Camden girls basketball team focusing on making another title run

Camden – There was a lot of change for the Camden High School girls basketball program heading into the 2024-25 campaign.

The 2-time defending AAA state champion graduated the top player in the country in 6-foot-3-inch Joyce Edwards, now starring at South Carolina. Natalie Norris stepped down as head coach, and Camden is now a AAAA school after reclassification.

Despite all of that, the beat just goes on for the Lady Bulldogs under first-year head coach Lewis Mungo. They are 12-5 overall, 6-2 in Region 3-AAAA.

“This is not a rebuild, it’s a reload,” Mungo said. “Wherever we look there is a sign that says, ‘We believe.’ They see it every day.”

CHS’ region losses both came to undefeated South Pointe, which is ranked No. 1 in the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association AAAA girls poll. The Lady Bulldogs are ranked sixth and have four region contests left, two of them against 6-2 A.C. Flora, which is ranked ninth.

           While expecting his team to be good, Mungo admits to some surprise.

“l’ll be honest; they’ve played above my expectations. We’ve got four 10^th-graders and one senior starting. They’re playing at a high level, higher than I thought they would coming into the season.”

Camden is averaging 70 points per game with four players scoring in double figures.

Sophomore Braylin Mungo, the coach’s daughter and in her fourth year as a starter, leads in scoring at 16.2, assists at 5.0 and steals at 5.6. Senior Morgan Champion is averaging 15.0 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 steals and 3.6 rebounds.

Sophomore Harmony Jeerson is averaging 13.4 points and 4.1 steals, and sophomore Jillian Rush is averaging 11.3 points, 8.4 reobunds and 3.0 steals.

Sophomore Shanaryah Wright leads in rebounding at 10.1 and blocked shots at 1.2 while scoring at an 8.5 clip.

Coach Mungo said the key for his team the rest of the way is how it plays defense.

“Being consistent on the defensive end will tell the story,” he said. “We can definitely score the ball. We’ve got to prove we can lock in on the defensive end. If we stop them from scoring it makes it a lot easier for us.”

CAMDEN BOYS 1-7 IN REGION PLAY

The Camden boys baskeball team is 7-14 and just 1-7 in region play. The Bulldogs need to close out strong in their final four region contests to hopefully secure one of the 16 berths in the upper state playoffs.

"It’s definitely been a challenge,” said CHS head coach Sterling Council. “We’re a very inexperienced team. We lost the bulk of our scoring from last year. It ain’t easy.”

Senior Jahmarie McLeod, the lone returning starter from last year, is having a nice season. Ater averaging 11.0 points last year, he has upped it to 18.9 this season to go with 6.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists an 2.5 steals.

Sophomore Will Haunert is next in scoring at 7.0. Sophomore Ethan Spitler is aveaging 6.3 points, junior Laval Green 6.0, sophomore point guard Tyreek Jones is at 5.9 points, and senior Jaiden Meagley and junior Jay Cook are both at 5.8. Junior Derrick Loney is averaging 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 points and 1.3 blocks.

Council said the youth and inexperience has been an issue.

“We’ve just been inconsistent,” he said. “We’ve got to get to where we play and show up every night. We need guys we know we can  depend on each night, day in and day out. Sometimes they don’t understand the magnitude o everything, but they’re slowly and surely making strides.”