Montclair High School boys basketball continued its mastery over neighborhood rival, Montclair Kimberley, on Monday.
The Mounties defeated the Cougars, 66-57, for its seventh straight victory in the rivalry.
But more importantly, it handed 18th-seeded Montclair (8-5) the win to advance in the Essex County Tournament.
The victory over 31st-seeded Montclair Kimberley (10-5), helped the Mounties advance in the county tournament as they travel to 15th-seeded Orange on Thursday, Jan. 25 (6 p.m.). If the Mounties win over Orange, they will travel to second-seeded St. Benedict’s Prep on Jan. 27.
Against the Cougars, Montclair’s duo of senior Ben Price and junior Jahi Whitney were just too much for Montclair Kimberley with 21 and 19 points respectively.
“We just wanted to win and keep the streak going and win for the town,” said Whitney after the game.
Leading the way for Montclair Kimberley was junior Van Girton Marshal who had a team high 17 points including a dozen in the second half that kept the Cougars in the game.
Price said defensively they were looking to limit MKA’s perimeter shooting, especially senior Danny Hua. “Number three (3) has a good shot and we were trying to take that away,” said Price about Hua who had nine points, all threes.
Whitney and the other Mounties are happy to have Price back in Montclair after attending local rival, Immaculate Conception the last two years. “Ben is a tremendous player and can shoot,” said Whitney.
Montclair recently defeated Orange at their place, 59-54, on Jan. 18 and it sort of chided the Mounties that the Tornadoes received a better seeding. Price said the team needs to get on top of the Orange from the start in Thursday’s game. “We came out flat,” said Price about the Jan. 18 contest with Orange where the senior had a game-high 21 points.
Against Montclair Kimberley, Montclair had dominated the recent history between the two schools. The Mounties had won six straight with MKA before Monday’s contest including the 71-60 victory at Montclair in 2022.
The Cougars last tasted victory over Montclair in 2015.
Coming into the ECT preliminary contest both teams had a full head of steam. The Mounties had won four out of its last five games while MKA had been even hotter by winning seven of the last eight contests.
Montclair’s key against Montclair Kimberley was ball movement and getting down the floor on the fast break.
“We were trying to get everybody involved because we knew that they were going to use a zone (defense),” said Whitney. “And get everybody their touches.”
While the Mounties did a good job on Hua from beyond the three-point arc, Marshal hit five three’s including four that kept Montclair Kimberley in the game.
With Montclair leading most of the way in the first half, junior Martin Quiros (11 points for the game) put back an offensive rebound at the buzzer to hand the Mounties a 32-27 lead heading into the third quarter.
While Montclair Kimberley did not take the lead in the second half, the Cougars stayed close in the second half including slicing the Montclair lead to four inside the paint with a bucket from Cougars senior Ben Otner as the Mounties led 58-54 with 100 seconds remaining in the contest.
But every time that Montclair Kimberley went on a run, Montclair responded. Quiros completed a three-point play and hit a pair of free throws as the Mounties regained the upper hand with a 10-point advantage, 64-54 with 30 seconds left in the game.
While the Cougars aspirations for county supremacy are done, Montclair Kimberley is leading the Super Essex Conference Freedom Division and is primed to take the division for the second year in a row. The Cougars shared the Freedom Division title last season with West Caldwell Tech and Eagle Academy in the 2022-23 season.
Montclair Boys Basketball Schedule
(Games at 4 p.m. unless noted)
Jan. 25 at Orange, Essex County Tournament, 6 p.m.
Jan. 30 at Verona
Feb. 1 at Newark Collegiate
Feb. 6 Belleville
Feb. 8 at West Essex
Feb. 14 Immaculate Conception, 7 p.m.
Feb. 15 Nutley, 7 p.m.
Montclair Kimberley Boys Basketball Schedule
(Games at 4 p.m. unless noted)
Jan. 26 at St. Benedict’s Prep, TBD
Jan. 30 Eagle Academy
Feb. 1 Newark Academy
Feb. 6 at Newark Lab, 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 8 Cedar Grove
Feb. 15 Verona, 7 p.m.