CAMERON – The Cameron Dragons are back in familiar territory, heading to Charleston for the girls basketball Class A state tournament in what is their fifth-straight trip.

It was a new-look Dragons team going into the season, with four starters graduating from Cameron’s ranks, but by this point in the year, any reservations about this version of the defending state champions flew out the window long ago.

Cameron (18-3) won their fifth-straight 1A OVAC championship against Frontier in February and fifth straight regional against Trinity one week ago. They enter the tournament with the No. 4 seed in the field of eight, and plenty of optimism.

“Sometimes winning is contagious,” Cameron head coach Holly Pettit said after her team’s regional co-final game against Trinity. “The success that we’ve had in the past, my senior class doesn’t know anything but being a state champion. Them, along with their teammates, they want to win, they want to be there. Others see that and they want to be a part of a good program. It’s great to see the girls get here.”

‘Here’ is a date with No. 5 Pendleton County (16-6) on Thursday in the nightcap of the day’s action, tipoff set for 9 p.m.

“They’re excited and they’re ready to get out there and play,” Pettit said on Wednesday, after her team had just made the trip to Charleston. “We had a great week of practice, we actually practiced this morning before school, that way we could leave when school was out. Their attitudes are good, they’re feeling positive, they just want to get out there and play.”

Pettit doesn’t believe the late-night start time will phase her team.

“It’s not desirable, but it is what it is,” Pettit said. “If we get the opportunity to play in Charleston, we’ll play in whatever game is handed to us. We’re going to treat tomorrow like normal, we’re going to get up and watch some games, keep the girls busy, keep them up and make sure that they’re ready to play.”

The Dragons have received contributions from each of their starters and down their bench, and it was the tenacious perimeter defense from Macey Bertram and Maci Neely which helped Cameron’s defense overpower Trinity in the co-regional final- and many teams throughout the regular season. Neely, a four-year starter, also leads Cameron in scoring at 18.3 points per game. Freshman Kendra Thomas is second on the team in scoring at 7.9 points per game.

Cross-court from Cameron on Thursday, the Pendleton County Wildcats are led by senior Avery Townsend, who leads her team in scoring at 22.7 points per game. She also averages nearly five steals a game.

“We’re very similar teams,” Pettit said. “We both have some quick guards and I think we get up and down the floor really well. They have a really good point guard, she’s their leading scorer, she rebounds well, runs the floor well, their team kind of runs through her. I have confidence that our guards can put pressure on them and hopefully cause some turnovers, and that we can win the rebounding battle underneath the basket.”

The landscape of Class A includes No. 1 seed Gilmer County, who Cameron defeated in the state title game last year, and who bring back most of their squad, along with talented teams like Pendleton County, No. 2 Tug Valley and No. 3 Tucker County.

“There’s a lot of talent, starting with Gilmer, I think they only graduated one or two this year,” Pettit said. “They’re back, they have the big twins underneath the basket, they have a great point guard in Ellyson, and they’ve had a great season.”

“With Tug and Tucker they’re experienced- with Tucker County, I think this is something like the 23rd or 24th consecutive year they’ve been down to the tournament. They come with a lot of experience playing down in Charleston.”

When it comes to Cameron’s own experience going down to Charleston, a constant has been the Cameron community’s outreach to their Dragons. Cameron got a police escort to Moundsville when leaving town on Wednesday, and Pettit was grateful to see the sendoff her team received, with elementary schoolers and community members holding signs and cheering for them along their bus route.

“This is our fifth year coming down here and it seems like the support is just as great as the first time we went down here,” Pettit said.