River Dell Varsity Girls Basketball Team cruises past Ramsey

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls' Basketball Team(5-1, 1-0 Big North Patriot) didn't let a week off affect them as they cruised past the Ramsey Rams(4-3, 0-1 Big North Patriot) 67-52 at River Dell High School in Oradell, New Jersey.

For a second consecutive game, Val Visconti led the Golden Hawks in scoring, pouring in a game-high 19 points, while Morgan Sconza supplied 18 points and Alexa DePol delivered 13 points.

"I'm really proud of Val and the work she's put in to get this point," River Dell Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. "She's very strong, got great hands, super athletic and hard to stop inside." "Her starting off in such a strong fashion and helping us go the way we're going right now."

The Golden Hawks followed a similar blueprint to the Waldwick game by quickly racing to a sizable lead in the first quarter. Alexa DePol got the team off on the right note by tallying the game's first five points. Morgan Sconza followed DePol by burying two straight trifectas.

"A week off is a long time for us and you never know what's going to happen and going through the same kind of drills and concept and I challenged them during the week and glad they responded," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner described.

"The team definitely shared the ball quite well and that goes to the court vision between Morgan Dalia(Interiano) and unselfishness in sharing the ball, sometimes passing and taking their own shot and how well they get along and want to play together."

In the second quarter, Ramsey managed to trim the deficit to single digits, but River Dell responded with a 9-2 spurt to bump the margin back up to 31-16. The Golden Hawks spread the wealth on the offensive end, as six players scored in the quarter. By the time halftime rolled around, River Dell led 37-25.

"Ramsey is well-coached and they watch a lot of film and once you're in league play we know each other's habits and the way play and in our play calling so they were well-prepared for us," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner noted. "They went on a nice run, and we made a few adjustments here and there and worked on some things defensively."

"They hit some threes to cut the lead but we kind of weathered the storm and Sienna(Riecken) came in with a nice bucket off the bench and Hope(Arturi) gave us some good minutes and we were able to play seven players and played a lot of minutes and get some people playing time." "It freed up our starters and with the week off to took us a while to get into our rhythm."

Once the third quarter commenced, the Golden Hawks were able to maintain the double-digit advantage. Morgan Sconza continued to sizzle from behind the arc, draining two more triples, as River Dell went into the final frame up 51-39.

"Morgan's a floor leader on and off the court, and on the court, she asks the right questions," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner stated. "Just overall she's responsible and does the right things and in the River Dell community a true leader."

In the fourth quarter, the Rams did not go away quietly. With less than five minutes remaining, they narrowed the gap to seven points, 54-47. But once again, the Golden Hawks, showing their resilience, answered back with a blitz to regain the double-digit margin.

Once again, the Golden Hawks answered back with a blitz to regain the double-digit margin.

River Dell leaned on Val Visconti's size and length to pound the ball in the paint and low post as Visconti netted seven points. Eventually, the Golden Hawks gained separation and coasted to their second straight victory.

"Ramsey made a run at us, but our defense had a couple of lapses," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner remarked. "We don't give up 52 points, but we don't ever put up in the high 60s. It's one of those games you must learn from, and we have to execute better on offense and defense. "Their players are very talented, and Val had to guard their top player. They can all shoot threes, drive, and finish, which gave us issues, and they're a very well-rounded team.

River Dell faces a demanding schedule with four out of five away games starting at Westwood(2-4,1-0 Big North Patriot) on Thursday night. "We have a tough stretch coming up, and you're in league play and never know what's going to happen whether games are at four or seven," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner cited.

"Westwood is competitive and they're always well-coached and a battle against them and they have a couple of guards back and the Gashler(Erin and Greta) twins back and second leading scorer on the team last year." "They graduated a couple of really key players but they're playing well and played against tough teams in the Westwood showcase and record doesn't indicate how good they're right now."

"Getting into a routine and being really focused on the task at hand for that hour and half and I need the players locked in for the game plan and scouting report." "We need to be ready to go and can't afford a miss or a situation here." "You're in league play and whoever wins this league is maybe going to have one or two losses and it's going to be a battle so every game matters and I try to make sure we instill that going forward."