It was a tough, hard-fought game at home with some high-scoring Hillbillies, but the Verona High School boys basketball team ultimately couldn’t pull out a win over Newark Central. The VHS girls traveled out to Flanders, where they fell to Mount Olive High School 46-35.
The two boys teams are in separate divisions of the Super Essex Conference, with Central in Liberty and Verona in Colonial. Saturday’s “crossover” game brought them to VHS, where the Hillbillies struggled a bit in the first three quarters of play. Verona was 15 points down in the fourth quarter when the boys turned on the jets to pull tantalizingly close to the Newark team. With less than a minute left Nick Gonzalez delivered a 3-pointer, which was soon followed by a layup from Shane Lawless.
Gonzalez led the scoring for Verona with 14 points in the 53-47 loss and Derek Jocelyn was close behind with 12 points. David French was the top scorer for Central with 15. The boys team, which is now 4-4 on the season, travels to Shabazz High School on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. game.
Nia Chesney led the scoring in the girls game, with three 3-pointers among her 10 points. Melanie Naeris had 7 and freshman Emily Baumgard had 5. Verona is now 2-6 on the season and will host Glen Ridge on Tuesday.
Photos courtesy Kathleen Seubert. Used by permission.
