West Milford girls snap skid; bowlers earn first win

Sara Wardlaw totaled 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal, Delaney Piecuch added 10 points, four assists, two rebounds and one steal and Sarah Benowitz collected nine points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal as the West Milford girls’ basketball team snapped a six-game losing streak with a 51-46 victory over Pascack Hills on Saturday afternoon in Montvale.

Ava Scrimenti (seven points, eight rebounds, three assists), Aleksandra Ljusic (six points, six rebounds, one assist), Sara Foley (six points, four rebounds, two steals), Alyssa Kral (one rebound) and Peyton Sibley (one steal) aided the decision.

The Lady Highlanders (2-6) will play host to Passaic Valley on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. before welcoming Ridgefield Park on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 11 a.m.

Ice Hockey

Senior goalie Matt Montena turned in a sensational effort, making 48 saves and Timmy Riche scored twice and added an assist but West Milford/Pequannock lost to Wayne Hills, 6-3, on Sunday night at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne.

West Milford trailed, 2-0, before Riche scored and then assisted Jack Murphy’s goal to even the score. Wayne Hills then scored the next two goals to take the lead for good.

Montena owns a .911 save percentage this season having saved 531 of 583 shots. He halted a career-high 62 shots in a loss to Ridgewood on Dec. 12. A year ago, in his first season at the position, Montena stopped 1,039 shots.

The Highlanders (7-7) will play Mendham on Sunday, Jan. 18 at the Ice Vault Arena at 4 p.m.

Boys Basketball

Logan Deaver had 17 points, Blake Tyburczy added 12 points and Josh Moreno dropped in 10 points but the Highlanders rally came up just short in a 57-54 loss to Mahwah on Saturday in West Milford.

West Milford trailed, 37-17, at the half but outscored Mahwah, 37-20, in the second half.

The Highlanders (1-7) were scheduled to play at Passaic Valley on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. before hosting Pascack Valley on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m.

Wrestling

Tyler Martinez (113 pounds) and Jeffrey Papienuk (285 pounds) each won by pin, Colton Naccara won by major decision at 165 and Noah Monica earned a win by decision at 215 as West Milford bowed to Westwood, 57-19, on Saturday afternoon at Ridgewood high.

The Highlanders (1-8) will wrestle a quad meet at Butler on Saturday, Jan.17 beginning at 9 a.m.

Bowling

Victor Padilla rolled a high series of 582 followed by Jayden LeSane (497), Trent Hardison (483; 218 high game), Glenn Dowson (443) and Bodie Hearle (370) as West Milford (1-7) earned its first victory of the season, 7-0, over Dwight-Morrow at Bowler City in Hackensack.