North Arlington’s girls basketball team rebounded this season and won a game in the state tournament only to be dismissed by a strong Secaucus team.

But next season the Lady Vikings are looking to make a run at the BCSL National divisional title while also make a run at the state sectional.

While North Arlington head coach Joe Spaccavento will have to replace the likes of Kaitlyn Schaefer, Sinead Gallagher and Marissa Brown, he will have his best player back in Tara Fisher.

The Lady Vikings ended with a 15-9 overall record, 12-6 in the National for third place in the league behind St. Mary’s and Secaucus.

"We have good situation going into next year," said Spaccavento. "We will miss our four seniors, but we return a lot of players, so competition will be fierce for varsity minutes next season." The other senior was Kristen Palatella.

The North Arlington head coach also pointed to a bright future as the Lady Vikings junior varsity team went 17-1 and the freshman team ended with a 12-4 mark against an independent schedule.

In terms of this season, the highlights of the season were winning the Bill Ferguson Holiday Tournament in the victory over Emerson, advancing to the second round of the state tournament before losing to Secaucus for the third team. Of the nine losses on the season, North Arlington lost to the Lady Patriots and St. Mary’s, a total of five times.

Leading the team this season and next season is sophomore Tara Fisher who was named to the All BCSL National first team. Fisher led the team in scoring with 15 points per game and was the floor leader.

Garnering All National second team is Brown and Schaefer. Brown was the team’s second leading scorer and had more than 700 points and 100 assists in her career. "She will be missed," said Spaccavento.

Schaefer was a three-year starter and tallied an impressive number of statistics. She accumulated more than 500 points, 800 rebounds and 100 steals in her high school career. "Kaitlyn was the leader of this team on and off the court," said Spaccavento.

Another three-year starter, Gallagher was named to the league’s honorable mention team. Like Schaefer she put up some good number for her career including more than 500 points, 700 rebounds and over 100 blocks. "She worked hard every day," said the North Arlington head coach.

Palatella came off the bench as was one of the team’s captains. "She accepted her role and contributed to the teams success as a role model and a leader on the court, in practice and in the locker room," said Spaccavento.

The North Arlington head coach will also be looking for strong contributions next season from juniors, Megan Schaefer, Amy Glarner, Sara McGovern and Debbie Pedro along with sophomores, Reema Sethi and Cailtin Dys.