PARK RIDGE — Sure, Friday was about revenge for Mountain Lakes. It was also about respect.
The No. 2 seed Lakers defeated top seed and host Park Ridge, 56-45, in the North 1, Group 1 girls basketball final. Mountain Lakes (22-5) reversed the result of last year’s sectional final in the same gym, earning its first title since 2006.
"We were so upset last year when we lost, because we knew that we could have won it," Lakers senior Kaylin Oey said. "So this year, we all said [that] we need to win this game − we don't want to lose again."
Senior Abby Hawes led the visitors with 20 points. Sophomore forward Shea Sutter logged a dominant double-double (16 points, 18 rebounds) to help the Lakers control the glass and the paint.
Park Ridge 2,000-point scorer Allie Shenloogian netted a game-high 30 before fouling out with 48.7 seconds left. The crowd and the entire Mountain Lakes team gave the reigning North Jersey Player of the Year an ovation as she walked off the court for the final time.
"She's one of the top scorers in the state, right? You've got to give her respect for that," Mountain Lakes coach Joanne Smith said.
What it means
After claiming the fifth sectional title in program history, Mountain Lakes advanced to Tuesday's NJSIAA Group 1 semifinal at Bloomfield High School. The team will face former conference foe Glen Ridge, the North Section 2 champ, at 4:30 p.m.
Park Ridge, which reached its third consecutive sectional final, finished 19-7. Shenloogian ended up fifth on the all-time Bergen County scoring list with 2,337 career points.
Keys to the game
When the teams met in the 2024 North 1, Group 1 final, Mountain Lakes held a 43-27 edge in rebounds, but the Owls countered by making 22 steals.
This time, Smith's squad limited turnovers, and its 40-25 rebounding advantage was too much to overcome. The 5-foot-10 Oey, 6-foot Sutter and 5-8 Kristine Squeglia patrolled the paint and gave Park Ridge few inside looks as the Lakers built a 33-18 halftime lead.
"Last year, we had a lot of points scored on us [in the final]," Hawes said. "We really knew that in order to win this game, defensively, we had to be the stronger team."
They said it
“I was watching the power points throughout the whole season, kind of wondering, are we going to get above them [in sectional seedings]? … Park Ridge, I was watching all their games. They played some really close games, and so did we. And you really never know until you get to the court.” —Hawes, on how long she’d been looking forward to the rematch
“I just told them, ‘Come out like we’ve been here before. You’ve got to come out and play the way we’ve been playing, and that’s all that matters.’ … It is a little bit of a revenge, so it’s nice, but they were ready for it. This is what they’ve been working for.” —Smith