The Butler and Midland Park girls’ basketball teams started their 2025 postseason with upsets in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 1, Group 1 tournament. The 10-seed Bulldogs topped 7-seed Kittatinny, 35-33, while the 11-seed Panthers were victorious against 6-seed Pompton Lakes, 43-41.
Butler 35, Kittatinny 33
Scoring was at a premium between Butler and Kittatinny. While each offense struggled to find the bottom of the net, the Bulldog defense made sure it did its part. Butler had 14 steals as a team against the Cougars, with Emily Costello leading the defensive charge for Butler with six steals of her own.
Costello also led the Butler offense, accounting for almost a third of the Bulldogs points with ten. Alexa Sinopoli cleaned up on the glass for Butler, grabbing 12, of the Bulldogs’ 36, rebounds.
Lina Hull led the way for Kittatinny recording a game high 12 points for the Cougars.
Midland Park 43, Pompton Lakes 41
Pompton Lakes’ Mia Soto led all scorers with 20 points, however, it was not enough to overcome a full team effort from Midland Park as every player to see action for the Panthers scored.
Abigail Kuhnel netted 11 points and Sara Stern hauled in 11 rebounds to lead the Midland Park charge. Stern also contributed two steals and three blocks on defense for the Panthers.
With their wins, Butler advances to play 2-seed Mountain Lakes while Midland Park will take on 3-seed Cresskill on Saturday. With their losses, Kittatinny and Pompton Lakes end their seasons with 18-8 and 16-11 records respectively.
