This season when March comes around Rutherford’s girls basketball team is hoping that it will be a jubilant ride home on that night when the Lady Bulldogs make it to the state sectional finals.

"This is what the girls have been talking about and the big goal," said Rutherford head coach Nick DeBari.

The last two seasons the Lady Bulldogs fell to Ridgefield Park in 2006 and Hanover Park in 2007.

From the 25-5 record of last season, Rutherford should be armed and ready to finally break through. Rutherford has four starters back including the pair in the middle in senior Jacki Mann (6-2), who was first team All Bergen County, and junior Taylor Wootton (6-1), who was second team All Bergen County.

Both Mann and Wootton make a powerful one-two punch inside, but both have improved on their perimeter shooting. Mann had hit 21, three-pointers last season and has worked on her outside shooting even more to get ready to play in college at Quinnipiac University.

"With both Jacki and Taylor shooting from the outside, it stretches the other team’s defense and opens some lanes for the other girls," said DeBari.

Mann averaged 16.1 points per game and led the team in rebounds with 8.1 a game during the 2006-07 season. Wooton averaged 11.3 points per game.

The key for the Lady Bulldogs this season in repeating as BCSL American champs and winning a state sectional championship and more could possibly be the other starters on the team. The other two returning starters coming back are junior point guard Brittany O’Keefe (5-4), who led the team in three-pointers with 29 last season and 4.2 assists per game, and senior guard Veronica McGorry (5-5). The new starter for the Lady Bulldogs this season is junior Lindsay Simone (5-5), who was the sixth man off the bench. O’Keefe was first team All BCSL American and McGorry was second team All BCSL American.

"They have to contribute more offensively," said DeBari in terms of the other three starters. "Everybody will be concentrating on stopping Jacki and Taylor. If the other three starters score we‘ll be hard to beat."

Rutherford goes nine deep in its rotation with sophomore guard Nicole Leonard (5-7), junior guard Priscila Moposita (5-5), junior forward Kara Fecanin (5-6) and sophomore guard Katlyn Galati (5-5).

"We’re a little deeper than last year and more experienced," said DeBari. "We’ll be playing a little faster. We’ll be playing a lot more transition game and pressing a little bit more. There will be more full-court press and I think the defense overall will be better."

Along with a disappointing trip to the state sectionals, Rutherford would like to go far in the Bergen County Tournament. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs fell to Ramapo in the first round as Rutherford received the bad luck of the draw in the seedings. The Green Raiders would go on and make the county finals.

In terms of the league, DeBari believes that his team will have to fight off the likes of River Dell, Tenafly, Queen of Peace and Dumont to repeat as BCLS American division champions.