River Dell Varsity Girls Basketball Team races past Waldwick in the Joe Poli Tournament

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls Basketball Team (3-0) continued their impressive start to the 2025-26 season, cruising to a decisive 53-14 victory over the Waldwick Warriors (3-2) in the Joe Poli Tournament at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey.

Alexa DePol paced the team with a game-high 15 points while Val Visconti totaled 12 points and Maddie Roh accounted for 11 points.

Despite a week removed from the last game against Pascack Valley and the Christmas holidays, the Golden Hawks displayed absolutely no rust at all, opening with a lot of energy and jumping out to a quick 10-1 advantage behind back-to-back trifectas by Dalia Interiano and Alexa DePol. DePol added a jump shot for her fifth point of the game.

Meanwhile, Val Visconti, after being held scoreless against Pascack Valley, responded emphatically, contributing six points. Maddie Roth leveraged her size and length to attack the basket for several layups, finishing with seven points.

River Dell Head Coach Lindsay Steffner on the team’s performance in the first quarter, “We wanted to start off strong, and we talked about having some time off from that last performance and had plenty of time to work on some things.” “None of them were really happy the way we played down the stretch against Pascack Valley, and I made sure we went out as strong as possible and set the tone and never give up.”

“Our concept was we’re going to play from the opening tap and Waldwick was 3-1 going into the game and I didn’t have much film on them and saw them live the other day during the Christmas break and they played well.” “We wanted to put this game out of reach early and they got some good weapons.”

“That was the first time a team has played us in a zone, and you never know how you’re going to shoot and it’s a different look versus man to man and I was happy we were able to get the ball inside after we hit some threes.”

After Waldwick briefly narrowed the gap to 10-4, River Dell’s offense responded with a dominant 14-1 run, building a commanding 24-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Golden Hawks' relentless full-court pressure and double-teaming forced multiple turnovers, disrupting the Warriors' rhythm.

In the second quarter, River Dell continued to flourish on the offensive end with Hope Arturi contributing seven points while Alexa DePol picked up where she left off in the first quarter, tallying seven points as well.

The Golden Hawks' defense intensified, holding Waldwick scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Warriors finally broke the drought with a pair of free throws with under five minutes left in the half. At halftime, River Dell maintained a commanding 44-7 lead.

“It’s fun to watch a team when they move that fast and well and confident and nothing much more for a coach to say at halftime,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. “There was one little adjustment that was needed and normally I change matchups, defense and concepts with them.” “It’s a coach’s dream not having to do as much as far as X’s and O’s at halftime.”

At the start of the third quarter, the Golden Hawks burst out on both ends of the court, rebounding efficiently and generating steals that fueled a 9-0 run. This allowed bench players to gain valuable playing time.

“I’m glad that was I able to rest the kids today and for that reason the next game is going to be the hardest game of the year,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner mentioned. “Mollie(Irving) coming off the bench early and hitting a great shot and she’s young and confident out there and having her length is important defensively and having the ability to step out and shoot.”

“Emma Yeandle is another competitive kid like Molly, and they both play varsity sports in the fall, and that always helps to come in with the understanding of how this is going to be and a good challenge.” “We have Kayleigh Windram coming in and another varsity athlete in the fall and played field hockey and you have a lot of two and three sport athletes and no hesitation for them to go in and do what they need to do and stay competitive.” “Ava Guiterrez comes in hustles and there’s never a point where I have to tell Ava to go harder and she’s giving 100%.”

River Dell returns to action in the Joe Poli Tournament on Sunday, December 28th, against the Old Tappan Golden Knights(3-1) with tip-off set for noon at Pascack Valley High School.

“We watched their game against Hasbrouck Heights that is a very good Group 1 school and Old Tappan had a running clock in the third and fourth quarters,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner noted. “They’re big and athletic and go about nine kids deep and players coming off the bench.” “It’s a good matchup and we got to figure how to slow them down, they’re big inside and shoot the ball well and anything else with Brian Dunn they play extremely hard for 32 minutes.”

“That’s why I love the Christmas tournaments, and you always get to see a lot of familiar faces and good to see some of my Old Tappan students and familiar faces in the stands.” “Even former coaches are there and then DJ Nimphius and Brenda Canal are in the stands and a lot of legendary Bergen County coaches that come out and watch the girls compete.”