Can West Orange complete its championship dreams next Saturday at Rutgers after coming oh so close last March?
The Mountaineers (28-3) have two more obstacles to overcome in order to achieve that ultimate goal starting with Tuesday’s Group 4 semifinals vs. Westfield (7 p.m. at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth) with a victory there then propelling the Essex County team into the March 14th state final in Jersey Mike’s Arena where it was edged 55-52 by Hillsborough in the 2025 Group 4 title tilt.
“We went into this season knowing that last year we just came up a little short,” said West Orange coach Caniece Williams. “This year we want to go all the way!”
The Mountaineers, who have won 17 straight games, including recording a second straight Essex County Tournament championship, roared past Morristown, 55-42, in this past Thursday’s North 1, Group 4 final in the last game to be played this season in the friendly confines of Tarnoff Gymnasium
It marked the third straight year that the second-seeded Colonials (22-8) and top-seeded West Orange met in the N1G4 final with the Morris County school winning on its own court, 60-54, in 2024, and the Mountaineers winning comfortably, 61-39, at home last season.
In the latest state tourney contest between the two top seeds the Mountaineers jumped out quickly leading 15-7 after one quarter and 29-16 at the half.
West Orange utilized a box-in-one defensive approach to try and slow down Morristown’s sophomore star Nawal Ibazatene Lefebvre who wound up with a game-high 24 points; however, the Colonials were never able to muster enough resistance in order to put a significant scare into the Mountaineers.
Standout junior guard Rhyan Watt led West Orange with 21 points while grabbing 5 rebounds and recording 4 steals. Senior London Caldwell dealt with foul trouble throughout the contest but still produced a solid all-around effort with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Lynn Charles chipped in with 4 points and 6 rebounds and veteran seniors Jordyn Batts and Kennedy Curry were key contributors on the defensive end as per usual for West Orange.
Batts also helped in a strong showing in terms of foul shooting for the Mountaineers connecting on 6-of-8 from the charity stripe while Watt was an efficient 5-of-6.
In taking on Westfield on Tuesday in Elizabeth, the Mountaineers will be looking for a second victory over the Blue Devils this season after defeating the Union County school, 52-43, back on Jan. 11 in the Coaches Choice St. Thomas Aquinas Challenge as stars Caldwell (22 points) and Watt (15 points, 13 rebounds) helped lead the way.
Sophie Lane, who is a force inside for Westfield, had a ‘double-double’ in that earlier game with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She leads her team in scoring (18.1 points per game along with 7.9 rebounds per contest).
It was Lane (20 points, 10 rebounds), Megan Logan (10 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks), Mairin Fowler (5 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists) and Darby Hubner (13 points, 5 rebounds) who led a balanced Westfield attack in its surprisingly-one sided 50-35 triumph at top-seeded Bayonne (25-5) in Friday night’s North 2, Group 4 state sectional final. It is the Blue Devils’ second straight N2G4 crown and third since 2022.
Logan is another force inside for the Blue Devils at 11.8 ppg and 8.3 rpg.
The biggest strength for the Mountaineers is the dynamic backcourt duo of Watt and Caldwell which will make Tuesday night’s contest quite an intriguing matchup to see which team earns the right to hit the road again Saturday, the 14th, and head to Rutgers University for the season’s final game.
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