River Dell Varsity Girls Basketball Team advances to the Bergen County Tournament Quarterfinals

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls Basketball Team (11-4, 5-0 Big North Patriot) advanced to the Bergen County Tournament Quarterfinals with a hard-fought 42-35 win over the Pascack Valley Panthers(11-7, 3-2 Big North National) in the Round of 16 at Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, New Jersey.

River Dell had six players reach the scoresheet, led by Morgan Sconza and Alexa DePol, scoring ten points.

"Anytime you get into the top eight and that's one of our goals by the end of season," River Dell Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. "Last year against Teaneck the last couple of possessions in the fourth quarter and we fell apart and had to start fouling." "That rings strong in my mind and that's where are and have another opportunity now."

The Golden Hawks were quickly down in the first quarter as Pascack Valley raced out to an 11-2 advantage behind the stellar play of Rain Gibbs, who netted ten points, including knocking down two trifectas.

The Panthers dominated on the offensive end, driving to the rim and knocking down perimeter shots. Meanwhile, River Dell struggled to get into a rhythm offensively and committed several turnovers.

"It was not the start we want but give credit to Pascack Valley, they came out firing and that happens with teams that rally around their seniors, injured or sick players and want to do the best they can, "Head Coach Lindsay Steffner described. "We took a long time to get warmed up and speed that Pascack Valley wanted to play at."

River Dell managed to right the ship as the quarter wound down. Alexa DePol drained a triple, followed by Val Visconti and Kasey Ziegler crashing the boards and grabbing offensive rebounds, leading to trips to the foul line. By the time the clock expired, the Golden Hawks had closed the gap to 14-12.

"We wanted to get the ball inside, and Val and Kasey do a great job on the boards, they're big and strong and athletic," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner noted. "We turned the ball over three consecutive times trying to get them the ball when we didn't need to and needed to work for a good possession." "The speed of the game, the sense of urgency and made some bad turnovers." "Once we got the ball inside, we got to the foul line."

Early into the second quarter, River Dell jumped ahead for the first time in the game, with Alexa DePol burying her second trey. The Golden Hawks' defense locked down with a tenacious double team once the Panthers crossed midcourt.

Sienna Riecken provided a significant spark off the bench, supplying four points but, more importantly, pulling down rebounds on both ends of the floor. River Dell stretched out the lead to 20-14 and held Pascack Valley scoreless until the two-and-a-half-minute mark when Raina Gibbs canned her third shot from behind the arc.

"We came back and made a little run there which was good, and we just needed to get them on their heels," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner stated. "We shifted and mixed up our defenses and got up on Raina Gibbs a little bit more because she was bombing from deep and making the shots and you have to guard her a little bit tighter."

"Sienna did a great job of providing minutes and with Val in foul trouble early and she got her hands on the ball and some confident rebounds and blocked a shot." "That was huge, and she was able to defend which is what I needed her to do at that point."

Pascack Valley ended the last few minutes on an 8-2 spurt to tie the game up 22-22 at halftime. Head Coach Lindsay Steffner on the message to the team at intermission, "The message was we didn't come out great and we needed to come out stronger and faster and put pressure on them defensively." "We needed to work for better shots and make them play defense and struggle a little bit to stay with our speed."

"I told them if we could push the ball and get up in transition and we need to start running and do what we do well and get some fast break points and always convert on them." "Now the score is zero-zero, and you've worked really hard, but we have to go out and make another run."

The Golden Hawks adhered to the message and erupted for an 8-0 blitz to open the third quarter with Alexa DePol and Morgan Sconza drilling trifectas.

"Their head coach (Jeff Jasper) had to call a timeout to settle his team down and they went into a little bit of a different defense," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner cited. "I felt we were in control of the game at that point, but it was just a matter of settling down and getting to the free throw line and start doing what we do well and able to leave some time off the clock and running a spreading offense then taking them one on one where we fit."

The Panthers ignited a rebuttal, with Raina Gibbs unstoppable offensively. She added eight additional points and increased her number of made shots from downtown to four. Heading into the fourth quarter, River Dell led 35-30.

In the fourth quarter, the game became a heavyweight duel and physical, with several fouls being called. Both teams' scoring outputs slowed considerably.

However, the Golden Hawks held the advantage as the quarter progressed, using a stifling trapping style or 2-3 zone defense to prevent Pascack Valley's offense from driving into the paint and getting clean looks from the perimeter. River Dell hit their free throws down the stretch as they held on for the victory.

"On one possession there were three players on the floor and people getting knocked over," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner remarked. "That's a credit to both teams and how much they wanted at that point and a boxing match and who was going to hold first." "It was one of those physical games where the refs' let things go and just play." "I'm just proud of the fact the girls got to the loose and jump balls and 50-50's quicker than they did and as time went on."

"I think mixing up the defense helped keep them off balance and they couldn't run their offensive set and struggling to get kids open," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner mentioned. "A couple of shots just either fell short or rushed and that type of rhythm was very helpful for us to put them back on their heels."

The Golden Hawks will face the Teaneck Highwaymen in a rematch of last year's Quarterfinals, in which Teaneck defeated River Dell 58-51. The teams square off on Saturday, February 8th, at Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, with tip-off set for 1:30 p.m. Teaneck rolled past Westwood 55-39 in the Round 16.

"We have another opportunity and obviously same kind of team and challenge we look forward to and a group three school and we might see them in the states," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner referenced. "We have been playing good basketball most of the season, competing and working hard and the girls like each other on and off the court."

There are two challenging and vital league games before the Golden Hawks turn their attention back to the Bergen County Tournament Quarterfinals. The first starts on Tuesday, February 4th, at 7 p.m. at Ramsey (10-6 3-2 Big North Patriot). Then, on Thursday, February 6th, the team will return home to face Westwood; also, at 7 p.m., River Dell won both first meetings against both schools.

"We're in the right position now and have two hard games and both teams want to come after us and definitely not an easy week at all before we even get to Teaneck," Head Coach Lindsay Steffner said. "Our main goal is to win the league every year and my focus is on Tuesday and Thursday this week."

"Ramsey is very talented team and they're well-coached and had a battle with us the first-time around and got outside shooters." "I keep telling the girls everyone wants to play their best game against us because they want to and know we're the only one in the league moving on right now and that's a little extra pressure to play with." "I tell them they got to carry that confidence, be sure of themselves and they need to take each game not lightly and get after teams."

"It's just a matter of prepping; you got to watch film and get the girls ready and about motivation and even less about skill." "At this point you need to just go out there and realize they're representing the school (River Dell High School), and they have all the talent in the world, skill and playbook to do what they need to do and it's just a matter of putting it in and executing the game plan."