MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Columbia High School senior guard Jalen Robinson scored his 1,000th career point to lead the boys basketball team to a 51-46 win over Ridgewood High School on Thursday, Feb. 16, in a non conference game at Ridgewood.
Robinson, the son of CHS head boys basketball coach Eugene “Bam” Robinson, scored 17 points in the victory, giving him 1,016 career points, and added four assists, four steals and three rebounds. He will continue his basketball career at Division 1 New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark on an athletic scholarship.
Jayden Meyers, a sophomore, had a team-high 19 points along with six rebounds and three assists for the Cougars. Jared Carlucci, a junior, had 7 points and a team-high 10 rebounds along with two steals; junior Jalen James had 5 points four rebounds and four steals; senior Chris Berry had 3 points and three rebounds; and senior Jake Blaney had three assists for Columbia, which improved to an 18-7 overall record.
In their previous game, the Cougars defeated Hillside High School 91-60 at Hillside on Wednesday, Feb. 15, in a non conference game. Robinson had 37 points, 10 rebounds and five steals; sophomore Shelton Colwell had 19 points and 10 rebounds; Myers had 10 points and five assists; Blaney had 9 points, four rebounds and three assists; James had 7 points and five assists; senior Nerlens Jean-PIerre had 3 points; Berry had 2 points; and Carlucci had 7 rebounds.
The Cougars, seeded sixth, were scheduled to host No. 11 seed Phillipsburg High School in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 21. The victor will face the winner between No. 3 Hillsborough High School and No. 14 seed J.P. Stevens High School of Edison in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 23, at the higher-seeded school. The semifinals are on Saturday, Feb. 25, at the higher-seeded school.
Photo Courtesy of Owen Ballard