River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Girls Basketball Team 2025-26 Season Recap

Despite the River Dell Golden Hawks Varsity Team (18-7, 9-1 Big North Patriot) 2025-26 season concluding in a disappointing 68-49 loss to Teaneck in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 3 Tournament Quarterfinals at River Dell High School, numerous accomplishments were achieved.

Coach Lindsay Steffner said, "We didn’t start as planned. Teaneck was well-prepared; they ran the floor very fast. We aimed to set up a zone, but couldn’t get back quickly enough at first and made too many unforced errors against their speed. Once we settled in, we played decent basketball, but the early damage was done."

“Dalia really did a great job of getting the ball from Point A to Point B once we were in the half court and we weren’t able to get ourselves comfortable.” “Normally we can move the ball a lot better, but Teaneck took the ball away from us with their length and they’re very athletic.”

“We actually got them into foul trouble and we’re in a good spot for a while but their guards starting hitting some outside shots and it was one of those games if we can just kind of hold them and settling into the speed and pace of the game we would be fine but number 4(Jillian Carter) starting making some really tough shots and a very good player and had a great game and stepped up whether they were down or not and when they needed a run and put on the jets in transition.”

“My girls played great and we were up against a very good team and on any given day we could be up there, but their athleticism and size are something we normally don’t go against.” “I think we have a fast team, but they made us slow at times and we really needed to convert more baskets to slow them down.” “On the offensive rebounds they were two steps ahead of us at times and if we made a few more baskets and a lot of easier ones and we shot something like 35 percent from the foul line.”

The team achieved 18 total wins, captured the Big North Patriot League Title for the sixth time in the past seven years, and began the season by winning eight of its first nine games. They secured two five-game winning streaks, earned the seventh seed in the Bergen County Tournament, and delivered a strong battle against defending champions Saddle River Day, narrowly losing 55-52. Additionally, as the fourth seed in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 3 Tournament, the team scored a season-high 85 points in a first-round victory over Wayne Valley.

“I’m proud of the girls grit and effort and they never let up.” “We worked hard to get the higher seed and play in front of our home crowd, “ Head Coach Lindsay Steffner described. “We were able to give the seniors a chance to come off the court in the final 30 seconds and I think it was really important to hear the cheers for them, and it’s been a great four years for them and a lot of learning and hard work.”

“It’s a full year when you play basketball and involved with the off-season and summer stuff and feels like a long season when you’re giving up a lot of vacation and weekends to play high school basketball.” “If it was easy a lot of kids would do it and a nice way for the seniors to get that acknowledgement and be appreciative of their contributions and that’s three out of four league championships in their career and says a lot about the group.”

“I’m very proud of them and they represent us very well on and off the court.” “The brand we’re putting out there is just not about working hard but also being friendly and supportive people to the community and we try to give back by doing camps and clinics.” “The girls are familiar faces in the community and important for them to recognize they’re role models and a big emphasis in our programs and being multi-sport athletes and a big part of who we are.”

“I want the girls to have a great high school experience and being a representative of River Dell High School in many ways.” “Delaney(Kristan) tutors after school once a week, they’re in the National Honors Society, representing us on National Girls Sports Days and represent a culture that has been doing very well for the past 10 years which is hard to do so when look at the different programs and high schools.”

“It’s a tremendous class as far as personality and the inside jokes and kept things light hearted and worked really hard and were an easy group to coach.” “You would say jump and they say how high and just set the bar as far as their work ethic.” “To piggyback off what we did last year with Kasey(Ziegler), Morgan(Sconza) and Angela(McDonough) and those were also easy leaders and they just wanted to get to practice and looked forward to the next drill and stay in the gym longer and longer and be there to get extra shots up after practice and eager about the scouting report and asking good questions and that’s not always the case in high school and been a pleasure to coach them.”

Regarding the players, Hope Arturi ranked among the Top 3-point shooters with 58 made, while Dalia Interiano dished out 168 assists, placing her in the Top 3 in assists for the Class of 2027 in New Jersey. Postseason honors: Val Visconti, 1st team All-League, 2nd team All County, All Group 3 North Jersey, 3rd Team All North Jersey; Alexa De Pol, 1st Team All-League, Honorable Mention All County; Maddie Roth, 2nd Team All-League; Dalia Interiano, 1st Team All-League, 2nd Team All County; and Emma Yeandle, Honorable Mention All-League.

“It’s been a pleasure to coach them and not much drama and not always the case,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner noted. “They took responsibility when they messed up and always wanted to make sure they had each other’s backs and really stuck together what could have been a challenging season.”

“Two outstanding basketball contributors but also three outstanding leaders and Dalia stepped up at point guard and Hope barely averaging three minutes a game last year and she started this year and our leading scorer for half the games.” “Maddie comes in and is a big question mark and how is she going to fit in and what her role is going to be and is she going to remember how to play basketball at this pace and that just went out the window in her first week because of the personalities and willingness to buy in.”

Before you know it, the 2026-27 season will be upon us with a massive void left due to the graduating seniors, but still enough pieces to shoulder the weight, and the Golden Hawks will be attempting to win another Big North Patriot League Title and make a deep run in the Bergen County Tournament and State Tournament Playoffs.

“It’s a matter of who’s next up and ready for the next challenge and stepping up their game,” Head Coach Lindsay Steffner stated. “Embracing that leadership role and working really hard to make it work next year.” “We have a lot of young talent coming up and the freshman team started really jelling by the end of the season, and our JV team started playing a little bit better as the season went on.”

“I got a great coaching staff that’s helping this mold together and put out a really good product and we have incoming eighth graders and some of them are talented enough to contribute and the future looks bright.” “It’s just a matter in the offseason of we got to put this puzzle together.”

“It’s not easy to win the league six out of the last seven years and I think the biggest run we’ve had at River Dell and looking at the banner correctly.” “We’ve had very good players going through the program since 1975 when our program started and we’ve been in the top eight or nine teams in North Jersey the last six years and we’re doing what we need to do.” “I think that goes down to the coaching staff, program, and community and everyone’s kind of buying into what’s we’re doing here and having a good experience and really embracing the challenge and representing River Dell in a way that’s a really positive product.”