Season of progress ends for Camden

The first positive sign, in a strange way, was the tears.

Camden ended one season but appears to have begun a new era, one in which games and wins in March are common.

The Panthers' season concluded with Wednesday night's 63-46 loss to Neptune in a state Group 3 semifinal at Winslow Township.

The Panthers won the South Jersey Group 3 title, finished 18-13, and set the foundation for a future that might look like much of the past.

Few schools have a richer basketball heritage than Camden, but after missing last year's state tournament and going through an in-season coaching change and a 3-17 start, this young team appears back.

Thus, the tears.

The Camden players were inconsolable, and the greatest player who ever put on the school's uniform saw that as a positive sign.

"I am sorry that they were crying but happy to see that it meant so much to them," said Dajuan Wagner, who is still part of the only Tournament of Champions champion in school history and is a proud alum, a constant fixture at the games. "We are coming back."

Camden had two senior starters, Thomas Harper and Ajwan Leaming, but the youth, led by sophomore point guard Tavaris Headen and junior Amir Maddred, who had a team-high 13 points, gives the Panthers hope that they can be in this setting next year and beyond.

Headen was one of those who didn't have dry eyes at the game's end.

"It hurts," Headen said.

Yet he was proud of how the Panthers battled, and who wouldn't be?

Nothing has come easy for this team, which won its four South Jersey playoff games by a total of 11 points.

And Wednesday night, it appeared to be blowout city when an extremely quick Neptune team jumped out to a 19-4 lead. Camden trailed by 19-6 after a first quarter in which the Panthers committed 11 of their 25 turnovers.

One could imagine the buses starting up at halftime, but then Camden went into its typical fighting mode.

When Leaming hit two free throws with 3 minutes and 41 seconds left in the third quarter, Camden found itself down by just 34-32.

"We showed a lot of fight getting back," said Camden first-year coach Cetshwayo Byrd, a 1988 graduate of the school.

Camden trailed by eight entering the fourth quarter but finally wore down against a 24-6 Neptune team that was equally relentless in how it attacked the basket and defended it.

For Byrd, this has been quite a year. He was an assistant coach at Pennsauken, and the Indians won the South Jersey Group 4 title. Now he has a South Jersey Group 3 basketball title.

More than that, he sees great hope for the future after gigantic strides over the past 365 days.

"Last year, I'd go to the games and the gym would be empty and I was wondering if it was the JV game," Byrd said. "You could see the support coming back."

Byrd said there was one main reason for the tears.

"We expected to win," he said, mindful that most observers considered Camden the underdog.

And that is the biggest change.

The expectation of victory and the actual wins were missing the last few years.

"It was very important that we got Camden basketball back," Headen said. "Now next year, we will try to finish it off."

And the tears a year from now could be coming from the opposite locker room, as the hibernation period appears over and Camden basketball has truly awakened.

Neptune   19 11 14 19 – 63

Camden   6 14 16 10 – 46

N: Kareem Crawford 2, Josh Jenkins 8, Jaheem Woods 12, Ikie Calderon 14, Keith Kirkwood 19, Rashsal Holland 6, Anthony Seward 2.

C: Tavaris Headen 5, Ajwan Leaming 10, Amare McEady 8, Josh Devine 3, Thomas Harper 3, Rasool Hinson 4, Amir Maddred 13.