MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School boys basketball team dropped a tough 38-30 decision to second-seeded Arts High School of Newark in the semifinals of the 76th Essex County Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11, at West Orange High School.
The Cougars, under head coach Eugene “Bam” Robinson, lost their third straight game to move to 16-7 overall on the season.
Sophomore forward Shelton Colwell had 12 points and nine rebounds, and senior point guard Jalen Robinson, the coach’s son, had 6 points, three assists and three rebounds for the Cougars.
Trailing 23-13 at the half, Columbia rallied in the third quarter, outsourcing Arts 13-7 to cut the deficit to 30-26 entering the fourth quarter. But Arts outscored Columbia 8-4 in the final 8 minutes and improved to 17-6 on the season.
The Cougars won two games in the ECT. After beating No. 11 seed Newark Tech 64-57 in the first round on Saturday, Jan. 28 at home, the Cougars upset No. 3 seed Caldwell High School 52-49 in the quarterfinals at Caldwell on Saturday, Feb. 4.
In earlier action, the Cougars lost to Irvington High School 47-44 on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at home.
Jalen Robinson had 13 points with six rebounds and six steals, sophomore Jayden Myers had 9 points with three assists and two rebounds, Colwell had 8 points with three rebounds and two steals, senior Chris Berry had 5 points with five rebounds and two assists, junior Jalen James had 5 points with four rebounds, two assists and two steals, senior Nerlens Jean-Pierre had 2 points with three rebounds, and senior Jake Blaney had 2 points with two assists.
Columbia lost at West Orange High School 49-37 on Thursday, Feb. 9. Robinson had 17 points, Myers had 6 points, Colwell and Blaney each had 5 points, and James had 4 points.
The Cougars, seeded sixth, will 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 winner will face the winner between No. 3 seed Hillsborough High School and No. 14 seed J.P. Stevens High School of Edison in the quarterfinals on Thursday, Feb. 24, at the higher-seeded school.
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