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March 7, 2001

You want The High, you got The High

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist

Ocean City experienced high school basketball at a different level last week.

Make no mistake about it, the Raiders have a great tradition on the court. Through the years, teams from OCHS have won six South Jersey championships and two state titles. Only three Cape-Atlantic League schools - Wildwood, Pleasantville and St. Augustine - have more South Jersey championships. And only two - Wildwood and Pleasantville - have more at the state level.

But, in the 80 years or so that Ocean City High School has had a basketball team, the Raiders had never before visited Camden. The two teams have scrimmaged through the years but had never played a real game.

Until last week.

And last week's NJSIAA Group 3 tournament game became historic when Camden senior Dajuan Wagner hit a free throw in the fourth quarter that made him the greatest career scorer in New Jersey history.

The Raiders played fairly well. In fact, when Wagner was out in foul trouble, they really held their own. But the 6-3 senior, who has committed to Memphis next year, makes a big difference and his 52 points led to the biggest tournament loss OCHS has ever suffered.

The young Ocean City players confirmed that they were nervous when the game began. This was a gym they had only heard about. When Steve West or the Raiders do something special, you read about it in The Gazette and hear about it on TV40. When Wagner or Camden does something special, you read about it in USA Today and hear Dick Vitale or Dan Patrick talk about it.

Camden basketball is basketball at a level unfamiliar to Ocean City and most of the CAL. Camden teams have won 11 state championships (the entire CAL has a combined total of 18) and have appeared in 21 state championship games.

Their gym, once a showplace, is modest by 2001 standards. It doesn't compare with Atlantic City or Williamstown or Absegami or dozens of other newer and larger gyms. But this gym is filled with traditions and memories.

To be sure, not all of them are good. There have been the types of crowd control problems we too often find at inner city events. A few of these incidents have caused Camden's team to be suspended from the NJSIAA tournament. In fact, they were suspended in 1999 when Ocean City won the South Jersey title or the Raiders would have met up with them then.

The gym at Camden High School is like a shrine for the true South Jersey basketball fans. The two players named as Players of the Century by the Courier Post - Ron "Itchy" Smith and Billy Thompson - both played there. So did Milt Wagner, Dajuan's father, and the greatest group of high school basketball players produced by any school in South Jersey.

There is some graffiti on the shrine now but basketball is still something very special in that building. The Panthers come out and warm up to a song recorded just for them, rapping about a return to the Tournament of Champions and the team's particular goals. They wear Nike shoes and clothes that are given to only the high school teams that will gain the manufacturer the most exposure.

The Holy Spirit girls had an experience like this when they played Christ the King last month, though the Spartans played the National power on a neutral court.

Last week, West, Andre Legette, Micah Rolls and the rest of the Raiders went where no Raiders before them had gone and played a team that is considered one the 10 best in the country. No matter what happens in their basketball future, these young players will probably never play in a building with more history and more of a tradition of success.

Camden is a town trying to rebuild itself. It has added minor league baseball and a major concert facility. To most of Camden, there is only one high school. Woodrow Wilson High School, located across town, is just known as Wilson. Camden Catholic is actually in Cherry Hill. But Camden High School is known as "The High".

As they like to chant when a Camden scoring run forces the opposing team to call a timeout, "You want The High, you got The High".

The Raiders might not have really wanted them last week, but they got them. And it was an experience they are unlikely to forget.

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