WEST ORANGE, NJ — Junior Jaden Then scored 27 points with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks to lead the West Orange High School boys basketball team to a 71-54 win over West Essex in the Essex County Invitational Tournament on Feb. 7 at WOHS.
Junior Max Bleecker had 18 points, six rebounds and three assists; senior JeCarl Riggins had 10 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals; and senior Brandon Lewis had seven points, two rebounds and two blocks for the WOHS Mountaineers, who improved to 12-10 on the season.
West Orange will visit Glen Ridge in the semifinals on Feb. 14. The other semifinal pits Newark Academy at Columbia. The final is Feb. 21 at the higher-seeded school.
The Mountaineers lost both meetings with Glen Ridge this season in the Super Essex Conference–Independence Division.
WOHS, seeded 20th, lost at No. 13 seed Montclair in the preliminary round of the Essex County Tournament on Jan. 29. The loss moved WOHS to the ECIT, where it defeated No. 29 seed Verona on Feb. 2 in the first round.
In earlier action, Bleecker had 15 points and six rebounds, Then scored 12 points with seven rebounds, and senior Marcus Belle scored 12 points to lead the Mountaineers to a 58-55 home win over University, of Newark, on Feb. 5 in a Super Essex Conference–Independence Division game.
Senior Ethan Gannon had five points, three rebounds and three assists; Riggins had four points, three rebounds and three assists; and senior Euwarner Mills added four points for the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers lost at Glen Ridge 40-38 on Feb. 3 in a divisional game. Bleecker had 16 points; Jaden Then had nine points, four rebounds, two blocks and two steals; Riggins had four points, five assists and two steals; junior Ethan Belle added three points; Lewis posted two points and six rebounds; and junior Justice Nuguid and Mills each had two points for West Orange.
Photo Courtesy of West Orange High School Sports Media Association
About the Author
