Camden Dashes Lacey's Title Dreams

The lead had changed hands five times in the last quarter, as Lacey and Camden battled in their NJSIAA South Jersey Group III boys basketball title game.

Tavaris Headen had just hit a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a two-point lead, and with the last six seconds of their season staring the Lions in the face, they put the ball in Tasheen Carrow’s hands.

“He’s our ball handler,” Lacey coach Ryan O’Rourke said, the one the Lions trusted to get the ball upcourt and give them a chance at overtime.

The senior point guard gathered the ball on the inbounds pass from Logan McDonald and drove the length of the court and put up a shot. But destiny had other ideas, and the visiting Camden fans stormed the court as Carrow’s shot bounced away, giving Camden a 42-40 victory before a packed house in Lacey on Monday night.

 “I haven’t seen the gym this crowded in 15, 16, 17 years,” O’Rourke said. Nearly 1,300 fans filled the gym for Lacey’s first sectional title game in school history, according to athletic director Karen Hughes.

Their presence was a tribute to the hard work the Lions have put in all year. O’Rourke said the team was quietly motivated by what it viewed as a lack of respect from the get-go, after the Lions were picked to finish in the middle of the Shore Conference Class B South pack and seeded 13 in the WOBM Christmas Classic.

The lack of respect continued even as the Lions prepared for the game against Camden.

“We heard a lot of quotes about how we played nobody, how Camden was going to beat us by 20 points,” O’Rourke said.

Lacey – led by Carrow – showed from the start that was not going to be the case.

The Lions (22-5) were content to shoot from outside in the first quarter as they tried to feel out the Panthers’ defense. Camden, meanwhile, ran long sets that took 30 or 40 seconds off the clock before the Panthers put up a shot. Carrow sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a three by McDonald to put the Lions ahead 9-7 after the first quarter.

From there, however, Carrow and his teammates began pushing and testing the Panthers. Carrow, who finished with 21 points, began driving into the paint, at times shooting, at others passing off to teammates on the perimeter. His teammates played strong defense, forcing Camden into errors and blocking shots at other times. Tyrell Smith and Trevor Matthews each had a big block when Camden was threatening to run away with the score.

The trouble was the Lions were struggling to get their shots to fall. But they kept it close, never trailing by more than five points.

“I thought we were in good shape all night,” O’Rourke said. “We wanted to control the tempo and we did that in the first half. In the second half they (Camden) got too many second shots.”

That was because Camden, which had just one rebound in the first half, hit the boards more effectively in the second, blocking out the aggressive Lions.

The second half also developed into a battle between Carrow and Headen, as the pair guarded each other for much of the remainder of the game. They harassed each other’s shots, attacked each other’s passes and traded steals.

With 2:03 remaining, Headen fouled Carrow, sending him to the line for a pair of free throws that Carrow sank to give Lacey a 38-36 lead. Lacey returned the favor a few seconds later, sending Tommy Harper to the line for a pair that tied the game at 38.

A foul on Ryan Reitmeyer with 1:13 left gave Camden the ball, and Camden’s Ajwan Leaming scored to make it 40-38 Camden.

Lacey brought the ball down and junior Kevin Leahy drove to the basket and got fouled, then calmly sank the free throws to tie the game at 40.

“Kevin Leahy is a very good shooter,” O’Rourke said, “but he sometimes struggles with his confidence.”

Apparently not on Monday night, however.

After Leahy tied it with 25 seconds to go, Camden, with the ball in Headen’s hands, worked to run most of the time off the clock until Headen was fouled by McDonald as he drove for what Camden hoped would be the last shot.

With the roar of the crowd reaching its peak, Headen hit both free throws to put Camden ahead and set the stage for Carrow’s last-ditch attempt.

“It was unbelievable,” Headen said. “The crowd was big and it was loud.”

But he focused on doing what he needed to do, to avoid having the game go into overtime by hitting both shots, then controlling Carrow one last time.

“I saw that he liked to go to his right hand, but I had to force him left,” Headen said. And he forced Carrow into a shot that wouldn’t fall, leaving him and Lacey to accept consolation afterward.

“We are a team that works hard,” O’Rourke said.

And they are a team that has a whole lot to be proud of.