Ice hockey team in county finals

Aiden Lindgren connected for three goals and John Biegel added two goals and an assist as the top-seeded West Milford High School ice hockey team rallied for a 7-5 victory over fifth-seeded Wayne Hills in the semifinal round of the Passaic County Tournament on Friday night, Jan. 12.

West Milford (10-2) is scheduled to meet second-seeded Passaic Tech for the PCT championship at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17 at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne.

The Highlanders last reached the county final in 2014, when they defeated DePaul, 4-3.

Kyle Gregory added a goal and two assists and Anthony Weisse also scored for West Milford, which outscored Wayne Hills, 4-0, in the third period.

Lindgren, a senior forward, now leads West Milford in scoring with 15 goals and 15 assists.

West Milford also is slated to play Old Tappan at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19 at the Ice Vault Arena.

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

Boys basketball

Dean Deaver hit for a game-high 22 points, Ognjen Ljusic added 13 points and Tyler Liguori had 11 points to pace West Milford to a 60-50 victory over Lakeland there Saturday afternoon, Jan. 13.

After a 1-7 start, the Highlanders have won three of their past five games.

West Milford trailed, 30-29, at the half, before outscoring Lakeland, 31-20, after the break.

West Milford (4-9) was scheduled to play at Passaic Tech at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 18 before playing at Newton at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20.

Girls basketball

Avery Vacca scored a game-high 17 points, Sarah Benowitz had 11 points and Adison Arciniega added 10 points to spur the Highlanders to a 50-32 decision over Pompton Lakes there Jan. 13.

West Milford also earned a 41-37 victory in overtime over Wayne Valley at home Thursday, Jan. 11.

Vacca scored a team-high 20 points to pace the Highlanders, who outscored Wayne Valley, 4-0, in the extra session.

Vacca, a senior, leads the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game, followed by Benowitz, a sophomore, with 9.7 ppg.

West Milford (6-5) was scheduled to play host to Passaic Tech at 7 p.m. Jan. 18 before playing at Paterson Kennedy at noon Jan. 20.

Wrestling

In its lone match last week, West Milford scored a 45-33 decision over Demarest on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at home.

Jeffrey Papienuk (190 pounds), Spencer Ribitzki (285), Tyler Martinez (106), Colin Menier (138), Benjamin Marchetto (144), Jake Pasek (165) and Owen Menier (175) all won by pin fall to steer the win.

West Milford (8-5) is slated to host Paramus at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24.

Bowling

Mike McCloskey had a high series of 556 with a high game of 204 and Roberto Sanchez had a high series of 509, also including a high game of 204, to pace West Milford to a 7-0 victory over Dwight-Morrow on Monday, Jan. 8 at Holiday Bowl in Oakland.

Jaden Foster (456 series, 182 game) and Rebecca sledge (417 series, 149 game) also sided the decision for the Highlanders (4-4).