WOHS boys’ hoops impress this year

By Steve Carfagna
Staff Writer
Head coach Mark Cacciacarne was certainly happy with his West Orange High School boys’ varsity basketball team as his squad finished the State playoff campaign with an 18-7 record.
And with a 10-4 mark in Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division play, which was good enough to put WOHS in third place in the highly-talented conference, the Mountaineer coach couldn’t help but be pleased with the overall performance.
“Winning isn’t easy, especially when you play in the SEC, which is the most competitive conference in the state of New Jersey,” he said. “All you can do is work hard, prepare, and try and go out and play your best every night. I think there are a number of teams who would be thrilled to finish the year 18-7. Even though we didn’t achieve all the goals we challenged ourselves with, I think we had a solid year.”
Furthermore, Cacciacarne - whose squad finished behind Shabazz and University with all four of the conference defeats coming to the two Newark schools - said his players put in their best effort.
“In terms of meeting our preseason goals, we fell a bit short as our number one goal each year is to win the league championship, but then again, going into a new league
this year, we didn’t know what quite to expect. We would be playing new teams, in unfamiliar gyms, coaching against new coaches.
The top teams in the league just proved to be too much for us. It is nothing to be ashamed of. As of today, both University and Shabazz, the co-league champs, won their respective State sectional titles. If you do lose, you would like to lose to the best and those were our only conference losses. I think that says something about us as a team.”
In the postseason, Cacciacarne said his team enjoyed a solid first- round victory before getting eliminated in the second round.
“Our second goal each year is to compete to win a sectional championship and we fell short of that goal as well. We got off to a good start in the first round of the playoffs, beating Morris Knolls 67-49 but in the second round, however, we lost a tough game to Montclair 60-58, which ended our State championship hopes,” said the coach, who talked about the playoff defeat. “We just didn’t play well enough to win. As a team, we never make excuses and we always hold ourselves accountable. We just got beat. Our play was sloppy, our effort was inconsistent and we didn’t compete the way you need to if you want to survive and advance in the playoffs. Hopefully, we learned from the experience and do a better job the next time we are in that position.”
While the team might not have a won a conference or playoff title, Cacciacarne said his squad managed to win one trophy this season.
“One goal we did accomplish was winning our Holiday Tournament, which is the fourth consecutive year we have won it. I know it isn’t a league or State championship, but it is something we take pride in and hope to continue winning in the future,” said the coach.
The team’s season was highlighted by the 51-41 triumph against Newark Central, which was 17-5 at the time and ranked fifth in Essex County.
“They were also the champion of the SEC-Colonial Division, which had a number of tough teams this year. I think that game finally got us some well-deserved respect in Essex County. We held a team that was averaging well over 70 points a game to a season-low 41.”
The WOHS coach said his squad enjoyed much success due in part to the leadership put forth by the team’s six seniors - Rodney Clervil, Gerald Silvera, Sharrod Coleman, Toby Onyeche, Jordan Minor and Lamar Powell.
“They all will be missed in some way,” said Cacciacarne. “Every member of the team has a role and an impact on the program. Sometimes what a player contributes shows up in the box scores and in the headlines, and sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, they are no more or less important than the other. I think this senior group really understood that. They were a fun group to coach and I will miss them all.”
In particular, Silvera and Clervil, a first-team all-conference player who will continue to play at Montclair State, were huge for West Orange in the win over Newark Central. In that game, Silvera, a second-team all-conference player who will play football at Temple University next fall, scored a team-high 21 points, while Clervil added 18.
Indeed, all the seniors will be missed. Ideally, the coach is hopeful his team’s returning players will assume the leadership duties next year.
“We started two juniors and one sophomore this year and as returning starters and seniors next year, we will be looking to Duane Morgan and Christian Smith for leadership,” said Cacciacarne, who talked about the two juniors. “Duane, a first-team all-conference player who is currently being looked at by Division 1 Fordham, could be dominant at times, while Christian, an honorable mention all-conference player and a jack-of-all-trades, will need to increase his role next year.”
Similarly, the coach said he would also expect to see bigger things out of sophomore Carlo DeChavez, a two-year varsity player; and junior guard Darris Moore, who got some varsity minutes this year.
Nevertheless, looking ahead, the coach said he liked the direction in which his program was headed.
“A program is never defined by any single game, whether it is a great win or a terrible loss.You are constantly moving forward, evaluating and learning, looking for ways to improve. Our varsity team was 38-17 over the past two years and that record puts us in with the elite teams of Essex County, the strongest basketball county in the state,” he said. “Even with the success we have had, we will continue to work hard and try to take the program to another level. As long as the kids continue to work hard, play together, and allow themselves to be coached, there are even better days ahead.”
Susskind leads Schechter
West Orange resident Jacob Susskind, a junior guard, was a key player for the Solomon Schechter boys’ varsity basketball team this season.

Worrall Community Newspapers

2009-10 All-Area Boys' Basketball

Name School Pos. Ht. Yr.
Muhamadou Kaba East Orange C. G 6-4 Senior
Tyrone Kornegay East Orange C. G 5-10 Senior
Mario Moody East Orange C. PF 6-7 Junior
Rodney Clervil West Orange G 6-1 Senior
Duane Morgan West Orange F 6-6 Junior
Gerald Silvera West Orange G 6-0 Senior
Femi Agunbiade Columbia C 6-6 Senior
Jamar Chavis Columbia G 5-10 Junior
Shacore Edwards Irvington F 6-4 Frosh
Geneve Montfleurry Irvington C 6-7 Junior
Lance Rhoden Orange F 6-1 Senior
Jamal Goodwin Bloomfield F 6-2 Junior
Lindon Lulgjuraj Bloomfield G 6-2 Junior
Kevin Philemon Bloomfield Tech F 6-2 Senior
Rashid Sabur Bloomfield Tech F 6-3 Senior
Chad Barnes Belleville G 6-1 Senior
Tommy Rosario Belleville F 6-3 Soph.
Carl Castor Glen Ridge F 6-2 Junior
Matt McMahon Glen Ridge F 6-4 Junior
Jacob Susskind Sol. Schechter G 6-4 Junior
David Wolkoff Sol. Schechter G 6-1 Senior
Brandon Smorto Nutley F 6-2 Senior

Players of the Year: Tyrone Kornegay, East Orange Campus; Mario Moody, East Orange Campus
Coaches of the Year: Daron Hoges, East Orange Campus; Mark Cacciacarne, West Orange
Editor’s note: The All-Area is selected by the Essex County sports staff of Worrall Community Newspapers and consists of schools in the WCN publishing area of Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Glen Ridge, Irvington, Maplewood, Nutley, Orange, South Orange, West Orange and Vailsburg. The athletes chosen also must reside in those municipalities.
Seton Hall Prep of West Orange was led by junior guard Sterling Gibbs and senior forward John Caprio, who had strong contributions this season. Gibbs resides in Scotch Plains and Caprio resides in North Caldwell.