In every March Madness Tournament a 10 seed upsets a 7, but in the second round of the MCT the West Morris Wolfpack could not keep the streak alive. The Wolfpack suffered a 37-36 defeat to the Crimson Tide of Morristown-Beard on a last minute shot by Jiyon Ruffin.

From the beginning of the game it looked as if the upset would take place with West Morris starting of on a 5-0 run, but the Crimson Tide quickly regained the lead to take a 11-6 lead to end the first quarter.

As the Wolfpack switched from their 2-3 zone to a man to man defense to start the second.  Al Jones and Josh Brown began to heat up, and combined for 14 of the Tide’s 27 points in the first half. James D’Angelo and Zach Nolan kept the Wolfpack within six going 5-6 from the field for twelve of the team’s 21 points in the first half.

As the second half began West Mor  ...Read More

There was no sisterly love from top-seeded West Morris today as the Highlanders beat sister school Mendham 49-20 in the first round of the Morris County Tournament. The sixteenth-seeded Minutemen were not able to break the double digit mark until the end of the third quarter and on the other side of the court, the Highlanders relied on Ally Tank as the playmaker today. Meade Brewster had eight points for Mendham.

The Minutemen gave the Highlanders some competition in the beginning, opening up the game with a fast pace. Brewster was able to sink a foul shot and a layup, while Alisa Greco and Julia Scanlon each had a layup early in the first quarter. Shayna Ericksen had three baskets and an unforgiving block on Mendham’s Liz Malman to close out the first quarter at 12 to 6.

After the first quarter, however, the Minutemen weren’t able to score an  ...Read More

Delbarton's Tom Killian blasted by WMC for 29 points. (Photo: Connor Smolensky)

Delbarton came out of the gates firing, took the lead, and never looked back in decisive game against rival West Morris Central. West Morris fought hard the entire game, but could not up end the Green Wave who took home a 55-48 victory.

The Wolfpack were slow to start the game, and appeared not ready for the Green Wave’s full court pressure. The zone press of the Delbarton caused many turnovers and lead to easy baskets for the Green Wave. As good as Delbarton’s defense was their offense was even better. Delbarton’s dynamic duo of Dean Brierly and Tom Killian contributed for 17 of their teams 27 points in the first half.

West Morris guards Derek Kambour and Chris Gaudio were the bright spots for the Wolfpack in the first contributed with high intensity defense and 8 of the teams 16 points.

As the second half whistle blew West Morri  ...Read More

Roxbury needed and received a Phil Desmond 3-pointer in the corner with 4.7 seconds left to force overtime, as the Gaels beat West Morris 50-44 last night in Long Valley. A very low scoring game, the points were tied at 40 going into the OT. Desmond finished with 13, Angelo Mangiro and Shaun O' Donnell had 12. Tom Cabarle led West Morris with 17 points.

The Highlanders got off to a good start, quickly went on a 7-0 run to start the game, with a pair of fadeaways from Zach Nolan. Roxbury was able to come right back though and led 14-11 after a quarter of play. Cabarle was on fire in the second, sinking 4 jumpers, including 2 trifectas, to put West Morris up 6 with 3 minutes remaining in the half. Roxbury was able to cut it to 24-22 at the break.

West Morris was able to go back up six at the end of three, 35-29, thanks to 7 points from  ...Read More

Football season is not over yet! At least not to Roxbury and Montville's basketball teams. This game had 7 technical fouls, 2 ejections, and numerous stoppages of play by the officials as Roxbury battled it out to a 68-50 win in the first NJAC Basketball game ever played in Montville.

Roxbury received 22 points from Phil Desmond, 19 from Shaun O'Donnell, and 15 from Angelo Mangiro. Montville received 23 points from outstanding freshman Jon Schreer, playing in his first high school basketball game.

The Gaels jumped ahead early with Mangiro scoring the first 7 points of the season, including his 3rd career 3-pointer from the top of the key for the 6’4”, 300 pounder. Montville closed to 17-14 to end the quarter, thanks to a pair of 3’s by Schreer. After Mustang guard Brian Keene sunk a top of the key 3 to make it 20-20, Roxbury went on an 1  ...Read More

West Morris came out ahead 47 to 42 in the last quarter after the Wallkill Valley Rangers rallied back to make it a close game. Shayna Ericksen made a large impact for the Highlanders with twenty points and Kelsey Murray helped out the Rangers, ending with ten points.

For most of the first half of the game, the Highlanders dominated with Ericksen under the hoop and Julia Scanlon feeding the ball, taking on the role as playmaker. Scanlon had assists to Alisa Greco, Ericksen, and Ally Tank to propel West Morris out to an early lead of 16 to 7 at the end of the first quarter. The Rangers, however, bounced back with 9-2 run in the beginning of the second quarter. Carley Mangine, Brittany Harlos and Katie Harrigan all helped to make the difference for Wallkill Valley. With West Morris turnovers and the Rangers hard work, the end of the half ended in a t  ...Read More

Stellar performances by Shayna Ericksen and Ally Tank helped the Highlanders get another game in the win column as the Knights fall to 2-8. For the Knights, Dana Castellano had an outstanding game, anchoring the team on both offense and defense. With the final score being 58 to 36, West Morris proved that they are a force to be reckoned in the conference.

The first quarter started off with a Julia Scanlon foul shot, an Ericksen layup, and an Alisa Greco three pointer, allowing West Morris to start the game ahead 6 to 2. Knights’ turnovers proved to be the key element for the Highlanders as Morris Hills’ next three possessions ended in the hands of West Morris players. Tank, Greco, and Scanlon were all able to turn these turnovers into points for the Highlanders. The Knights were able to rack up some points before the first quarter closed out, with a  ...Read More

After a tough loss on Saturday, the Highlanders came back in full force today, dominating for most of the game, with the final score being 47-34. Shayna Ericksen made a presence underneath the hoop whether it was rebounds or layups, helping West Morris move ahead to 3-1 on the season. For the Rams, Leah Papalia was a driving force on defense as well as offense and had four points on the day before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
Randolph’s first and only lead of the day came in the early seconds of the first quarter when Papalia drove to the hoop for a layup. From then on, it was all West Morris with layups from Julia Scanlon and Ericksen and a three point field goal by Alisa Greco. After a Scanlon block and layup, the Highlanders had a lead of 12 to 2 before the Rams came storming back to make it a 5 point game before the end of the first q  ...Read More

Pequannock senior runningback Joe Ruggiero earned himself the Week 6 Player of the Week award with his three touchdown performance against Morris Catholic.

Pequannock senior runningback Joe Ruggiero blasted this past weekend for 216 yards on 32 carries and three touchdowns in the Golden Panthers 34-26 defeat over Morris Catholic. This effort helped Ruggiero’s team basically clinch a playoff birth. Ruggiero’s output also earned him NJAC Sports Center’s Week 6 Player of the Week.

We caught up with Ruggiero to talk about his teams momentum, who the best player he faced this year and who should play his coach on screen.

How good does your team feel about itself right now?
Each week we feel confident. We practice how we play. When we have good practices it usually reflects on the field and the scoreboard.

What level of success will satisfy you guys?
Our first goal was to reach the playoffs and the win last week virtually sealed that deal.  ...Read More

Six three pointers for the High Point Wildcats just weren’t enough as the West Morris Highlanders sealed up another win, 54-43.

Exceptional performances by Shayna Ericksen and Julia Scanlon helped the Highlanders rack up another big conference victory. Leanna Tallamy and Alayna Donadio led the Wildcats as they fall to 14-3.

The first quarter began with a lot of pressure at both ends of the court. After Ericksen was able to win the tip off, the first two minutes of the game were filled with great defensive plays from both teams.

The first points of the game came from Jess Poole who was able to drive from the baseline to the basket for the layup. Multiple fouls from the Wildcats gave the Highlanders many opportunities to maintain possession and score points. A three pointer from Ally Tank put West Morris ahead 11 to 2, midway through the  ...Read More