The casual basketball fan might be surprised by Camron Pickard’s stellar offensive performance over Mid-Prairie’s first four games this year. But it has certainly come as no shock to Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert.
“It's expected of him, I'm not surprised,” said Lambert after Pickard set a new career high with 23 points on Friday night.
“Other people may be surprised at his success, but we see the work that he puts in and we see the devotion. The guys lean on him, and he did a tremendous job tonight of pulling us through some tough spots for sure.”
Pickard scored 17 of Mid-Prairie’s 27 second-half points in the 64-56 loss at West Branch.
The senior point guard, who had a season high of 13 last year, has scored at least 10 in every game of the Golden Hawks’ 3-1 start. And with 18 assists already, Pickard is just two away from matching his season total from a year ago.
“I think he knows he's got to be the one to lead,” Lambert said. “He's the captain. He's the leader. And he takes that role very seriously. I’m really proud of him, and he's going to continue to have nights like this throughout the year.”
Trailing 33-31, Pickard would score Mid-Prairie’s next 11 points in the third quarter. His running floater dropped through the net to break a 35-35 tie. On the next trip, he caught the ball in the corner and didn’t hesitate, burying a triple to extend the lead to five.
“My teammates and my coaches were definitely encouraging me to play my game,” Pickard said. “And that's the biggest confidence you can get — from your teammates and from your coaches.”
Pickard made both of Mid-Prairie’s 3-pointers on Friday, hitting a third of his attempts on a night where the Golden Hawks shot just 2-of-11 from long range. He was 3-of-6 from outside on Tuesday, scoring 20 points in Mid-Prairie’s 71-41 win over West Liberty.
Pickard's behind-the-back pass through traffic resulted in a layup for Shawn Dodds that drew a reaction from the crowd in the fourth quarter.
“He’s a good player,” said West Branch coach Jason Kern. “He’s shifty, he can knock down the 3-point shot, so you’ve got to be out on him. He got some really good penetration down our lane and we had to help off. He stepped up for them tonight and was big for them.”
Alex Bean finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the loss. Dodds was 4-of-5 to finish with eight.
While the Golden Hawks were unable to match the Bears’ 51 percent shooting on Friday, the team’s offensive potential is evident from Mid-Prairie’s 20-of-24 free throw shooting for the week.
“We have some great, great talent on offense,” Pickard said. “Ace Peck is kind of struggling right now, but he really has some good offense and Brady Weber, Dylan Henry and Shawn (Dodds), those guys have played pretty well in the offseason. They’ve worked on their game.”
Pickard said that while the offense comes naturally, the Golden Hawks need to focus on improving their defense going forward.
West Branch had three players with at least 18 points on Friday. Leading scorer Holden Arnaman finished with 19. Senior Jack McCullough made four 3-pointers to score 18, and Reese Trepanier led the Bears with 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
“Their record is very deceiving,” Lambert said. “You know, they were 0-3 coming into tonight, but they played three very good basketball teams that competed in all of them.
“Tonight we learned that we’ve got to be a little tougher on both ends of the floor, physically and mentally. Like I always tell the guys, you learn a lot more through adversity than when things are easy.
"Tonight was one of those nights where you took one on the chin, but it's early and we know we get to see them again. So we’ve just got to go back to work and prepare because we know it's not going to get any easier in conference.”
