River Dell Varsity Girls Basketball Team puts up a valiant fight in a loss to Old Tappan in the Joe Poli Tournament.

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls Basketball(3-1) put forth a gritty effort in a 51-45 defeat to the Old Tappan Golden Knights(4-1) in the Joe Poli Holiday Tournament at Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey.

Maddie Roth led River Dell with 14 points, while Dalia Interiano added 12 and Val Visconti chipped in 10.

River Dell Head Coach Lindsay Steffner on the loss, “It was a great, early preseason matchup for high school in North Jersey, and everyone got their money’s worth for sure and seeing that game could have gone either way.” “We made a run and so did they and there were hard fouls and kids bleeding at the end and kids getting feisty with each other.” “That’s why we trained hard for a tough tournament like this.”

The Golden Hawks fell behind 9-2 in the first quarter as Old Tappan’s Sienna Drullinsky(21 points) dominated inside the paint and down in the low post, tallying seven points.

“We have to do a better job of defending a kid like that and she’s very athletic,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. “She’s very long and our guards did a great job on her, but we got into some foul trouble and that changed up certain strategies that I wanted to throw at her but give her credit she had a great game and put together a nice offensive game against us.”

However, River Dell began to chip away at the deficit by driving to the basket, drawing fouls, and hitting free throws. By the end of the period, the Golden Knights held a 15-9 advantage.

Dalia Interiano’s three-pointer early in the second narrowed the gap to 15-12, but Old Tappan managed to maintain their lead with less than three minutes remaining.

River Dell surged ahead late in the half, sparked by a 7-0 run and a clutch triple from Hope Arturi to take a 21-20 lead. However, Old Tappan responded quickly, closing the half on a 5-0 burst to regain control.

“At halftime, I told the girls we were right where we wanted to be,” Steffner said. “We missed some easy looks and didn’t execute in the halfcourt, but we just needed to settle in and play our game with energy and toughness.”

Once the third quarter got underway, the Golden Knights extended their advantage to 32-23 with less than five minutes to go.

Down by nine with three minutes left in the quarter, the Hawks rallied with a 6-0 run, including another Arturi triple and seven points from Roth, to close the gap.

“Our group showed a lot of resilience and Maddie’s got a different level of toughness that helps us and she will fight for a rebound, strong and is relentless and a hard match-up,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner described.

Roth’s momentum carried into the fourth quarter, where she completed a three-point play to tie the game at 37-37.

Moments later, she drove to the basket, drew a foul, and hit two free throws, capping an 11-0 River Dell run and giving the Hawks the lead.

Old Tappan broke their scoring drought with a free throw, then pulled ahead 40-39 on two more shots from Alexa Caunedo at the foul line.

River Dell answered with a layup by Interiano and a tough low-post basket from Visconti, making it 45-42 with three minutes left.

The back-and-forth action ensued as Old Tappan closed within 45-44 on Alexa Caunedo(11 points), two free throws. With 43 seconds to go, Nina Caunedo unleashed a pearl that put the Golden Knights in front.

River Dell was unable to score in the last three minutes while Old Tappan sealed the win with a 7-0 run and by hitting their free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the victory.

“It was a hard-fought game and by the fourth quarter we were kind of running out of steam,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner cited. “They have great defensive pressure and that’s one of the reasons they’re so good and from the opening tip it’s a physical game and our guards couldn’t get much room away from their guards and it makes you rush your shots a little.” “I’m happy where we’re at and we have a lot to learn and got some things to work on but for our fourth game we’re playing pretty well.”

River Dell wraps up the Joe Poli Tournament and their final game of 2025 against Secaucus (4-2), tipping off at 1:30 p.m. at Pascack Valley High School.

“John Sterling is one of the top coaches in New Jersey and they’re always going to be playing hard and are well-coached,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner remarked. “They’re quick and athletic and their small guards can shoot the ball and a handful.”