Sunday, February 5, 2012

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Katherine Haines helped Ridgefield Park get back in the game late in the second quarter and the Scarlets went on to a 46-42 win in the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Tourney.

ORADELL – The first time that River Dell and Ridgefield Park met during the regular season, it hardly seemed like a continuation of a heated rivalry forged when both teams were perennial contenders in the old BCSL-American Division. In Game 1 this year, Ridgefield Park raced out to a 25-6 halftime lead and cruised to 20-point win, but the shoe was on the other foot on Saturday when the two teams met again in the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Tournament and River Dell controlled the first half, building a 15-point lead going into the final minute of the second quarter.

The Lady Scarlets knew they were in trouble and needed to figure something out quickly before the game got away. Sophomore center Katherine Haines gave her team the spark it desperately needed just to stay within striking distance.

She scored five points in the final 40 seconds of the first half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, that cut the RD lead to eight at halftime. Ridgefield Park quickly caught up in the third quarter and a pair of baseline jumpers from Stephanie DeBari put it ahead to stay late in the fourth quarter as the eighth-seeded Scarlets outlasted ninth-seeded River Dell, 46-42, on its home floor to advance to the quarterfinals.

River Dell's Kate Brock finished with 18 points, 11 boards, 3 blocks, and 2 steals.

“We didn’t get the start we wanted, but it was nice to finish the game the way we wanted to,” said Haines. “When we fell behind, we just had to keep it together and make sure we didn’t give up on each other.”

River Dell clearly felt the sting of playing so poorly in the first half of their first meeting against Ridgefield Park and reversed that trend quickly. Senior Kristen Hartwick earned a start and her entrance into the opening lineup paid immediate dividends with a pair of 17-foot rainbow jumpers from the exact same spot on the floor on consecutive possession to put the Lady Hawks in front 13-5 after one quarter.

It was more of the same in the second quarter as Kayla McGovern’s steal and layup gave River Dell its largest lead, 25-10, with a minute to play in the period. The Scarlets looked like they would head to the locker room licking their wounds, but instead actually felt a sense of relief. After a Haines basket, Julie Rovito converted a turnover into a basket. The Scarlets then got the ball with Haines somehow breaking free to hit a wide-open three-pointer as time expired in the first half to trim River Dell’s once sizable margin down to eight at the half, 25-17.

“I was feeling pretty down on myself, but I had to break out of that,” added Haines. “My team needed me and I had to step up. Once I hit that three-pointer, I knew we could come back. We just had to pick up where we left off in the third quarter.”

Stephanie DeBari and Ridgefield Park will face Teaneck in the quarterfinals.

Haines hit a pair of free throws to close out an 18-6 run and give Ridgefield Park its first lead. The lead flip-flopped back and forth well into the fourth quarter with Haines and River Dell standout senior Kate Brock leading the way. Jordan Bastable hit a three-pointer from the wing to give River Dell its last lead. DeBari, known more as a defensive specialist, answered with two straight jumpers, the latter with 2:40 remaining put the Scarlets ahead to stay and Kellie Lane added two free throws to make a two-possession game. Rovito hit a free throw to ice the game in the waning seconds.

“We had our chances and we let them slip away,” said River Dell head coach Lou Wejnert. “In the first half, we did a great job of breaking their 1-3-1 trap and still slowing it down to run our offense. In the second half, we rushed way too much and it led to silly turnovers, which ended being our undoing.”

Haines had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead Ridgefield Park (15-2). Rovito added 10 points. Brock had 18 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, and two steals for River Dell (12-7). Bastable and McGovern finished with nine and eight points, respectively.

Ridgefield Park now gets a shot at the heavy favorite to win this year’s tournament, top-seeded Teaneck, in next weekend's quarterfinal round.

“We know what we’re up against, but we look forward to the challenge,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Chris Blessing. “I think being only down eight at halftime when we were dominated in the first half ended up being not a bad thing. We know if we do that against Teaneck next week though, the game will be over. Good things happen in tough games when you stick together and we responded to the adversity pretty well tonight.”

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