Fallon’s inbounds pass after a timeout with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and Caldwell clinging to a 53-51 lead, saw her find her big sister who was wide open, for an easy layup and a much-needed 4-point cushion.  

“Me and Tea have been playing together for so long that we think the same so if Tea sees an open pass, I see it too,” said Fallon. “We’re on the same wavelength and I feel like she always knows when to make the right cut, and right there, when we needed another big play, she made the right decision as she always does and was wide open for a much-needed basket.”

West Orange’s Curry scored again with 5.6 seconds left to pull West Orange back to within two, 53-51; however, Keenan was then fouled and calmly sank two clutch free throws with 3.5 seconds left to seal the deal for the Chiefs.

“The thing about us is that we can be down going into halftime and we just talk about what we need to do because we put in the work every day to prepare for games like this,” said Tea. Fiore

"And, we have the confidence to do what we need to do to fix things and then go out and do it.

“We made shots in the second half with Addy and Adriana coming up big, and our defense was terrific. We realize that our press gets us points and whether it’s a steal or making the other team commit a turnover, our transition fuels us.

“This was a tremendous team victory, and we’re looking forward to being in more big games like this, that’s for sure!”

And, there is another one of those big games Thursday on what will be ‘Senior Night’ for Tea Fiore and reserve forward Kaci Pace as the Chiefs host a strong Arts team in an SEC crossover contest at 7 o’clock.

“We’ll try and do the same thing Thursday as we did tonight,” added Fallon Fiore. “We’re always pushing to be better and we’d love another tight game on Senior Night!”

NOTES- Tuesday night’s contest was the first game between West Orange and Caldwell in two years or when both were last together in the SEC-American Division and the Mountaineers won both contests in the 2023-2024 season. Caldwell played in the SEC-Liberty Division last season…Among the noteworthy fans taking in Tuesday night’s game was legendary former St. Peter’s University and Montclair State coach Ted Fiore, who is a regular attendee to Caldwell games in order to see his granddaughters Tea and Fallon play…One of the team sponsors is Essex Elite AAU basketball and one of its coaches Chris Checchetto was present for the game. Caldwell players Tea and Fallon Fiore, Addy Keenan, Elean Kearns and Adriana Brown all play for the team during the summer and fall.   

Super Essex Conference-American Division Game, Jan. 13:
WEST ORANGE (11-2, 3-1)    10    18    17    6    - 51
CALDWELL (9-0, 4-0)                6    11    27   11    -55

West Orange: London Caldwell 6-1-1-16, Rhyan Watt 0-1-6-9, Taraji Muhammad 2-2-0-10, Elianna Dennis 0-1-0-3, Jordyn Batts 2-0-0-4, Kennedy Curry 2-1-1-8, Lynn Charles 0-0-1-1. Totals: 12-6-9-51

Caldwell: Addy Keenan 2-2-4-14, Fallon Fiore 2-0-1-5, Tea Fiore 7-0-4-18, Elena Kearns 1-0-1-3, Aaliyah Rodriguez 3-0-0-6, Adriana Brown 2-1-0-7, Kaci Pace 1-0-0-2. Totals: 13-3-10-55     

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