The final New Jersey Tournament of Champions title game lived up to the hype as No. 8
Roselle Catholic (Roselle, N.J.) outlasted No. 5
Camden 61-58 in an overtime thriller Sunday afternoon at a jam-packed Jersey Mike's Arena on the campus of Rutgers University.
The Lions escaped with the hard-fought victory after senior
Braxton Jones hit the go-ahead mid-range jump shot with 27.7 seconds left to give Roselle Catholic the 58-57 lead. The basket accounted for Jones' only points of the contest.
Top-ranked junior
D.J. Wagner had a clean look from the mid-range on the other end, but his shot rimmed out with under 10 seconds remaining.
A pair of free throws from Nebraska signee
Jamarques Lawrence with 4.4 seconds remaining extended the Lions' advantage to 61-58 before Wagner's last second heave from just inside of half-court fell short.
In a fitting finale to the treasured event, the Garden State heavyweights exchanged blows throughout the highly anticipated contest. Roselle Catholic took a 19-14 lead after the first quarter before Camden cut into the deficit to trail 30-28 at halftime.
A strong 19-11 third quarter put Camden up 47-41 heading into the final period, but Roselle Catholic quickly battled back with a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking a 48-47 lead after a
Simeon Wilcher and-one.
D.J. Wagner (left) went one-on-one against Simeon Wilcher (right) most of the game Sunday in Roselle Catholic's 61-58 overtime win.
Photo by Dale Horton
After a response from
Rasheer Fleming on the other end put Camden back ahead 49-48,
Christian Pierre-Louis came up clutch with another and-one on the other end to extend the Lions' advantage to 51-49.
Wagner and
Akil Watson quickly exchanged baskets on opposite ends. Wagner then tied things up at 53-53 with a pair of free-throws with 1:20 remaining with no more scoring until the extra session.
After each team knocked down a pair of free-throws to open overtime, Wagner finished at the basket and was fouled to give the Panthers a 58-55 advantage.
Lawrence hit a clutch shot on the other end to cut the deficit to 58-57 before a huge jump-ball call with 58 seconds remaining gave the Lions the ball prior to Jones go-ahead basket.
North Carolina pledge Wilcher led the way with a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists in the victory, while sophomore
Rich Brisco provided a huge spark in the second half off the bench with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Roselle Catholic (29-2) won its fourth Tournament of Champions title in four attempts, capturing the state's highest honor previously in 2013, 2015 and 2018.
Simeon Wilcher celebrates Roselle Catholic's fourth New Jersey TOC title on Sunday.
Photo by Dale Horton
The Lions also avenged their only in-state loss of the season, falling to Camden 67-64 in their opener on Dec. 17.
After COVID-19 wiped out postseason play in the Garden State in
each of the past two seasons, Camden (31-3) fell short of its first
TOC title since 2000. In 2019-20, the Panthers finished No. 9 in MaxPreps Top 25 rankings followed by a 13-0 campaign in a shortened COVID-19 season.
Camden was led by a game-high 23 points and six steals from Wagner. St. Joseph's-bound Fleming also chipped 13 points and eight rebounds.
The NJSIAA Tournament of Champions ends after a 31 year run that started in 1989. The proposal to end the illustrious TOC was introduced early in the basketball season and passed by a vote of 33-4 in December.
Akil Watson (23) drives toward the hoop for Roselle Catholic.
Photo by Dale Horton
A late jumper in overtime missed by D.J. Wagner (21) is defended by Christian Pierre-Louis (3).
Photo by Dale Horton
Roselle Catholic senior guard Jamarques Lawrence (10) passes to a teammate for a deuce.
Photo by Dale Horton
Roselle Catholic celebrates 61-58 overtime win over Camden in final New Jersey TOC title game.
Photo by Dale Horton
