Pennsauken Tech seniors Moore and Chambliss making basketball headlines
Tariq Moore and Da'Shawn Chambliss have a lot in common. They were in the same class at East Camden Middle School. They decided to attend Pennsauken Tech. They are the lone seniors on the Tornadoes' surprisingly successful basketball team.
Tariq Moore and Da'Shawn Chambliss have a lot in common.
They were in the same class at East Camden Middle School. They decided to attend Pennsauken Tech. They are the lone seniors on the Tornadoes' surprisingly successful basketball team.
They both - and this, more than anything, tends to tighten the bond between the two student-athletes - hear the same thing when they go home to Camden and tell folks in the neighborhood they play for Pennsauken Tech.
"I hear it all the time," Chambliss said. " 'Why you go there? Why don't you transfer?' "
Moore nodded in agreement.
"All the time," Moore said. "People just don't have respect for this team."
Moore and Chambliss have done their best this season to change the perception of Pennsauken Tech basketball.
The seniors have led the Tornadoes on a 10-game winning streak. The team's 18-6 record represented the best regular-season mark in the last 30 years, according to veteran coach Jim Morton.
What's most impressive is that seven of Pennsauken Tech's victories have come against playoff-bound teams, including such well-regarded public school programs as Delran, Cinnaminson, Palmyra, Clayton, and New Egypt.
"There's definitely a buzz around the school," said Morton, who teaches culinary arts at the school on Browning Road. "Athletes in this school don't usually get a lot of attention, but these guys deserve it."
The key to the Tornadoes' record-setting season has been the play of the team's two seniors.
The 6-foot-2 Moore is averaging 17.4 points with 75 assists and 66 steals. He went for 25 against Cinnaminson and 24 against Delran.
"He's the best shooter I've ever had here," said Morton, who has been in charge of the program for the last 12 years, save two years off. "Brandon Rembert [2013 graduate] was the best scorer, but Tariq is the best shooter."
The 6-foot-3 Chambliss averages 13.9 points and 7.9 rebounds. He generated 30 points with 21 rebounds in the victory over 18-win Clayton. He had 17 and 10 against Palmyra.
"He's a terrific athlete," Morton said. "He does everything for us."
Pennsauken Tech has just one playoff win in the last 32 seasons. That was in 2013, when Rembert led the 12th-seeded Tornadoes to an upset of fifth-seeded Woodstown in the first round of the South Jersey Group 2 tournament.
This season, Pennsauken Tech is the No. 6 seed and will host No. 11 Medford Tech in the tournament opener on Monday night. But because the Tornadoes' court is so small, the game will be played at the school's Sicklerville campus.
"That's 35 minutes away," Morton said. "That's not a home game for us."
That situation - a blue-moon-rare home playoff game that must be played a lengthy bus ride away - is typical of the challenges facing Morton and his athletes at a school not known for its sports programs.
Morton and his seniors agree the camaraderie between the Tornadoes' veteran leaders has been a big factor in the team's success.
"They're good friends, No. 1," Morton said. "There's no jealousy. They look out for each other."
Moore said his rapport with Chambliss on and off the court has led to positive results.
"It helps a lot," Moore said. "I know where he's going to be. I trust him."
Chambliss said the chemistry between the seniors shows on the court. But it's nothing new, stretching back to middle school and including the shared experience of hearing from neighbors in East Camden about the inferiority of Pennsauken Tech basketball.
"Everybody says our team isn't going anywhere," Chambliss said. "We both hear about it. All it does is add fuel to the fire."
@PhilAnastasia
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