NORTH CALDWELL- It’s been a challenging time of late for West Essex, what with a 7-game losing streak, its veteran senior point guard Ava Brignola missing three games with an ankle sprain and the team still struggling to put four good quarters together.
Assistant coach Tim Glenn, who has been filling in as head coach with Amber Tobia finishing up a brief maternity leave after recently giving birth to daughter Lucciana, has kept ‘coaching-up’ the Knights while hoping to see the struggling team have that full, consistent performance for 32 minutes.
Mission accomplished, even if it’s a brief sample size. Seventh-seeded West Essex (6-11) broke open a close contest in which the strong defense was already there with a blistering stretch of offensive proficiency in the third quarter while rolling to a 53-38 victory over 10th-seeded Newark Tech (18-2) in an Essex County Tournament first round game on Saturday.
The Knights will travel to meet second-seeded and defending ECT champion West Orange next Saturday (Feb. 7) in the ECT quarterfinals.
Whatever happens moving forward in a very challenging county tournament and in the rigorous Super Essex Conference-American Division, if the team can continue to execute with proficiency at both ends of the court, there are good possibilities for a better month of February before the NJSIAA North 2, Group 3 state tournament gets underway with the Knights a possible upstart factor.
“After we played what I thought was a really good first half (leading 18-15) - especially on defense- I told the girls, ‘Hey- you’ve played two great quarters, now let’s play two more great quarters,” said Glenn, a longtime Wessex assistant girls basketball coach along with being a nearly-4-decade assistant football coach for the North Caldwell-based regional school. “We’ve struggled to play four good quarters, and to see them go out in the second half with great intensity and success at both ends of the court was terrific to see!
“Hopefully, we can build on this win which came against a good team in Newark Tech, and we get a ton of power points for the state seedings in defeating an 18-1 team.”
Junior Yazmy Scruggs, Newark Tech’s only upperclassmen starter who led her team with 19 points, scored on a strong drive to the basket to cut the Knights’ lead to 23-20 with 5:12 left in the third quarter before West Essex went on a nice run with six points from sophomore center Jordan Salisbury, a basket by freshman Riley Guevera and a ‘3’ from senior Brooke Balazano as part of an 11-2 run.
The Knights then built on a 35-26 lead entering the fourth quarter with a 17-12 edge over the final eight minutes, including eight points from Guevara, who sank a pair of 3’s, as West Essex finished what was indeed a complete effort.
Epitomizing the type of intensity a coach loves to see was senior Maddie Schlosser, who had as fine an all-around game as a team could want with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals, while doing a little bit of everything to help propel the Knights’ ECT victory.
“Our whole team brought the energy,” said Schlosser. “I know that my role is to give my best right from the first whistle every time I step on the court. I am thinking about those hustle stats and I’m not worried about points because I know they’ll come. I just try to get all those loose balls and rebounds to help us win.”
Glenn was thrilled with his senior’s efforts.
“Maddie was beast today,” he stated. “She always plays with that kind of intensity; and - among the girls who I’ve coached - she is the most intense player I’ve ever coached.
“Plus, she made her shots today, and her rebounding and hustle were amazing!”
Salisbury, who spent a good portion of the first half on the bench after picking up two early fouls, came on like gangbusters in the second half and finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 4 steals while dominating the inside against the young Terriers, who start four freshmen under second-year head coach Derrick Johnson.
“I was frustrated with the early fouls, but I knew that I had to come back out there and play well for my team,” said the 5-11 frontcourt standout. “We came out of the locker room at halftime ready to play as hard as we could, and it feels awesome to earn a win like this, and in the county tournament, which will be good for our confidence.”
Guevara was another source of immense energy in boosting the Knights as she hit two fourth quarter ‘tri-fectas’ and finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.
Senior Brooke Balzano chipped in with 7 points and junior Lexi Castro had 6 points on a pair of ‘3’ plus grabbed 4 rebounds.
“We were trying to be aggressive and push the ball when we could,” said Guevara, who has been a starter with Brignola sidelined of late with her sprained ankle. “This was a total team effort, everyone played great and a win like this will help build our confidence moving forward.”
West Essex can be in good spirits after its very solid ECT win, and Brignola could be back soon. Coach Tobia also expects to return shortly to her accustomed role on the Knights bench, although her veteran assistant has done a very commendable job filling in.
Life in the SEC-American Division with teams such as West Orange, Caldwell and University is never easy, yet West Essex perseveres.
“The American is so tough, but our girls keep working hard and they have a great attitude,” said Glenn. “I think we deserve a 7 seed, and with Ava (Brignola) hopefully back soon, perhaps in time for the quarterfinals, we should be even stronger moving forward.”
Essex County Tournament first round:
(10) Newark Tech (18-2) 9 6 11 12 - 38
(7) West Essex (6-11) 8 10 18 17 - 53
Newark Tech: Kassidy Ahmad 3-1-1-10, Azmirah Jones 2-0-0-4, Yazmyn Scruggs 4-2-5-19, Ava Antoine 1-0-0-2, Allison Martinez 0-1-0-3, Danelladream Williams 0-0-0-0, Himany Santos 0-0-0-0, Nevaeh Witherspoon 0-0-0-0. Totals: 10-4-6-38
West Essex: Riley Guevara 3-2-0-12, Maddie Schlosser 5-0-2-12, Jordan Salisbury 3-0-8-14, Lexi Castro 0-2-0-6, Elyana Ghattas 1-0-0-2, Brooke Balzano 2-1-0-7, Skyla Paladines 0-0-0-0. Totals: 14-5-10-53
ECT First Round Results:
(1) Caldwell 66 (17) East Orange Campus 28
(8) Columbia 58 (9) Verona 45
(4) University 60 (13) Central 21
(5) Glen Ridge 45 (12) Newark Academy 32
(2) West Orange 70 (15) Livingston 24
(7) West Essex 53 (10) Newark Tech 38
(3) Arts 61 (14) Millburn 16
(6) Mount St. Dominic 58 (11) Montclair 23
ECT Quarterfinals, Saturday, Feb. 7:
Columbia at Caldwell
Glen Ridge at University
West Essex at West Orange
Mount St. Dominic at Arts
ECT semifinals, Saturday, Feb. 14, and championship game, Saturday, Feb. 21, both at West Orange’s Tarnoff Gymnasium
ECT Girls: Most Titles Won:
Shabazz 17
Columbia 6
Bloomfield 4
Clifford Scott 4
Immaculate 4
University 3
East Orange Campus 2
Newark Tech 2
Nutley 2
West Orange 2
Most Appearances In Final:
Shabazz 21
University 11
Columbia 9
Clifford Scott 8
Immaculate 8
Bloomfield 6
East Orange Campus 4
West Side 3
West Orange 3
Montclair 3
Newark Tech 3
The 50 ECT Girls Finals Year By Year:
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
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