Photos by Jerry Simon WOHS' Mya Bembry puts up a shot against Bloomfield in the sectional tournament
WEST ORANGE – Senior guard Sidney Gordon scored 26 points and the 14th-seeded West Orange High School girls’ varsity basketball team upset third-seeded Bloomfield, 52-47, in overtime, in the first round of the state North Jersey Section 1, Group 4 tournament on Tuesday, March 1, at Bloomfield High.
West Orange squandered a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but recovered in overtime to pull off the upset.
Freshman guard Mya Bembry had 10 points; junior forward Dawn Flood had seven points; senior forward Candis Ferrell had four points; senior guard Chyna Chitty had three points; and junior guard Jewel Burnett had two points, both on free throws for the final points of the game, for WOHS, which improved to a 10-15 record and will visit sixth-seeded Paterson Eastside in the quarterfinals on March 3. Eastside won its third straight Passaic County Tournament championship this season.
Bloomfield finished the season with an 18-5 record.
West Orange defeated Bloomfield in both meetings in overtime this season. In the first round of the Essex County Tournament, West Orange won, 49-46, in overtime at West Orange on Feb. 13.
After the ECT loss, Bloomfield won its next four games heading into the state sectional tournament matchup with West Orange, hoping to gain redemption.
Bloomfield trailed 25-13 at halftime and 40-20 at the end of the third quarter, but mounted an improbable rally, capped by senior center Aniyah Allen’s buzzer-beating layup to tie it 45-45 and force overtime.
With the score tied 47-47 in overtime, West Orange scored the final five points of the game to win it. Bembry scored on a layup to make it 49-47. Gordon, who finished with a game-high 26 points, made one-of-two free throws for a 50-47 lead. Burnett hit two free throws to seal it.
Note: My video storage ran out, right before the buzzer-beater. My apologies.
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