Camden starts slow, finishes strong to beat Willingboro

It wasn't supposed to be that hard.

Camden, the No. 1 seed in South Jersey Group 2 boys' basketball, wasn't supposed to keep everyone in suspense until the end of the game with sixth-seeded Willingboro last night at Washington Township.

But that is what happened as a young and feisty group of Chimeras kept the game close until 1 minute, 32 seconds remained.

That's when it all started to unravel for Willingboro, which trailed by 54-51. At that point, Camden surged to a 61-52 victory for its 41st sectional title in the history of the program.

Camden (21-4) is scheduled to play Central Jersey Group 2 champ Manasquan tomorrow at Perth Amboy at 7 p.m. Tickets for that game will go on sale today at Camden at noon.

Willingboro (21-8) drew two technical fouls near the end of the game. That put Camden on the free-throw line, but the Panthers did not impress anyone with their 4-for-8 shooting. Baskets by Aaron Walton-Moss and Vincent Walls in the final minute kept the Panthers in the drivers' seat in a game that was tied, 25-25, at intermission.

In all, Camden shot 10 for 28 from the line, and coach Mike Stargell said that will be addressed.

The technical fouls hurt the Chimeras because they gave the ball back to Camden at a crucial time.

"They were frustrated being a young team, and they got angry," Walton-Moss said. "You can't play angry."

Still, Willingboro coach Jeff Haddock defended his team.

"This [Camden] is the type of team that will try to bully you on the court," said Haddock, who said that his players got caught reacting to the Panthers' aggressive play.

Camden did not execute as well as it was capable of throughout the first half. The Panthers missed shots and follow-ups and led by 15-14 in the first period.

Walton-Moss scored on a putback with 45 seconds to tie the game at 25 all at the break.

The senior swingman, who had been averaging 27 points per game going in, had only six of his game-high 20 points at intermission.

Willingboro's zone defenses may have thrown Camden off its game.

"Willingboro threw a lot of half-court zone sets at us, and we had to continue to make adjustments all evening to counter some of the stuff they were throwing at us," Stargell said.

Camden led by as many as seven points, 23-16, in the second period, but its man defense couldn't stop Willingboro junior Chris Burke or senior Karee Ferguson.

Burke scored a team-high 18 points, and Ferguson, a 6-foot-7 center, scored 12 mostly on the inside.

Willingboro 14 11 16 11 - 52

Camden 15 10 20 16 - 61

W: Karee Ferguson 12, Keontae Chavies 2, Terrell Maloney 6, Chris Burke 18, Chris Henry 7, Jarvis Perry 7.

C: Aaron Walton-Moss 20, Hubert Simmons 1, Takwail Bailey 9, Vincent Walls 13, Kahil Mims 6, Devon Devine 12.