Photos by Jerry Simon. Belleville's Mofeo Kuku leaps at the ball during the win over Bloomfield in the Essex County Tournament.
Belleville’s Mofeo Kuku goes up for a shot during the win over Bloomfield in the Essex County Tournament.
BELLEVILLE, NJ — Ethan Laquindanum hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the 21st-seeded Belleville High School boys basketball team to a 52-51 upset win over 12th-seeded Bloomfield in the preliminary third round of the Essex County Tournament on Feb. 6 at a.
Laquindanum, a sophomore who finished with 11 points, took an inbounds pass from the baseline and drilled the shot in beating the buzzer. Mofeo Kuku, a junior, had 15 points and six rebounds, senior Hector Castro had 13 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore Richmond Casino had six points as the Bucs won their 11th straight game and improved to a 14-5 record on the season.
Belleville, under third-year head coach Jim Catalano, will visit fifth-seeded Central in the round of 16 on Feb. 8 in Newark. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals on Feb. 15.
Bloomfield lost its second straight following a five-game winning streak and moved to a 10-8 record.
Catalano is a Belleville HS alumnus and member of the Belleville HS Hall of Fame. He previously was the head coach and athletic director at New Jersey Institute of Technology from 1979-2002.
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