Jeremiah Camara-Reading

The roster says freshman, but Jeremiah Camara didn’t play like one on Thursday night in West Lawn. In front of a big crowd with first place on the line in the division, Camara scored a career-high 16 points in Reading’s 50-44 victory at Wilson. “I feel like I made a good impact on the team. My energy contributed to others and then they came along with me,” said Camara. The son of first-year head coach Francis Camara was 6-of-11 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw stripe. He helped the Red Knights win their ninth straight matchup with the Bulldogs. This one was tight into the fourth quarter. Reading was in front 12-8 after eight minutes. Wilson opened the second quarter with an 8-to-2 run and held a 20-18 halftime advantage. Daquan Burgess, a 5’10 senior, came off the bench and drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the third period. The Red Knights finished 3-of-12 from beyond the arc, but they went 11-for-14 from the foul line. Nick Chapman provided nine points in the final quarter. The 5’10 senior missed eight games after suffering an eye injury on December 27th. “That’s my dog. It feels great to have him back…as soon as he came back, we all picked it up,” remarked Camara. Chapman ended up with eleven points. Malik Osumanu added seven points and 8 rebounds. The 6’5 senior also blocked three shots. The (13-7, 6-4) Bulldogs went nearly seven minutes with just one field goal in the fourth period. Reading built a 46-36 cushion with 90 seconds remaining. Madyx Gruber sank a deep trey from the top of the key with four seconds left, but Wilson trailed 49-44. Gruber had a team-high twelve points. Luke Levan chipped in with eleven points including seven in the third quarter. The Bulldogs didn’t make a 3-pointer until the final period. They were 8-of-13 from the free throw line. Wilson fell one game behind Reading and Muhlenberg in the Division 1 standings which have been congested all season. “The competition is pretty good. It’s helping all of us. It shows that we can’t take anything off,” noted Camara. The (13-7, 7-3) Red Knights have won six of their last seven contests. They host the Muhls on Tuesday in a battle for the division crown. Muhlenberg beat Reading 87-74 in double overtime on January 9th in Laureldale. Camara is looking forward to the rematch. “That’s gonna be a huge game. They beat us the first game, but that’s not gonna happen at our house,” he said.