West Orange Girls Basketball Remains Undefeated
WEST ORANGE – On Thursday, January 19, 2017, the West Orange Girls Basketball team earned their 12th straight win over the Bloomfield Tech Spartans, beating them 69-37, at home.
The Lady Mountaineers got right to business as they started the game with an 11-0 run. Strong defense forced lots of turnovers and West Orange took advantage of their many fast-break opportunities. At the end of the first quarter, West Orange held a 28-2 lead.
In the second quarter the Lady Mountaineers continued to dominate in the paint. They controlled the boards on both offense and defense, which gave them ample scoring opportunities.
The Spartans started to show signs of life in the third quarter where they outscored West Orange 16-4. The Lady Mountaineers came back to life in the fourth, where they secured the 69-37 win.
The Lady Mountaineers were lead by strong performances by senior Jewell Burnett and sophomore Mya Bembry. Burnett recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 assists. Bembry had a game-high 25 points, including two three-pointers. She also had nine rebounds, six steals, and four assists.
“I think it’s just my team. We’re passing the ball well and getting lots of open looks,” said Burnett after the game. “We just played great defense. You take what [the defense] gives you. That lead to lots of assists and easy looks.”
The Lady Mountaineers’ head coach, Caniece Williams, added that her team’s success is the result of unselfish play. “We are always looking for the next person instead of putting ourselves first, and we get a lot of easy buckets because we pass the ball around. We aren’t worried about individual statistics, it’s been about the team all season long.”
West Orange is now undefeated with a 12-0 record. Burnett said that, “Since we’ve struggled the past three years, it feels amazing to be undefeated.”
Coach Williams also added that, “Moving forward our goal is to win the conference championship. Right now we are undefeated in the conference and we are trying to win a county championship as well. We are also ranked third in the state for our group, so we have that going for us too.”
The Lady Mountaineers have advanced to 13-0 since this game was played. They beat Orange High School on Saturday, January 21, by the score of 39-34. Their next game will be Tuesday, January 31, where the Lady Mountaineers will take on West Essex at West Orange High School.
Photos by Cynthia Cumming
