RALEIGH — A battle between some of the top boys basketball recruits in the country, including one from Chatham County, took center stage at the John Wall Invitational at Broughton High in Raleigh last Wednesday night.
Playing in its second game of the holiday showcase, the Northwood boys basketball team faced off against Camden High (N.J.), the No. 5 team in the country, according to MaxPreps’ rankings. The Panthers boast a roster filled with Division I talent, including guard D.J. Wagner — a Kentucky commit who is ranked as the No. 1 senior in the entire country — and fellow senior center Aaron Bradshaw, the No. 6 player in the class who is also committed to the Wildcats.
Led by junior Drake Powell, a UNC commit ranked as the No. 50 national prospect in the Class of 2024, Northwood cruised to a 77-57 win in its tournament-opener against Seventy-First on Tuesday. The Chargers couldn’t find the same magic against Camden however, falling 60-36 in front of a raucous crowd.
“We’re disappointed in the outcome, obviously, but we’re blessed to be in the situation we’re in, being asked back to the John Wall for the second year in a row,” said Northwood head coach Matt Brown. “We’re going to get better because of it. You have to give Camden credit. They’re a heck of a team ... I thought our guys competed for four quarters and held with them. We kind of showed what Northwood was about. Our guys fought hard, and I’m super proud of my guys.”
Northwood held tough in the game’s opening quarter, battling to a 9-7 lead behind six points from Powell, who finished with a team-high 20 points. But after taking the opening punch from the Chargers, Camden locked in and completely flipped the momentum of the game.
After the first quarter, Camden held Northwood to 9-of-29 (31.0%) shooting from the field over the final three periods. Outside of Powell’s 20, the Charger with the most points was Fred Whitaker, who had six points on 3-of-11 shooting to go with five rebounds.
Wagner, for his part, scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting, which included a 4-of-9 mark from 3-point range. Often tasked with guarding the 6-foot-3 combo guard, Powell said after the game that the matchup against Wagner was one he relished coming into the game.
“I respect D.J. Wagner a lot,” Powell said. “Playing against him in an atmosphere like this was pretty crazy. I take pride in playing defense, and playing a great offensive player like him was pretty surreal.”
One of the biggest differences in Wednesday’s game was Camden’s dominance in the post. The Panthers grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, including seven by senior Cornelius Robinson, which led to 13 second-chance points. Camden also scored 39 points in the paint, compared to 16 for the Chargers.
In total, Camden outrebounded Northwood, 46-25, in the matchup. Bradshaw — who stands at 7-foot-0 — grabbed 10 boards, including eight on the defensive end. The Chargers’ tallest players, 6-foot-11 senior Kenan Parrish and 6-foot-8 senior Max Frazier, were held to just six combined rebounds.
“(Camden) just wanted it more than we did,” Whitaker said.
Despite his team’s second-half performance, Brown said playing in the John Wall Invitational should prepare his team for the hostile environments and raucous crowds they’ll likely encounter in the state playoffs.
“I told these guys, ‘There are no moral victories,’” Brown said Wednesday. “We came out strong, and it just wasn’t our night. This atmosphere was like a Final Four atmosphere. I’ve never been anything like this since our Final Four year in Fayetteville against Westover. It was that type of crowd. These guys got a taste of it, and it’s going to make them hungry and also prepare them for the playoffs.”
As teams prepare to return from holiday break, Northwood boasts a 10-2 record through its first 12 games. The Chargers have been among the most consistent teams in the entire state over the past several years, amassing a 65-10 record since the start of 2019-20 and reaching at least the fourth round of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons.
This year’s Northwood team is averaging 69.1 points per game, way up from the 60.5 points the Chargers averaged in 2021-22. Conversely, Brown’s team is allowing an average of 54.3 points per game, which is up from last season’s average of 41.9 points per game allowed.
Powell leads the Chargers in both points (20.6) and rebounds (7.8) per game this season while also dishing out 3.4 assists. Four other players — Parrish (9.8), junior Jake Leighton (9.2), Whitaker (8.6) and Frazier (8.5) — are averaging at least eight points per game this season.
Northwood returns to the court Tuesday night for a conference game against Person High. The Chargers won all three of their games against the Rockets — who are 11-1 this season — last winter.
News + Record correspondent Evan Rogers contributed to this story.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.