Camden High wins second state title in three years. This run, however, came with controversy.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Moments before it took the court on Saturday, the Camden boys’ basketball team gathered in a corner of Rutgers’ Jersey Mike’s Arena collectively tranquil.

Panthers coach and former Villanova star Maalik Wayns wore a placid expression — almost too relaxed as his team took the floor in anticipation of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 2 boys’ championship game against Newark’s Arts High School.

Camden had been lugging around what may be the most elastic 5.8 seconds in New Jersey high school basketball history.

On Tuesday, an officiating error — which waved off a buzzer-beater by Manasquan in the semifinals to advance Camden to the state final — stretched four days as video waded through social media, into courtrooms, school district offices, and law offices. It even spilled into the national media, local media, and into the political realm.

The Panthers still had a state championship to collect, which they did rather easily in a 69-50 victory over Arts.

This entire week they prepared under a strained ambience as drama continued to rain on them between appeals by Manasquan of the NJSIAA’s decision and the possibility of its championship game being postponed.

What set the stage was when Manasquan’s Griffin Linstra appeared to score at the buzzer Tuesday night. The officials, who initially signaled a good basket, determined the shot was too late. The NJSIAA later conceded that the official made an error, but the result of the game would not be overturned.

On Saturday, as the final seconds ticked away in Camden’s second state title in three years and 13th state championship overall, the most for any public school in New Jersey history, a joyous purple parade fell on center court.

Squarely in the middle was Wayns, who navigated his team through some harsh ridicule this past week over a matter that really had nothing to do with him or the Panthers program.

The Panthers felt that they were getting the blame for the blown call, Wayns and his players said, and took the brunt of the backlash over it.

“I’ve been through a lot of adversity in my life, people telling me I should not do this or that, so I had an idea what my team was going through,” Wayns said. “My goal was to be the leader of these young men and get them through this. I needed to let them know life is not always going to be easy. I was frustrated. I’ll admit it, especially when your character and integrity are questioned by people who don’t know you — and especially these kids.

“This had nothing to do with them. These kids are amazing. They are important parts of the Camden community. They volunteer and do a ton of things no one sees. It’s unfortunate for them, because they did not need to be dragged through the mud like that — nor did the city of Camden. I’m glad the way these kids held themselves up.

“I feel bad for Manasquan and those kids. I’m sorry it happened to them. I told their coach that after the game. But I’m happy this week is over. For our season to be remembered by one crazy play, no one talks about us coming back against Manasquan. No one talks about how we were down by 17 and held them scoreless [in the fourth quarter]. I come from some great coaches. I learned from them. This adversity made us come together stronger.”

» READ MORE: NJSIAA admits referees’ error in a call that gave Camden a win over Manasquan. But the call will stand.

Panthers junior forward Emmanuel Joe-Samuel led all scorers with 23 points. Joe-Samuel said Wayns’ concentration on the championship game was key to the team’s preparation.

But it also came with a warning.

“Stay off social media, we had to stay off and keep our focus on the [championship] game, that was coach Wayns’ message after what happened,” Joe-Samuel said. “We did not do anything wrong. We got here and played hard, and won the state championship.

“Coach Wayns took a lot of the heat for us. He took the pressure. He has a big heart like that. A lot of people said we shouldn’t play in this game. I cheated. I peeked [at social media]. I know what a lot of people were saying about Coach Wayns. We were everywhere and we were hated. I thought we were hated. I am sorry for what happened. It was a bad call. It was not our fault. We did what we had to do.”

Four of five Camden starters scored in double figures in the title game. Following Joe-Samuel, senior Alijah Curry chipped in with 16 points, Kentucky-bound Billy Richmond added 11 points, and Teron Murray had 10.

Camden (30-2) surged to a 10-0 lead and the last time Arts (24-9) came within double digits was on a three-pointer by Jayden Holman with 2:54 left in the first quarter.

Otherwise, the Panthers dominated.

Camden went into halftime leading 35-20, while holding Arts to 6-for-23 shooting (26%). Arts could not deal with Camden’s superior size, getting outscored 16-8 in the paint, nor its speed, outscored 9-3 in fast-break points.

» READ MORE: From Memphis to Camden High, Billy Richmond overcame pain to become a national prospect

From there, Wayns put his team on cruise control en route to a happy ending of an unforgettable week. The Panthers’ largest lead of the game arrived in the third quarter, 54-29, on a Joe-Samuel layup with 30 seconds remaining.

It was Richmond who put the exclamation on it with a slam dunk with 1:57 left. Wayns pulled his starters in the final minute as team members hugged their way down the Camden bench.

“We had a lot of hate that came our way and we blocked it all out,” Richmond said. “We threw it out the window and went to practice, and then we came out here and showed no mercy. I would say the biggest sacrifice was turning off social media, because that’s where most of the hate was coming from. We locked in and practiced.

“We knew we were going to win this game. We couldn’t wait to play. I go out winning a state title, my first, as a senior. This is special. No one can take this from us, no matter what anyone says. We go out winners.”