West Orange Boys Get Their First Win

West Orange High School basketball coach Mark Cacciacarne knew his team was capable of taking a game over. He just wasn't sure when it would come. That time came late in the first half Tuesday night.

The Mountaineers' good play carried into the second half and resulted in a 63-37 victory over Nutley in the first-round of the Mountaineer Classic in West Orange. The Mountaineers won their first game of the season after three losses.

West Orange, which has won the tournament four straight years, will play Livingston for the tournament title at 7 p.m. Thursday night.The Mountaineers broke open a 24 halftime deadlock by outscoring Nutley 19-5 in the third period, then 20-8 in the fourth to put it away.

Senior forward Duane Morgan scored half of his 18 points to spark the run and help the Mountaineers build a 43-29 lead. Morgan also had eight rebounds and four blocks and teammate Carlo DeChavez scored 15 points. 

At one point, the Mountaineers were down by six points.

"We picked up the pace on defense,'' said Cacciacarne. "A lot of the trouble comes on offense when you're not getting your shots and we hadn't shot it well. We're an inexperienced team and it's just human nature — then you shoot poorly it saps the life out of your game. But we were made our shots (Tuesday night). We got some bounce in our steps.''

The coach said he felt the tide turning late in the half.

"About the last three minutes," he said. Morgan scored on rebounds off missed shots and he also had a put-back dunk that got the crowd going.

"I think the biggest thing we needed to do was play well, no matter what the situation or who we were playing," Cacciacarne said. "Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come."

Now, the Mountaineers prepare to play undefeated Livingtston (3-0). Livingston beat Clifton (0-3) in the first game of the doubleheader, like West Orange, breaking the game open in the third quarter with a 22-7 run.

"They're a solid, well-coached team," said Cacciacarne of the Lancers.