WEST ORANGE, NJ – The top-seeded Seton Hall Prep varsity basketball team defeated No. 17 seed Orange High School, 60-57, in come-from-behind fashion in the first round of the 72nd Essex County Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Tracey Gymnasium.
Trailing 28-23 at halftime, SHP outscored Orange, 22-14, in the third quarter to take a 45-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Alex Imegwu scored 11 points and Ashton Miller scored six points. For the game, Imegwu had 21 points and seven rebounds; Miller had 14 points and five rebounds; and Abdur-Rahim had 11 points with eight rebounds.
The Pirates will host No. 8 seed Millburn in the quarterfinal round on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1 p.m. The winner will advance to the semifinal round at West Orange High School against the winner of No. 5 seed West Orange and No. 4 seed Immaculate Conception of Montclair.
On Sunday, Feb. 11, the Pirates traveled to East Orange Campus HS to participate in the Prime Time Shootout and defeated Hackettstown, 62-44, to improve to a 20-1 record. Abdur-Rahim led the team with 17 points and five rebounds; Miller had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists; and Imegwu had 10 points and eight rebounds.
In earlier action, the Pirates hosted East Side in the final Super Essex-American Division game of the season and lost, 71-66. However, the Pirates are co-champions of the divsion. It marks their seventh title in the nine years of the SEC. Abdur-Rahim scored a career-high 36 points with 10 rebounds; and Imegwu had 15 points and eight rebounds.
On Thursday, Feb. 8, the Pirates hosted Rutgers Prep and came from behind to win, 66-57, in overtime. SHP trailed 37-28 entering the fourth quarter and outscored Rutgers Prep 21-12 to tie the score at 49 and send the game into overtime. Abdur-Rahim scored nine points, including a three-pointer with :04.3 left; Miller scored five points; Imegwu scored four points; and Jessie Reid III scored three points. For the game, Imegwu had 22 points and 10 rebounds; Abdur-Rahim had 19 points, eight rebounds, and three steals; Miller scored 12 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists; and Reid scored 11 points with six assists.
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