On Friday night, the defending North 1 Group 1 champion Verona Hillbillies opened up the 2016-17 season at Bloomfield High School to face the Bengals. Despite a late fourth-quarter push, the Hillbillies could not come overcome Bloomfield’s timely buckets, ending in a 54-44 loss.
Bloomfield jumped out to a quick lead, outscoring Verona 14-5 after the first quarter. But in the fourth quarter, the Hillbillies scored 24 points to cut the deficit to six around the two-minute mark. In the last minute, free throws helped Bloomfield extend the lead back to ten by the final buzzer.
Seniors Jack Farrell and Travis Jocelyn led Verona in scoring with 15 points and 14 points, respectively. The Hillbillies will travel to West Essex High School to face the Knights on Thursday, December 22, at 7 p.m.
