Different times at Camden High

Al Dyer saw sunshine between the clouds, heard a sweet melody amid the discord.

"The kids had fun, I had fun - that's a good day," Dyer said.

There was a time, not so long ago, when a good day for Camden basketball included a 30-point victory - along with a rainbow of three-pointers, a few rim-rattling dunks, and a couple of ankle-spraining crossover moves for crowd-pleasing measure.

But the Panthers are a long ways from home.

Some teams need to walk before they can run. The Panthers need to stand before they can walk.

This proud program has been knocked down and kicked around. Camden is 0-5 after Tuesday's 81-37 loss to Paul VI before a small crowd of diehards and true believers in Clarence Turner Gymnasium.

Every loss has been by 14 points or more. Tuesday's lopsided loss was marred by 29 turnovers, including 21 in the first half, when Camden fell behind by 41-8.

"It is what it is," said Dyer, the school's athletic director who is serving as head coach on an interim basis.

Dyer replaced Mike Stargell, who resigned Monday after two-plus seasons in charge of perhaps the most fabled program in South Jersey sports.

Stargell cited personal issues, but also complained about Camden's strict academic eligibility rules - students in the district must maintain a 2.0 grade point average to participate in extracurricular activities - as well as negative outside influences on the program.

Camden basketball is in a sorry state, at least by the Panthers' previous standards, and that's not a knock on the young men who played their hardest in those white uniforms against an undefeated opponent that is No. 3 in South Jersey in The Inquirer Top 10.

It was the weirdest thing to sit in that famous old gymnasium - site of so many great games, home to so many terrific teams and sensational players - and watch Camden fall behind after the first quarter by 24-3.

This was the place where Billy Culbertson and Milt Wagner used to knock down those long jumpers. Where Dennis Still and Billy Thompson used to rule the glass. Where Arthur Barclay and DaJuan Wagner used to ham-and-egg their way into South Jersey basketball legend.

Barclay and Wagner, 10 years removed from leading Camden to the Tournament of Champions title, were in the building Tuesday, along with a few other former players.

"They'll be all right," Wagner said with characteristic optimism. "They're young."

There might not be another program more tightly tied to its community than Camden basketball. There might not be another team that means as much to as many.

These are especially hard times in the city, too, with another budget crisis, with looming layoffs of policemen and firefighters.

"That's hard because people are always asking us, 'What's going on?' " Camden junior guard Jahrome Randall said. "We've just got to stay focused and play ball. We're going to keep improving."

Dyer knows how much folks in the city are invested in Panthers basketball. He also knows he has inherited a team that lacks size, ballhandling skills, and confidence.

But the new coach brings a new outlook. He saw the positives in the second half, when Camden played Paul VI even in the third quarter, when the Panthers scored 29 points and made a few nice plays.

"It's been a traumatic time for these guys," Dyer said of his players. "I thought they played hard and they had fun. They were upbeat in the locker room. They were mad they lost.

"I was proud of how hard they played, the way they battled. I thought they showed something."