MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The 11th-seeded Columbia High School boys basketball team defeated No. 23 seed Newark Academy 55-38 in the semifinals of the Essex County Invitational Tournament on Feb. 14 at CHS.
Senior Jayvon Rogers had 27 points, eight rebounds, six assists and one steal; junior Zach Alexander had 13 points, three rebounds and one assist; and junior Liam Ayers had six points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal to lead the Cougars.
Junior Matthew Synsmir had five points with three assists, one block and one steal; senior Joshua Pierre had two points, four rebounds, two steals and one block; and senior Logan Sackett had two points, two rebounds and one steal for Columbia, which won its third straight game to improve to 17-8 on the season. Newark Academy moved to 12-12.
The Cougars will host No. 20 seed West Orange in the championship game on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. West Orange defeated No. 17 seed Glen Ridge 58-48 in the other semifinal on Feb. 14 to improve to 14-10.
In earlier action, the Cougars defeated East Side 48-43 on Feb. 10 at East Side in Newark in a Super Essex Conference–Liberty Division game.
Rogers had 16 points and three rebounds; Ayers had 14 points; Sackett had six points and pulled down eight rebounds; junior Leo Kraft scored five points with three rebounds; Synsmir had four points, four rebounds and four assists; and freshman Everett Levinson grabbed five rebounds for the Cougars.
Rogers scored 30 points with eight rebounds and three assists to lead the Cougars to a 70-23 home win over Newark Central on Feb. 12 in a divisional game. Synsmir had 12 points and four rebounds; senior Carlo Magyratis had seven points; junior Justin Carpenter had six points; and Alexander scored five points with three assists.
After losing to No. 22 seed Orange 52-49 in the Essex County Tournament preliminary round on Jan. 29 on a buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Cougars were moved to the Essex County Invitational Tournament, beating No. 38 seed Newark Lab 55-41 in the first round on Feb. 2 at CHS, and No. 30 seed University, of Newark, 61-24, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 6 at CHS.
The Cougars will gear up for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament that begins Feb. 24.
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