Columbia HS girls basketball team is No. 2 seed in the ECT

Columbia’s Allie Harris brings the ball upcourt during a game last season, when the Cougars finished with a perfect 13-0 record.

MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School girls basketball team received the No. 2 seed in the 31-team Essex County Tournament.

The top seed is Immaculate Conception of Montclair.

Columbia received a bye in the preliminary round and will host a first-round game on Saturday, Feb. 5. Glen Ridge, seeded 15th, will host a preliminary-round game against the play-in round winner between No. 18 Verona and No. 31 Newark Lab. The preliminary-round winner will then visit Columbia in the first round.

University is seeded No. 3, and East Orange Campus is seeded No. 4.

The quarterfinals will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12, at the sites of the higher-seeded teams. The semifinals will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 16, and the championship game will be held on Saturday, Feb. 19. The sites for the semifinals and championship game are to be determined. 

The Lady Cougars defeated Nutley, 52-32, on Tuesday, Jan. 25, in a Super Essex Conference–American Division game to improve to a 7-3 overall record and 4-3 in the division. 

Junior Shana Desir had 13 points, six rebounds and four steals; junior Bella Galatt had 10 points, six assists, and two rebounds; junior Leah Connell had 9 points; sophomore Talia Baptiste had 8 points and four steals; sophomore Jaime Levi had 5 points and two assists; and junior Allie Harris had 4 points and two rebounds. 

File photo