River Dell Varsity Girls Basketball Team gets back on track with a resounding win over Pascack Hills

The River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls(9-2, 4-1, Big North Patriot) rebounded after seeing their 5-game-winning streak end with a commanding 70-32 victory over the Pascack Hills Broncos(3-8, 1-4 Big North Patriot) at River Dell High School in Oradell, New Jersey.

All five River Dell players reached double figures, led by Val Visconti, amassing 18 points, Alexa DePol supplying 14 points, Dalia Interiano totaling 13 points, Hope Arturi finishing with 12 points that were all three-pointers, and Maddie Roth adding 11 points.

River Dell Head Coach Lindsay Steffner on the win, “I was happy with their energy and after a loss we usually don’t have that big of a lull before the next game and felt like a really long time to get back on the court.” “We had a hard practice the day before and I didn’t take it light on them and pushed things a little bit and they responded.” “I appreciate the fact that the team was focused, ready to go and battle and played a great game.”

The Golden Hawks were tenacious on the defensive end, limiting Pascack Hills leading scorer Kate Glass to just two points, with Dalia Interiano doing a phenomenal job guarding Glass during the game.

“She’s playing great basketball right now and being more of a leader on the court,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner mentioned. “She’s gathering the team up and reminding them of what plays there are and what our game plan is and doing a really good job of leadership.” “She’s our best ball defender and to hold their leading scorer to one field goal and had 26 points against Ramsey and clearly capable of shooting and putting up numbers Dalia got her so flustered and didn’t really want to get a shot off and Dalia is playing a very well-rounded game of basketball right now.”

After the Golden Hawks had a couple of additional days to practice due to a cancelled game against Ridgewood, they opened with a lot of energy in the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. River Dell’s defense was setting the tone early on with Maddie Roth and Hope Arturi notching multiple blocked shots.

Pascack Hills managed to trim the deficit to 14-8 at the end of the quarter by compiling steals, layups, and jump shots.

“They’re a pesky group and took Westwood to overtime, only lost by a few to Ramsey and Mahwah and I told the group they got to be ready to battle,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. “They were going to make runs against us because they have some really good outside shooters and inside presence.” “The girls did a great job of keeping the game in perspective that even if you get out to a good lead a team is going to come back and keep fighting.”

In the second quarter, both teams traded trifectas, then Val Visconti took over the game by asserting her presence in the low post and paint. Visconti was relentless on the offensive boards, leading to layups, putbacks, and short jumpers that totaled 10 points.

On the flipside, the Golden Hawks shot the ball effectively from the perimeter in the quarter, knocking down three triples with Hope Arturi, Alexa DePol, and Dalia Interiano accounting for them, and River Dell holding a decisive 33-15 lead at halftime.

“I thought we played a complete game with everything we needed to do and executed the game plan perfectly,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner noted.” “Pascack Hills just didn’t have an inside presence to battle against our Bigs, and when they switched to a zone, our outside shooters came alive, and it’s a good chess match, and you always want to see what they’re going to do to slow us down, and they really didn’t have much against what we were doing.”

“I said to the team at halftime we’re not giving up and want to make sure we’re staying strong and do what we need to finish this game out and reminding them Pascack Hills will keep coming back in the second half.” “This first time around in the league has been very impressive for Pascack Hills.”

The Golden Hawks certainly adhered to the message set forth, shooting lights out from behind the arc with Alexa DePol splashing two treys, Hope Arturi adding another pearl, crashing the offensive glass for putback shots, slashing into the paint for short jump shots, and getting out on the fast break.

By the time the quarter ended, River Dell widened the margin to 56-25. Dalia Interiano chalking up six points in the quarter and Maddie Roth dropping five points and registering another emphatic blocked shot.

In the fourth quarter, the Golden Hawks' bench players saw valuable minutes on the court as River Dell cruised to the victory, with Ava Guiterrez scoring the final points of the game.

“Anytime you get your bench players in, and they play hard and do what they’re supposed to do,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner explained. “We were joking at the end of the game that Ava is shooting the highest percentage on team and she’s such a great kid and to see her light up at the end of the game and have success is just great.” “She’s always loud on the bench and helps us out.”

The Golden Hawks are back in action on Thursday, January 22nd, squaring off against a formidable opponent in the Ramapo Raiders(12-2, 4-0 Big North Freedom) that has reeled off seven consecutive wins in a row at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

“We’re going to watch film and go over the scouting reports and talk about their strengths and weaknesses,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner cited. “It just takes a perfect game we had on Tuesday and what we do well and defensively being scrappy and making Ramapo uncomfortable and potentially rushing their game a little bit.” “They’re well coached, got all-county players and by far this is the toughest matchup we’re going to have all season and we just have to get the girls ready to go and motivate them and you never know what’s going to happen and that’s the best part about high school basketball.”

“These are the games that are going to get us prepared, we’re not going to shy back and try some different things and better you try it now than kind of wing it at the end of the season.”