Bloomfield HS girls’ basketball team jolts Clifton in state tournament first round

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

BLOOMFIELD, NJ – Senior guard Grace Cannon scored a game-high 20 points and junior guard Raquel Plata had 15 points and four rebounds to lead the third-seeded Bloomfield High School girls’ varsity basketball team to a 57-41 home win over 14th-seeded Clifton in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 tournament on Monday night, Feb. 27, at BHS.

Senior guard Genesis Collins had 13 points, five rebounds and six steals; sophomore Toni Blandford had four points and four rebounds; senior Jalia Santos had two points and five rebounds; junior Aicha Naouai had two points and four rebounds and sophomore forward Sarah Edmond had 12 rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Bengals, who improved to a 19-4 record.

The Bengals will host 11th-seeded East Orange Campus in the quarterfinals on March 1. The winner will face the winner between second-seeded West Orange and seventh-seeded Ridgewood in the semifinals on March 3. The final is March 6.

BHS fell to East Orange Campus, 61-48, in the Essex County Tournament quarterfinals on Feb. 18 at EOCHS.

In earlier action, Cannon scored 18 points with five rebounds and Collins had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals in the 59-41 home win over Morris Hills on Feb. 23 in their final regular-season game. Edmond had nine points, nine rebounds and three steals; Plata had six points; senior forward Kasey Coury had three points, eight rebounds and three assists; and Santos had three points and seven rebounds.