They’re long-range sharpshooters who can light up a scoreboard and electrify a crowd.
That best describes Dover girls basketball standouts Morgan Karam and Ansley Bollon.
Karam, a 5-7 senior small forward, and Bollon, a 5-8 junior small forward, did their “3-point shooting thing” during the Crimson Tornadoes’ impressive 48-29 romp over arch-rival New Philadelphia recently on the Quakers’ home hardwood.
The duo combined for 27 points to lead Dover’s long-range aerial attack. Bollon took game-scoring honors with 17 points, while Karam was next in line with 10. The pair combined to nail five triples in that contest.
“Ansley, Camryn (Albaugh) and Morgan, I feel comfortable with any of them cutting it loose (for threes),” Dover head coach Kyle Dummermuth said. “I like Ava (Zobel) shooting it, too, but Ava does some other things to get those girls really good looks.”
It marked Dover’s first win at New Philadelphia in quite some time.
“It’s a tough place to play,” Dummermuth said. “It’s the first time I’ve won there (in five seasons) but it’s the first time we’ve won there in a long time.”
Both Bollon and Karam love playing on the big stage — which is any time Dover and New Philadelphia meet.
“It was just exciting, and I liked the atmosphere,” Bollon said. “It was like hyping me up, and I think that’s what helped me. The (17 points) is my highlight, I scored 15 points in the last game.”
“It (defeating the arch-rival Quakers) truly is one of the best experiences, and just like Ansley said, I love the atmosphere,” Karam said. “The atmosphere is what makes it fun. This is definitely a close second (for personal career highlights). My first one is definitely last year hitting the game-winner against John Glenn.”
“It’s so much fun to play in a rivalry game when it matters,” Dummermuth said. “It’s high stakes and every play matters, every shot matters, and that was a lot of fun to watch them shoot it the way they did.”
Both Karam and Bollon are tireless workers.
“I work at least five or six days a week on basketball,” Karam explained. “Sunday is my rest day, because it’s the Lord’s day.”
Karam is also a standout shot put and discus thrower on the Dover track team and will be a four-year letter-winner in basketball this season. She cracked the OHSAA’s list of top 3-pointer shooters in the state last winter.
“She made 80 (threes) last year as a junior,” Dummermuth said. “There’s a list on the OHSAA web page and you have to make 80 to get on it, and she made 80 last year.”
Meanwhile, Dummermuth loves how Bollon, a junior who will earn her second varsity letter in basketball this season, has taken her game to another level through dogged determination.
“Ansley is just a kid who has worked her tail off to continue to improve,” he said.
‘Once one (3-pointer) goes in, I feel like nobody can stop me,” said Bollon, who is a three-sport athlete in soccer and track. “Every moment I have with this team is just super fun.”
“We like to shoot the 3, and on nights when it goes in it’s really fun,” Dummermuth said.
Karam and Bollon talked of their goals for the Tornadoes, who returned four of five starters from a sectional championship team of a year ago. Dover will be among the top sectional-district contenders in their new Division III tournament classification this season.
“As for the team (goal), I just want to win a bunch of games,” Bollon said.
“I would love to go to college and play basketball,” said Karam. “But for this year, I would love for our team to win a district title and go to regionals. I think that would be a great team goal.”
“Our kids are such great kids — every one of them,” said Dummermuth. “I’m really proud of them, I told them every time we win or we lose, I’m always proud of them. They all have a job to do, and when they all do their job good things can happen.”
And that, they have.
