PV's Jen Jurjevic (right) had aseason low point total, but reached a career high point with her first sectional title.

BAYONNE - Coming into the Group 3, North 1 sectional final between the Pascack Valley and Ramapo girls basketball teams, it was expected that defense would take center stage, and it did. Shooting woes shared the spotlight, however, as both teams may have been feeling the effects of playing an every-other-day schedule over the last week.

It was as if the players on both sides were expecting more than they got at times, as shots were hurried and often well off target. Neither team was able to penetrate the lane with any consistency. Shots were coming up short, a sure sign of weary legs.

When it was over, Pascack Valley had returned to the top of the heap, gaining its first sectional title since 1993 with a 35-25 win over the Raiders. It wasn't pretty, but Valley head coach Jeff Jasper wasn't about to give back his 11th sectional title.

"These two teams are mirrors of each other," he said after the game. "This was going to be a game of ball possession and half court offense. That's what got us both here. We don't have some point guard who's a jet breaking people down or some 6-2 kid posting up and drawing double teams. No, we have two teams who are similar, looking for high percentage shots."

The Indians move on to Thursday night's state Group 3 semifinal when they face Shabazz, a winner over Scotch Plains in the Group 3 North 2 final, in a 6:00 p.m. start at Vernon High School.

Early foul trouble slowed Ramapo's Carolyn Warhaftig.

The Raiders had played as well as any girls team in Bergen County this past month, and two big reasons were Carolyn Warhaftig and Katie Kleinert. This time, however, both could not continue their stellar play. Warhaftig picked up two fouls in the first 90 seconds of the game, and Kleinert missed her first 11 shots and was scoreless until the fourth quarter.

"We were definitely tired," Ramapo head coach Steve Silver said of the Raiders. "With four games in six days, we didn't have the legs to play against a team like Pascack Valley (26-1), a team that plays defense like they do."

A lackluster first quarter saw both teams shoot poorly, as Valley was 3 of 15 and the Raiders went 2 for 11, as PV took a 9-4 lead. Jen Jurjevic and Kristen Brown had six and five rebounds, respectively, while Kleinert had five for Ramapo.

The deliberate pace continued in the second quarter, and it took 2:45 for either team to score. PV finished the quarter with a 17-8 lead, taking only six shots and making four. They were shooting only 7 of 21 at the half, while Ramapo was only 3 of 20 after a 1 of 9 second quarter.

The woes continued in the third quarter, when Ramapo (22-5) went without a point. PV moved out to a commanding 26-8 lead, and Jasper said that, "I thought we did an excellent job of contesting their shots. They didn't get any real good looks at the basket, and we did a great job of rebounding. Brown (11 rebounds) was a warrior on the boards."

True to their competitive spirit, Ramapo did wage a fourth quarter resurgence, though it was too little, too late. Still, the Raiders came back with 17 points and used a 10-point run to cut the lead down to eight with 34 seconds left.

Freshman Heather Zurich led PV with 12 points.

"That's the nature of this team, they just don't stop playing," Silver said. "It was nice to see that, and this game does not take away from what we accomplished. I mean, to go through Northern Highlands, River Dell and Sparta in five days, that's a great accomplishment."

While the late surge wasn't enough, it did create some tension for Valley, which called three timeouts in the final two minutes. When Jurjevic finally ended the run with a layup with 18 seconds to go, it was time to celebrate. For Jurjevic, it was the culmination of a four-year quest.

"We're going out with a bang this year," she said. "The county title was nice last year, but this time we're not going out flat or shorthanded. We all stepped it up, we all did our fair share, and we executed as a team. We're getting a black ball (symbolizing a sectional championship) up on that banner and it means so much to me and my team."

Jurjevic had a season-low 10 points, as Warhaftig fought through her foul troubles to still play strong defense on her ("she didn't give me any open looks"), but freshman Heather Zurich came through with 12 points and Brown added nine.

Jurjevic did her part on the glass as well, grabbing 11 rebounds as PV owned a 32-16 rebounding edge. The Indians were 12 of 36 from the field and 11 of 17 at the foul line.

Kleinert scored seven fourth quarter points and finished just 3 of 17 shooting, though she did record three streals and grab nine rebounds. He seven points were the team high. Ramapo shot 9 of 39 from the floor (3 of 29 through three quarters) and hit all four of their free throws.