Bergen County Tournament Preview – Final 4

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Final 4 of the Bergen County Tournament is upon us. Let's take a closer look. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#1-Saddle River Day vs #4-Old Tappan </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is a rumor that with the incoming weather these games will be moved from Saturday at Fair Lawn to Sunday at Old Tappan. If this happens this is a huge advantage for Old Tappan to get the top seed on their home court. Though they lost twice this week to Demarest and Teaneck, Old Tappan had a chance to win both games and they controlled Ramapo last weekend. This will come down to if they Old Tappan guards can handle the Saddle River Day pressure. If they OT can do that, they have a chance. Old Tappan does not have a great foot speed, but their half-court defense is physical, and they figure out what to take away from their opponents. In this case it will be about guarding the 3-point line. [player_tooltip player_id='333330' first='Faith' last='Williamson'], [player_tooltip player_id='583951' first='Brooke' last='Braen'], [player_tooltip player_id='862966' first='Grace' last='Darling'] and the rest of the crew are not afraid to let it fly so you have to run them off the 3-point line. SRDS plays fast and likes to get up and down the entire game. Coach Brian Dunn has a huge coaching advantage on Coach Joe Pedone in this one. Pedone does not have a ton of experience and relies on his talent to win him games. OT will try and slow the tempo and attack the biggest weakness SRDS has and that is size. Reserve [player_tooltip player_id='669307' first='Giada' last='Celetti'] is the best option to guard the post for SRDS. Old Tappan has freshman Alexa Caunedo and junior [player_tooltip player_id='789549' first='Sienna' last='Drullinsky'] to work off each other inside. I would not be even a little surprised to see OT pull off the upset here but, in the end, I think the SRDS backcourt is too much for Sadie Murphy, Alivia Badurina, Mia Derrico and Nina Caunedo. OT has to keep this close early, slow it down and feed the post. Do that and this will be a fun game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">#2-Teaneck vs #6-Demarest</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Going back to last year, Demarest has won two of the last 3 against Teaneck. This game is interesting in that both teams want to play fast. Teaneck's defense is much better in the full court than in the half court. Demarest loves to push tempo and feels with [player_tooltip player_id='600897' first='Gabriella' last='Mittelman'] that they can handle any press. Can Demarest continue to break pressure and execute in the half court? If they can, they may be headed to the finals. Teaneck wants to get turnovers and get out and run so controlling the ball is key for Demarest. Teaneck made it to this game off their defense and tempo. River Dell forced them to shoot jumpers in the quarterfinals and sat in their zone. That is not how Teaneck wants to score. However you defend them, you have to eliminate the driving lanes and make them jump shooters. [player_tooltip player_id='559047' first='Lexi' last='Carnegie'] has been playing phenomenal ball lately. With [player_tooltip player_id='1158019' first='Leayana' last='Dorville'], [player_tooltip player_id='1202375' first='Sydney' last='Ayala'], [player_tooltip player_id='600896' first='Jillian' last='Carter'] and Shaely Espinal, Teaneck has a great nucleus on the perimeter. What they have now that they didn't have in the first matchup this season, won by Demarest, was 6 foot transfer Aniya Celestin. If Demarest plays man D, Aniya will be the responsibility of [player_tooltip player_id='651513' first='Deana' last='Finkelstein']. Though a strong defender, Deana is undersized in this matchup. IHA fell to Demarest because they didn't repeatedly dump it in the post and use their size advantage. Angie Tirado and [player_tooltip player_id='835246' first='Ella' last='Peck'] are big parts of the Demarest offense and Tirado has been scoring at a high clip lately and will be up for the challenge. I picked the Demarest upset last week, but I think Celestin is the difference in this game and Teaneck moves on for a rematch of last year's County finals.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->