Senior point guard Katie Clemm piloted Ridgewood through to the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals with a 46-24 victory on Saturday.

OLD TAPPAN – Ridgewood head coach Mike Mitchell works his team tirelessly in practice for one reason: For the hope of being prepared enough to execute what they do best on game day. All season his senior-laden group has shown progress. But he was still waiting for the one breakout game where everything clicked on both ends of the floor. In their biggest game of the season to date against Westwood in the Bergen County Tournament, Mitchell finally saw what his team is truly capable of.

Ridgewood scored 11 straight points to end the first quarter to take double-digit lead. They never looked back as the No, 8 seeded Maroons clamped down defensively all game and methodically picked apart ninth-seeded Westwood en route to a 46-24 victory in the Bergen County Tournament's Round of 16 on Saturday at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School.

"We stress taking care of the basketball, not taking the first available shot, and working together on defense, we let it all out today," said Mitchell. "During the season we've shown stretches where we've done all of this, but never a full 32 minutes like we put in today. In this tournament it takes one great day or one bad day. You have to be ready for whatever comes your way."

Jules Batelli hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Westwood an early 4-3 lead. But that lead would be the Cardinals' last as the Maroons controlled the pace from there. Four different players scored during the 11-0 run, capped by a layup from senior center Lucy Bjerke for a 14-4 lead.

"We were locked in defensively and that really set the tone for us," said Ridgewood point guard Catie Klemm. "Pressuring the ball is the strength of our defense. Offensively, we showed a lot of patience. We tried to get the best shot we could and we knocked them down when we got them."

Aarini Bhatia heated up in the second quarter with a driving layup and a pair of jumpers from the wing. The real story though was the Maroons' swarming defense, led by Delaney McCrone. She hounded one of Bergen County's top point guards, Westwood's Cameron Roche, all game long. Ridgewood allowed just two field goals in the first half and grabbed a commanding 26-10 halftime lead.

Cameron Roche led Westwood with 9 points.

"We were being aggressive and patient at the same time," said Bjerke. "It was really important for us to not force anything. It felt like every possession we made the right decision and played smart basketball."

Westwood (12-5) came out strong in the third quarter with a three from Roche trimming the lead to 11, 28-17. Marist-bound guard Catie Klemm answered with a tough fadeaway jumper from the baseline. Another basket from McCrone bumped the lead back up to 15 and the Cardinals never threatened again.

McCrone netted a career-high 16 points and held the talented Roche to nine points to lead Ridgewood (11-4). Bjerke stuffed the stat sheet with game-highs of 11 rebounds and six assists to go with five points, three blocks, and two steals.

Ridgewood heads into next Saturday's quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded IHA with plenty of confidence and also nothing to lose. It is a good spot to be in and a challenge the Maroons are looking forward to.

"We have to enjoy this win today and then shift our focus to the next one," added Mitchell. "Basketball is an imperfect game. Every player, every team is going to make a mistake at some point in the game. It's not about making a mistake, it's about how you move onto the next play. We're doing an excellent job of navigating that and we hope to carry that over into next weekend."

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