IHS girls' hoops to host West Side in ECT

By Joe Ragozzino
Sports editor
The 11th-seeded Irvington High School girls’ varsity basketball team will begin play in the Essex County Tournament on Feb. 2 against No. 23 seed West Side at IHS at 4 p.m. in the second round preliminary.
The Lady Blue Knights received a bye in the first round preliminary.
The winner of IHS/West Side will visit No. 6 seed Newark Tech in the round of 16 this Saturday Feb. 4.
Junior guard Kemaya Powell had 14 points and junior guard JoiNay Carr and senior guard/co-captain Natasha Walker each had 11 points to lead IHS to a 47-10 win over Science Park on Jan. 26 in Newark.
Senior guard/co-captain Maria Simmons had seven points and senior Najeelah Northern had four points and 17 rebounds for the Blue Knights, who snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 8-5.
Essex County Tournament
First round preliminary
No. 21 Newark Academy defeated No. 24 Belleville, 46-24, Jan. 28
No. 19 Bloomfield defeated No. 26 Newark Vocational, 58-11, Jan. 28
No. 20 Arts defeated No. 25 Golda Och, 50-35, Jan. 30
Second round preliminary
No. 17 Montclair Kimberley Academy defeated  No. 16 Millburn, 40-35, Jan. 30
No. 21 Newark Academy at No. 12 Caldwell, Jan. 31
No. 20 Arts at No. 13 Cedar Grove, Feb. 2, 4 p.m.
No. 15 Central defeated No. 18 Orange, 47-46, Jan. 28
No. 23 West Side at No. 11 Irvington, Feb. 2, 4 p.m.
No. 19 Bloomfield defeated No. 14 Nutley, 36-35, Jan. 30

Round of 16, Feb. 4
No. 17 MKA at No. 1 Shabazz
No. 9 West Orange at No. 8 Weequahic
winner of No. 21 Newark Academy/No. 12 Caldwell at No. 5 Bloomfield Tech
winner of No. 20 Arts/No. 13 Cedar Grove at No. 4 East Orange Campus
No. 15 Central at No. 2 Montclair
No. 10 Columbia at No. 7 University
winner of No. 23 West Side/No. 11 Irvington at No. 6 Newark Tech
No. 19 Bloomfield at No. 3 Mount St. Dominic