Basketball Recap: Wayne Valley Comes Up Short

The Wayne Valley Indians were within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Thursday as they fell 63-57 to the West Orange Mountaineers.

Zachary Derstine

Blocked Shots

01/01/26 vs West Orange	5
12/30/25 vs Passaic	1
12/28/25 vs Memorial	0
12/22/25 vs Teaneck	3
12/17/25 vs Passaic County Tech	2

When it comes to explaining why Wayne Valley lost, don't look at Zachary Derstine. Despite the final result, he almost dropped a double-double with 24 points and nine boards. With that strong performance, Derstine is now averaging an impressive 2.2 blocks per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyler Veale, who shot 53% from the field on his way to 17 points.

Wayne Valley's defeat dropped their record down to 4-2. As for West Orange, the victory made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 2-3.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Wayne Valley will challenge DePaul Catholic at 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday. As for West Orange, they will welcome Rahway at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Mountaineers will be up against the Indians' rather soft defense (which has allowed 59.71 points per matchup), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance.