EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School boys basketball team ended a fantastic season.
The Jaguars, under eighth-year head coach Gabe Baltimore, captured the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament championship, before losing to defending Group 4 state champion and Section 2 champion Plainfield 82-69 in the Group 4 state semifinals on March 10 at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth to end the season.
The Jaguars, who had a six-game winning streak entering the Group 4 semifinals, finished with an 18-13 record on the season. It was the Jaguars’ second loss to Plainfield this season.
Despite the double-digit loss, the Jaguars gave a strong effort. They outscored Plainfield 19-14 in the second half to cut the deficit to 40-38. The momentum continued in the third quarter, as the Jaguars outscored Plainfield 19-15 to take a 57-55 lead.
But Plainfield took control in the third quarter, outscoring EOCHS 27-12 to win the game.
Junior guard James Roberts scored 30 points and added 11 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks; junior guard William Dyer had 11 points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block; and sophomore guard Je’zi Lewis had 11 points, three rebounds ane one assist for the Jaguars.
Junior guard Elijah Caldwell scored six points with four rebounds, four assists and one steal; Da’von Canzater had four points; senior guard Tayshon Brown scored three points; senior guard Bashir Lucas added two points, one rebound, one assist and one steal; and senior forward Azahn Collins also saw playing time for EOCHS.
In the first meeting, the Jaguars gave Plainfield – then the No. 1 team in the state – a competitive game, before falling 55-45 at EOCHS on Jan. 16.
The Jaguars won their final two regular-season games, defeating Roselle and West Orange. After knocking off 12th-seeded Memorial 66-58 in the first round of the state sectional tournament, the Jaguars went on the road for the rest of the tournament, upsetting No. 4 seed Paterson Eastside 59-47 in the quarterfinals and No. 1 seed Montclair 56-51 in the semifinals. They defeated No. 2 seed Hackensack 55-52 in the final on March 6, winning their first state sectional title since the 2009-10 season.
Plainfield, ranked No. 5 in the state, defeated Central Jersey sectional champion Montgomery, ranked No. 10, 49-40 in the Group 4 state final for the second straight season on March 15 at Rutgers University, in a rematch of last year’s state final. Plainfield finished 26-5.
About the Author
