High School Boy's Basketball:
Camden Starts Season With Easy Victory

Friday, December 18, 1998

By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer

For Camden High School, the biggest question was whether top-scorer Dajuan Wagner would remain at Camden. Once rumored to be transferring to the Panthers' conference rival Camden Catholic, Wagner remained at Camden for his sophomore year. The Cherokee Chiefs hosted this Olympic Conference openining season game on the losing end. Camden had little problem starting the season off with a 67-35 victory.

Both teams were starting out their season with new coaches and high hopes of a successful season. Glen Jackson had taken over as the new head coach for Camden because of the one year suspension to Clarence Turner. Also, Cherokee has a new coach of their own. Ron Powell now heads up the boy's basketball program for the Chiefs.

Camden jumped out to the early lead and ended the first quarter up by 6 points. Arthur Barclay continued to be a force in the paint as he was last year, as the Panthers defense shut down the Chiefs offense. Cherokee began to find the basket and didn't let the Panthers get too far in front of them. At the half, the score was 23-15. Coach Jackson enjoyed a comfortable lead but still had to prove that he could take his back to the conference championship.

Well, Wagner began to find that shooting zone and continued his success from outside and lead a dominating third quarter. The Panthers outscored their opponents 27-6 and put the game out of reach before the final quarter began. This game was all Panthers from the start. The combination of Wagner and Barclay was too tough for Cherokee in their victory. Wagner finished with 33 points while Barclay chipped in 21 points and was uncontested on the boards.

Photos by Art Redd