Grace Saxton finished with a double-double for Ramapo, which advanced to the Bergen County quarterfinals with a .

OLD TAPPAN – Ramapo's Grace Saxton has always been willing to do whatever it takes to help her team win. With two of the better players in Bergen County, Camden Epstein and Toni Pernetti, as teammates, the 6-foot Saxton is often asked to facilitate the offense from the high post, anchor the defense in the paint, and try to steal a couple of possessions for her team grabbing rebounds.

Facing a 10-point deficit in the third quarter against a hungry Fair Lawn team, the Green Raiders badly needed a jolt of offense. It was Saxton who provided it before closing out the game with her customary dirty work on the boards.

Saxton had consecutive jumpers midway through the third quarter to kickstart the comeback. Then, with it being a one-possession game in the final 48 seconds, Saxton grabbed offensive rebounds off of a pair of missed free throws that allowed fifth-seeded Ramapo to stay alive in the Bergen County Tournament with a 49-44 win over No. 12 seed Fair Lawn in the Round of 16 at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School.

"Give credit to Fair Lawn, they played close to a perfect half," said Ramapo head coach Sandy Gordon. "It seemed like everything was going their way and we couldn't get a shot to drop. They have really solid guard play and they're scrappy. We made a couple of adjustments, and our defense had to start creating our offense. We had to raise our intensity and our level of play in the second half and we did."

Fair Lawn got off to a hot start, hitting its first three shots. Alyssa Patino got things started with a three-pointer and one of the top freshmen in Bergen County, Stephanie Morano, hit one of her own to make it 8-0.

The Cutters' defensive effort was equally impressive, and they got a boost on both ends from junior Celeen Huzien, their only true post presence. Good things came in sixes for them. Huzien came off the bench to score six points in the second quarter, Fair Lawn held Ramapo to just six first-half field goals, and the Cutters held a six-point lead at the half, 25-19.

Stephanie Morano finished with 16 points to lead Fair Lawn.

That momentum carried over into the third quarter with Huzien scoring on the first two possessions to give the Cutters their largest lead of the game. The Green Raiders had to stop the bleeding immediately. Saxton did that with a deep baseline jumper and then another from the elbow on the next possession to cut into Fair Lawn's lead. Ramapo sliced the lead all the way down to one before a pair of free-throws from Morano made it a three-point lead for Fair Lawn heading into the fourth quarter, 33-30.

"I was just trying to do my job and help my team out however I can," said Saxton, who will play soccer next year on UPenn. "They were so focused on Camden and Toni that I had some open looks at the basket. I had to make those shots to take the pressure off them a little bit."

Morano nailed a three-pointer and Huzien scored again inside, but each time they were answered by big baskets from Saxton and Pernetti. Ramapo finally took its first lead of the game on a three-pointer from Pernetti midway through the fourth quarter. The Green Raiders' lead was two with 48 seconds to play when the Cutters were forced to foul.

Amelia Rubenacker hit the first free-throw. The second one was off the mark with Saxton getting the rebound and getting it to Epstein, who was then fouled. With Fair Lawn hoping for one last possession to get off a three-point shot and force overtime, Saxton grabbed another offensive rebound off a missed free-throw and Epstein iced the game at the charity stripe.

Pernetti led all players with 19 points for Ramapo (15-3). Saxton had a well-rounded performance with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks. Morano finished with 16 points and Huzien netted a season-high 12 points for Fair Lawn (10-8).

A Bergen County powerhouse matchup with take place in the quarterfinals next week when Ramapo takes on No. 4 seed Northern Valley/Old Tappan for a spot in the BCT semifinals. The Green Raiders hope to learn a lesson from this game and apply it moving forward.

"It's county tournament time, we have to put four quarters together if we want to keep advancing," said Pernetti. "It's our senior year and we don't want our run in this tournament to end early. We have to start stronger, keep up the intensity, and stay focused on every possession."

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