IV Vitamin Therapy in Teaneck, NJ

Ally Sweeney led with 27 points, including three 3-pointers and by going eight of nine from the line, as sixth-seeded Sparta, No. 19 in NJ.com’s Top 20, downed second-seeded Old Tappan, 62-45, in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 tournament in Old Tappan.

Sparta (22-7) will face fourth-seeded Teaneck in the final on Tuesday.

Bailey Chapman added 16 points while going seven for seven from the line for Sparta, which led 23-18 at the half and finished with a 23-13 run in the final frame to seal the victory for an eighth consecutive win.

Sparta went as far as the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions last year.

Maya Giordano led everyone with 33 points while going seven of eight from the line to lead Old Tappan (22-5).

Teaneck 53, No. 13 Montville 51

Lexi Carnegie posted a game-high 22 points and six rebounds as fourth-seeded Teaneck upended top-seeded Montville, No. 13 in NJ.com’s Top 20, in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 tournament in Montville.

Teaneck (19-7) will host sixth-seeded Sparta in the final round on Tuesday. The Highwaymen made it as far as the quarterfinal round in the tournament last year.

Erin Frazier added a double double of 10 points and 10 boards for Teaneck, which led 25-21 at halftime and held off a surging Montville (24-5) in the fourth quarter to win.

Demi Simpson was good in the paint with 10 rebounds in the victory.

Grace Kowalski paced Montville with 15 points.

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FRIDAY, FEB. 24

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FEATURED GAMES

Prep A Final

St. Benedict’s 76, Blair 55

North 2, Group 1 semifinals

Newark Tech 56, American History 50

South, Group 1 semifinals

Woodbury 48, Pitman 44

Central, Group 3 semifinals

Ewing 77, Colts Neck 41

North, Non-Public A quarterfinals

Bergen Catholic 63, Seton Hall Prep 52

South, Non-Public A quarterfinals

Rutgers Prep 78, St. Augustine 74 (OT)

State tournament brackets

TOP 20 SCOREBOARD

STATEWIDE SCOREBOARD

Friday, Feb. 24

2-Shore 48, 3-Point Pleasant Beach 37 - Box Score

1-Eagle Academy 51, 4-Keyport 47 - Box Score

2-Nottingham 73, 6-Robbinsville 57 - Box Score

1-Ewing 77, 5-Colts Neck 41 - Box Score

3-Paterson Charter 65, 2-Park Ridge 45 - Box Score

1-Cresskill 72, 4-West Caldwell Tech 59 - Box Score

1-Ramapo 55, 4-Pascack Valley 53 - Box Score

2-Teaneck 63, 3-River Dell 42 - Box Score

1-Newark Tech 56, 4-American History 50 - Box Score

2-Hoboken 63, 3-Weehawken 48 - Box Score

4-Colonia 64, 1-South Plainfield 45 - Box Score

6-Snyder 76, 7-Payne Tech 62 - Box Score

2-Woodbury 48, 6-Pitman 44 - Box Score

4-Burlington City 49, 1-Wildwood 46 - Box Score

4-Moorestown 32, 1-Mainland 29 - Box Score

10-Ocean City 56, 11-Absegami 39 - Box Score

3-St. Peter's Prep 74, 6-DePaul 48 - Box Score

1-Don Bosco Prep 43, 9-Hudson Catholic 41 - Box Score

5-Bergen Catholic 63, 4-Seton Hall Prep 52 - Box Score

7-St. Joseph (Mont.) 49, 2-Delbarton 40 - Box Score

1-St. Thomas Aquinas 99, 8-Timothy Christian 40 - Box Score

4-Roselle Catholic 98, 5-Morris Catholic 63 - Box Score

6-Montclair Immaculate 81, 3-St. Mary (Ruth.) 45 - Box Score

2-Gill St. Bernard's 64, 7-Saddle River Day 59 - Box Score

5-Union Catholic 64, 4-Paul VI 58 - Box Score

6-St. Joseph (Met.) 71, 3-Immaculata 68 - Box Score

7-Rutgers Prep 78, 2-St. Augustine 74 - Box Score

1-Camden Catholic 62, 8-Red Bank Catholic 33 - Box Score

4-St. Joseph (Hamm.) 77, 12-Doane Academy 72 - Box Score

3-Ranney 86, 6-Gloucester Catholic 54 - Box Score

2-Bishop Eustace 48, 10-Trenton Catholic 43 - Box Score

1-St. Rose 65, 8-Holy Cross Prep 47 - Box Score

1-St. Benedict's 76, 2-Blair 55 - Box Score

The N.J. High School Sports newsletter now appearing in mailboxes 5 days a week. Sign up now and be among the first to get all the boys and girls sports you care about, straight to your inbox each weekday. To add your name, click here.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.

The public sectional semifinals in the NJSIAA girls basketball tournament wrap up this weekend. The North Non-Public A/B semifinals are scheduled for Monday.

Here are the North Jersey teams headed to the finals in their respective sections.

SCOREBOARDLive NJSIAA girls basketball brackets from every section in North Jersey

North 1, Group 4: Eastside

WHEN/WHERE: Monday, 4:30 p.m., at No. 1 Union City

WHAT TO KNOW: After winning Saturday’s sectional semifinal at No. 2 Morristown, 45-40, the No. 3 Ghosts (24-5) will face the team that knocked them out in the 2022 North 1, Group 4 semis.

The good news for Eastside is, during its current run of 22 wins in 23 games, one of those victories came against Union City, 49-39, in the Jan. 7 HUrban Legends Showcase in Paterson.

“I’m pretty sure the gameplan will be different on both ends, because we’re not the same team that we were when we played them earlier in the year,” Eastside coach Brandon Pilgrim said. “And I don’t think that they’re the same team – they’ve been playing great basketball.”

POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Ghosts are in their first sectional final since 2016, which came a year before the program was rocked by a recruiting scandal. Prior to that, they won six titles from 2002-14. Union City is the defending champ.

KEY PLAYERS: Guard play has carried Eastside all season long, with Symiaha Brown-Cobb, Nevaeh Banks and Nyasia Pauldo passing and shooting. But don’t forget about forward Ron’Shanae Austin, who had a big game (16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) against Morristown.

QUOTABLE: “For my five seniors that are playing, they wanted to leave a legacy, because they were the class that came in after everything went on at Eastside [in 2017]. So, they wanted to be the class that turned everything around, and they have been.” —Pilgrim

North 1, Group 3: Teaneck

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, 7 p.m., home against No. 6 Sparta

WHAT TO KNOW: The No. 4 Highwaywomen (19-7) knocked out top seed Montville in Friday's semifinals, 53-51, holding on after the Morris County finalists whittled down an eight-point margin in the final minute.

Teaneck faced Sparta (22-7) on the road two weeks ago, and despite trailing by just two with three minutes to play, dropped a 61-48 decision.

"As a young team, you learn, and we made some mistakes down the stretch," coach Brad Allen said. "We learned that they're a very disciplined team, very efficient, and they shoot really well. And their Division I point guard, Ally Sweeney, makes them go."

Sweeney reached 1,500 career points in a 62-45 semifinal win at Old Tappan. The Spartans have been without Brynn McCurry all season due to an ACL injury, though Teaneck agreed to allow the Villanova commit to score one final basket ? uncontested ? in Sparta's Feb. 13 Senior Night game. (The Highwaywomen were then given a free basket to start the game even at 2-2.)

POSTSEASON HISTORY: Sparta is the defending champ, while Teaneck is in its first North 1, Group 3 title game since 2014, which was the last of eight consecutive sectional-final appearances.

KEY PLAYERS: Teaneck junior forwards Erin Frazier and Demi Simpson tallied 10 rebounds apiece against Montville, while freshman guard Lexi Carnegie (22 points, 6 rebounds) had the sixth 20-point game of her young career.

QUOTABLE: "The girls are pretty excited. They are really, really hyped to bring back the legacy of the program, and the boys are also in the sectional final as well. So we have the support of their program and the community." —Allen

North 1, Group 1: Park Ridge

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, 6 p.m., home against No. 5 Boonton

WHAT TO KNOW: The No. 3 Owls (17-13) seemed headed for another showdown with NJIC Patriot rival and top seed Cresskill, before the Bombers (22-5) pulled a semifinal upset, 42-33 on Friday.

"I wasn’t surprised that they came away with a win," Park Ridge coach Ryan Dennis said of Boonton. "I know they have an outstanding starting five, and they play a very good base [half-court] game."

In their semifinal win, the Owls were able to withstand the pressure defense of No. 2 Passaic Charter (20-6) and kept the Panthers from putting together big runs.

POSTSEASON HISTORY: Park Ridge fell to Cresskill in the 2019 North 1, Group 1 final and remains in search of its first sectional title. Boonton, which lost to the Owls in the 2020 first round, last won a sectional crown in North 2, Group 2 in 1990.

KEY PLAYERS: While sophomore Allie Shenloogian (968 career points) makes the Park Ridge offense go, junior guards Mary Grace Craffey and Abigail McManus have been unsung heroes. Dennis called them "great leaders," adding, "their ability to grind on the defensive end helps make us successful."

QUOTABLE: “We’re excited it's at home," Dennis said of the sectional final. "It's an exciting thing for Park Ridge… the girls have never won it, and the boys last won it in 1965." —Dennis

Also keep an eye on…

? Secaucus gave the NJIC two sectional finalists by besting Jonathan Dayton (Springfield), 64-43, in Saturday's North 2, Group 2 semifinals. One round after surpassing 1,000 career points, junior guard Alyssa Craigwell netted 22 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals to propel the top-seeded Patriots (27-3) to the final, where they will host No. 2 Madison (22-4) on Monday.

? Monday's North Non-Public A semifinals will bring about the fourth meeting of the season between division rivals Holy Angels (17-9) and Immaculate Heart (22-4). The No. 5 Angels upended No. 4 Newark Academy in Friday's quarterfinals, 61-42, while No. 1 IHA dispatched No. 9 Paramus Catholic, 60-35. The Blue Eagles' three wins against Holy Angels this winter have been by an average score of 57-42.

? Two North Jersey teams remain alive in North Non-Public B. Four-time defending champ and top seed Saddle River Day (20-5) hosts No. 4 Immaculate Conception of Montclair in one semifinal on Monday, while No. 3 Immaculate Conception of Lodi (21-4) visits No. 2 Morris Catholic, last year's runner-up.

"A complete disaster" were the words custom cake shop owner Justin Ellen used to describe the first cake he ever made just seven years ago.

Self-taught and inspired by baking shows on YouTube, the Passaic native didn't start with a simple, single-tiered cake. No, Ellen went big: Three tiers.

Ellen was less than pleased with his results, time and time again, but he learned far more than he lost and, eventually, the success he saw was beyond his wildest dreams.

At 16, Ellen launched his business, "Everything Just Baked." He missed out on prom and high school graduation to film "Is It Cake?" on Netflix.

Ellen was raking in a six-figure salary as a teen and now, at 20, Ellen is making headlines once again: This time for making Mary J. Blige's 52nd birthday cake.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Everything Just Baked ! (@everythingjustbaked)

Ellen, however, has no time to sit around thinking about his past. He's focused on the future.

"I still feel early in my career," said Ellen, who has 121K followers on Instagram, and says baking tools, mixes and custom cakes on his website. "I'm still deciding what I want to be seen as."

He's certainly got time to figure that out.

Ellen started baking when he was 7 years old old alongside his mom and grandmother. They made lots of pies and cookies, but not cakes.

"We weren't a cake family," Ellen said with a laugh.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Everything Just Baked ! (@everythingjustbaked)

A freshman in high school and inspired by Yolanda Gampp's wildly popular baking tutorials "How To Cake It," Ellen learned cakes himself.

"It was definitely hard," he said. "I couldn’t make a one-tier but I went right to making three tiers. I was like, 'What's the worst that could happen?'

"It was a complete disaster."

Every day after school, Ellen set up shop in his family's kitchen and practiced, and practiced, and practiced.

By junior year, his cakes were in good shape, looking and tasting better every time. That's when he launched "Everything Just Baked," selling six-inch cakes for about $60, according to CNBC.

Ellen put his cakes on social media, where producers for Netflix's "Is It Cake?" found him. The premise was to bake cakes that look like everyday objects. Ellen made a raw steak cake and a taco box cake.

The show boosted both his self-esteem and his career, he said.

"I knew a lot of people were going to watch but I didn't realize how many," he said. "I was in Mexico and people were recognizing me. I was all the way from Jersey but I was being seen in Florida."

While his peers enrolled in college, Ellen attended "YouTube University," he joked. While there were times Ellen felt like he was missing out on the college experience, he didn't want to undo any progress he'd made with his business. And so, he continued baking.

"I kept practicing and the more I posted, the more orders I'd get," he said. "I spent a year working on the business, posting more cakes, putting myself out there, going to wedding expos, and trying to get more clients."

The same year he graduated high school, and was making enough money to support not just himself, but a whole family. Ellen was starting to get more press, and more orders. Finally, he felt his hard work was paying off.

Sometime last year, a caterer that Ellen knew through the industry mentioned that she was close with Mary J. Blige, and that he should bake her birthday cake in January 2023.

Ellen designed a multi-tiered black, white and gold cake with sparklers for the party, enjoyed by Blige and other music artists. Ellen made a smaller, simpler cake for a smaller birthday event Blige held for close friends and family.

"Saturdays and Sundays were cleaning days when I was younger, and my family would be playing her music," Ellen said. "Now it's like, I make cakes for her."

Ellen hopes his story will serve as inspiration to other youth and people in the Black community.

"You don't have to go the traditional route," he said. "Selling cakes might not seem like a possible career, but the opportunities are endless.

"Five years ago, 'Is It Cake?' didn't even exist. So today, what you're dreaming of might not even be here yet. You might create something."

Click here to shop Ellen's website.

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Weeks after a train derailed in a small town in Ohio, spilling toxic chemicals into the air and water, a New Jersey lawmaker wants a renewed look at a train-safety bill she introduced in September.

The bill (A4442) would require certain train operators to provide cleanup plans to the Department of Environmental Protection in the case of any hazardous material leaking or a derailment similar to the Feb. 3 one in East Palestine, Ohio. A copy of the plan would be shared with local officials and the state Office of Emergency Management.

“Trains go within 100 feet of different businesses, homes, places of worship. It’s a big concern to know how to react to accidents as quickly as possible,” said Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Bergen), sponsor of the legislation. “We want to make it transparent so that in case of an emergency, we know exactly what’s on the train.”

While Park said the bill is garnering more support among lawmakers as questions continue to swirl around the Ohio train derailment, she’s been paying attention to the issue for a long time as a nearby Englewood Park resident.

For years, residents have reported freight trains idling hundreds of feet from their homes, she said. A 2015 CBS News report says residents complained about the possible release of carcinogens into the air from freight trains that carry crude oil and idle for hours at a time.

Last year during a meeting to call attention to the issue, Park said she could hear the loud trains rumbling close by.

“It could just take a second for an accident to occur. Maybe it’s not all 10 cars exploding at once, but it takes just one leak, or running over an animal, or something like that, and we’d have a huge disaster on our hands,” she said in a phone interview.

The bill wouldn’t address the original cause of the East Palestine crash — officials believe it may have been caused by a wheel bearing on a rail car that overheated — but it could have avoided problems surrounding the cleanup, Park said.

The trains cars that derailed Feb. 3 carried vinyl chloride, a carcinogenic material, and toxic fumes were released during a controlled burn that authorities said was meant to prevent an explosion. Residents within one mile of the burn were temporarily evacuated.

Park’s bill would apply to “high hazard” trains hauling 200,000 or more gallons of petroleum or petroleum products, or 20,000 or more gallons of other hazardous substances.

The bill would require train operators’ cleanup plan to include information on the type of emergency response measures they plan to use in the event of a spill of hazardous material, the type of equipment they have available for such a cleanup, a list of names and addresses of all emergency response coordinators they plan to employ, and more.

Ohio and federal officials have told residents of East Palestine that they have not detected dangerous levels of chemicals in the air or municipal water, but residents there have continued to report lingering chemical odors in the air and continued rashes and headaches.

If a similar derailment happened anywhere in densely populated North Jersey, Park said, the impact would potentially be more devastating.

“We’re more condensed, so it’s a big concern to us,” Park stressed. “We’re really trying to push this as a priority now, because should anything like this happen in a place like Teaneck, we want to have protocols set up.”

The bill has been previously introduced, sponsored in prior years by former Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who represented Bergen County. Now, she said, Sen. Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) plans to sponsor a Senate companion bill.

“It’s got to get done — it’s something we need to prepare for because we have a lot of trains running through Jersey that are carrying these high hazardous materials,” she said.

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