The Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen basketball team edged the Lyndhurst Golden Bears 48-46 Wednesday afternoon at Lyndhurst, earning their first win of the season and securing a spot in the championship game of the holiday tournament.  

Trailing by two points with just 25 seconds left on the clock, the Lady Bridgemen found junior guard Ally Long standing at the top of the arc for a go-ahead three-pointer.

Behind 46-43, Lyndhurst missed their initial shot, but the Golden Bears were able to grab the offensive rebound. Junior Nicole Barratta took full advantage as she swished in the game-tying three.

But when Lyndhurst fouled Long on the inbound pass, freezing the clock with just 2.27 seconds left in a tie game, Lyndhurst coach Perrin Mosca argued with the officials after the play and received an additional technical foul, confusion ensued as to how the free throws would be handled.

Long was fouled with the Golden Bears in the bonus, and the officials let the guard take her shots before the technical free throws were set to follow. Mosca disagreed with the ruling as many of the fans in the stands also voiced their displeasure.

A New Jersey referee with seven years of experience, who did not work the game and wished to remain anonymous, said that the officials did administer the call correctly and in the proper order.

With fans yelling and stomping their feet to distract Long, the junior made one of her two shots. Then Brianna Mattessich added another on the technical free throw for the 48-46 Fort Lee lead.

Following a timeout, the Lady Bridgemen failed to inbound the ball and were called for a five-second violation. Mosca then took another timeout, drew up a play, and freshman guard Grace Tomko missed a half-court shot as time expired.

"It's always great to get the first win out of the way," said Fort Lee coach Stacie Zafiris. "I don't think it was our best game, but a lot of players stepped up when they needed to."

Long was one of those players with a team-high 12 points and the eventual game winner.

"Because of her we won this game," Mattessich said. "Without her, we wouldn't have won."

Fort Lee overcame early foul trouble, a multitude of turnovers and eight three-pointers from Lyndhurst to earn the victory and continue along into the championship game.

Junior forward Anthe Nikolaidis stayed out of foul trouble to pick up eight points as senior forward Genevieve Noel dropped contributed six more off of the bench.

The Lady Bridgemen now have an opportunity to win back-to-back holiday tournaments if Fort Lee is able to defeat Park Ridge at 1 p.m. on Friday.

"We really want it," said Mattessich. "We are the defending champs, and we want a second one."

The title game will be a rematch of two seasons ago when Park Ridge and Fort Lee met in the finals, an eventual Owls victory.

"They have great athletes, great workers and great work ethic," Zafiris said. "The game two years ago was a very close game, so I'm hoping to have the same thing again."

In earlier action at the Lyndhurst Holiday Tournament, Palisades Park defeated Orange by forfeit as the Tornadoes did not show up for the 10:30 a.m. contest. Park Ridge earned their way into the championship with a win against Midland Park