Immaculate Conception basketball: Boys, girls advance to ECT semis Saturday

The Immaculate Conception boys and girls basketball teams are back in the Essex County Tournament semifinals.

In the first game of a home doubleheader at Immaculate on Saturday, Feb. 4, the top-seeded girls team took care of ninth-seeded Glen Ridge, 66-32. Then, in the nightcap, the fourth-seeded boys dispatched fifth-seeded East Orange, 72-54.

The girls team (17-3) will take on fifth-seeded Columbia on Saturday, Feb. 11, at West Orange High School at 1 p.m. The boys (14-8) will get another crack at top-seeded Seton Hall Prep, also on Feb. 11 at West Orange High School, at 3 p.m.

Last year, both Lions teams reached the semifinals, with the boys losing in that round and the girls going on to win the tourney.

Senior Tavian Pullock, who was on last season's team, said that this year's squad has a better chance to make the finals.

"I think this year we are playing hard and more physically," said Pullock, who scored 16 points in the win over East Orange. 

In the girls’ win over Glen Ridge, senior guard Tyonna Bailey led Immaculate with 17 points while junior Brenae Jones and sophomore Nila Giraud added 13 and 9 points, respectively. 

In the first half the Lions jumped out to a 25-8 lead after senior Ciera Cevallos drained a three-point shot from the top of the key.

The Lions would never look back.

Bailey said the Lions have been looking to improve on their defense as the season progresses and added that they were trying to stop Glen Ridge's Savannah Steele and Riley O'Sullivan, the Ridgers’ top offensive producers.

"We knew that number 11 (Steele) and 14 (O’Sullivan) were their top scorers and tried to contain them," she said.

Bailey said that the team worked hard on the defensive end, leading to points. "We just focus on turning our defense into offense that leads to getting easy baskets," she said.

Immaculate laid the first loss on Glen Ridge and kept the Ridgers to their lowest point total of the season. O'Sullivan had 10 points, and Steele added 5.

In the second game, the boys made it a three-game sweep over the Jaguars. Along with Saturday's win, the Lions won 60-48 at East Orange on Dec. 22 and then collected a 67-61 victory at home on Jan. 24.

Along with Pullock's 16 points, T.J. Robinson had 21 points.

Like the girls, the boys jumped out fast.

Sophomore Akeem Langevine drained a shot with a little less than a minute left in the first quarter to give Immaculate a 19-4 lead.

The boys led the entire way, but East Orange did give them a little scare just before halftime. The Jaguars sliced the Immaculate lead to six, 29-23, with two minutes left in the half.

But Robinson completed a three-point play with three seconds left to increase the Lions lead to 38-25.

Immaculate continued to build the lead in the second half, and East Orange never was able to get close.

In the fourth quarter, Robinson surpassed a thousand points in his high school career, which includes playing out of state and at Teaneck High School.

"I knew that I was close, and my teammates kept telling me to score," Robinson said. 

Last year the boys team lost to Newark Central in the county semifinals.

Coming into the semis against Seton Hall Prep, Immaculate has split with the Pirates. The Lions lost to them, 61-60, on Jan. 21 and then defeated them, 60-57, on Feb. 2 on the road.

In that victory, Pullock had a big day with 22 points, while Robinson added 21.

"I was just getting to the rim and hitting my open shots," Pullock said. 

Robinson said it was the team's defense against the Pirates that was the difference. "We did a better job of containing their back-door cuts and their three-point shooting," he said.