By Malcolm Butler
This week will be the last time senior Cameron Temple puts on the interlocked C’s of his Cedar Creek basketball jersey.
With the Cougars sitting a full point and a half behind the cutoff line for the final spot in the upcoming Select School Division IV playoffs, Creek’s remaining hoops season most likely consists of home games against Castor tonight and Downsville on Thursday.
And when it comes to wins and losses on the hardwood, it has not quite been what Cameron – the lone senior on this year’s team – had hoped or expected when the season tipped off in November.
However, it will be one he remembers. And one he is remembered for by those around him.
“Cam is one of the best teammates I have ever had,” said junior Rhett Bridges. “He is always picking one of us up when we are down. He is always there for you when you need him. I know this year has been tough on him, but he has been there every step of the way for us. He has been the leader we needed.”
Leading when you win is easy. Leading when you are 9-19 with one lone district win, well it can be more challenging.
“Leadership is often given to just talent, and there was so much talent on this team last year that I don’t think he understood the leader that he was built to be,” said first year head coach Todd Martinez. “I think Cameron started to see it this year, and he has been a tremendous leader for us from day No.1. He has accepted changes and the overhaul in the youth movement and how many guys we lost at the beginning of the year.”
After advancing to the quarterfinals last year, this year’s Cougars team looks much different due to graduations, defections, and discipline. At points of the season, the Cougars varsity boys dressed as few as seven players.
And even when fully healthy, Creek’s roster consists of only three upperclassmen with a couple of eighth graders getting meaningful minutes.
Youth movement for sure.
“There has been a lot of adversity,” said Cameron. “I believe everything happens for a reason. I have tried to embrace it all. I think it has made me a better person by staying positive, battling through tough times, and trying to be a leader for the younger guys. I do not just care about this team; I care about the future of this program. I want to leave it a better place.”
Those words best embrace who Cameron is to his coaches, teammates, family, and friends.
“He has a servant’s heart,” said Martinez. “It is not what is best for me, but what is best for the people I care about the most. That is how Cam approaches things. Even when he is disappointed, he will never come to me or to his teammates as if he is disappointed. He comes with a we-need-to-do-this-better mentality. He has a servant heart that bleeds well into his leadership.”
And although his love for the game of basketball started at an early age – he says he started playing as a youngster living in Houston before his family moved to Ruston when he was in kindergarten – the road to the hardwood has not always been easy.
After playing on the freshman team in his first year of high school, Cameron said then-head coach Lance Waldron challenged him heading into the summer of his sophomore year.
Cameron said Waldron he told him that he needed to gain weight or he may not make the varsity team. It was a challenge that he took to heart.
“As a kid who loves basketball and who loves playing for the school, I knew it was do or die,” said Cameron.
That summer he worked out every day, said he ate (or drank) 4,000 calories, and by that August, he had put on 20 pounds.
“I got a little fat, but once we started practicing, I started cutting some of that weight,” joked Cameron. “But the idea of not making the team scared me so bad. It helped instill a work ethic in me. My positivity. My discipline.”
Not only did Cameron make the team, but he also earned a starting spot for the Cougars as a sophomore. It was the start of his varsity journey, one that has seen its challenges.
After serving as a solid role player for the Cougars for the past two years, more was needed from him heading into 2025-26. And it was those expectations – some self-inflicted – that caused early-season struggles.
“Summer basketball was tough on me,” said Cameron. “I was trying to live up to the expectations of last year. I was not shooting well. I just was not myself. And it is because I thought I had to be Cannon (Robbins) or Jack (Bell). I had to be Connor (Johnson). I am supposed to be the next man up.”
Seven games into the season, Cameron had failed to score in double figures, and the Cougars simply were not jelling. That is when Cameron said he and Coach Martinez had a heart to heart.
“He really took off when he became comfortable being Cam and not trying to be what he felt others wanted him to be,” said Martinez. “I think early on there was chatter about he needs to do this or he must do that. But, that is not who he was.
“He is a pleaser, and he was trying to please a lot of folks. When he just settled down into who he was on the court, his numbers took off.
“He shoots the ball really well,” said Martinez. “He just had to get to that comfort level where he was not trying to do everything. He played within himself and focused on just being good at being him. God has a way of channeling us when we are not being true to ourselves.”
The talk hit home for Cameron.
He scored 10 points in a win over Downsville and then 19 against Quitman and 26 against West Ouachita.
“I just needed to try to be the best Cameron Temple I could be,” said Cameron. “That was not just about scoring, but more about being the best leader I could be. Once I started being myself, all the other stuff came with it.”
Cameron has posted 14 double digit scoring games down the stretch, including a career-high 36 in a win over Plain Dealing on Senior Day.
Very fitting.
While the stats improved, the wins for the Cougars did not … at least not to the point they had hoped.
As few as seven players have dressed for games at times this year. And District 1-1A competition with the likes of Lincoln Prep, Arcadia, and Ringgold is not conducive to success for an inexperienced squad.
But through it all, Cameron’s teammates have seen the same guy.
“He has been huge for us the way he has handled adversity,” said Bridges. “There have been times we have been sloppy, and we have not been ready to play. Instead of getting on to us, he simply encourages us. He tries to keep us focused and positive.”
Basketball is not Cameron’s only extracurricular activity at Cedar Creek. The son of Robbie and Virginia Temple participates in Student Council, DECA, National Honor Society, and Key Club. He is also a member of the Cougars Golf team.
The owner of a 3.84 grade point average said he is making his college decision – either Louisiana Tech or LSU – very soon.
And regardless of where he studies next, Martinez said he has made his mark for Cedar Creek.
“He will be an ambassador for Cedar Creek for the rest of his life,” said Martinez. “He will be such a good one, not only for Cedar Creek basketball, but for the entire school and community.”
In so many ways, Cameron already is.
“I want to be the guy who helps lay the foundation,” said Cameron. “I grew up watching it as an elementary school kid to playing in middle school to riding the bench to a rotational player to being a starter and now a captain. I have done it all. At every stage, Cedar Creek embraced me. This place means a lot to me.”
When the clock hits zero Thursday and Cameron goes through the post-game handshake line one last time, he can do so knowing that he has made the most of his Cedar Creek basketball experience.
And that good days are ahead.
“At the end of the day, basketball doesn’t define me,” said Cameron. “I will play four years of it, and I will be done. All the honors are cool, but that will not be my biggest accomplishment. It will be coming back in a couple of years and seeing them succeed.
“I want to be remembered as a guy who gave his all and that cared about others.”
