Last season, the Wapahani boys’ basketball team was surrounded by storylines. From going on a state tournament run that ended at the Class 2A State Championship game to then-senior Isaac Andrews breaking the school and Delaware County all-time scoring record, things were happening around the small town of Selma, Indiana.
While all that was going on, another story was just beginning.
When the 2024-25 season started last November, the Raiders opened the year with a 51-27 victory over Muncie Central. After topping the Bearcats, then-sophomore and current junior Camden Bell answered a question about Andrews’ departure from the program.
However, he wasn’t worried about chasing the basketball legacy of Andrews, his second cousin and current Indiana Wesleyan basketball player. Bell just wants to be remembered.
“I hope I can be the first Camden Bell,” he said. “Isaac [Andrews] was a great player, and I hope people can look at me as good as he was.”
Wapahani head coach Matt Luce thinks he’s already on his way to achieving his own name on the court.
“What we stressed to Grant Evans in 2014 and Isaac Andrews in 2024 was not the matter of points, rebounds or assists. It's how many wins you get,” Luce said. “And these guys we got in high school right now are setting all-time win records and championship records.”
‘Feels like a privilege’
It all started when Bell was in second grade. His father, Brian, played basketball in high school and passed the game down to Camden, who admitted he wasn’t very good when he started.
“I couldn't even dribble the ball, to be honest,” Camden said. “It was bad, but I enjoyed working on it, and it's just stuck with me ever since.”
After growing up playing on a Little Tikes mini-basketball goal, the Bell family moved from Pendleton Heights to Selma. After starting school in Selma, Camden watched the high school program, and he knew to play for Luce and the Raiders, he had to give it his all.
As he committed himself to practicing every day, Luce watched Camden when he was young. He was excited to see what he brought to the court.
“The beauty of Camden Bell is his desire to be good, his work ethic, his ability to be coached, and just the fact that he wants to continue to get better, day in and day out,” Luce said. “From being a third and fourth grader when I first met him in our youth league … It was more about him being ultra-competitive. Camden was always one of those kids that took it out on himself and demanded excellence.”
But while he worked so hard to improve, Camden sometimes overworked himself and tried to put everything on his shoulders. While he had to battle through it — and sometimes still does — Luce said his maturity has helped him learn that basketball is a team sport.
“He's a kid that had to improve, not only fundamentally, but also from an attitude standpoint,” Luce said. “He was so hard on himself and wanted to be good but just wasn't sure how to go about that … He accepted coaching and accepted leadership and just kept getting better. Now you see what you get.”
When he arrived at the high school level, it didn’t take long for him to see the court. Actually, he saw the court from the beginning of the season, playing in every game on the Raiders’ schedule. He averaged 5.1 points per game and had a season high of 16 points against Burris Jan. 7, 2023.
While he felt the pressure to come in and compete, he said it wasn’t as bad as some might think.
“There’s a little pressure just because the program’s good and everybody knows about it, but it almost feels like a privilege, too,” Camden said.
But as a freshman, he had to adjust to the next level of basketball. For him, it was Andrews and then senior, and current Marian University basketball player Aidan Franks, who showed Bell’s freshman class what to do and how to handle expectations.
Though he was only a sophomore at the time, Camden said the pair took it upon themselves to be the leaders the younger Raiders needed.
“They were the two upperclassmen and two leading scorers, and seeing just how they approached the game and all the different ways that you could look at it,” Camden said. “I got to be with Isaac for another year and see that, and he was one of the main ones I really looked up to to improve my game.”
‘Live in the moment’
While his freshman year saw the Raiders make a run to semi-state and win 25 consecutive games, he wasn’t necessarily expecting what the basketball gods had in store for him as a sophomore. To him, he said it was ‘definitely’ one of the craziest things he’s ever experienced.
Including Andrews’ hunt for the school and county scoring record, the Raiders were picked as one of the top teams in Class 2A. After ending their season two games away from the state finals the previous season, the team wanted to climb the mountain once again, but this time, get to the peak.
During the year, Bell averaged 12.6 points per game and led the team with a 51 percent field-goal percentage. Wapahani won 26 games, and after Andrews broke the county scoring record in the second game of sectional play, Bell wanted to do the best he could.
“You are impressed when 16 and 17-year-old kids in front of 3,000 people can make the right play, but also, more importantly, be unselfish and not make it about them,” Luce said. “... [Bell] lets the game come to him, and he realizes he has to make the others around him better.”
In the state tournament, he averaged 8.5 points per game and dropped 22 in the regional championship game. To Andrews, his teammate unlocked a new level throughout the run.
“One thing he brings is that intensity,” Andrews said. “I remember there was a game where we were up twenty at half, and he came in all mad because they scored more points than we would have liked. It just showed how he cared about us playing to our fullest potential.”
But while he was great on the court, he could flip a switch from being game-ready to the glue guy off the court.
“My favorite part of having Cam as a teammate was just his personality,” Andrews said. “His intensity on the court, but also being able to be a fun person to be around off the court. There were a lot of good laughs from, just, all the time that we spent together off of the court.”
After the Raiders became sectional and regional champions, a tornado hit the small town of Selma days before their semi-state matchup with Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian. At that point, it wasn’t about Wapahani basketball; it was about representing the community.
“When you come out and play in front of your home crowd every Friday night, you want to come back and play every day,” Camden said. “At half of our away games, we have more people there with red and white on than the home team does.”
Though multiple residents lost homes and had property damage after the storm, the fans still drove two hours to Lafayette Jefferson High School, the site of the game, and carried on the tradition of showing up for the Raiders.
After four quarters and one period of overtime, Wapahhani captured the title — the program’s first semi-state championship — and received a state finals berth at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. When it was the team’s turn to hit the court, Bell took in the moment the best he could.
“When you really get there and you warm up and you run out and play on an NBA floor, it's completely different than anything you've ever felt,” Camden said.
While the Raiders fell in the title game to Brownstown Central, Camden looked at the game for what it was. It didn’t take away from the season or his success, but it was an opportunity and an event that he’ll never forget.
“Most people in their whole lives will never get the chance to go play in a state championship game,” he said. “It was an amazing opportunity, and I just learned to live in the moment and not take it for granted because you never know if you'll get back there.”
‘All the tools and the potential needed’
Coming into this season, Bell continued to practice like Andrews showed him. Add in the Raiders’ goal of making another run in the state tournament, it gave him even more motivation to get better.
“When you're in here and nobody else is, and you know that it's eight o'clock at night and nobody else in the surrounding schools is in the gym, it just gives you an edge,” Camden said. “You feel like you've got something that nobody else has, and it helps you get confident.”
But while Wapahani was one of the top teams in its class last year, it started the 2024-25 campaign — and remains — as the No. 1 team in Class 2A across the state. Though he’s only a junior, Luce said his leadership has been consistent as he knows he needs to be a guy the program can count on.
“When the season started, our team, our players and our coaches knew what Camden Bell could do from an offensive and defensive standpoint,” Luce said. “But when you look around [at who all] graduated, all of these guys knew they had to take another step.”
Camden believes the team is what makes this year’s group special, but he’s been a big part. Ten games in, he’s averaging 21.4 points per game and has a 60 percent 3-point percentage.
While he wants to be remembered, he echoed what his coach said about the Raiders who do get honored and respected. It’s not about points, rebounds or assists. It’s about winning games and doing it the right way.
“I know there've been a lot of great players that have come through this program and played at high levels in college and stuff,” he said. “I just want to stand out because there are so many legacies that’s been made here. When [people] talk about Isaac and Grant and all of them, you could put my name in there, too. I just want to be looked at how those dudes are looked at.”
To the guy he’s following, he thinks that will be a really good possibility.
“The hard part about it is being able to win and to be a leader that your teammates want to follow,” Andrews said. “He has all the tools and the potential needed. He’s put himself in a great position to be the next to carry the torch, and I think he can. I’m just excited to see him continue to develop.”
Contact Zach Carter via email at zachary.carter@bsu.edu or via X @ZachCarter85.
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