Stage not too big for Reading freshman Jeremiah Camara in Berks I showdown
2024 Berks basketball coverage presented by
Utilities Employees Credit Union
By Mike Drago — MikeDragoSports.com Managing Editor
Jeremiah Camara made mental notes last season watching the way Nick Chapman came up big during Reading High’s state championship run. He saw the doggedness, the laser focus, the ability to make clutch plays at difficult times.
Now, playing side-by-side with the Red Knights senior, the freshman guard is doing the same sort of things.
You’d never know he was just 14 years old the way he remained poised in a heated environment at Wilson Thursday night. He fearlessly took the ball to the basket and hit big shots as the Red Knights knocked off the Bulldogs 50-44 in a battle of Berks Conference Division I leaders.
“He loves the big moments,” said Red Knights coach Francis Camara after watching his son score a game- and season-high 16 points and hit some key free throws in the final minutes as his team pulled out to a double-digit lead.
“He’s a kid who enjoys the adversity,” the coach said, “and he thrives on it. You need guys like that who you know are gonna step up in big moments.”
The Red Knights (7-3, 13-7) have a couple of them.
The selfless Chapman dominated the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 11 points and fronting a rock-solid defense that held the Bulldogs (6-4, 13-7) without a point for four crucial points minutes downs the stretch.
The Red Knights, after graduating three All-Berks players, including the incomparable Ruben Rodriguez, from a 32-1 team were far from an overwhelming favorite to win the Berks I title when the season opened.
Now, after experiencing some serious growing pains, losing six of their first 13 games and playing without Chapman for nearly a month at midseason they find themselves tied for first place with one league game remaining.
They’ll go for the title Tuesday at home against Muhlenberg (7-3, 13-7), which won 81-62 Thursday at Daniel Boone.
In a tight battle that saw Wilson leading late in the third quarter and down just a bucket with 5 ½ minutes remaining Chapman willed the Red Knights to their biggest victory of the season.
He attacked the basket, knocked down four straight free throws and scored six points in a 10-2 run that pushed Reading’s lead to 46-36 with 1:29 remaining.
“He’s the toughest guy on the court,” Francis Camara said. “He’s just tough as nails. You know he’s gonna dive for the loose balls, you know he’s gonna do every little thing for your team.”
Fittingly, Chapman scored his team’s final basket, on a runout and assist from Malik Osumanu for a 49-38 lead with 43 seconds left.
Wilson’s leading scorer, Madyx Gruber, tossed in a pair of long 3-pointers over the next 40 seconds to close the gap but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep the Red Knights from their eighth straight win over Wilson and a chance to go for a fourth straight division title.
Chapman’s relentless defense kept Gruber quiet most of the way; the junior guard had just four shots through three quarters.
It’s defense that has taken the Red Knights to the top – that fact hasn’t changed since last season, even though many of the faces have. Their coach wasn’t happy about that aspect of their game through the first half of the season but he’s seen improvement in recent weeks.
“In big moments, when we need a stop, our guys get stops, and they do an amazing job with that,” the first-year coach said. “That shows how much heart these guys have. They’re willing to finish. They stick together in the tough moments.”
The Red Knights moved out to a 12-6 lead late in the first period, getting a 3-pointer from Malik Osumanu and a three-point play from Yadiel Cruz. Those were the only points in the game for Cruz, who entered averaging a league-leading 22.6 points per game.
Wilson moved ahead in the second period, with six different players contributing points. A pair of free throws by Correll Akings gave the Bulldogs a 20-16 lead with 2:42 left in the half. They had a chance to extend that going into the half but missed four straight free throws over the final 2:37 and went into intermission leading only 20-18.
That, said Bulldogs coach Matt Coldren, was their downfall.
“The first half, we missed three chippies around the rim and four straight foul shots,” Coldren said. “That’s 10 points right there – we could’ve been up 12 at half.”
Wilson took the lead four times in the third quarter but Reading’s Daquan Burgess came off the bench and stuck a couple of game-changing daggers, hitting 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give his team a five-point lead.
When Camara hit a runner and Chapman followed with two free throws the Red Knights led 42-36 and the Bulldogs were forced to start fouling. That only helped Reading extend it lead as Chapman and Camara combined to hit 7-of-8 from the line over the final 3:47.
Junior center Luke Levan finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Gruber hit three baskets in the final 90 seconds to finish with 12 points, but mostly the Bulldogs struggled to score. The game marked just the fourth time this season they’ve finished with fewer than 45 points; they’ve lost three of them.
“I thought we did a great job, for the most part, defensively – we held them to 50,” Coldren said, “ but we just went dry from the floor. It wasn’t (for lack of) effort. We had some decent looks, we just didn’t make ’em. We’ve had these lulls where we can’t score, and we had it again tonight.”
Camara had no lulls. He didn’t seem to notice the crowd or the noise or the bigness of the game. He gave Chapman an assist for much of that.
“It was very hectic, pretty loud, but we’ve been in front of big crowds a lot,” Jeremiah Camara said. “Nick keeps me focused; he talks to me. I’ve learned a lot from what he’s doing, and he’s giving me confidence.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Reading High | 12 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 50 |
| Wilson | 8 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 44 |
| Red Knights (13-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Cruz | 1-6 | 1-1 | 0-3 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Camara | 6-11 | 4-4 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Chapman | 3-6 | 5-7 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Rosario | 2-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Osumanu | 3-5 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 10 | 7 |
| Burgess | 2-5 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Sosa | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Beatty | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 18-40 | 11-14 | 3-12 | 5 | 22/27 | 50 |
| Bulldogs (13-7) | FG | FT | 3’s | A | R | Points |
| Gruber | 5-9 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| T. Hunsicker | 1-3 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| McFadden | 2-5 | 3-3 | 0-1 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Akings | 1-12 | 2-4 | 0-4 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Levan | 5-9 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 12 | 11 |
| Zullinger | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Etim | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Twiford | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Hunsicker | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Woods | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 17-48 | 8-13 | 2-13 | 13 | 27/28 | 44 |
Turnovers: Reading High 13, Wilson 11. Team rebounds: Reading High 3, Wilson 1.
