“Hubie” put the first points on the board for the Verona High School boys basketball team on Thursday night, and the rest of the game was pretty much his.
Senior Anthony Huber almost scored more points than the entire Cedar Grove team as Verona defeated Cedar Grove by a score of 51 to 32. The two teams met in the West Essex Holiday Tournament at Caldwell College, which was the first time that the Verona boys and girls teams both faced their Cedar Grove rivals in the finals.
A full 25 of the Verona boys’ points came from Huber, who also muscled nine rebounds and three steals for his team, the senior’s best game so far this season. Patrick Malanga, also a senior, had seven points, seven rebounds and six steals on the night, while sophomore Luke Weiss put up six points and grabbed nine rebounds for Verona. Fellow sophomore Matt Braschi contributed five steals to the game, which also saw a lot of court time for freshman Frank Ferrari. The top scorers for Cedar Grove were Joe Slattery and Paul Rufo, with nine points apiece. The Verona boys made it into the finals after beating Caldwell 37-25 earlier in the week. They face Caldwell again on Tuesday, January 4, in a 4 p.m. home game.
The game between the Verona and Cedar Grove girls teams went the other way, ending in a 38-23 victory for the Panthers. Sophomore Julie Rosenberg was the top scorer for Verona, with eight points. Junior Amanda Langan contributed seven points and grabbed 16 rebounds, her best rebound performance this season despite being slightly under the weather. Senior Caroline Mols had six points and four rebounds. The Verona girls had beaten Caldwell 47-14 to get into the finals.
The game had been close until the third quarter, when Cedar Grove went into high gear. The Panther’s Gianna Cuffari was named tournament MVP. The lady Hillbillies’ next game is Thursday, January 5, away against Bloomfield. That game also has a 4 p.m. start.
