West Orange High School girls basketball team members are all smiles as they flash ‘W’ with their fingers after winning the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state championship for the second year in a row.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange High School girls basketball team concluded another terrific season.
After winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament championship, the Mountaineers lost to Section 2 champion Morristown 56-52 in the Group 4 state semifinals on March 10 at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth to finish the season.
The Mountaineers, who won 17 straight games entering the Group 4 semifinals, finished with a stellar 28-4 record.
WOHS, under longtime head coach Caniece Montague Williams, trailed 16-10 at the end of the first quarter before cutting the deficit to 28-25 at halftime. Westfield increased the lead to 40-34 at the end of the third quarter. The Mountaineers rallied in the fourth quarter, but the comeback fell short.
Junior guard Rhyann Watt had 26 points, eight steals, four assists and three rebounds; and senior guard London Caldwell had 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and one steal for the Mountaineers.
Junior guard Kennedy Curry had six points, four rebounds and one steal; senior guard Jordyn Batts added a free throw, five rebounds and one assist; sophomore guard Taraji Muhammad added three rebounds, two assists and two steals; and junior Elianna Dennis grabbed three rebounds for WOHS.
The Mountaineers defeated Westfield 52-43 in the first meeting on Jan. 11 at the St. Thomas Aquinas Challenge.
Caldwell, a first-year transfer from defunct Immaculate Conception of Montclair, scored 493 points on the season to average 15.4 points in 32 games, finishing with more than 1,000 career points. She has committed to play at Division 1 Siena University in Loudonville, N.Y.
In addition to repeating as state sectional champs, the Mountaineers also won the Essex County Tournament title for the second year in a row this season.
Last season, they advanced to the ultimate game, the Group 4 state championship at Rutgers University, losing to Hillsborough.
Along with Caldwell and Batts, the other key seniors on the team were guards Tyonnah Barnes and Jasmine Price, and forward Lynn Charles.
With a strong returning nucleus, led by Watt, Muhammad, Curry and Dennis, the Mountaineers will look to continue their run of success.
Lenape, the South Jersey sectional champion, defeated Westfield 52-42 in the Group 4 state final at Rutgers on March 15.
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