Irvington HS boys basketball team tops Columbia, West Side; preps for state tourney

IRVINGTON, NJ — The Irvington High School boys basketball team defeated Columbia High School of Maplewood and West Side High School of Newark last week. The Blue Knights defeated Columbia High School of Maplewood 47-44 on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Columbia. 

Sean Agard had 25 points with six steals and four rebounds, and Kordell Philemon had 10 points with seven rebounds and two steals to lead the Blue Knights to a 47-44 win over Columbia on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at Columbia. Jaden Pearson had 8 points with four rebounds and three steals, Renaldo Cambronne had 2 points with 12 rebounds and three blocks, and Sheik Sheriff had 2 points for Irvington.

The Blue Knights avenged a 72-60 home loss to Columbia on Jan. 10. Columbia’s head coach is Eugene “Bam” Robinson, a 1993 IHS graduate and former IHS head boys basketball coach from 2003 to 2014.

Irvington defeated West Side 66-61 on Thursday, Feb. 9, at home. Agard had 29 points, four assists and two rebounds; Philemon had 17 points and 10 rebounds; Pearson had 10 points and two assists; Cambronne had 3 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and three steals; Sheriff had 3 points; Famah Toure had 2 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks; and Denzel Ruddock had 2 points and two blocks.

The Blue Knights seek a strong run in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament. 

The 10th-seeded Blue Knights will visit No. 7 seed Franklin High School in the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 21. 

The winner will face the winner of No. 2 seed Linden and No. 15 seed Piscataway in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the higher-seeded school.