In an unusual doubleheader East Orange Campus’ Lady Jaguars and the Pirates of Seton Hall Prep won their respective Essex County Basketball Tournament Championships. Fans first braved the early snowfall to attend the girls championship at Newark Tech where the East Orange squad, seeded number one, took control early on the way to their 51-32 victory over Montclair High School, the second seed. The large number of East Orange supporters in the crowd, estimated at 450 fans, lent vocal support to their Lady Jaguars in the Newark Tech gymnasium.
Upon completion of the game most of the fans in attendance walked the fifty or so yards to go next door the the gym at Essex County College for the Boys’ Championship Final. The two site situation was due to the College’s men’s basketball team’s game earlier that afternoon. Here, the East Orange Campus’ boy’s team, seeded second, faced off against top-seeded Seton Hall. The Pirates led throughout but East Orange fought to stay close and in the second half came within a point of tying the score several times. In the end Seton Hall’s experience and rebounding won out resulting in the 70-62 victory for the team from West Orange.
The complete and final brackets for both tournaments may be found under our gray “Tournaments” tab.