Here’s a complete breakdown, with favorites, contenders and more for North Jersey, Section 1 in the 2025-26 N.J. girls basketball state tournament.
Girls Basketball: Eastern Christian vs. Hasbrouck Heights at Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, NJ on Wednesday, January 21, 2026. We’re just a few days away from the start to the sprint to the finish line.
Sectional and group champions will be crowned over the coming weeks. The girls basketball state tournament officially begins Wednesday and NJ.com is here to break down the entire field, bracket-by-bracket, across the state.Mountain Lakes, seeded second, has made it to the sectional the past two years, winning last year on the road. The 15-11 Lakers enter the postseason winning five of their last six games since exiting the Morris County Tournament. Three of the wins came against teams with winning records in Hanover Park, Pascack Valley and Madison, and another came against Morris Hills. Madison and Morris Knolls each won sectional titles last year.Mountain Lakes opens the tournament against the same team it has played in the final in recent years, Park Ridge.Having home court during the playoffs is a luxury, and Emerson Boro has a chance to take advantage of it. As the top seed, Emerson won’t have to leave the friendly confines of its own gym. Emerson, which is 18-7, has cooled off the last few weeks since beginning the season 14-2. The Cavos fell to Ramsey in the preliminary round of the Bergen County Tournament, and then they fell to Cresskill, a team seeded sixth in this bracket, in the quarterfinals of the Bergen Invitational. Still, Emerson showed its potential by downing Secaucus, a team that has played its way into the semifinals of the Hudson County Tournament, two days after they played. If Emerson can capture the way it was playing at the start of the year, the Cavos will be a tough out especially at home.Third-seeded Midland Park was three points away from making the sectional semifinals last season, and the Panthers are even better this season. Sporting a 16-8 overall record, Midland Park reached the NJIC Tournament semifinals having won the American Division with a 9-1 mark. The Panthers earned strong wins throughout the year over North Arlington, Emerson Boro, Cresskill and Pascack Hills. Sara Stern paces Midland Park with 14.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks on the year.It has been quite the turnaround for fourth-seeded Pequannock. The Panthers are 20-5 overall and 9-1 in the NJAC Independence Division just one season after going 3-22 and winless in the Liberty division. Pequannock enters the postseason having won six out of its last seven games since reaching the Morris County Tournament second round. The Panthers have notched many solid wins over Kittatinny, Morris Hills, Hanover Park, Butler, Boonton and Kinnelon. Siana Cassel is averaging 12.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks, while Caitlin Zegler posts 10.6 points, 6.3 boards, 2.1 assists and 3.3 steals a game.Hasbrouck Heights advanced to the sectional semifinals a year ago before falling to Park Ridge. This season, the seventh-seeded Aviators, who are 13-11, enter postseason play winners of five of their last six games against likes of Secaucus, Cresskill, Roselle Park, Hoboken and Pompton Lakes, all good teams.Armed with the section’s top scorer in Gina Minichiello at 22.2 points per game to go along with 13.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.3 steals, nobody will want to see the Aviators.Girls Basketball: Bergen County quarterfinal-Teaneck vs Glen Rock at Demarest High School in Demarest, NJ on Saturday February 7, 2026.Glen Rock is the top seed in this section, and the Panthers will be aiming to make their third-straight trip to the final. Glen Rock won the title a year ago and brought back the majority of the roster including Mia Vergel de Dios, who leads the team in points, assists and steals and is near the top in rebounds. She is surrounded by strong players in Isabella Flaccavento, Abby Grove, Anna Heuss, Ana Landreau and Madison Wise who can take the pressure of her. The NJIC Tournament champions enter the postseason at 19-6 with wins over River Dell, Secaucus, Glen Ridge, Saddle River Day, Pascack Valley, Rutherford and Cresskill. The Panthers also tested themselves by playing DePaul, Teaneck and Old Tappan.Westwood had to go on the road last year in the playoffs and defeat Vernon. It then had to take on eventual champion Glen Rock away as well. This time, as the two-seed, the 17-8 Cardinals have home court advantage until the final should it meet Glen Rock again. Westwood went 11-5 at home this season and enter the postseason winners four of five over Ramsey, Pascack Hills, Mahwah and Morris Hills. The Cardinals have downed several teams with winning records this season including Ridgefield Park, Paramus and Waldwick. Cameron Roche leads the team with 21.8 points per game to go along with 8.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Bria Charles is also averaging 10.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals on the year.Jefferson is seemingly always in the thick of the playoff race. The Falcons made the sectional semifinals last season, and won three-straight titles the prior trio of seasons. Jefferson, which is 16-7, knows how to win when it matters most late in the year. The Falcons went a perfect 10-0 in the NJAC Freedom Division play this season and have posted wins over Morris Hills, West Morris, Newton, High Point, Morris Knolls and Hackettstown.Can fifth-seeded Pascack Valley make one last run for legendary head coach Jeff Jasper? After 53 years, New Jersey girls basketball’s all-time winningest coach isat the end of the year, he announced just last week. Jasper’s Pascack Valley teams have won 14 sectional titles with the last one coming in 2019. Pascack Valley played a tough schedule this year going up against Old Tappan, Teaneck, Demarest and Glen Rock, many of which on multiple occasions. Wins on the year include Wayne Hills, Cresskill, Secaucus, Rutherford, Leonia, Fair Lawn and Dwight-Engelwood.The 10th-seeded Broncos nearly took down the section’s second-seeded team, Westwood, recently on Feb. 12 before falling in overtime. After not making the state tournament tournament last season with just one senior, this version of Pascack Hills, which is 10-15, is much more experienced with five juniors and five seniors. Emily Driver, Kate Glass, Olivia Juliano and Kaitlyn Wittlinger all have scored close to 200 points this season. That kind of balance is key come the playoffs.Girls Basketball: Bergen County quarterfinal-Demarest vs Saddle River Day at Demarest High School in Demarest, NJ on Saturday February 7, 2026.There are four teams in this section that are or were ranked inside the NJ.com Top 20 at some point and Demarest is one of them. Demarest reached the sectional final last year for the first time just a few short weeks after making its initial trip to the Bergen County Tournament final. Flash forward this season, and the Norsemen this time captured the BCT crown. Does that mean they’ll win a sectional crown too? Only time will tell, but Demarest is poised to make it happen. With wins this winter over Colts Neck, Franklin, Glen Ridge, Teaneck, Old Tappan, Saddle River Day and Ramapo, the 22-3 Norsemen have sharpened their axes. Demarest could see a combination of many of those teams again in the postseason, so having the confidence of already beating them can go far. Zoe Wasserlauf , Gabriella Mittelman , Nassiah Cole-Haricha and Deana Finkelstein have been the main group of producers this season.Ramapo, 22-4, is searching for its first title since 2019-20 and first appearance in the final in four years. The Bergen County Tournament runner-up has the advantage of having home court throughout as the top seed. The Raiders dropped early games to Bishop Eustace and University, but turned around their season with several key wins against Ridgewood, River Dell, Pingry, Northern Highlands, Old Tappan and Immaculate Heart. Camden Epstein is the section’s leading scorer at 20.1 points per game. She is also averaging 4.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.0 steals. Toni Pernetti isn’t far behind with 15.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals.Third-seeded Sparta is coming off an appearance in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament title game. At 18-7, the Spartans enter the playoffs having won 11 of 13 games and 13 of 16. Sparta defeated many solid teams this season in Chatham, Cresskill, Roxbury, Jefferson, Paramus and Voorhees. A balanced squad, the Spartans are led by Brooke Shust , Kaelyn Sabanosh and Isabella Van Winkle .Fifth-seeded Teaneck, 16-8, won sectional titles in 2023-24 and 2022-23. It started this season 2-5 against a tough schedule. However, the Highwaywomen responded with wins over Bayonne, Arts and Old Tappan to join the Top 20. Teaneck dropped back out after losses to Morris Catholic and Demarest, but a win late in the year over Old Tappan showed it can still compete with some of the best teams in the state. Lexi Carnegie , Aniya Celestin , Sydney Ayala and Jillian Carter make Teaneck a formidable bunch. With a history of winning, expect nothing less from the Highwaywomen.Once ranked inside the Top 20, si cvfxth-seeded and 18-6 Old Tappan has posted wins this year over New Providence, River Dell, Pascack Valley, Paterson Eastside, Ridgewood and Hasbrouck Heights. The Knights have fallen by slim margins to Demarest, Teaneck, West Orange and Ramapo. Winners of four games in a row, Old Tappan has a chance to turn those lessons of defeat into triumphs in the playoffs. Sienna Drullinsky and Alexa Caunedo are averaging 16 and 14.1 points per game, respectively. West Orange is currently 24-3 on the year and just made won its second straight Essex County Tournament title. The top-seeded Mountaineers will be looking to earn back-to-back sectional titles as well. They have faced no shortage of strong opponents this season, playing 10 teams that were or are ranked in the NJ.com Top 20. Behind star guards Rhyan Watt and London Caldwell , West Orange’s resume is littered with strong wins including against Arts, Caldwell, University, Bayonne, Westfield, Immaculate Heart, Old Tappan, Saddle River Day, Glen Ridge and Ewing.Second-seeded Morristown has played in the last two North 1, Group 4 sectional finals, winning in 2023-24. This season, the Colonials enter the postseason at 19-7 after reaching the Morris County Tournament championship game. Nawel Ibazatene Lefebvre is a sophomore star who is averaging 23.5 points, 8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.4 blocks and 4.2 steals per game. She’s tough to contain, and if teams can’t, she can put Morristown on her back. The Colonials have posted several standout victories this year over Jefferson, Morris Knolls, Madison, Hillsborough, Mendham, Pope John, Chatham, Randolph, Paramus Catholic, Sparta and Mountain Lakes,Third-seeded Ridgewood has been in and out of the rankings in Group 4 this season along with Morristown. Ridgewood, 15-9, has played a tough schedule which should bode well for this time of the year. 1w2The Maroons have notched wins against Glen Rock, Pope John, Passaic Tech, Northern Highlands, Pascack Valley, Westwood and Paterson Eastside. They’ve also faced Top 20 teams Ramapo and Immaculate Heart. Ridgewood last won a sectional title in 2000, and it will turn to Catie Klemm among others to make a run.Fourth-seeded Kearny has the ability to light it up from deep. Makayla David and Mariel Ruiz are the two main contributors for the Kardinals. Ruiz has made over 70 3-pointers and David has over 60. If those two catch fire, every opposing team will be on high alert. Kearny, which is 19-6, began the year with a win over Hudson Catholic, and continued its success by making the Hudson County Tournament semifinals and going unbeaten in the HCIAL National Division.Paterson Eastside is the eight-seed in this section for the second year in a row, and the Lady Ghosts won’t be an easy out. Paterson Eastside reached the Passaic County Tournament final this past weekend and is 16-9 entering the postseason. Eastside has wins this year over the likes of Passaic Tech and Paramus Catholic, and it has played Old Tappan, Immaculate Heart, University, Plainfield and Arts tough. Jade Bethea , Alexis Chambers and Aubrey Newell form a strong trio, preventing opposing teams to key on just one star player.Chris Nalwasky is a high school sports reporter for NJ.com. He currently covers boys and girls tennis and boys and girls bowling. He's also had beat coverage in winter track. Nalwasky also handles many other...
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