Tuesday, March 9, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Jill McGovern scored 16 points, and added 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals for River Dell, which won its 9th straight game and the North 1, Group 2 state sectional title, 34-25, over Glen Rock.

ORADELL – With a slew of talented juniors and sophomores that saw considerable minutes during the 2008-2009 season, the River Dell girls’ basketball team felt it could be a contender for the BCSL-American Division crown this year and possibly go after a state section title the following year. But as the season progressed, the Lady Hawks realized that they could achieve even higher goals.

After a last-second loss to Pascack Valley in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals, the Hawks made a pact to finish out the season with another championship.

While that was no easy task against a senior-dominated Glen Rock squad, the Hawks delivered on that promise to each other a year ahead of schedule.

Jill McGovern and Meghan Cotter each hit crucial layups in the fourth quarter as top-seeded River Dell won its third section title in five years by holding on for a 34-25 victory third-seeded Glen Rock in Monday night’s North 1, Group 2 championship game at a sold out River Dell High School.

“I don’t know what to say, to win this just means so much to us,” said McGovern. “We worked really hard in practice to get better every day. I don’t think we thought before the season that we would end up here. I was nervous when they cut into our lead in the fourth quarter. We had to calm down, run some clock on offense, and get some defensive stops.”

The lead swung back and forth before River Dell grabbed the lead early in the second quarter and never gave it back. McGovern hit a running one-hander and scored on a layup in the final two minutes to put the Hawks ahead, 17-12, at the half.

Glen Rock finished its season with a 25-4 record.

Cotter scored on a layup to match River Dell’s largest lead of the game with 25 seconds remaining in the third period. The Panthers’ only sustained run of the game started when Alexa Hunko’s layup with three seconds left in the period gave them some life. Christie Jones nailed a three-pointer with 6:28 left to cap a 7-0 spurt and cut the Hawks’ lead down to two, 23-21.

Without no seniors on the floor the Hawks might have been wondering where the leadership would come from in crunch time. The answer was a refreshing one to River Dell head coach Lou Wejnert. It did not come from one player, but from the team as a whole.

“I thought we really showed our character with the way we finished out the fourth quarter,” said Wejnert. “We knew Glen Rock was going to hit a couple of shots if we left them open and they did. I thought Jill McGovern did an excellent job with the ball in her hands and the other kids did the all the little things like set screens and move well with or without the ball. We had to get a total team effort to come out with a win and we got it at the right time.”

With the ball and a slim lead, River Dell went to the four corners offense to not only run clock, but spread the floor to stretch the Glen Rock defense. McGovern took full advantage by burning the Panther defense for two layups. She was fouled on the second one and converted the three-point play to bump the lead back up to seven, 28-21.

Glen Rock cut the lead back to three with just under two minutes to play, but never got any closer. On River Dell’s ensuing possession, Cotter slid in for a backdoor layup on an inbounds pass from McGovern to make it a two-possession game, 30-25.

“We just never got that one shot to either tie the game or pull into the lead,” said Glen Rock head coach Dave Mosconi. “You’re not going to get too many open shots against River Dell and you have to take advantage of them when you do. This is a tough loss for all of us, myself included, because of the six seniors who I have watched grow as basketball players and as people to where they are now. This was the best season we have had in a very, very long time and they are the ones who got us this far. It would have been nice to be able to take it one step further.”

Meghan Cotter and River Dell will play Chatham in the Group 2 state semifinals on Wednesday night in Vernon.

McGovern was the only player on either side to score more than six points in the game. She finished with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals for River Dell (28-2), which has now won nine in a row. Cotter chipped in with six points, while Kate Brock and Vanessa McAllister each added five. Hunko and Jones, who also took three charges in the game, had five points for Glen Rock (25-4).

River Dell moves into the Group 2 state semifinals on Thursday where they will face North 2, Group 2 champion Chatham, which made a late comeback to down top-seeded West Essex last night, 47-46. That game will be played at Vernon Township High School at 5:00 p.m.

The game against Chatham is yet another test for a River Dell team that has passed many of them against tough teams all season. More importantly for the players, it is another day to keep practicing for a new goal.

“We are definitely more excited to practice tomorrow than we have been all season,” said Cotter. “I think we’ve been doing all the little things you need to do to win all year. We thought finishing undefeated in the league was an amazing feeling, but this is even more exciting. We did it and we are having so much fun right now. Now it’s onto our next goal and we’ll see how far we can take it.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.