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The West Milford Highlanders came out firing, took a double digit lead and went on to beat Passaic Tech in boy's basketball to improve to 9-0. The Highlanders played a complete game and looked in control throughout on their way to the 83-69 victory.
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The Highlanders established their fast pace tempo early, creating havoc which lead to easy lay ups by seniors Chad Houser and Jason Sofman. Before long, they had a double digit lead as they outscored Passaic Tech 26-13 in the period. The second period saw the Bulldogs show some fight and cut into the lead. Tech went on a late 10-4 run and went into the half only down six.
The second half started with Passaic Tech cutting the lead to three, only to be answered by the Highlanders with a 11-2 run of their own. The Highlanders hit several big three pointers to shatter Passaic Tech's sports hopes. While the Bulldogs were putting up some bad shots, Rob Nylund, Mac Morando and Nick Solicito were all hitting from downtown.
West Milford is a basketball team built to win now. With five senior starters and another five on the bench, this is an experienced team with great depth. As defending league champs, every team they face will play them hard and aggressive. With a series of tough games ahead, the coaching staff made practice adjustments. Coach John Finke said, “We have 8 JV players chasing our starters in practice to work on sustaining traps and full court pressure."
The Highlanders went to the New Jersey state sectional finals last year and endured a hard 3-point defeat to Wayne Valley. The county tournament was less gratifying, as they only reached the quarterfinals. Rob Nylund said, “We are playing well and want to go further this year."
The road doesn’t get any easier and the Highlanders will be tested as they will face two tough basketball teams from Paterson, first Kennedy on Saturday and Eastside on Monday. -- Emir Liguori for Jersey Sports Now
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