Ryan Goldman led all scorers with 19 points as 7th-seeded Ramapo advanced to the semifinals of the North 1, Group 3 state sectional playoffs with a hard-fought 50-43 win over No. 2 Tenafly on Saturday.
TENAFLY – Unlike the last three years when it won North 1, Group 3 state sectional titles or the last two when it was the outright Group 3 state champ, Ramapo, the No. 7 seed this time around, did not enter the 2024-25 postseason as the overwhelming favorite. In fact, their run this year almost ended at the first opportunity.
Down by two with two seconds left in regulation against Morris Hills in the opening round, Ramapo got off a missed shot and a putback and went on to win in double overtime. In Round 2 and on the road this time, Ramapo went up by double-digits and then yo-yoed into a three-point deficit with less than six minutes to go in Saturday’s quarterfinal against second-seeded Tenafly.
The cast might be different, but Ramapo has not lost the plot. Freshman AJ Greig scored back-to-back baskets in the span of 29 seconds to steady the ship on the way to a 50-43 victory.
“We don’t get caught up in the seedings or anything like that. We just play the next game ahead of us,” said Ramapo head coach Nick Vier. “Guys stepped up when it got a little rocky there. We leaned on our seniors, Ryan [Goldman] specifically to handle to the ball and he did a great job and the young guys. [Greig] did [score two straight baskets] and I think [sophomore] Finn [Marrah] got a rebound and assisted on one of those, so it was great to see those young guys connect.”
For all of the changes it has undergone since the generational Class of 2024 disembarked, Ramapo is back in a familiar spot. It will visit No. 3 Teaneck, a 72-46 winner over Wayne Hills, in the North 1, Group 3 semifinals on Tuesday.
Goldman, who scored a game-high 19 points, and Charlie Wingfield, the three-sport standout and Wake Forest football commit, are Ramapo’s two returning starters. No longer playing supporting roles, they were Ramapo’s two double-digit scorers against Tenafly.
“The past couple of years were incredible, but we had to adjust. All of those guys left and it is a completely new team. We know that none of these games are going to be easy, but we just go out there and do what we can to get the job done,” said Wingfield. “This team has incredible perseverance. We have been through a ton of ups and downs, but any game now can be the end of our season, so we are just going out there and doing what we can to keep it going.”
Sophomore Adin Goldschneider scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half for Tenafly, which held a 3-point lead early in the fourth quarter..
Wingfield was dominant for stretches in the first half when he had extra room to operate inside. Tenafly senior Dan Regev, the 6-foot-7 center, picked up two fouls in the first 2:14 and spent the rest of the first half on the bench. Goldman hit consecutive 3s right after Regev left the game and Grier scored the final five points of the quarter to give Ramapo (16-10) a 14-8 lead.
Wingfield took over in the second quarter when he scored 9 of his 10 points. He scored on the block, with a running push shot, off a backdoor cut and off a dime dropped by Grier too close the first half as Ramapo led 27-17 at the intermission.
Goldman hit a 3 to open the scoring and it looked like the game was on the verge of becoming like the last time these two teams met, a 30-point Ramapo win the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Jamboree in the same gym.
Instead, it took on the look of the last time these two programs met in the state tournament, the 2022 section final in which Tenafly took Ramapo right down to the wire in Franklin Lakes. That was the last time a Bergen County team gave the Raiders a real run in the state tournament. Sophomore Adin Goldschneider scored 6 points in a spirited 14-2 run that was capped by Nick Lewin’s 3-pointer from the wing with 42 second left in the period.
That brought the Tigers to within 32-31 with one quarter to play, the home crowd was into it and it was game on.
“I think our guys were maybe embarrassed a bit by that Jamboree game. We had motivation and we felt good coming in. We had a good scouting report and I love that we just kept fighting,” said Tenafly head coach Jeff Koehler. “That was a really electric scene there for a little bit and I got emotional and fired up because you don’t know when your last game is until you walk off the floor for the last time as a senior. We have a good senior group and I love that they gave everything they had.”
It was the sophomore, Goldschneider, however, that kept the momentum going. He got all the way to the basket to give Tenafly its first lead of the game, 33-32, 1:34 in the fourth quarter and then got a steal and a layup to extend the advantage to three. Then it was Greig’s turn. The freshman scored inside and on the fastbreak to give Ramapo the lead back.
Freshman AJ Greig scored 9 points for Ramapo, which will visit No. 3 Teaneck in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Goldschneider, who scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime provided the last answer Tenafly had, a foul line jumper that gave the Tigers their last lead at 37-36 with 4:58 left in the game. The next time down the floor Marrah hit a pull-up jumper to kick off a 7-0 run that put the Raiders in control for good. Ramapo made 8 of 10 free throws in the final minute to close it out.
Tenafly, which finished the season with a 20-6 record, were led by Goldschneider and Lewin (14 points, 4 3s) and senior captain Jake Yanofsky, who added 13. The Tigers are in good shape for the future as well as three of their five starters -- Goldschneider, Lewin and Nick Baldini – will all return next season.
Ramapo’s two senior starters, Goldman and Wingfield, combined for 29 points while the three underclassmen in the starting lineup divvied up the rest. Greig finished with 9, Hudson Beauchamp added 7 and Marrah had 5 for the Raiders, whose playoff grind continues.
With a tip of the cap to last year’s senior class, this group is forging its own path.
“Peyton [Seals], Wyatt [Eglinton Manner] and Chris [Cervino] were great players and I look up to those guys tremendously,” said Greig. “The goal is the same. I want to win a state championship; we all want to win a state championship more than anything.”
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