Camden secures signature victory in front out sold-out crowd at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
The nationally ranked matchup was headlined by a trio of five-star Kentucky signees as the No. 3 overall prospect in the Class of 2023 according to 247Sports
Justin Edwards of Imhotep Charter faced off against the No. 2 prospect in the Class of 2023
Aaron Bradshaw and the No. 4 prospect in the senior classification Wagner of Camden.
Wagner started off the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the key before back-to-back baskets from Florida Gulf Coast commit
Rahmir Barno cut the deficit to 43-42. Barno raced down for a layup before knocking down a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Wagner responded for Camden on the other end by converting a layup through contact, knocking down his free throw attempt for a three-point play to extend the lead to 46-42.
After the two teams traded a pair of free throws to make the score 48-44, Wagner was able to knife through the defense and finish a right-handed layup through contact to lengthen the lead to 50-44 with just over three minutes remaining.
Edwards responded with a layup on the opposite end to cut the deficit back to four points before a pair of free throws from Wagner were quickly followed up by a layup from Barno to bring the score to 52-48.
With approximately one minute remaining in the game, the two teams traded three point baskets as
Cian Medley knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner and Nowell hit a triple from the left wing seconds later.
Camden split a pair of free-throws and Nowell continued his clutch late-game play with another 3-pointer to cut the deficit back to two points at 56-54 with 32.5 seconds remaining.
After Wagner drove the length of the court for a layup, Edwards made things 58-57 after a dunk where he was fouled with on the other end was fouled under 20 seconds to go in the contest.
Following a one-of-two trip to the charity stripe for Camden, Justin Edwards had a good look at the potential game-winning shot with approximately five seconds remaining but the three-point attempt rimmed out in the closing seconds.
Camden surged ahead 13-11 at the end of the first quarter after a
pair of layups from Wagner were followed up by a contested mid-range
jumper from Nowell to close out the opening period.
In
a back-and-forth first half, neither team was able to take a lead of
more than four points, while Camden remained ahead 26-24 at the
intermissionon a basket from Bradshaw that beat the buzzer.
The
New Jersey powerhouse maintained its lead heading into the fourth
quarter after a turnaround basket from the mid-range for Edwards was
released just prior to buzzer to make things 40-37 after three.
Nowell finished with a team-high 20 points in the loss while Barno added 17 points and Edwards had 16. The trio combined for 53 of their team's 57 points.
The mega showdown was sold out prior to
the game with no tickets being sold at the door of Hagan Arena – a 4,200
seat capacity venue where the St. Joseph's University basketball team
plays its home games.
On social media, many were calling the contest between Northeast powerhouse programs the biggest high school basketball
game in the city of Philadelphia since LeBron James and St. Vincent-St.
Mary (Akron, Ohio) took on Strawberry Mansion (Philadelphia) at The
Palestra in 2002 and the game lived up to the hype Saturday afternoon.
Camden (17-2) has three games remaining in regular season play beginning with a matchup against Paul VI (Haddonfield, N.J.) on Tuesday. Imhotep Charter (16-3) closes out regular season play next week with
matchups against Mastery Charter North (Philadelphia) on Tuesday and
Sankofa Freedom Academy (Philadelphia) on Wednesday.
Five-star Kentucky signee D.J. Wagner has signature performance with a game-high 22 points in the win. (Photo: Jerrell Jordan)
