Hounds claim Cameron Tournament title with win over MEC foe

By Dustin Henggeler

The Maryville boys basketball team ran away with the Cameron Tournament championship game on January 26. The Spoofhounds claimed the title with a 64-35 win over the Chillicothe Hornets after a week of crazy weather and game delays.

Senior Eli Dowis started the game off with 13 of Maryville’s 17 points as the Hounds pulled ahead of Chillicothe in the first quarter, 17-12.

Maryville Coach Matt Stoecklein said Dowis’ hot start in both the Cameron Tournament semifinal and final games gave the Hounds an advantage.

“He’s going to be very hard to stop as the season progresses and he’s done that the last two games,” Stoecklein said.

Chillicothe did some damage from the perimeter, but couldn’t contain Maryville’s offense as Dowis continued his reign in the second quarter alongside shots from Tate Oglesby and a pair of three-pointers from Matthew Madden. The Hounds added to their lead with a 30-21 advantage heading into halftime.

The Hounds spread the love in the second half as Creid Stoecklein, Ben Walker and Tallon Noland each joined in the scoring to help Maryville build a 43-27 lead by the end of the third quarter. Madden added his third three-pointer in the fourth quarter alongside a three-pointer from Tyler Houchin as the lead jumped to 20+ points for the Spoofhounds midway through the final quarter.

The bench came in to finish off the game with just under two minutes left to play, maintaining Maryville’s lead as scores from Trey Houchin and Kelby Derr helped the team effort.

Behind 24 points from Dowis was 11 from Madden, eight from Tyler Houchin and Oglesby, four from Stoecklein, three from Nolland and Walker and two each from Derr and Trey Houchin.

Dowis was awarded the Ryan Beckett Hustle Award for his efforts in the tournament. Beckett was a former Cameron player who died in 2013 and the award was presented by his father.