BLOOMFIELD, NJ – Junior point guard Michael Ramos scored 29 points, including his 1,000th career point, to lead the seventh-seeded Bloomfield High School boys’ varsity basketball team to a 67-40 home win over 10th-seeded Barringer in the first round of the Essex County Tournament on Friday, Feb. 9.
Ramos scored the milestone on a free throw in the fourth quarter.
Richie Guillaume had 11 points; Kevin Mitchell had eight points; Will Robinson had four; Kyle Barrow, Xavier Espinal, Aaron Henry and Vinny Torrisi each had three; Mayowa Akindebe added two and Issiah McCallam added a free throw for the Bengals, who improved to a 16-5 record.
Bloomfield advances to the quarterfinals on Feb. 17 against the winner of No, 2 East Side and No. 15 seed Irvington.
In earlier action, Ramos scored 14 points and Robinson had 10 points in a 56-46 loss at Orange on Feb. 6 in a Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division game. Barrow had six points; and Henry and Mitchell each had five points.
The Bengals, seeded ninth, will look to defend their NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 state tournament title. They will visit No. 8 seed Fair Lawn on Feb. 27. The winner will face either No. 1 seed Randolph or No. 16 seed Passaic County Tech in the quarterfinals.
ECT quarterfinals
(8) Millburn at (1) Seton Hall Prep.
(5) West Orange at (4) Immaculate Conception.
(7) Bloomfield at (2) East Side.
(6) Central at (3) West Side.