Lyndhurst, NJ- What is becoming a fixture on the summer circuit, the Lyndhurst High School Girls Basketball League opened its third season in early June. The league has 14 teams with representatives from Bergen, Hudson and Essex Counties. Contests move at a brisk pace with two 18 minute running time halves with stop clock on dead balls the final two minutes of the game. Games are contested at the air conditioned Lyndhurst Middle School, a point worth noting, as the week of June 23rd saw the mercury stay in triple digits.

League director Perrin Mosca, the Lyndhurst High School boys coach who formerly coached the girls program at the same school, thought about having playoffs. With 14 teams, Mosca noted, it would be difficult to accomplish. Regardless, teams have ample playing time with the league running through mid July.

On Monday two teams had alumni and former players from the same school directing their respective groups. Bergen Tech is led by Sean O’Beirne a St. Mary (Rutherford) alum who played for the Gaels in the late Eighties and Early nineties. Directing St. Mary is Janea Kelty, a 2019 graduate who starred on the hardwood during her time there. On this night O’Beirne’s group got the upper hand. St. Mary had a seven point lead with three minutes remaining before the Knights went on an 8-0 run, capped off with two free throws with .2 seconds left to earn the 31-30 victory.

St. Mary missed a few players due to softball commitments. Sophomore Alexa Falsetta had a good outing for the Gaels.

Several small schools like St. Mary are missing players with commitments in other sports. The coaches don’t mind and actually feel having a multi sport athlete makes them a better basketball player in the long run.

In these days when a coach’s shelf life is decreasing due to parental and/or administrative pressure, someone like Jody Hill , entering her 30th year, can be considered a legend. Hill starred at Harrison, playing for Jack Rodgers and later Pace. She took over as girls coach in the soccer town of Kearny and over her three decades has built a consistent winner at Kearny High School. Her teams are known for playing hard and applying relentless full court pressure on the defensive end. They looked sharp in a 49-33 win over Lyndhurst on Monday.

Hill has a junior guard of note Makayla David, rounding into a very impressive complete player. "Her freshman year she was more of a shooter," Hill said. "Now her game has progressed to the point she does so many other things well." David is well skilled in decision making and finding an open teammate.

Coach Amber Tobia’s West Essex team had an impressive 18-11 season last Winter. She lost an excellent player to graduation, Sasha Resnick, but has appreciable talent returning. One of those is sophomore Jordan Salisbury, a sophomore with size and the ability to put the ball on the floor and hit from mid range.

"She’s (Salisbury) is one of our starters," Tobia said. " She’s a fantastic player. I feel with our JV squad and a lot of freshmen coming in she showed a lot of leadership out there. It’s difficult to work with a brand new group of girls but she did a great job."

Tobia commented on the Lyndhurst league which her squad played in last summer. "Just getting the girls together, getting them playing and building relations including (with) the incoming freshman is big," she said.

Dumont head coach Christie Prepis is in her fourth year running the Huskies. A former player, she's had 15 years as an assistant. Prepis played for and assisted Dave Cieplicki, a long time well respected Dumont mentor with over 500 wins to his credit. Prepis had her group in the league two years ago, missed last summer and is happy to be back.

"I think this is a good league," Prepis said. "The talent is comparable and there are some challenges. West Essex impressed me last week. We like to play a competitive schedule in the summer. The more the kids play the more opportunities they have to get better."

Looking ahead the coach added, "I expect us to be competitive. We graduated some scoring but we have good senior leadership and a lot of experience. I think this time this year we will be looking back on a successful season."

Dumont dropped a 33-18 decision to Cliffside Park on Tuesday. Cliffside Park has impressed under the direction of new coach Mark Skinner who took over just before the start of summer.

"I’ve been on board literally two weeks now," Skinner said, "and had two or three practices. Some of the girls I know from the community and they look like they are eager to play. We have a few players heading into their junior year ready to evolve a bit so I am giving them some tools to get them ready." Skinner is very enthusiastic, always in an encouraging teaching mode and it reflects on his team’s play. "I love coaching the girls," he said. "I think they are more disciplined."

Skinner has an impressive player in Leeya Ancle. The junior guard is lethal in transition and has the ability to break down a defense and get to the basket. She was impressive both nights despite playing with a partially injured ankle.

Rutherford coach Ed Guy was encouraged with his team’s showing on Wednesday. The Bulldogs edged West Essex 33-31, who they lost to this past season in an independent matchup, before being narrowly defeated by Columbia 34-33. The young players impressed Guy. Kayla Knapp, a sophomore, played well. A group of incoming freshman also caught attention. "They just finished eighth grade," Guy said, "but they are not intimidated by varsity play. They got right into it."

Defense will be a Rutherford staple once again. Rebounding will be critical. In the two games the Bulldogs frequently got a defensive stop but occasionally allowed a second chance opportunity. Hitting the boards in something Guy concedes his team needs to improve on. And what better time to work than the summer?

Final thoughts…Lyndhurst and North Arlington could challenge for their NJIC division title this season. Both are in the league. Coach Dan Kesack has a young group at Lyndhurst. He looks forward to the return of 6’2" Brooke Harper an impressive inside player who missed all of last season with an ACL injury.

North Arlington, coached by Brendan Queenan, has several returnees from a 16-12 team that advanced to the NJ state Group 1 quarterfinal. On Wednesday the Vikings got out to a 7-1 lead before dropping a tough 23-21 decision to Midland Park.

In summer coaches usually do not utilize as many offensive sets as you see in regular season. In a 27-12 win over Bergen Tech, Nutley ran some basic but very effective zone offense. Jake McNish the retired long time Weehawken boys coach is once again back assisting daughter Kara at Nutley.