Newark Academy Sinks West Essex in 4th Quarter

Led by Jordan Jett's five 3-pointers and 19 points, Newark Academy overcame an eight-point deficit to beat West Essex 72-62 Tuesday in North Caldwell.

Miles Young, of West Essex, led all scorers with 24 points, but NA's Griffin Glatt poured in 10 of 16 points during the fourth quarter when the Minutemen outscored the Knights 28-10 to secure the victory.

Trailing by six after the first quarter, West Essex outscored NA 25-15 in the second quarter to grab a 40-36 halftime advantage.

"We didn't play well the first half, or the third period," Glatt said.

When the third quarter rolled around, West Essex kept up the heat, outscoring NA 12-8 in the period to seize a 52-44 lead entering the final period. 

"We didn't play well the first half, we had a lot of foul trouble," NA coach Jim Stoeckel said. "During the second half, we had a nice spurt of scoring. The guys gained a lot of energy, ending up taking the lead and kept it steady."

The Minutemen finally grabbed the lead in the fourth quarter behind Glatt's 10 points during the final eight minutes. 

Zaire Williams joined Jett and Glatt in double-figures for the Minutemen with 14 points.

In addition to Young's 24 points, Patrick Dyer added 13 points and Isaiah Dorval and Fusco each scored seven points for the Knights (0-2).

"As a team, during the first and second quarter, we backed off a bit and paid for it," said NA's Chris Cutri, who contributed seven points. "By the second half, our two leading scorers were out of the game, one due to foul trouble, the other injured. But we were still able to pull it together. We can call on anyone to step in and give solid minutes."