West Orange Is Essex's Top Team
Behind County's Player Of Year

Essex Player of the Year- Anaya Karriem, senior, West Orange: On a talent-laden team the veteran frontcourt star and North Carolina A&T commit was the ultimate glue at both ends of the court with her ability to score (15.1 ppg), rebound (12.3 rpg), block shots (3.4 per game) and help spark the turnover-imposing defense (3.3 steals per game) for the Essex County Tournament champions and Group 4 runner-up. She scored 23 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the narrow Group 4 state final loss to Hillsborough while also recording her 1,000th point and 1,000th rebound. “Anaya is someone we could always lean on and we knew that she would come up big for us,” said West Orange coach Caniece Montague. “She is a special player and person we know will continue to do great things in basketball and in life.”

Runner-Up Essex Player of the Year- Rhyan Watt, sophomore, West Orange: The precocious sophomore guard blossomed into one of the state’s more exciting, young stars while also performing well in big spots, such as in the ECT final vs. Immaculate when she scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half including 12 in a critical 19-4 third quarter stretch that totally turned the contest into the Mountaineers favor. She also scored 24 points in the ECT championship win vs. Immaculate. There were other big efforts and overall Watt (17.0 ppg, 5.3 spg.) was simply a dynamic backcourt performer.

Essex Coach of the Year: Kristina Danella, Glen Ridge: The well-traveled Danella, who previously coached at four different colleges and was once a standout player herself at both Red Bank Catholic and Marist College, fit in nicely with the Ridgers while pushing the right buttons with a veteran team which enjoyed the finest season in girls hoops history at the tiny Essex County school with first-ever appearances in an ECT Final 4 and overall Group 1 state final, while also capturing the program’s first state sectional title.

Runner-Up Coach of the Year: Caniece Williams, West Orange: The veteran Mountaineers coach guided her team to its second ECT title and first since 2019 plus a North 1, Group 4 state sectional title and a berth in what became a very narrow Group 4 final setback to Hillsborough. A former standout player on Montclair’s lone girls basketball state finalist team in 2004 as Caniece Montague, she has become one of the county’s better hoops mentors with her ability to inspire players and make critical in-game adjustments while always accentuating the strengths of her players.

Essex Team of the Year: West Orange: The Mountaineers captured the N1G4 state sectional crown, earned a berth in the Group 4 final and finished second to Immaculate in the Super Essex Conference-American Division, although they did win two out of three meetings vs. the Lady Lions, including the 43-41 victory in the ECT final. Seniors Anaya Karriem and Kyley Gary-Grayson were veteran senior leaders and two of the top players for the ECT and N1G4 champions, who also had a strong youthful influence with sophomores Rhyan Watt and Kennedy Curry, junior Jordyn Batts and freshman Taraji Muhammad.

Runner-Up Team of the Year: Glen Ridge: A very cohesive and well-drilled Ridgers squad provided plenty of excitement for its devoted fans with a N2G1 state sectional title and a strong showing vs. New Providence in the Group 1 final. A fun team to watch and certainly one of the great stories of the recently-completed season, Glen Ridge defeated longtime nemesis University three times including the N2G1 final, and was leading West Orange early in the fourth quarter of the ECT semifinals before relinquishing the lead, although that couldn’t take away from what was a fine showing in tournament and regular season action for the Ridgers.

Around Essex- Immaculate Conception (20-9) finished a perfect 10-0 in winning the regular season SEC-American Division title and once again faced a rigorous independent slate of foes while on its way to winning the program’s first-ever overall state championship with a win vs. Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public B final. It was a very balanced Lady Lions squad and gelled when veteran standout Nila Giraud began to play in January after missing the first six weeks of the season while she recovered from a volleyball-related sprained ankle, and the team showed great perseverance by finishing strong even while having to absorb the emotional toll of learning the news in February that the 100-year-old Montclair Catholic school will close for good in June…Caldwell was also perfect in the SEC-Liberty Division while finish a strong 26-4 overall and reaching the N2G2 state sectional final vs. eventual state finalist Madison. Coach Amada Keenan had a very young team led by her daughter, high-scoring sophomore Addison Keenan and junior Tea Fiore…Verona (19-7) was another team that went undefeated in its division (SEC-Colonial) behind the superb guidance of coach Patty Coyle…Livingston (18-7, 10-0) was perfect within the SEC-Independence Division behind coach Ashley Addison…West Essex (18-11) closed out strong under the direction of coach Amber Tobia with two hard-fought N1G3 state tourney victories over Morris Hills and Ramapo before being edged by Demarest in the state sectional semifinals…Science Park (20-7) defeated North Star Academy, 55-46, to win the first-ever Essex County Invitational Tournament.

SC’s Final Essex County Top 10:
1-West Orange (26-8)- won second ECT championship and a N1G4 crown
2-Immaculate (20-9- undefeated in SEC-American and won first state title
3-Glen Ridge (23-9)- reached first-ever ECT Final 4 and Group 1 final
4-University (16-11)- remained a top Group 1 team while facing strong slate
5-Caldwell (26-4)- dominant regular season and reached N2G2 final
6-Mount St. Dominic (12-15)- made progress vying in SEC’s top division
7-West Essex (18-11)- finished strong with solid run in N1G3 tourney
8-Verona (19-7)- unbeaten in SEC-Colonial and young team had its moments
9-Livingston (18-7)- won SEC-Independence title and showed improvement
10-Arts (18-8)- Brick City team was undefeated in SEC-Freedom Division

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