Newark Academy hosts West Orange in an SEC crossover contest Friday night before entertaining Verona Tuesday evening in a division contest.

MKA has an even younger team than Newark Academy with no seniors on the roster and a host of promising underclassmen.

Junior Joe Morante (9 points vs. the Minutemen) is a team captain and provides a nice steadying influence on the floor for the Cougars who were led on Thursday by sophomore RJ Michel who had 11 points and 7 rebounds and junior guard Khalil Shah-Brown who recently returned to action after recovering from a leg fracture fracture and is just starting to get back in stride.

He scored 11 of his team-high 13 points in the second half as MKA attempted to stage a comeback.

Sophomore guards Carter Convey and Braeden Dawes are among the other young players to watch for the Cougars.

MKA is at West Caldwell Tech 4 p.m., Tuesday (Jan. 13) and then hosts Belleville, 4 p.m., Thursday (Jan. 15) in upcoming SEC-Freedom Division action.  

SEC-Freedom Division:
NEWARK ACADEMY (5-2, 4-0)      11      18     16     12    - 57
MKA (3-5, 2-1)                                     7       14      14    11   - 46

Newark Academy: Shane Sampson 3-0-1-7, Chase Perilman 5-2-5-21, Ayotunde Fagbemi 1-0-0-2, Zach Shirodkar 3-1-1-10, Gabe O’Brien 2-1-3-10, Benjamin Derman 1-1-0-5, Lachlan Wallace 0-0-2-2, Jared Simon 0-0-0-0, Avery Solotoff 0-0-0-0. Totals: 15-5-12-57  

MKA: RJ Michel 4-0-3-11, Carter Convey 1-1-2-7, Braeden Dawes 0-2-0-6, Joe Morante 0-3-0-9, Isaiah Medley 0-0-0-0, Khalil Shah-Brown 4-0-5-13, Hayden O’Keefe 0-0-0-0, Alli Monxhwedey 0-0-0-0. Totals: 9-6-10-46

SEC-FREEDOM DIVISION: West Caldwell Tech, Verona, Shabazz, MKA, Newark Academy, Cedar Grove        

Follow Sideline Chatter on 'X' @Chattermeister