OHS' Rasheed Boyd, Orange attempts a shot over EOCHS' Mekhi Chester.
ORANGE, NJ – The Orange High School boys’ varsity basketball team is having a sensational season so far.
Behind Rasheed Boyd’s 15 points and 20 rebounds and Wesley Lafleur’s 13 points and 10 assists, the Tornadoes turned back East Orange Campus High School by a score of 64-53 in the teams’ annual meeting in the seventh Orange High School Martin Luther King Classic on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 16.
The Tornadoes, under head coach Jamaal Cooper, improved to a 9-1 record. The EOCHS Jaguars fell to 3-8. It was the first time the Tornadoes beat the Jaguars since 2013, snapping the Jaguars’ three-year winning streak in the OHS M.L.K. Classic series.
Henry Jean-Baptiste had 12 points and six rebounds; Zahier Childs scored 10 points; Quasean Waithe had five points and Latrell Wilson added five points and four rebounds for the Tornadoes.
For the Jaguars, Dwight Pressley had 17 points; Randy Joseph had nine points, 11 rebounds and nine steals; and freshman point guard Daveon Davis had eight points, seven assists and no turnovers.
After winning their six games of the season, the Tornadoes lost a heartbreaking 39-36 game to host Bloomfield on Jan. 10 for their first loss of the season. Myles Toppin stole the ball in the Orange frontcourt, rushed up the court and hit the game-winner at the top of the key for Bloomfield, which moved to a 9-1 record with the win.
Lafleur had 12 points, five assists and three steals; D’Angelo Blackmand had 11 points and 11 rebounds; Jean-Baptiste had six points; Childs had four points; Amand Jacques had two points and Wilson had a free throw for Orange.
The Tornadoes bounced back with a 56-52 home win over Verona on Jan. 12. Lafleur had 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter when the Tornadoes outscored Verona, 24-18. Lafleur also had seven assists. Jaques had 12 points, Boyd had seven points and 12 rebounds and Childs had 11 points.
Childs scored 20 points; Waite had 13 points and Boyd had eight points and 15 rebounds to power the Tornadoes to a 95-47 win over Shabazz on Saturday, Jan. 14, in Newark. Lafleur had four points with 12 assists and six steals; Mischael Noelvil had nine points; Jean-Baptiste had seven points and six rebounds; Jacques had seven points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals; Zanety Joseph scored eight points; and Tyler Killett had eight points and five rebounds.
The Jaguars lost to Newark Central, 54-33, Jan. 12. Supreme Cook had 11 points; Mekhi Chester had 10 points and Daveon Davis had six points.
EOCHS defeated Newark Tech, 58-55, in overtime on Saturday, Jan. 14 in Newark. EOCHS first-year head coach Joe Jordan was Newark Tech’s coach for the past few years in which he led Newark Tech to three straight Group 2 state titles. Pressley had 16 points and eight rebounds; Michael Moody had 14 points and six rebounds; Randy Joseph had seven points and 11 rebounds; Anton Lawrence posted seven points and four assists; Cook grabbed six rebounds; Obi Madaubuchi collected nine points, four rebounds and three blocks and davis had five points and six assists for the Jaguars.
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