Highlanders beat Westwood, 37-24

Laurel Space scored 16 points and added nine rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals and Sarah Benowitz had 16 points along with two rebounds to pace the West Milford High School girls basketball team to a 37-24 victory over Westwood at home Saturday afternoon, Dec. 21.

Amanda O’Brien (two points, 10 rebounds), Sara Wardlaw (seven rebounds), Ally Gruber (five rebounds, two assists), Adison Arciniega (two points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals) and Vivian Sirnik (one point, five rebounds, two steals) aided the decision.

The Highlanders (2-0) opened their season with a 54-36 win at Indian Hills on Thursday, Dec. 19.

West Milford trailed, 33-30, after three quarters but outscored Indian Hills, 24-3, in the final period.

Space had all eight of her points in the fourth quarter and also totaled seven rebounds, eight steals, two assists and two blocks.

Arciniega led West Milford with 14 points, with Wardlaw adding 12 points.

West Milford will take part in the Blue and Gold Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27-28 at Pequannock High School.

Here’s how other West Milford teams fared last week:

Ice hockey

The Highlanders recorded a 5-2 victory over Fair Lawn on Wednesday, Dec. 18 at the Ice Vault in Wayne led by Kyle Gregory, who had two goals and two assists.

Timmy Riche and Derek Pizzariello each added a goal and an assist and Joe Barroquerio also scored while goalie Matt Montena halted 42 of 45 shots.

Riche then totaled two goals and an assist as West Milford forged a 4-4 tie with Lakeland on Friday night, Dec. 20 at the Ice Vault.

Pizzariello and Barroquerio also registered a goal and Gregory assisted twice in front of Montena’s 30-save performance.

West Milford (2-5-1) is scheduled to play Tenafly at 6:15 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27 at the Ice Vault.

Boys basketball

Ognjen Ljusic scored a team-high 19 points and Cole Stillman, Jonas Paulino and Tyler Liguori each dropped in 13 points to lead West Milford to a 67-55 season-opening victory over Indian Hills at home Dec. 19.

Liguori then scored a team-high 21 points as the Highlanders dropped a 66-52 decision at Westwood on Dec. 21. Ljusic added 13 points and John DelVecchio had 12 in the loss.

The Highlanders (1-1) will compete in the Blue and Gold Holiday Tournament on Dec. 27-28 in Pequannock.

Boys wrestling

West Milford hosted the Kochakji Holiday Duels on Dec. 21 and suffered losses to Bound Brook (41-36), Kittatinny (55-15) and River Dell (49-24).

The Highlanders will take part in the Ball Drop Brawl Super Quad at 9 a.m. Dec. 28 in Hillsborough.

Girls wrestling

Jackie Sloan earned a 10-7 decision over Gigi Santana to claim third place at 132 pounds at the Bloomfield Holiday Tournament on Sunday, Dec. 22.

Ariana Canipe also competed at 132 pounds and bowed to Sloan in 1:56 in the quarterfinal round.

Maddie Hammett at 138 pounds also competed in the tournament.

West Milford is slated to take part in the Lenape Valley Girls Jamboree along with Bernards, Cherry Hill East, Dover, Lenape Valley, Lodi, Morris Hills, Mount Olive, Notre Dame, Passaic and Voorhees starting at 9 a.m. Dec. 27 in Stanhope.