West Orange accomplished quite enough last season even if the ultimate prize – a Group 4 state title – just eluded the Mountaineers in a nip-and-tuck 55-52 setback to Hillsborough in the overall final at Rutgers.
The talent-laden team, which finished 26-8 last season, won the Essex County Tournament title with a hard-fought 43-41 victory over Immaculate Conception as all-state guard Rhyan Watt was the second half star in securing the program’s second ECT crown.
West Orange is the Essex girls basketball team leading the pack as a new season is taking shape in the next several days, while others look to impact quite substantially in 2025-2026 including a young and talented Caldwell team, an always-impactful University and a promising Glen Ridge team that reached last season’s Group 1 final, but graduated its top scorer and rebounder along with its ultra-important playmaker in addition to bidding adieu to its head coach who exited after making quite an impression in her one season at the helm.
Other teams that look to be in the mix this season include Verona, which is looking to build on a solid 19-7 season, West Essex, which is coming off an 18-11 campaign and Mount St. Dominic, which might be ready to take the next step up behind its second-year head coach while adding one of the top freshmen in the county this winter.
It all adds up to what should be quite the intriguing Essex girls hoops season. Time will tell whether or not as many as three county squads once again can earn berths in an overall state final come early March.
That third team that reached a state championship game last winter was Immaculate, which won the Non-Public B state crown. However, the 100-year-old Montclair-based Catholic school closed its doors for good this past June due to financial issues which opens the door for others to step forward in addition to West Orange in the countywide title hunt this season.
One IC standout from last season, Siena College-bound senior London Caldwell, is now a star alongside Watt at West Orange. Caldwell netted a team-high 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in a season-opening 37-36 Mountaineers victory over Dunmore (Pa.) on Sunday, Dec. 14.
A very athletic player with the ability to score from the perimeter or drive with authority to the basket, Caldwell combines with Watt to form quite the 1-2 combo for veteran coach Caniece Williams.
A host of solid role players including veterans in senior Jordyn Batts, junior Kennedy Curry and the sophomore Taraji Muhammad combine with other up-and-coming players such as senior Lynn Charles and junior Elianna Dennis to provide Williams with a solid rotation to work into any contest.
West Orange graduated a pair of key performers in all-state center Ayana Karriem (North Carolina A&T) and guard Kyley Gary-Grayson (Coppin State).
Caldwell, which was 26-4 last season, has made the jump up from the Super Essex Conference’s second division, the Liberty, up to the top-tier American this season and the Chiefs will be a handful for anyone with a young but seasoned lineup led by productive junior guard Addy Keenan (18.7 ppg. last season) and steady senior guard-forward Tea Fiore (15 ppg, 5.2 rpg in 2024-2025).
A host of sophomores with varsity experience bolster the lineup for coach Amanda Keenan’s squad as Tea’s sister Fallon Fiore, Grace Hodgson, Elena Kearns, Aaiiyah Rodriguez and Adriana Brown all saw considerable action on the varsity squad last winter.
Is Caldwell ready to win a state sectional title and reach an ECT Final 4? The Chiefs lost to Charlotte Tuhy-led Madison, 55-37, in last season’s N2G2 final, and were eliminated by University, 77-41, in the ECT quarterfinals.
