Lady Highlanders fall to Ramapo in first playoff round

The West Milford High School girls’ basketball team couldn’t keep up with Ramapo in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 3 tournament in Franklin Lakes March 3.

West Milford entered the tournament as the 16th seed, while Ramapo entered as the top seed.

Ramapo stormed out to a 25-5 lead in the opening period and the Lady Highlanders were never able to recover.

The final score was 75-29 and that marks the final game of the season for West Milford, which finishes with a 9-18 record.

Going into the playoff loss, the Lady Highlanders were coming off of a few other away losses, the first to Newark Academy on Feb. 26.

After a tight first quarter in that game, Newark was able to pull away with a 18-4 second quarter.

The final score was 51-30.

Senior Kristina Fedor led West Milford in scoring in the losing effort with her nine points, while sophomore Rachel Chandler wasn’t far behind with seven.

The Lady Highlanders followed that up with another loss to Kinnelon on Feb. 28 and, much like in the Ramapo loss, the opponent was able to build a strong first-quarter lead and never look back.

The Colts won by a final score of 49-34.

West Milford senior Ashley Jacobs led the team in scoring in that game with her 13 points, while junior guard Rory McCormick wasn’t far behind with seven.

Fedor and Chandler each chipped in with six points apiece as well.

Jacobs also had a game-high 17 points in the team’s previous loss to River Dell, while Chandler scored 11 of her own.

The Lady Highlanders (9-18) will look to improve on their record heading into next season.