Tuesday,
January 26, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Christine Woods finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocks for River Dell, which topped Mahwah, 46-39, in the first round of the Bergen County Tourney. |
ORADELL – It is impossible to predict how a team will deal with the pressure of a one-and-done scenario like the Bergen County Tournament. Although River Dell and Mahwah knew what to expect from each other going into Monday's first-round BCT game, the winner would be decided not by strategy, but by which team better handled pressure situations.
Mahwah hung tough the whole game, but the Golden Hawks refused to give up their lead before finally breaking the proverbial backs of the Thunderbirds down the stretch.
Emma Plutnicki had a season-high 12 points and Christine Woods took over in the second half as No. 16 seed River Dell advanced to the Round of 16 with a 46-39 first-round win over 17th-seeded Mahwah in Oradell.
“Emma made some shots early and that really opened up the floor for everyone else,” said River Dell head coach Lindsay Steffner. “I thought when we did run through our offense we got good looks and I was happy with our shot selection. We had one of our starters out with a concussion and I thought our bench players really stepped up and played some big minutes for us.”
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Sophomore Sam Haubner scored a career-high 14 points for Mahwah. |
The game was tied in the waning seconds of the first quarter when Plutnicki swished a 3-pointer from the wing to give River Dell the lead for good. Mahwah scored a basket four different times in the second quarter to make it a one-possession game, but each time River Dell responded with a basket on the next trip down the floor, the last two coming on another 3 from Plutnicki and a basket from Caton Henderson as the Hawks clung to a 23-19 lead at halftime.
The main focus of the Hawks' defense was to slow down Mahwah's sharpshooting senior guard Casey Doran. They did just that as Doran's only field goal of the game came on a steal and breakaway layup with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter. The Thunderbirds fought hard to stay within striking distance, but the Hawks never let them get into an offensive flow. A steal by Julie McGovern and a block by Woods turned into baskets inside by Woods and Henderson that closed out the third quarter and gave River Dell a 10-point lead, 39-29.
“Every time we started to string some good possessions together they always had an answer,” said Mahwah head coach Alan Clements. “We didn't work hard enough to get open and you have to do that against a team as aggressive defensively as River Dell is. I thought we threw a lot of possessions away and their defensive pressure made it tough for us to get good shots.”
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Caton Henderson scored 8 points for River Dell, which will face No. 1 seeded IC in the Round of 16. |
After a tough first half, Woods started to find her groove and got better as the game went on. She found her touch both in the paint and on her mid-range shot as the Hawks' never dipped below the final seven-point margin in the fourth quarter.
Woods finished with 17 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks to lead the way for River Dell (8-4), which has now won seven of its last eight games. Plutnicki had six boards and three steals to go with her 12 points. Henderson and McGovern added eight and six points, respectively.
Despite a cold shooting game Doran, Mahwah's lone senior, picked up the slack in other areas for the T-Birds (7-5). She led all players with 10 rebounds and five assists to go with 10 points. Sophomore forward Sam Haubner netted a career-high 14 points. Kayla Devine stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, eight rebounds, three steals, and three blocks.
River Dell advances to the BCT Round of 16 this weekend to face No. 1 seed Immaculate Conception. It will be a daunting task for the Lady Hawks. With River Dell's schedule, nearly every game is packed with pressure and anxiety. For once the pressure will finally be off and the River Dell players are looking forward to playing the role of the underdog.
“It will be really exciting to play a team as strong as IC is,” said Plutnicki. “Everything starts with our defense and it creates our offense. If we play good team defense and rebound well like we did today, we have a shot.”
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