Saturday, December 15, 2007

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Alex Radetszky's put back less than 10 seconds into the game gave Old Tappan the lead for good on the way to a 50-40 Opening Night win over Ramapo.

OLD TAPPAN -- The final score was about what could have been expected in the season opener for both teams. Old Tappan, the defending North 1, Group 3 state sectional champion with four starters back from last year's team, posted a double digit win over Ramapo, a program that might easily have been written off after losing its head coach and four starters from a team that made back-to-back Bergen County finals. But there was more to be learned on Friday night than can be summed up by a final score.

For one, Old Tappan’s potential to be a player in the state and county tournaments again was on display when it had everything working on the way to scoring 16 of the game’s first 20 points. The Golden Knights hit from the outside to open up their inside game, wore down the Ramapo defense and, as the game wore on, got the Raiders' interior players in foul trouble in the second half as they posted a 50-40 win in the first game of the season for both teams.

For one night at least, Old Tappan lived up to the hype it has generated in the preseason and will likely have to deal with the rest of the way.

Freshman Sarah Halejian's varsity debut included a team-high 14 points for Ramapo.

“There is a lot more pressure and we know that everyone is expecting us to be perfect,” said Lisa Jaris, OT’s senior center and one of its four returning starters. “But it is the beginning of the season, we know we still have a lot of room to grow and get better. I think the best thing we can do is not get overwhelmed by the pressure, just keep working hard and keep focusing on what we have to do and not what everyone else expects us to do.”

Alex Radetzky put back a missed shot on Old Tappan’s first possession to give her team the lead for good and Chanel Van Dyke hit two long jumpers, one from behind the arc and one with her foot on the line to give the Knights a 7-0 lead just 1:05 into the game. Radetzky scored seven of her eight points in the opening quarter and her three-pointer 2:27 into the game extended OT’s lead to 10-2. It grew to 16-4 by the end of the first quarter.

“Once we hit some outside shots early they had to come out more and play us, which opened it up inside,” said Van Dyke, who finished with a game-high 15 points. “We got off to a good start, but Ramapo, not that they were better than we thought because we knew they were going to be good, they made us work for it. We had to keep hustling because they never quit.”

After being held scoreless in the first half, Old Tappan senior Lisa Jaris finished with 11 points.

Lost in Old Tappan’s early flurry was the fact that Ramapo freshman Sarah Halejian was just dipping her toe in the water on what has the makings of a long and successful varsity career. Halejian, who helped the Ramapo soccer team reach the Group 3 state final in the fall, used the first eight minutes to get a feel for varsity hoops and the next 24 minutes making an impact on the game.

With the ability to breakdown a defender off the dribble, with quick hands that create turnovers on the defensive end and with the athletic ability to excel in transition, Halejian scored six second quarter points, the last two on a sweet take down the lane that drew the Green Raiders within 23-19 at halftime.

“At first we weren’t really meshing together and then by the second quarter we were all playing together and we knew what we were doing. We were running our plays and running our offense well,” said Halejian. “I was a little nervous coming out, but then I just got into it. I forgot about the crowd and just played my game.”

With Halejian in the flow and with Ana Drehwing’s basket off an inbounds play, Ramapo opened the second half scoring and was within two points at 23-21. Drehwing, a junior, and senior guard Kaitlin Taranto are Ramapo’s only two returning players with varsity experience, but the young Raiders hung around well into the second half.

Junior Ana Drehwing scored 12 points and had Ramapo within 28-25 when she put back a miss with 2:15 to go in the third quarter.

Drehwing snuck in for a put back to keep Ramapo with three points at 28-25 with 2:15 to go in the third quarter before Old Tappan’s commitment to get the ball inside really paid off in second chance points, mounting Ramapo foul trouble and free throws.

On one possession early in the fourth quarter, Jaris, who is one of North Jersey’s toughest interior players, gave a third personal foul to one defender, a fourth personal fouls to two others and put the Knights in the bonus to boot.

Her three-point play with 5:33 to go in the game put Old Tappan up 42-30. After being held scoreless in the first half, Jaris finished with 11 points and teamed with Radetzky, and sophomore Karli McMenamin to give the Knights a decided advantage in the post.

“They are a tough matchup and we struggled in the man-to-man. They went big and we just couldn’t physically handle them, but when we went to our match-up [zone] and we chipped away,” said Sandy Gordon, who took over as Ramapo’s head coach this season after eight years on the collegiate level at Division 1 Fairleigh Dickinson University. “I am really proud that we didn’t quit, but the thing that we could have controlled was the boxing out. That is just blue collar hard work and that is something we have been harping on.”

Chanel Van Dyke scored 5 of her game-high 15 points in the first three minutes of the game to help OT get off to a fast start.

Halejian’s impressive varsity debut ended with a team-high 14 points and 12 of them came after she worked out the first quarter jitters. Drehwing (12 points) was the only other Green Raider in double digits, while Katie Gebhard scored seven points, freshman Sam Klie added five in her first ever varsity appearance and Emma Giegerich had Ramapo’s other field goal.

Old Tappan, which hopes that win No. 1 is the first of many, had three players reach double figures as McMenamin (12 points) joined Van Dyke and Jaris. Sophomore Shannon Funsch finished with a field goal and a free throw and Alana Soumas, another sophomore, also cracked the scoring column.

“The biggest thing is to make sure that we know how to play as a team, to make sure that we know the proper things to do on the floor,” said OT head coach Brian Dunn. “We have good players and they are motivated and want to do well, but it really comes down to making sure that we have a good flow on the floor both on offense and defense.”

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