard was an integral cog in last year’s Central Valley boys basketball team – a squad that will be a poster-team for anyone needing an example of just what can happen to a team that gets hot at the right time.

Last year’s squad caught lightning in a bottle, coming out of the middle of the pack in the Greater Spokane League to roll all the way to the State 4A championship game. Cameron hopes that lightning will strike twice in the same place for the Bears.

“I don’t think it’s really hit me yet just what we accomplished last year,” Cameron said. “Everything fell into place at just the right time. When we needed someone to hit a big shot, the shot fell.”

This year has been a different story.

Injuries prevented Central Valley from playing at full strength until late in the season, and the clutch shots that fell so magically late last year have been mortal a year later.

“We got Luke Clift back finally, and that’s helped a little,” Cameron said. “He was a big part of last year’s success. He’s not 100 percent yet, but he’s finally able to play again.”

Cameron has averaged just under 12 points per game this season, scoring a season-high 21 points against University just before Christmas.

Last year’s senior class set a powerful example.

“Those guys did whatever it took to help the team,” Cameron said. “They didn’t just go after every loose ball in a game, they were diving on the floor after loose balls every day in practice. They weren’t afraid to step in and take a charge.

“We were working on those things just the other night. Coach Sloan calls them man-makers. After watching those guys do what needed to be done all last year, it makes it easier for us to follow in their footsteps and do the same things this year.

“We have some really good, young guys coming up behind us and it’s important for us to set a good example for them, too.”

Cameron moved up to the Central Valley varsity midway through his sophomore season.

“I started the year on junior varsity and I would play, probably, three quarters of those games and save a quarter for varsity,” he recalled. “But I didn’t get much playing time in those varsity games.”

And then, during the Christmas break, coach Rick Sloan told his guard that, not only was he moving up to the varsity full time, he was moving him into the starting lineup as a point guard.

Sloan said at the time that he liked the speed with which Cameron ran the point and felt that he would give the offense a needed boost. He was prophetic.

“I like to run the floor – it’s how I like to play the game,” Cameron said. “And I like to attack the basket when I get the chance.”

With last year’s squad, team defense was the first thing to take shape. The offense didn’t fully click until the home stretch of the regular season.

“We had to treat the final few league games like playoff games,” Cameron recalled. “We needed to win those games and that’s how we approached them. We had to play West Valley and North Central in the final two games. We played tough against West Valley and we beat North Central – they were highly ranked Class 3A teams at the time. That gave us confidence for the playoffs.”

Cameron hopes the team can follow the same script this year.

“We did it before,” he said. “Who knows what can happen this time.”