SMETHPORT — Cameron County has looked like one of the best teams in the North Tier League so far, and the Red Raiders showed it Thursday in a 58-37 win over Smethport.

Smethport took an 8-2 lead early in the first quarter. Trent Neff hit a 3-pointer, Brandon Higley got his own rebound and then finished it off, and John Adamoski hit another three ball. Alex Ognen, who led the team in points with eight and steals with two, helped push the pace.

Then CC took over.

The Red Raiders went on a 27-5 run to lead 29-13 at halftime.

“Started slow, but we came alive very quickly,” said CC coach Marcus Brown. “We went on a nice 27-5 run, so that was a good way to close out the first half. Especially going into our game against Ridgway tomorrow.”

CC had a height advantage and used it well.

They boxed out aggressively, went up for rebounds and fought through contact on offense. Smethport wasn’t able to keep CC out of the lane, which led to consistent layup and drive opportunities for the Red Raiders.

Speaking of, Camdyn Allison was unstoppable on the drive.

He led all scorers with 18 points and was like a magnet towards the rim. He’d find a small crease, slip through and attack the basket. Three times he went the full length of the court to score a layup.

Hayden Brown didn’t drive as much, but he was just as deadly in the paint.

The senior big man lowered his shoulder and went up against any defender in his way. He used his size to earn a double-double, pulling down 11 rebounds and scoring 17 points, often getting his own miss and putting it back in.

“Well our offense is starting to come alive after a very slow start to the year,” Marcus Brown said. “That’s always good to see, especially against a decent team like this. That’s a very good positive.”

Smethport didn’t play poorly on the night.

For all its complexities, sometimes basketball can be very simple. If the ball doesn’t go through the net, a team isn’t winning. Smethport just couldn’t get its shots to roll while CC seemingly wouldn’t miss.

“We started off good and then I don’t know the wheels just fell off,” said Smethport coach Jay Acker. “Things just didn’t look good for us. We couldn’t hit any shots, we ended up, I think we were 30% from the field and 50% from the line. That just doesn’t get it done.”

The Hubbers had multiple good looks from three, several layups and second chance opportunities. They passed well and got the ball to the open man.

They just couldn’t get the roll they needed. If three or four shots had gone their way earlier in the contest, the second half would have been a very different game.

“I wasn’t displeased with any of the shots we took,” said Acker. “I thought our threes looked really good. We got some wide open looks, a couple of those fall, it changes the whole dynamic of the game.

“Once they started not going in and we were playing from behind, it seemed like nothing was going our way.”

Smethport looked to get back into the game in the second half but CC pulled a surprise and went to a full-court press. The move worked, as the Red Raiders went on a 4-0 run with two forced turnovers and scored nine points before returning to their normal defense.

“I like to mix it up a bit,” Brown said. “Anytime you can surprise a team after not running it for a while, it’s good, it gets the job done.”

Cameron County doesn’t have much time to celebrate the win. It will play at Ridgway tonight in a non-conference game between two teams with aspirations for deep playoff runs. As for the Hubbers, they’ll have some time to put this game behind them.

“We’ll go and watch film on this and break down what went wrong.” said Acker. “Have a good practice and try and get those issues fixed.”

Allison 8 1-2 18, Brown 7 3-4 17, Lewis 3 0-0 8, Erickson 2 1-2 6, Shepard 2 0-0 4, Smith 1 0-0 3. Totals:

Smethport (37)Ognen 2 4-7 8, Neff 2 0-0 6, Adamoski 2 0-0 5, Watson 2 0-0 5, Williams 2 0-0 4, Alfieri 1 0-0 3, Dunn 1 0-0 2, Higley 1 0-0 2, Leet 0 2-3 2. Totals:

Three-point goals: CC 5 (Lewis 2, Allison, Erickson, Smith), Smethport 5 (Neff 2, Alfieri, Watson, Adamoski); Total fouls: CC 10, Smethport 10; fouled out:

JV: CC 45, Smethport 36