Marissa LaVerghetta stuffed the stat sheet as Mahwah held off Wayne Valley, 43-29, on Saturday afternoon.

WAYNE – After watching a 12-point lead completely evaporate against a young but hungry Wayne Valley squad, Mahwah head coach Kerin Roche decided to shake things up. She took out four starters and sent the message not just to those coming off the floor or those subbed in, but also for the lone starter left on the floor. Marissa LaVerghetta, a four-year starter and senior captain, is well known for running the show and finding open shots for her teammates.

However, locked in a tie and with young players playing alongside of her LaVerghetta took it upon herself to right the ship.

LaVerghetta scored five of her game-high 15 points in a 13-2 run to close out the third quarter. Her stat sheet-stuffing performance helped Mahwah improve to 9-1 on the season with a 43-29 win over Wayne Valley on Saturday afternoon in Wayne.

“The girls who came in off the bench in the third quarter really stepped up when we needed them,” said LaVerghetta. “It was a fresh start and I had trust in them to do a good job.”

With both teams played tough defense right from the opening tap it took some time before shots started falling. Taylor Tremblay got the Thunderbirds going with a deep wing jumper before finding LaVerghetta for a layup. That carried over into the second quarter where all five starters scored to give Mahwah a 22-10 lead. For how comfortable the Thunderbirds looked for most of the first half, the script flipped completely over the next eight minutes spanning the end of the second and beginning of the third quarters.

Olivia Isaacson scored a team-high 12 points for Wayne Valley.

Wayne Valley showed plenty of grit with Alexa and Sophia Benacquista forcing turnovers and senior point guard Olivia Issacson knocking down big shots. She hit bookend three-pointers from the top of the key to start and close out a 12-0 run to tie the game at 22.

“For a few of them, it was their first groove getting time in a tight game; I knew I had to take charge and be the one to help keep our energy up,” added LaVerghetta. “We’ve been stressing playing tough defense for 32 minutes. It’s something we’ve done well and it’s what helped us pull away in the second half. It’s something Coach (Roche) has stressed to us all season and we have to put it together for 32 minutes if we want to win any games in the county tournament.”

After a stretch in the third quarter where the T-Birds turned the ball over in four out of five possessions, Roche had seen enough. She sent Julia Graceffo, Emma Jordan, Bella Moffitt, and Devon Tremblay onto the floor in their most important varsity action of the season. They all contributed by taking care of the ball and helping free up LaVerghetta on a pair of drives to the basket to help Mahwah regain control. Devon Tremblay made a backdoor cut and Graceffo hit her with a perfect pass for a buzzer-beating layup to end the third quarter with Mahwah back in control, 35-24.

“We lacked energy in the second half and the girls who came in gave us a spark that we really needed,” said Roche. “Can’t play perfect all the time, but the one thing we need all the time is energy. It got us back into it and got us cheering for one another and it livened everyone up.”

Taylor Tremblay finished with 8 points for Mahwah, which is now 9-1 on the season.

LaVerghetta had a monster game for Mahwah (9-1) with 15 points, nine rebounds, seven steals, and five assists. Jordan added a season-high nine points with Taylor Tremblay adding eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Isaacson led the way for Wayne Valley (2-7) with 12 points.

With a tough week of opponents (Ramsey, River Dell, and Morristown) ahead, the Thunderbirds know they will need full 32-minute efforts to keep their winning ways going.

“We still have a long way to go, and Rome wasn’t built in a day,” added Roche. “With some tough games ahead, we must figure some stuff out quickly. These girls really get along and they support one another, that’s a big asset for us. We still haven’t played our best game yet. Once that light switch catches on, we feel we’re a team that can make a statement in the counties and the states.”

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