East Orange's James Roberts shoots the bal during the win over Orange on Jan. 20 in the annual Orange High School MLK Classic.
EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School boys basketball team enjoyed another great season.
Under head coach Gabe Baltimore, the Jaguars finished with an 18-12 record.
For the second year in a row, the Jaguars met Ridgewood in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament championship game.
The Jaguars were looking to avenge last year’s sectional-final loss. But the second-seeded Jaguars lost at No. 1 seed Ridgewood, 70-52, on Saturday, March 8, to end the season. EOCHS entered the sectional final on an eight-game winning streak, including beating Bergen Tech, Montclair and Livingston in the sectional tournament.
The winning streak began after they lost to eventual runner-up Payne Tech in the Essex County Tournament quarterfinals.
In Saturday’s sectional final, sophomore guard James Roberts had a team-high 24 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal to lead the Jaguars. Senior guard Ryan English had 12 points and two rebounds; senior guard/forward Carlyle Adams had 10 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot; sophomore guard Elijah Caldwell had five points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal; senior guard/forward Amir Rosendary had three rebounds; junior guard Bashir Lucas added one assist and sophomore guard Stageon King added one point. Senior forward Zechariah Lockett, junior guard Tayshon Brown and senior forward Jaheim Dixon also saw playing time.
The Jaguars defeated No. 3 seed Livingston, 61-43, in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 5, at home.
EOCHS led 38-21 at halftime. Roberts had 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block; English had 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal; Caldwell posted 10 points with five assists, three steals and two rebounds; Adams recorded eight points, 10 rebounds, five blocks, four assists and one steal; Rosendary contributed six points, three rebounds, two blocks and two steals; and Lucas added four points and one rebound. Livingston finished at 20-8 on the season.
The Jaguars showed much resiliency this season after starting off 0-4.
Photo by Steve Ellmore
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