CHERRY HILL (N.J.) - The Camden Catholic High School boys basketball team prepared to host a young, but talented Timber Creek team coming off of a statement win.
The Chargers earned a come-from-behind victory over Sterling in the Marty Derer Holiday Classic hosted at Delsea Regional High School.
The Fighting Irish, ranked fifth in the latest South Jersey Sports Zone Top 15 rankings, notched a quality win themselves after besting Rancocas Valley in the Butch McLean Memorial Tournament.
Camden Catholic followed up its recent success with a 60-51 triumph over the Chargers on Tuesday night.
Throughout the first three quarters, no matter how far Camden Catholic pulled away, Timber Creek held its own to remain with striking distance. The experienced trio of sophomores Tobe Nwobu, Luke Kennevan, and senior Braelen Crump helped the Irish pull away late.
Nwobu led all scorers with 24 points. Kennevan added 14 and Crump tallied 11.
The Irish knew they need to exert their toughness to prevail.
"Our game plan was to just play tough," Nwobu said. "No matter if it was on offense or defense, we were going to play tough for every second of the game."
Nwobu also noted Camden Catholic's ability to respond to adversity by overcoming a team with a significant height advantage.
"A win like this is big for us," he said. "It's going to help us moving forward because we're going to see more teams down the line that are going to be bigger than us."