Old Tappan is heading to the Bergen County Final 4 – Girls Basketball

Holy Angels, Teaneck and Old Tappan joined Saddle River Day to comprise the Final 4 of the 49th Annual BCWCA Basketball Championship by posting victories in the Elite 8 on Saturday afternoon. The Final Four will be played Feb. 10 in Fair Lawn.

Old Tappan ends Cresskill’s Cinderella run
Cresskill came into the Elite Eight game Saturday having upset Tenafly in the first round of the tournament and absolutely shocking Immaculate Heart Academy in the Round of 16 a week ago. So Old Tappan knew they had to be ready for them.

“They played two great games in the tournament,” said Old Tappan coach Brian Dunn. “We had to be serious about getting ready for them. They play tremendous “D” and No. 4 (senior Erin Fahy) is fantastic and has been for years. She’s a tough matchup for anybody. She’s a handful and coach (Mike McCourt) does a fantastic job of getting his team to play.”

Nevertheless, the Golden Knights got off to a strong start and clamped down on defense in the second half to crush Cresskill, 47-23, in the final game of the day.

Old Tappan jumped out to an early lead and when the Cougars got within 2 points, 15-13, the Knights went on a 10-4 run to coast to a 25-17 lead at the half.

A three pointer by Old Tappan sophomore Mia Derrico jump started the Knights into a run which doubled their halftime lead of eight to a 38-22 advantage as the third quarter ended. More importantly they shut down the Cougars offense, yielding only a pair of field goals by Fahy and one free throw by senior Maddie Morgan in the entire quarter. And in the fourth quarter Cresskill was held to one point.

For the Knights senior Maya Giordano was extremely effective inside, scoring 8 of her 10 points in the second half.
“She was in foul trouble,” said Dunn, “but in the second half she got a couple of drop steps. We were able to get the ball into her. She did a great job of closing them out.”

Giordano’s twin sister, Layla, led all scorers with 16 points and the sisters combined for 16 rebounds. In all six players managed to score at least 2 points for the Knights.

“We have a good mix grade wise,” said Dunn. “We have our consistent kids where we know what we’re going to get in the older kids. Then the younger kids are still developing. If we’re playing well we need one of them to step up each game and get some good buckets.”

The Golden Knights will play Teaneck Saturday at 3:30 and Dunn appreciates the significance of making it to the Final Four.
“It’s always special,” he said. “If you can advance it means you’re playing well at the time of year where you want to be playing well [because] you’re going to be playing great teams. You could play great and lose. If you get to the Final Four it means you’re playing well at the right time of year which is always your goal.”