MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School girls basketball team hopes to make a strong run in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament.
The Cougars, under head coach Aaron Breitman, received the No. 4 seed. They will host No. 13 seed Scotch Plains–Fanwood in the first round on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 5:30 p.m.
If the Cougars win, they will face the winner between No. 5 seed North Star Academy (Newark) and No. 12 seed JP Stevens (Edison) in the quarterfinals on Monday, March 3.
The semifinals are on Wednesday, March 5, and the final is Saturday, March 8, all at the higher-seeded schools. The top seed is Bayonne. Westfield is the No. 2 seed and Plainfield is the No. 3 seed.
Sophomore Myla Defreitas had 17 points, four rebounds, three steals and two rebounds; senior Campbell Connell had 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals; and sophomore JoJo Yarde posted 10 points, 22 rebounds, eight steals, three assists and two blocked shots to lead the Cougars to a 53-40 win over Nutley on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at Nutley in a Super Essex Conference–Liberty Division game.
Junior Chioma Okafor had four points, seven blocked shots, three rebounds and one assist; junior Annabelle Nelson had three points, 11 rebounds, one blocked shot and one steal; and junior Sara Marley had three points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and one blocked shot for the Cougars, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
CHS lost at Hasbrouck Heights, 42-41, on Saturday, Feb. 22, in an independent game to move to 12-13. Marley had nine points on three 3-pointers with three rebounds; Yarde had six points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals, three assists and three blocked shots; sophomore Gabriella Ervin had seven points, six assists and four rebounds; Connell had six points, six rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals; junior Anabel Macguire had two points and four rebounds; and Nelson had two points and four rebounds.
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