Bloomfield HS girls’ basketball team falls to West Orange in double overtime in Essex County Tournament

BLOOMFIELD – The ninth-seeded Bloomfield High School girls’ varsity basketball team lost at eighth-seeded West Orange, 49-46, in double overtime in the first round of the Essex County Tournament on Feb. 13.

The Lady Bengals trailed 38-30 before outscoring West Orange, 15-7, in the fourth quarter to tie it 45-45 and force overtime. Each team had one point in the first overtime.

Junior guard Grace Cannon and senior forward Aniyah Allen each had 15 points; junior guard Genesis Collins had 10 points and senior Samantha Corio and freshman Kaitlynn Martinez each had three points for the Bengals, who moved to a 14-4 record.

The Bengals hope to get payback against West Orange when the two teams meet in the first round of the state North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 tournament on March 1. This time, the Bengals are seeded third and West Orange is the 14th seed.

In their previous game, Cannon and Collins each had 13 points and Allen had 10 points in the 45-42 loss to Montclair on Feb. 9. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak. BHS led 16-15 at halftime but Montclair outscored BHS, 11-9, in the third quarter and 19-17 in the fourth quarter.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 tournament

First round

March 1

16-Kearny at 1-Morristown

9-Montclair at 8-Fair Lawn

12-Memorial at 5-North Bergen

13-Mount Olive at 4-Kennedy

14-West Orange at 3-Bloomfield

11-Morris Knolls at 6-Eastside

10-Randolph at 7-Livingston

15-Hackensack at 2-Ridgewood