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North Warren Girls’ Hoops Headed to Postseason

February 25, 2026

Young women playing basketball indoors — Lillian Caraballo (25) is one of the offensive cogs for North Warren. Photo by Joe Phalon.

The Patriots’ basketball girls squad is headed to the post-season Wednesday, after closing out a 14-12 regular season.

While the team finished just two games over .500 for their overall record, they were 9-1 against teams in their division, the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Colonial, which punched their ticket to the tournament, where they’ll meet Waldwick for an away game Friday at 5 p.m.

Head coach Jay Hill said his team is ready for the postseason.

“We’re playing well, especially defensively,” Hill said. “We’re looking forward to the tournament.”

Key to this year’s success is having a roster with five or six different players who can lead the scoring.

Young women on basketball court indoors — Julia Smith gets one past Veritas Christian. Photo by Joe Phalon.

In the Patriots’ 53-33 win over Veritas Christian Feb. 16, Jane Cook scored 14 points with Lillian Caraballo notching 12 points. Jubilee Leverett pulled down 14 rebounds.

The next game, against Hackettstown, the Patriots jumped out to a 27-18 lead in the first half, but the Tigers came back in a fourth quarter rally to win 48-46. Despite the score, Cook tied her career high with 19.

In the last game of the regular season, a lopsided 51-32 loss to Pequannock, Leverett led with 8 points and also had 14 rebounds.

Like the Hackettstown game, North Warren led Pequannock going into halftime but another late scoring streak sealed it for the Golden Panthers.

But with his round-robin style of players sharing the spotlight, Hill believes he has a winning formula. And the defense has been more than holding its own.

“I’m very happy defensively,” Hill said. “We’ve worked on defense all season.”

“Leverett’s hands are like Velcro when it comes to rebounds,” he added.

Going into the postseason, Hill said the offense has risen to the occasion as well.

“I’m happy with how we pass the ball offensively,” he said. “We’ve had good shot selection overall.”

Joe Phalon, Contributing Writer

Contributing Writer

Joe brings decades of journalism experience to the Ridge View Echo, covering everything from local school boards to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former National Law Journal editor and Columbia Law School press officer, he now enjoys telling community stories in Blairstown, where he lives with his wife, Rose, and their two dachshunds.