The Northern Valley region of Bergen County is on top of the world in girls basketball.
On Saturday, Cresskill stunned North Jersey by becoming the third No. 18 seed all-time to defeat a No. 2 seed in the Bergen County Tournament. The Cougars knocked off four-time runner-up Immaculate Heart, which also was ranked No. 2 in the Top 25 rankings.
The last Group 1 team to defeat IHA in the Bergen tournament before this season? Cresskill, which did so as the higher seed in a 7/10 matchup in 1991. As a result, the Cougars leapt six spots in this week’s rankings.
Meanwhile, Demarest jumped four spots on the heels of a 10-game win streak that includes a victory over Big North National rival Teaneck, which had been No. 1 earlier in the winter. The Norsewomen also avenged an early-season loss to Northern Highlands by bouncing the Highlanders from the Bergen County Round of 16.
Holy Angels is in the county quarterfinals for the second year in a row after ending an eight-year drought in 2023. And Old Tappan has followed a three-game slide with five consecutive wins, including one over two-time reigning sectional champ Jefferson Township.
The other regions of Bergen County – and the cream of the Passaic crop – remain well-represented in the rankings. But it’s safe to say the “NV” had a week that was “A-1.”
Top 25 rankings
- Saddle River Day (12-3)
- Eastside (15-2)
- Ramapo (15-2)
- Teaneck (14-5)
- Immaculate Heart (9-6)
- River Dell (12-4)
- Old Tappan (13-5)
- Holy Angels (10-4)
- Demarest (16-3)
- Northern Highlands (14-4)
- Glen Rock (12-4)
- Mahwah (13-5)
- Secaucus (13-5)
- Pascack Valley (11-8)
- Ridgewood (10-9)
- Park Ridge (14-3)
- Cresskill (11-7)
- Tenafly (8-9)
- Westwood (10-8)
- Rutherford (11-5)
- DePaul (7-7)
- Wayne Hills (9-7)
- Fair Lawn (9-6)
- Lyndhurst (14-4)
- Leonia (15-3)
Also considered: Becton (13-3), Elmwood Park (16-2), Hasbrouck Heights (12-4), Paramus Catholic (5-10), Ridgefield Park (10-8), Waldwick (8-10).
Records through Monday’s games