High school basketball: No. 11 Camden defeats No. 10 Sierra Canyon 66-62 behind 21 points from D.J. Wagner

In one of the most highly anticipated games of the high school basketball season, No. 11 Camden (N.J.) defeated No. 10 Sierra Canyon (Chatsworth, Calif.) 66-62 behind 21 points from D.J. Wagner in a wire-to-wire victory Saturday night at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa.

The Trailblazers couldn't buy a bucket early, falling behind 10-0 to start the contest before Isaiah Elohim's alley-oop dunk gave them their only points of the first quarter with 3:21 to go in the quarter.

Sierra Canyon (20-3) shot 1-of-12 from the field and turned the ball over eight times in the opening frame, falling behind 15-2.

A back-and-forth second quarter saw 42 points between the two teams as five-star UCLA signee Amari Bailey led the Trailblazers with 12 of his game-high 23 points in the period. Jeremiah Nyarko provided a spark on the defensive end with three of his game-high four blocks in the second stanza.

Despite the frenzied scoring in the second period, Sierra Canyon cut the Panthers' lead by two points to 35-24 as the Trailblazers were unable to slow down Wagner, the top-ranked junior, who scored nine of his team-high 21 points in the quarter.

Bronny James provided a spark out of the half for the Trailblazers, scoring the first two points on a layup before a thunderous block of 7-foot center Aaron Bradshaw resulted his assist to Dylan Metoyer for a wide open 3-pointer on the other end.

Sierra Canyon chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter, winning the period 17-14 to give Camden a 49-41 advantage entering the final period of play.

The fourth quarter began with a quick 7-2 run to cut the Camden lead to 52-48 before Wagner crossed over James and left him his back as the Camden star nailed the mid-range jumper to get the sellout crowd of nearly 10,000 on its feet.

After a, Elohim corner 3-pointer cut the deficit to 54-51, the Panthers responded with a decisive 6-0 spurt to extend their lead to 60-51 mid-way through the final period before both teams traded mostly free-throws for the final three minutes.

Bradshaw made an impact on the game down low, chipping in 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in the victory for Camden (12-2).