March
8, 2003
March 21,
HILLSDALE - When Tenafly knocked off Pascack Valley in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Girls Basketball tournament last month it left a lasting impression.
But the Indians' motivation for their game against Northern Highlands in the second round of the NJSIAA North 1, Group 3 playoffs on Friday afternoon had very little to do with redemption for a game long since past, rather it had to do with their future. They just wanted to keep playing basketball.
"We want to get as far as we can," said PV junior forward Kristen Brown. "We have only one time to get some place and we have one team to get there and we have an opportunity right ahead of us. We have to rise to that level.
"It's always going to be in the back of our minds. We always refer to it (the Tenafly loss) as a scar. We touch it and it's going to hurt and we know it hurts, but we're going to move on and we're going to play as hard as we can."
That scar may never heal, but PV's season will continue. After a slow start, the Indians went on to throttle Northern Highlands, 52-26, and will play second-seeded River Dell in the sectional semifinals tonight at 7:00 in Oradell.
"We just play the games as they are," said PV coach Jeff Jasper. "What this win does for us…it allows us to play another day.
"Today's game is so meaningful because we get to practice and play (today)."
Pascack Valley (23-1) trailed, 9-8, at the end of the first quarter but quickly remedied the situation, putting on a clinic in the second.
Crisp ball movement and tremendous defensive intensity led to open looks and easy baskets as the Indians outscored Highlands 15-2 in the quarter.
"(Northern Highlands) did some good things in the first quarter, some things we had to adjust to, and I thought we made the adjustments fairly well," Jasper said. "They brought in a bunch of perimeter players so that when the ball was dumped inside they'd be able to kick it back out. And they did a good job defending us on the other end."
Brown was unstoppable. She scored all seven of her first half points in the second and was able to do damage inside and out as PV took a comfortable 23-11 lead into the break.
"The first quarter they were out rebounding us," said PV point guard Heather Zurich. "We wanted to come out in the second quarter a lot stronger than we did, a lot more aggressive. We just tried to move the ball more on offense and be patient."
In the third quarter it was more of the same for the Indians. Brown, Zurich and junior Bryanne Corra dominated, scoring all 18 of the Indians' points while PV's defense held Highlands to just seven and cruised into the fourth up 41-18.
"We were so pumped up about leading in the first quarter," said Northern Highlands senior Jamie Zwillinger. "We just let the excitement get to us and we lost focus. We also were really hot in the first quarter and then some of our shots didn't fall as well as they did in the first."
Zwillinger led Northern Highlands (17-8) with 10 points, but only managed five after the first quarter.
"Everything we practiced worked in the first quarter," said Northern Highlands coach John Smith. "And then nothing worked.
"We scored two points in the second quarter and when you are not shooting well nothing else works either."
Brown had 10 rebounds to go along with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Zurich scored 15 points, shooting and impressive 5-of-7 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line. Corra added 12 points and eight boards.
"It's always going to be there but you have to move forward," said Zurich of the Tenafly loss. "There are more games to play. There's still a future ahead of us and we still have opportunities. We want to keep going."
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