February
11, 2005
HILLSDALE - Jimmy Carter was president. Hotel California by the Eagles won the Grammy for Record of the Year. Atari was invented. Grease was the most popular movie in the country. The year was 1978 and it was the last time Pascack Valley did not hold at least a share of the NBIL crown.
But that streak under legendary head coach Jeff Jasper was in jeopardy when undefeated Northern Highlands came into PV's gym, looking to sweep the season series and grab the outright title on Thursday afternoon. However, the Indians made it clear right from the opening tip that they were not about to give up their title on their own home floor.
Pascack Valley hit its first six shots from the floor and 8 of its 9 in the first quarter. After a halftime scare, PV's defense shut out the Highlanders in the third quarter and went wire-to-wire to draw even at the top of the NBIL's -Divison 2 with a 52-35 victory. Should both teams win their final two league games as expected, they will share the league title.
"We had the streak on our minds, but we didn't think about it once the game started," said Pascack Valley forward Erin Thames. "Our goal was to get off to a fast start and make Northern Highlands play from behind. We played about as well as we could play in the first quarter. It might have been our best quarter all season and we picked a good time to have it."
Pascack Valley won the opening tap and star guard Heather Zurich scored five seconds into the game to set the tone. Hillary Scacchetti hit all four of her field-goal attempts, and Thames made three huge jumpers, as the Indians raced out to a 17-6 lead.
While the Indians maintained that lead for most of the period, both of their post players, Thames and Scacchetti, picked up three fouls. They were both forced to watch what was a 12-point lead with 25 seconds to go in the second period get cut in half by halftime.
Taylor Shea clicked on a conventional three-point play to get the Highlanders within single digits for the first time in nearly nine minutes. After a Pascack Valley turnover with five seconds remaining in the second quarter, Northern Highlands' Sarah Knott dribbled the ball up the court and banked in a 22-footer at the buzzer to trim the NH deficit to 26-20 at halftime.
"Our team is mature enough to know not to make the same mistakes twice, so I wasn't worried," said Pascack Valley head coach Jeff Jasper. "We made a couple of bad decisions and they made us pay for them, it was a lesson learned. Foul trouble is what started that all off, but we came back and played fantastic defense in the third quarter. To hold probably the most talented public school in the county without a point for an entire period is quite an accomplishment. We just had so many kids step up on both ends of the floor, it was a total team effort."
Scacchetti picked up her fourth foul just three minutes into the second half, but that did not stop the Indians' swarming defense. Thames also picked up her fourth foul with late in the quarter, but Pascack Valley upped its lead to 13, 33-20, heading into the fourth quarter.
Northern Highlands has been accustomed to playing while leading in the fourth quarter, but showed some resiliency in a situation it was not familiar with. Suzanne Cannon and Mary Jean Kim scored all nine points in a 9-0 run. Kim's second straight jumper put the Highlanders within seven, 42-35.
They had two chances to cut the lead down even further, but misfired on one possession and turned the ball over on another. Zurich got the ball and fired a long pass downcourt. Rebecca Lynch made a tough catch and got fouled while scoring on a lay-up. She converted the three-point play to up the lead to 10, 42-32, with 3:18 to go.
"When you have someone like Heather (Zurich) making great passes, she makes it easy for the rest of us," said Rebecca Lynch. "This was not about me though, or about Heather, everyone stepped up and played great. After losing to Highlands the first time around, we couldn't wait for another chance at them. We were definitely a little nervous before the game, but we came out ready to play and it showed."
Although she came off the bench to score just two points over the first three quarters, Rebecca Lynch simply took over down the stretch. She outscored the Highlanders by herself, 10-3, over the final 3:18 as Pascack Valley maintained the state's longest division championship streak.
"Sometimes you just get beat by a better team and they were the better team today," said Northern Highlands head coach John Smith. "They were clicking on all cylinders and we had a tough time getting going. We dug ourselves too big of a hole to climb out of. Luckily for us, we don't have much time to rest. River Dell is a good team and they will be ready to go on Sunday (in a Bergen County Tournament quarterfinal), so will we."
Pascack Valley had a slew of stars on this afternoon. Thames and Rebecca Lynch both scored a game-high 14 points, while combining for 11 of 18 from the floor. Scacchetti did all of her damage early with eight points, four blocks, and three steals. Zurich was held well below her scoring average, but dished out seven assists, including a few flashy ones. Jessica Lynch was solid defensively and added seven points.
KR Ling was the lone scorer in double-figures for Northern Highlands with 11 points, but the Highlanders shot just 11-38 (28.9%) and no other Highlander scored more than six points.
This Sunday in the Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals, second-seeded Northern Highlands will face River Dell; while third-seeded Pascack Valley will face sixth-seeded Ridgefield Park.
"This streak is very important to every player who has ever played here and we didn't want to end with us," said the Rutgers-bound Zurich. "Everyone just played so well, especially Erin (Thames) and Rebecca (Lynch). When we needed someone to step up, it seemed a different player did every time and that is what this team is all about. This streak has been alive longer than all of us, so to keep it going all four years I've been here is definitely something special."
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