 High School Basketball:
Woodrow Wilson Advances With Win Over Camden
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer
It was the second day of the South Jersey group playoffs and to start things off were the boy's group 3 match up between the Tigers from Woodrow Wilson traveling cross town to Camden High. The post season seem to bring out the best in some players who really want to advance to the next round of the playoffs. The Tigers, behind the shooting of Eriq Rosado, took their "A" game to the sixth seeded Panthers by executing well in the second half to run away with a 74-63 victory. Wilson's 8-2 run midway through the third quarter keyed the win to advance to the next round against the third seeded Egg Harbor Township.
Throughout the regular season, teams develop their skills with numerous practices and game time experience. As the season progresses, most tend to rank a team's success on how well they play. So when a team enters the group playoffs with talented players who joined the team late in the season, upsets are bound to happen. The Tigers' Rosado has ignited his team along with Kris Polk as a team to watch in the boy's group 3 playoffs. Since joining the team, both players have been averaging around twenty points a game giving the Tigers even more scoring opportunities in their attempt to capture the title.
 After an early lead by the Panthers, Rosado ignited Wilson past Camden shooting 3 for 4 from the field including 2 for 2 from behind the three point arch. Matching his efforts in the quarter, Rashad Harmon dominated inside the paint for the Panthers to regain the 13-8 advantage. Both of these neighboring schools knew each other's strengths and weaknesses well as the key early on was to test the defense. Polk would be the high scorer in the second quarter to lead Wilson to a 36-29 halftime lead.
The full court press put on by the Tigers at the beginning of the second half gave Camden all sorts of problems getting the ball across half court. Taking advantage of their turnovers, the eleventh seeded Tigers used an 8-2 run to jump out to their largest lead of the game, 44-33, with 3:50 remaining in the quarter. By the end of the quarter, Wilson's lead swelled to a 16 point lead going into the final quarter. Camden would return to their original game plan of getting the ball inside to Harmon, but the Tigers converted an impressive 13 for 14 from the free throw line to put this game in the record books. Rosado was a perfect 8 for 8 from the line.
This game marked the end of Glenn Jackson's coaching duties at Camden High. His team was lead by Rashad Harmon who had a team high 23 points and Byron Sellers added 13 points. As for the Panthers from Woodrow Wilson, Eriq Rosado had a game high 27 points, Preston Brown added 14 points and Jonathan Robinson contributed 10 points.
Photos by Art Redd
      
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High School Basketball:
