NVD girls and boys basketball teams fought hard to continue their season into following rounds of the state tournament, but fell short on Friday, March 18. 

The girls team played first against Morris Knolls High School. At halftime, the game was tied 26-26, but NVD came out strong in the next quarter and held a 46-38 lead. They held onto that lead until the last few minutes of the game until, with less than a minute left, the Knolls scored, sending the game into overtime. In a short period of time, the Knolls scored, which handed them the victory. Although not the ending many players anticipated, coaches and players on both teams gave it their all.

Sophomore Deanna Finklestein expressed her thoughts and feelings about the loss, and shared her experience throughout the season.

“Although the outcome of the game was not ideal, we had a lot of achievements this season. We broke the school record for most games won in a regular season and multiple players had personal bests,” Finklestein said. 

She said even though the season is over, the team will continue to improve and work in the off-season. 

“A lot of us play other sports in other seasons, but we have a summer league and open gym run by the coaches, so there are a lot of opportunities for us to improve before the season,” Finklestein said. 

The boys team played shortly after the girls game against Ramapo. Both Demarest and Ramapo came out strong with huge crowds cheering on both teams. It was an exhilarating game with loud and excited fans, and a state sectional title on the line. Both Ramapo and Demarest had excellent seasons, but Ramapo ended up taking the trophy. 

NVD was up 16-15 at the half, and the second half was back and forth, but Ramapo secured one final shot which brought the score to 41-37, leaving Demarest with no time to catch up. While this is the end of the 2024-2025 basketball season for the Norsemen, Ramapo will continue in the tournament. 

Sophomore Jake Schweid shares his thoughts and feelings of the team’s effort and performance.

“Honestly, we did everything we should have done involving the game plan but on the offensive end, our shots just weren’t falling,” Schweid said. 

He explained the process and measures the team took to get into the best mental state, as well as some things the teams struggled with. 

“There was definitely a nervous factor and it took the team a little bit to settle into the game. At the end of the day we executed but the end goal wasn’t the best and we knew that,” Schweid said. “We went over the game plan each day, communicated well, and did our best to mentally buy in and be ready for the game.”

Coach Patrick Gabriele reflects on the season and expresses his pride for the team; their daily effort and skill did not go unnoticed.

“If there is one thing I never questioned about this team, it was their effort. No team is ever perfect, but this team gave unbelievable effort everyday. It didn’t matter if it was practice or a game, these guys worked hard and it showed in the season that they had,” Gabriele said.

Although the team had great successes this year, they plan on becoming stronger, and growing as a team.

“All of us feel that we owe it to the seniors and ourselves to do everything we can to try and get back to that game and not feel that feeling again. That is our motivation for this off-season and into the start of next season,” Schweid said. 

While the season had an unfortunate ending for the players, Gabriele shares his feelings on the players’ performance and attitude.  

“I am so proud of these guys and everything they accomplished. They will learn from the season ending loss and hopefully come back next season hungry as ever to get back to that point,” Gabriele said.