Senior captain Patrick Malanga led the Hillbillies to a 37-25 victory over Caldwell High School in game one of the West Essex Holiday Tournament. Up at the half 16-11 Verona dumped in 15 points in the third quarter on the way to their third win of the season. Malanga scored 12 points aided by three 3 pointers and five rebounds. Anthony Huber had 11 points and eight boards and Sophomore Alex Kaslander had eight points and four assists. Sophomores Luke Weiss had seven rebounds and two points and Matt Braschi had three points, four assists and three steals.
The Verona High School girls team rolled to a 47-14 win in their opening round of the West Essex tournament. The girls took an impressive 31-6 lead into the locker room at half time on their way to their first victory of the season over Caldwell. Junior Amanda Langan led the Hillbillies in scoring with 11 points. Seniors Caroline Mols, Julieanne Mascera and Amanda Cummings combined for 17 points. Sophomores Remy Sullivan, Julie Rosenberg and Brielle Cummings combined for nine points. Freshman Sarah O’Neil had four points. Emily Aaron chipped in with six points.
In other tournament action, the Cedar Grove boy’s team up-ended the Knights of West Essex 65-60 and the Cedar Grove girls team edged the Lady Knights 38-37. Cedar Grove and the Hillbillies will meet in both the boys and girls finals on Thursday.
