SMETHPORT — Cameron County’s six seniors, like a lot winter sport athletes in the state of Pennsylvania, had been itching to get back on the court.

Friday marked the first day winter sports could take place in the Keystone State and in Smethport, the Cameron County girls basketball team put its veteran experience on display in the IU9 bubble, dominating the Lady Hubbers 59-26.

Three different players finished in double figures for the Lady Raiders (1-0) as Kaelee Bresslin, Hailey Hilfiger and Mallory McKimm combined for 43 of the team’s 59 points.

“There were a lot of jitters in the first four minutes,” Cameron County head coach Dave Sullivan said. “We missed quite a few bunnies, but after we settled down, I thought we played well for the first game. We have to work on a lot of areas, but good start for the first game.”

After trading baskets to start off, Cameron County went on a 13-0 run and took a 15-4 lead after the first quarter.

The Lady Hubbers (0-1) bounced back in the second quarter as Elizabeth Hungiville tallied eight points during the eight-minute period. Hungiville led Smethport with 10 points on the night and also brought down five rebounds.

However, Cameron County didn’t let up and went on to outpace and apply constant pressure on the Lady Hubbers, which resulted in numerous turnovers as the Lady Raiders took a 32-16 halftime lead.

“We struggled handling the ball tonight. You have 10 turnovers in the first quarter, you get down big, it’s hard to recover from that. Mentally, I feel, we just didn’t have it tonight,” Smethport head coach Chad Goodman said.

“Obviously tonight I feel like conditioning was a lot of our problem. We haven’t had a whole lot of time to do that, so we’ll work on that. “It’s just great to be back on the floor and things hopefully continue to be that way.”

The Lady Raiders kept their foot on the gas during the second half as Bresslin finished the game with a team-high 19 points, which included 14 in the first half.

Cameron County ended the game on a 13-2 run.

“She’s our leading scorer from last year, she does a really good job of running the team out there,” Sullivan said of Bresslin. “A very strong point guard, very good shooter and what most people don’t know (is) she’s a very good defender.”

Another key to Cameron County’s big win was the team’s ability to control the boards. Hailey Hilfiger led the way with 14 rebounds to go along with her 13 points and four steals.

“I think we did a pretty good job on the boards,” Sullivan said. “We lost to Smethport twice last year and I think the girls really went out to prove something to themselves and I think that was the key. We did a really good job on the boards.”

Also for Smethport, Coryn McClain tallied eight points on the night, while Danielle Nelson added four assists.

While Friday night’s result wasn’t desired, Goodman said his young team will use it as a learning experience. He also admitted that he didn’t have the team prepared for the pressure Cameron County brought, but that will be worked on in practice ahead of Monday’s road contest against Port Allegany.

“We’re learning,” Goodman said. “My motto is we don’t lose, we learn, so that’s what we’re going to continue to do — learn and get better. We played a senior-heavy team tonight. You start five seniors, I don’t have a senior starter. They’re a good team and they’re going to do a lot of good things in the league and in the district.”

Goodman later added, “We have a big game on Monday with Port Allegany and we’re going to do our best that we can tomorrow to get ourselves prepared for that. Hopefully we fix some of our mistakes and give them the best that we have.”

For Cameron County, the team’s road matchup against Oswayo Valley Monday has been postponed, which means the Lady Raiders will next take on Coudersport at home Tuesday, a team that made it to the PIAA Elite Eight a season ago before COVID-19 put an end to the state tournament.

“That’s a different type of team,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, they’re a really, really good team. They’re very well coached, but the girls will be looking forward to it.”

AT SMETHPORT

Cameron County (59)

Kaelee Bresslin 5 9-11 19, Hailey Hilfiger 6 0-0 13, A. Lorenzo 0 0-2 0, Mallory McKimm 5 0-0 11, M. Lorenzo 3 0-0 6, Reggie Goodrow 4 0-0 10. Totals: 23 9-13 59

Smethport (26)

Elizabeth Hungiville 5 0-0 10, Goodman 0 0-3 0, Lutz 1 0-2 2, Love 0 1-2 1, Tanner 1 0-0 2, Danielle Nelson 1 0-1 3, Coryn McClain 4 0-2 8. Totals: 12 1-10 26

Cameron County 15 32 44 59

Smethport 4 16 22 26

Three-point goals: CC 4 (Hilfiger 1, M. McKimm 1, Goodrow 2), Smethport 1 (Nelson 1); Total fouls: CC 11, Smethport 13; fouled out: Tanner (S)

JV: Cameron County won, 36-19