Girls Basketball 2020 Season Wrap-up and Rankings

Here is a look at the highlights and major events that shaped the 2019-20 North Jersey girls basketball season.

Here’s what was: Cresskill (Group 1), Ramapo (Group 3), Immaculate Heart (Non-Public A) and Saddle River Day (Non-Public B) qualified for the canceled state-title games, marking the fourth time ever North Jersey sent that many teams to the finals (2011, 2015 and 2016 were the others).

Westwood’s North 1, Group 2 victory gave Bergen/Passaic counties five sectional champions, and four were repeat winners. Ramapo captured the first in program history and will have an excellent chance to defend its crown next winter with no seniors to graduate.

Scoring sensations

Cresskill junior Colleen McQuillen became the 14th girl in Bergen County history to surpass 2,000 career points. At 2,068 with a season to go, she could challenge the late Anne Donovan (2,582) for No. 2 on the list next winter.

McQuillen also was one of 14 players to end 2019-20 with more than 1,000 career points and one of two – along with Lakeland senior Keira Marks (1,843) – to set school scoring records for boys/girls combined. Damaris Rodriguez of Secaucus (1,737) and Shannon Burns of Park Ridge (1,668) added to totals after reaching the millennium mark as juniors, and Burns finished with more than 1,000 career rebounds as well.

This season’s 10 newcomers to the North Jersey 1,000-point club: Manchester’s Jasmine McDuffie (1,338), IHA’s Anna Morris (1,331), Saddle Brook’s Ashley Georgevich (1,233), Emerson’s Victoria Elek (1,172), Paramus Catholic’s Aria Myers (1,117), Passaic Valley’s Taylor Hill (1,115), Ridgefield Park’s Trisha Tellian (1,086), Immaculate Conception’s Jariah Patterson (1,081), Rutherford’s Jaeli Torres (1,076) and Ridgefield’s Livia Ramos (1,001). Hill and Ramos both have one season left.

Tournament triumphs

The Bergen and Passaic County tournaments produced familiar champions. Saddle River Day equaled Paramus Catholic’s longtime record of five consecutive Bergen titles, and Wayne Valley defeated rival Lakeland in the Passaic final for the second time in three seasons.

The NJIC Tournament also got the first repeat winner in its five-year history. Secaucus has made all three finals since the division-champion format was introduced, and this year, the Patriots relished their 56-30 win over Rutherford all the more since it was the final game of their season.

The 2017 NJIC champ, Midland Park, added a new trophy to its collection by winning the second annual Bergen Invitational Tournament. The Panthers followed up by reaching their fifth North 1, Group 1 final in coach Sean O’Connor’s eight seasons.

Big breakthroughs

When the 2000s began, it took Manchester an entire decade to win 20 games. This season, the Falcons went 23-5 for the best record in program history, advanced in both the county and state tournaments and won a share of their first division title in 37 years.

Meaningful moments

Among the numerous coaching milestones was win No. 600 for Jeff Horohonich, whose Saddle Brook Falcons went 18-8 to raise his record to 601-179 at five different schools.