MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — After suffering a heartbreaking loss in the Essex County Tournament preliminary round on a three-point buzzer beater, the Columbia High School boys basketball team was determined to make the most of its chances in the Essex County Invitational Tournament.
The Cougars ran the table, as they won the ECIT championship.
Columbia, seeded 11th, defeated No. 20 seed West Orange 53-32 to win the ECIT title on Feb. 21 at CHS.
Senior guard Javon Rogers scored a game-high 22 points and added eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal to lead the Cougars. Junior guard Nate Kirby also scored 13 points with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals; junior guard Matthew Synsmir also had 13 points and three rebounds; junior guard Zach Alexander had four points, seven rebounds and two rebounds; junior guard Liam Ayers posted live rebounds, four assists and one steal; and junior Justin Carpenter had one point, one rebound and one assist for the Cougars, who improved to 18-10 on the season under first-year head coach TJ Whitaker. West Orange moved to 15-12. WOHS head coach Chuck Keegan was previously the Columbia head girls basketball coach.
CHS lost to No. 22 seed Orange 52-49 in the ECT preliminary round on Jan. 29. The loss moved CHS to the ECIT. The Cougars defeated No. 38 seed Newark Lab 55-41, No. 30 seed University 61-24 and No. 23 seed Newark Academy 55-36 to advance to the ECIT championship game.
In earlier action, the Cougars lost to Oratory 50-46 on Feb. 17 and lost at Union 40-38 on Feb. 19. Javon Rogers had 13 points, Zach Alexander had eight points and Matthew Synsmir had seven points against Oratory. Rogers had 21 points and 17 rebounds; Alexander had seven points; and Synsmir had six points, 10 rebounds and four assists against Union.
The Cougars, seeded ninth, will visit No. 8 seed Dickinson, of Jersey City, in the first round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament on Feb. 26 at 6 p.m. The winner will face the winner between top-seeded Piscataway and No. 16 seed J.P. Stevens in the quarterfinals on Feb. 28.
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