No. 19 Old Tappan wins 10th straight behind stout defense in win over Pascack Valley

Photo Credits: High School Sports Elite

Old Tappan coach Brian Dunn knew there would be some peaks and valleys heading into this season.

It was bound to happen after the graduation of key seniors from a team last season that won 22 games and reached the semifinals of the North 1, Group 3 sectional tournament.

There was a peak early in the season, one in which Old Tappan won its first five games before back-to-back losses. A valley came in early January, which saw three consecutive losses. But those three straight losses seemed to have been an awakening for Old Tappan and Dunn’s team.

Since then, Old Tappan has yet to lose a game. Dunn’s squad is peaking at the right time, and they peaked in the second half against Pascack Valley on Thursday as No. 19 Old Tappan used stifling defense in the second half to roll to a 54-27 victory in a Big North Conference National Division matchup.

The win was Old Tappan’s 10th consecutive victory as the Golden Knights improved to 18-5 on the year. Old Tappan’s stifling defense allowed just seven points in the second half after leading 27-20 at halftime

Senior Layla Giordano led all scorers with 24 points, while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists.

“We were a really young team heading into the season. We graduated a lot of people last year, so I think we had to try out a lot of things to get to the combinations we have right now,” Giordano said. “Our schedule is very hard compared to a lot of other teams, and I think that’s really helping us.”

Giordano, a state champion in both the discus and shot put, was a force on defense in the second half and was able to get going on offense early in the contest.

She knocked down a season-high four 3-pointers and seems to be finding her form from beyond the arc in the last two games, making seven of her 12 3-pointers for the season.

“It’s very rare that happens for me, but it’s been cool. The last few games I’ve been able to shoot a couple threes, and that’s been able to help out our team a lot,” Giordano said.

Twin sister Maya Giordano chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Pascack Valley junior Celina Bussanich scored a team-high 14 points.

Link to Photos

Source Link: https://www.nj.com/highschoolsports/2024/02/no-19-old-tappan-wins-10th-straight-behind-stout-defense-in-win-over-pascack-valley.html

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