Friday,
March 4, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Sam Rinaldi scored 17 of her game-high 27 points in the first half as Ridgefield Park pulled away to 63-25 win over Lodi in the North 2, Group 2 quarterfinals. |
RIDGEFIELD PARK – When athletic forward Dorian Capurso went down for the year with an ACL injury, it looked like it was going to be a major blow to the hopes of the Ridgefield Park girls basketball team. Losing the team’s second-leading scorer put more pressure on Samantha Rinaldi to raise her level of play significantly. After a four-game losing streak in early February, Rinaldi became more comfortable in her role and the Scarlets started to catch fire.
It has spilled over into the state tournament where the senior guard put on an impressive offensive display on Thursday night.
Rinaldi scored 17 of her game-high 27 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and a layup at the halftime buzzer, as second-seeded Ridgefield Park led wire-to-wire and advanced to the North 2, Group 2 semifinals with a 63-25 drubbing of Lodi at Ridgefield Park High School.
Lodi was coming in on a high after the program’s first state tournament win in nearly 20 years on Tuesday over North 13th Street Tech (Newark). Aliyah Williams made a steal and raced to the other end to convert an acrobatic layup that cut the Lady Scarlets lead to one, 6-5, late in the first quarter. In the final minute of the period, Rinaldi hit a short jumper and Kelli Tellian nailed a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for an 11-5 RP lead after one quarter.
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Freshman point guard Aliyah Williams (14 points) was the bright spot for Lodi. |
“We’ve been a slow starting team all year until we started to force turnovers. That got us going,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Nicole Pucciarelli. “Our defense creates our offense and we were able to set the pace. Samantha had it going all game, but we know that we have to be more balanced scoring wise if we are going to keep advancing in the states. We have a legit shot at this thing, but we have to start games better and do all the little things to be successful.”
Rinaldi got off to a good start and stayed hot with a 3-pointer and a layup on the first two second quarter possessions to bump the Scarlets’ lead up to double-digits. Rinaldi capped the period by splitting two defenders and converting a layup in traffic at the buzzer that put Ridgefield Park firmly in control at the intermission, 26-11.
“I knew I needed to pick it up in the second quarter and play better,” said Rinaldi. “We have a habit of starting slow and speeding up as the game goes on. Once we sped things up, we took control and started getting layups.”
Any notion of comeback by the Rams was put quickly to rest. Cassie Cruz (8 points, 6 in the third quarter) hit jumpers on back-to-back possessions and Rinaldi tacked on 10 more points to her total as the Scarlets had a dominating showing, 25-4, in the third quarter to take a 51-15 lead. The Scarlets starters got some much-needed rest by sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
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Kelli Tellian had 11 points, 6 boards and 4 assists for Ridgefield Park, which will play Hackettstown in the semifinals. |
Rinaldi finished 11-for-17 from the floor for her 27 points to go along with four rebounds and two steals for Ridgefield Park (18-10), which has now won eight of its last nine games. Tellian played well overall with 11 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Five-foot-10 sophomore forward Kelly Durand played well off the bench with career-highs of 10 points and seven rebounds, the latter of which led all players.
Williams, a freshman, was a bright spot for Lodi, which finished the season with a 12-13 record. She finished with 14 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. The Rams have a bright future ahead with just one senior (Lili Vizcaino) graduating.
With top-seeded Hanover Park falling to Newark Tech in the quarterfinal round, Ridgefield Park now has the potential to host the North 2, Group 2 section final. First though, the Scarlets have to get past third-seeded Hackettstown in the section semifinals on Saturday. It is a position very few outside of the Ridgefield Park locker room expected them to be in once Capurso went down for the season. But with all pistons firing now and Rinaldi finding her scoring touch, the Scarlets are right where they want to be.
“The games get really tough from here and every game could be our last,” added Rinaldi. “We need to come out with fire in our eyes and be prepared for Hackettstown just like we would for any other team. From the beginning of the season, we wanted to put ourselves in a position to win a section title and we’re getting closer to that goal.”
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