February
24, 2007
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| Matt Connolly scored 10 points as River Dell closed the regular season with a 54-49 win over Pascack Valley on Friday night. | |
HILLSDALE -- As for the expectations placed on the River Dell boys basketball team before the season began, well....there really were none. The Golden Hawks figured to be bringing up the rear in the BCSL-American Division and a spot in the state tournament was just about a case of wishful thinking. Not even their coach would have been surprised had this year gone south a long time ago.
“We were picked to finish last in the conference,” said Brian Long, the aforementioned head coach, “and we got out of the gate real slow.”
But instead of baling out on the season when it had the chance, River Dell went the other way. The Hawks fought back to within spitting distance of qualifying for the state tournament and then had a heckuva week to get in. They beat Dumont at the buzzer to get to 8-9 on the season and then beat Bergenfield in overtime on the cutoff day to hit .500 on number.
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| Pascack Valley's Sean Liddy led all scorers with 25 points. |
And they haven’t slowed down since.
By holding off Pascack Valley, 54-49, on Friday night, River Dell finished its regular season having won five of its last six games and will take a 14-10 record into the state playoffs. The Hawks will be an underdog in the opening round in North 1, Group 2 against league rival Englewood, which swept the season series, but it has been that way all year for a team that has turned what could have been a nightmare season into one to remember.
“Had the season gone downhill after we made the states, which could have happened because we put so much energy into just getting there, it still would have been a success considering how we started,” said Long. “I have been coaching now for 28 years and this team has overachieved as much as any as I have ever had. This is a fun team to coach. They play together, they work hard and they play defense.”
Against Pascack Valley, the Hawks were a few made free throws away from making it an easier night, but close games, wins and losses, have been the norm for the Hawks this year and they left PV hanging around until the final minute.
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| River Dell's Ryan Greenan finished with a team-high 20 points, including he layup and free throw that put the game away. |
Every time River Dell seemed to distance itself, the Indians, who were playing out the string in their final game of the season, found a way to get back in it. The Hawks led 24-16 at halftime and two Tommy Schick free throws put them up 10, 28-18, less than two minutes into the second half. But PV scored three straight baskets, the last two by Sean Liddy, who scored a game-high 25 points, to close to within three points at 29-26.
A 10-2 run to close the third quarter looked like it would be enough for River Dell, but trouble at the free throw line in the fourth quarter meant it was going to be nip-and-tuck the rest of the way. RD made just 13 of 25 free throws in the game and just 8 of 17 in the fourth quarter and the Indians used the many caroms to stay in it.
They ran off a 7-0 run capped by two Paul Trusty free throws to tie the game at 44 with 3:21 to play and took the lead at 46-45 when Liddy scored inside with 2:28 left. River Dell's Andrew Truchanowski made a free throw to retie the game and Ryan Greenan, came up with the dagger. He turned a Mike Hubbard steal into a fastbreak layup and made the free throw to complete three-point play that put the Hawks ahead for good with 1:29 left.
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| Pascack Valley's Mike Thomas scoring two of his six points. |
Greenan, a senior guard, led River Dell with 20 points and had all four of the Hawks’ three-pointers, while his backcourt mate, junior Matt Connolly, finished with 10. Hubbard scored 8 points and Schick (6 points), Truchanowski, Derek Plucinski, Mark Winters and BJ Fowler all contributed to the offense in supporting roles.
In the original seeding for the North 1, Group 2 bracket, River Dell was seeded 13th and was to play at No. 4 Ramsey. But after Manchester was granted entry on appeal after filing its papers late, the whole bracket was reseeded and the Hawks dropped to No. 14 and will have to visit No. 3 Englewood.
But in is in and River Dell is heading for the postseason, which seemed like more than a long shot when practice began on the day after Thanksgiving.
“Realistically, because of how tough the conference was this year, I thought that if we did not overachieve, that we could possibly only win five games and it could have just been a complete learning year,” said Long. “This very easily could have been a rebuilding year but it has turned into a dream season for us.”
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