North Jersey Defending Sectional Champs – Group 4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With less than two months until high school tryouts, let's take a look at our defending Sectional Champs from the North and where they stand entering the 2025-26 season. These are your Group 4 Sectional Champs from the 2024-25 season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>North 1</strong>&nbsp;-&nbsp;<strong>West Orange</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Orange took the #1 seed in North 1 Group 4 and rolled through the North on their way to an appearance in the Group 4 State Championship. It was a tie game entering the 4th, before they fell to , eventual State Champion Hillsborough 55-52. It was just the 2nd sectional title in program history and the first since 2018. West Orange lost 3 seniors from last year's squad including 2 of their top 3 players. Kyley Gary-Grayson is at Coppin State and 2nd team All-Group 4 player Anaya Karriem is at North Carolina A&amp;T and, with one other departed senior, West Orange loses 37% of their 3-point scoring, 49% of their points, 57% of their rebounding, 46% of their assists, 76% of their blocks and 42% of their steals. What returns for West Orange is 1st team All-Group 4 junior [player_tooltip player_id='825463' first='Rhyan' last='Watt'] (1st in 3-pointers last year, 1st in scoring, 3rd in rebounding, 2nd in assists, 5th in blocks and 1st in steals) who is will easily go over 1,000 career points in her junior season. Also returning are senior [player_tooltip player_id='1320515' first='Jordyn' last='Batts'] (5th in 3-pointers, 5th in scoring, 5th in rebounding, 3rd in assists and tied for 4th in steals), junior Kennedy Curry (3rd in 3-pointers, 4th in rebounding, 4th in assists and 2nd in blocks), junior Elianna Dennis (3rd blocks) and sophomore Taraji Muhammad (4th in scoring, tied for 5th in assists and tied for 4th in steals). If last year's supporting cast steps into more prominent roles they will have a to repeat in their section where Morristown Kearny and Ridgewood will be chasing the trophy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>North 2</strong>&nbsp;-&nbsp;<strong>Westfield</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>#2 seed Westfield went on the roaad to play defending champ and #1 seed Bayonne in the sectional final. The game was tied entering the 4th quarter, but when the buzzer sounded Westfield had a 62-55 victory. It was their 2nd sectional title in 4 years and only the 2nd in program history before they fell to West Orange in the Group 4 semifinals. Westfield will look to defend their title with a strong group of returning players including 4 of their 5 starters. What they lose are 2 seniors including 2nd team All-Group 4 Catie Carayannopoulos who collectively accounted for 12% of their points, 32% of their rebounding, 17% of their assists, 31% of their blocks and 16% of their steals. Perhaps no public sectional champ returns a stronger core than Westfield led by junior [player_tooltip player_id='739542' first='Mairin' last='Fowler'] (2nd on the team in 3-pointers last year, 3rd in scoring, 5th in rebounding, 1st in assists and 2nd in steals), senior Darby Hunter (5th in 3-pointers), 3rd team All-Group 4 senior Gettysburg commit [player_tooltip player_id='871374' first='Sophie' last='Lane'] (1st in 3-pointers, 1st in scoring, 3rd in rebounding, 3rd in blocks and 3rd in steals), senior Scranton commit and top all-around player [player_tooltip player_id='601333' first='Megan' last='Logan'] (3rd in 3-pointers, 2nd in scoring, 2nd in rebounding, 2nd in assists, 1st in blocks and 4th in steals), junior [player_tooltip player_id='651501' first='Molly' last='McDermott'] (4th in assists) and junior [player_tooltip player_id='835824' first='Catherine' last='Oliveira'] (4th in 3-pointers, 4th in scoring, 4th in rebounding, 5th in assists, 5th in blocks and 1st in steals). With a talented group of returning players, Westfield is the favorite to repeat as sectional champs and represent the North in the Group 4 State Championship. They will have to hold off Bayonne and Plainfield on their journey to repeat.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->