East Orange Campus HS boys hoops wins SEC title; preps for states

EAST ORANGE, NJ — The East Orange Campus High School boys basketball team, under head coach Gabe Baltimore, clinched the Super Essex Conference-Colonial Division championship this season.

The Jaguars had a perfect 14-0 record in the division.

EOCHS hopes to make a strong run in the postseason. The second-seeded Jaguars will host No. 15 seed Morristown in the first round of the North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 state tournament on March 3. The winner will face either No. 7 Randolph or No. 10 Union City in the quarterfinals on March 5. Paterson Kennedy is the top seed. Izaiah Poole had 18 points and eight rebounds and Justin Singh-Smith had eight points and six rebounds, but the fourth-seeded Jaguars lost to top-seeded Immaculate Conception, 55-52, in the semifinals of the 74th Essex County Tournament on Feb. 18 at West Orange High School.

Kaleb Harman hit two three-pointers to cut the deficit to 50-49 and 53-52, but Immaculate held on for the win. Jalen Hammonds had 12 points for the Jaguars.

Singh-Smith had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Poole had 13 points in the 52-40 win over Millburn on Feb. 20. Nasir Owens had seven points and Jalen Hammonds had six points for the Jaguars, who moved to 22-3 overall on the season.