Ramapo wins with stifling defense by Chris Iseman of The Record
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Ramapo’s shots weren’t always falling, but that’s when its stifling defense became crucial.
The Green Raiders’ ability to use their size to their advantage, disrupting NV/Demarest’s offense and closing out on the Norsewomen’s shooters, made up for some occasional struggles at the other end.
“We’re streaky, we can light it up or we can go ice cold. That’s obviously the game of basketball,” Ramapo girls basketball coach Sandy Gordon said. “Credit to them, they made shots. But for us, I thought we did a good job defensively, switching it up and trying to press a little bit, and then we went to our zone.”
The Raiders’ solid defensive performance made the difference as they defeated NV/Demarest, 38-25, in the first round of the Westwood Holiday Hoops Tournament on Tuesday.
Senior center Emily Calabrese led the Raiders with 16 points, while junior guard Nikki Butler finished with 10, including two three-pointers. Senior guard Olivia Kraebel added six points with a pair of key second-quarter triples.
Sophomore guard Meadow Garcia led the Norsewomen with nine points, while senior guard Mackenzie Press and junior guard Hannah Schwartz each added seven. Schwartz drained two three-pointers.
The game was close the entire first quarter. Butler hit her second triple from the top of the key with just less than two minutes remaining in the period to push Ramapo ahead, 12-7.
The Raiders started to pull away in the second with the help of Kraebel’s threes. They outscored NV/Demarest ,12-5, to take a 28-13 lead into halftime.
Ramapo scored 10 points in the second half, but managed to hold the Norsewomen to 12 in the final two quarters to maintain a sizeable lead.
NV/Demarest couldn’t get too many quality shots against the Raiders’ zone.
But when the Norsewomen did find opportunities, they took advantage. Garcia and Schwartz each hit second-half threes.
“We’re really long and big, so I felt like our arms really helped us,” Calabrese said. “We tried to close out on their shooters – Meadow, Mackenzie, they’re both really good players. We just tried to limit them. But they did a really good job, they’re a great team.”
Westwood 46, Midland Park 25: Junior guard Carlye Danziger scored 12 points, including two three-pointers, and sophomore forward Rachel Bussanich added 11 to help lead the Cardinals.
Morgan Ress led the Panthers with nine points.
Midland Park got off to a strong start and kept the score tight in the first quarter. But a three-pointer from senior guard Olivia Cassidy ignited a 12-2 run for the Cardinals in the second. Junior guard Shannon Monaghan and junior guard Carlye Danziger each drained triples during the period, helping Westwood take a 21-11 lead into halftime.
The cardinals continued pulling away in the second half.
Paramus Catholic 33, Ridgewood 32: Paramus Catholic withstood a second-half charge from Ridgewood, which stormed back from a 16-point third-quarter deficit to make it a one-point game with seconds remaining.
Junior guard Sarah Scerbak, who finished with 11 points, made two first-half three-pointers to help the Paladins take a 25-11 lead into halftime. Their lead swelled to 16 points in the third quarter, but then the Maroons played outstanding defense and clawed their way back.
Senior forward Claire Smesko, who scored all 11 of her points in the fourth quarter, made a layup off a steal to bring Ridgewood to within six points. Then sophomore guard Annie McCarthy got a steal near midcourt and scored a fast-break layup to make it a four-point game.
After Paladins freshman guard Aria Myers got a layup to put her team up, 33-28, Smesko scored to make it a three-point game and McCarthy made two free throws to make it 33-32.
But that was as close as the Maroons could get.
McCarthy finished with 11 points, including six in the fourth quarter.