Girls, Boys Hoops Easily Advance In ECT

Saturday was the opening of the Essex County tournament for basketball, and both of Verona High School’s teams easily advanced.

The girls had a 53-13 blowout against Newark’s Technology High School in a play-in round game. Maddie Gallagher and Sabine Matta led the scoring for Verona with nine points apiece, but just about every member of the team contributed something to the total. Emily Baumgard had eight points and Nia Chesney had seven.

The VHS girls are the No. 18 seed in a field of 31 teams in this year’s ECT. The win advances Verona to the preliminary round game against No. 15 seed Bloomfield, which will be played at Bloomfield on Thursday. University High School is the No. 1 seed, followed by East Orange and Immaculate.

There are 38 teams in the boys ECT this year, and Verona is almost right in the middle at No. 20. VHS’s preliminary game was against No. 29 Weequahic and Verona took the game 74-47. Nick Gonzalez led the boys’ effort with 14 points, and Andrew Emanuilidis and Graham Weber were also in double-digits.

The boys’ next ECT game is on Thursday against West Orange, the No. 13 seed this year.

Girls game photos copyright Ashley Baumgard, boys game copyright Kathleen Seubert. Both used by permission.