West Orange Defends ECT Title
In Physical Game Vs. University

WEST ORANGE-  Junior Kennedy Curry, who maybe stands 5-foot-8, was one of the West Orange Mountaineers who were busy trying to block out or at least slow the progression toward the basket of  University’s pair of powerful 6-footers, Briana Holt and Arienna Edwards, as the intensity of the action continued to heat up in Saturday’s 51st Essex County Tournament final, a game the Mountaineers would eventually win, 51-48, but not before plenty of floor burns and various collisions among players hustling after loose balls or rebounds.

A good portion of the citizenry from West Orange occupied a packed Tarnoff Gymnasium, a crowd that appeared to eclipse even the numbers of what had been a very well attended ECT boys final between Seton Hall Prep and St. Benedict’s that preceded the girls title tilt, which seemed to just add to the intensity of the ECT championship clash. 

It was also the third meeting of the season between fourth-seeded University and second-seeded and defending ECT champion West Orange, including a fairly recent (Feb. 5) second Super Essex Conference-American Division meeting in Newark when the Hudson Catholic in-season transfer Edwards made her debut with the Phoenix scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds in a 45-40 Mountaineers victory, a much more competitive matchup with University having 2 ‘bigs’ to contend with following West Orange’s decisive 43-27 homestanding win over the Phoenix back on Jan. 8.

West Orange coach Caniece Williams has spoken about the significance of valuable role players on her team, veterans like Curry or seniors Jordyn Batts and Tyonnah Barnes, who may not be ‘stat stuffers’ in terms of high point totals, but perform key roles to supplement the team’s go-to scorers, junior Rhyan Watt and senior London Caldwell, the latter of whom produced a game-high 20 points in Saturday’s ECT final.

Williams and her coaching staff spent plenty of time devising a game plan to combat a University squad that in the last half dozen contests has rode a game plan that focuses on getting the ball in the hands of the 6-footers Holt and Edwards, or looking to put them in position for numerous caroms off the glass for second and sometimes third opportunities.

And, while Holt (17 points and 15 rebounds) and Edwards (14 points, 8 rebounds) were once again a tough handle in the post, the defensive approach by the Mountaineers, including an effective-at-times 2-1-2 zone, did limit the overall damage caused by the Phoenix who wound up having just four players score in the contest and didn’t make any significant run at West Orange until the final minute of play when they cut a seven point lead (48-41 with 1:06 remaining) to 51-48 after two inside buckets  by Holt in the final 6.6 seconds.

University actually had the ball for a near midcourt, side-out inbounds play with a very scant 0.2 seconds still showing after a West Orange unforced turnover, but there was not enough time to get off a real shot at the basket to try and tie matters and force overtime.

Williams afterwards called her Mountaineers’ stick-to-itiveness throughout the ECT final vs. a persistent University squad ‘a true team effort’ and players such as Curry concurred about both her team’s hustle and the coaching staff’s strong input in preparation for another battle with a physically imposing Phoenix front line.

“We work so hard in practice and our coaches push us really hard, which is good, while also coming up with a strategy to deal with two 6-footers like they have,” said Curry (7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block) as a wild post-championship-victory celebration among players and fans continued in a loud gymnasium. “It was definitely a physical game, they have very strong players and we respect them and their game.

“We just wanted to come out here and show everybody what we had, and I think we did that. We have so much heart on this team and we wanted to win so badly!”

The Mountaineers started quickly out of the gates in the contest taking an early 12-0 lead before Holt scored University’s first basket of the day with just 1:16 left in the first quarter. The Phoenix would close the gap to 19-17 at the half as Holt and Edwards combined for eight points in the second quarter.

However, Caldwell, who had reached the 1,000-point plateau in last Tuesday’s final SEC-American Division regular season game during a victory at West Essex, helped lead a third-quarter surge when she scored six points to highlight a 16-9 edge as the Mountaineers built a more comfortable 35-26 lead.

Watt, who didn’t score her first points of the game until she connected on a pair of free throws and then shortly after canned a 3-pointer just as the third quarter came to a close, had a terrific floor game with 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 4 steals to go along with 8 points.

Holt and Edwards led University’s late-game push back into it scoring 14 of their team’s 22 points in the fourth quarter, but it was still too little too late in the end to actually catch West Orange in the end.

“We all came together and did what we had to do in a physical game,” said Caldwell, who has now won ECT titles at two different schools, Immaculate as a sophomore in 2024, and now in 2026 as a Mountaineer. “Our coaches prepared us well for this game, we were ready when the lights went on and the whole city came out to support us.

“I’ve had different experiences with different teammates in winning two county championships and it’s all been part of a great journey that I’m very thankful for.”

NOTES- Among those taking in Saturday’s Essex County Girls Basketball Tournament final was retired Montclair coach Jerry Citro who was on hand to support former Mountie players, West Orange head coach Caniece Montague Williams and longtime assistant Meghan Colabella, both of whom were key starters on Citro’s 2004 Mounties team which reached the program’s first and still only state final when they finished as the runner-up to Absegami in the Group 4 championship game played at Toms River North…Helping to make the ECT girls event go smoothly once again this year were tourney co-directors and school athletic directors Lorenzo Sozio of Mount St. Dominic and Sjocquelyn Winstead of Columbia…West Orange’s Kenndy Curry’s dad, Mark Curry, is a former standout forward at Seton Hall Prep.  

Essex County Tournament final, Saturday, Feb. 21, at West Orange:
UNIVERSITY (17-9)                  4        13      9       22    - 48
WEST ORANGE (24-3)           12         7     16      16    - 51

University: Arielle Edwards 6-0-2-14, Carryn Grand-Pierre 2-0-5-9, Briana Holt 8-0-1-17, Shanaa Manning-Cook 0-0-0-0, Skylar Clark 2-1-1-8, Taylor LaRue 0-0-0-0, Danasia Downer 0-0-0-0. Totals: 18-1-9-48

West Orange:  London Caldwell 9-0-2-20, Kennedy Curry 1-1-2-7, Tyonnah Barnes 0-0-1-1, Rhyan Watt 0-1-5-8, Taraji Muhammad 2-0-0-4, Jordyn Batts 0-0-0-0, Elianna Dennis 3-0-3-9. Totals: 15-2-12-48 

ECT Girls: Most Titles Won:
Shabazz 17
Columbia 6
Bloomfield 4
Clifford Scott 4
Immaculate 4
University 3
West Orange 3
East Orange Campus 2
Newark Tech 2
Nutley 2

Most Appearances In Final:
Shabazz 21
University 12
Columbia 9
Clifford Scott 8
Immaculate 7
Bloomfield 6
East Orange Campus 4
West Orange 4
West Side 3
Montclair 3
Newark Tech 3 

The 51 ECT Girls Finals Year By Year:
2026: West Orange 51 University 48
2025: West Orange 43 Immaculate 41
2024: Immaculate 75 University 65
2023: Immaculate 60 University 54
2022: Immaculate 67 University 59
2021: no tourney due to covid-19
2020: University 61 Immaculate 34
2019: West Orange 36 Immaculate 25
2018: Newark Tech 71 University 62
2017: Newark Tech 55 West Orange 53 (in OT)
2016: East Orange Campus 42 Newark Tech 40
2015: East Orange Campus 51 Montclair 32
2014: Shabazz 54 Montclair 51
2013: Shabazz 61 East Orange Campus 46
2012: Shabazz 59 Montclair 33
2011: Shabazz 61 University 58
2010: Shabazz 67 Columbia 57
2009: Shabazz 61 University 50
2008: University 65 Shabazz 51
2007: Shabazz 64 University 58
2006: Shabazz 71 Bloomfield Tech 60
2005: Shabazz 70 Bloomfield Tech 55
2004: Shabazz 72 Orange 45
2003: Shabazz 81 East Orange Campus 45
2002: Shabazz 82 East Orange 31
2001: Columbia 59 Shabazz 55
2000: Bloomfield 41 West Side 26
1999: Columbia 57 Orange 45
1998: Columbia 64 Clifford Scott 52
1997: Bloomfield 53 Shabazz 47
1996: Columbia 49 Bloomfield 41
1995: Mount St. Dominic 57 Bloomfield 45
1994: Clifford Scott 59 Mount St. Dominic 53 (OT)
1993: Clifford Scott 46 Livingston 37
1992: Clifford Scott 55 West Side 36
1991: Shabazz 52 Clifford Scott 51
1990: Immaculate 51 University 48
1989: Bloomfield 58 Immaculate 46
1988: Bloomfield 65 University 50
1987: University 71 Shabazz 42
1986: Irvington 57 East Orange 50
1985: Shabazz 58 Irvington 57
1984: Shabazz 51 Belleville 46
1983: Shabazz 62 Clifford Scott 60
1982: Shabazz 61Clifford Scott 55
1981: Clifford Scott 51 East Orange 49
1980: East Orange 53 Barringer 45
1979: Columbia 38 Barringer 37
1978: Columbia 73 Glen Ridge 24
1977: Nutley 56 Columbia 34
1976: Nutley 55 Columbia 33
1975: West Side 55 West Essex 48