February
21, 2005
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| Heather Zurich used the midrange jumper to put her team in front to stay and to send a message. | |
PARAMUS -- When Pascack Valley knocked off Northern Highlands on February 11, Indians star Heather Zurich scored six points, which is 12 below her season average. Accounts of the game praised the defensive efforts the Highlanders made.
(In a story on this site, Rich Barton wrote; Zurich was held well below her scoring average, but dished out seven assists, including a few flashy ones. In last week's game story describing Highlands' quarterfinal win over River Dell, Cory Doviak also referred to Zurich being held to six points in the earlier matchup).
The PV nation spoke up via the NJS.com email box and the comments obviously irked both Zurich and head coach Jeff Jasper, who felt that the media did not accurately depict the events of the game.
OK, we are sorry and here is our mea culpa…
On Sunday
in the Bergen County semifinals, the two teams hooked up again and Zurich
was a player on a mission. The Rutgers-bound senior made it easy for us media
types this time around, as she was without a doubt the dominating force in
the game, all but putting her team on her shoulders and sending PV to a record-tying
13th appearance in the championship game (matching Paramus Catholic).
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| Suzanne Cannon's three 3-pointers made up most of Highlands' scoring from the perimeter. |
With a 40-31 defeat of the Highlanders, the Indians have earned a rematch in the title game with top-seeded and undefeated Immaculate Heart, which knocked off Old Tappan, 39-29, next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Paramus High School. In last year's final, IHA defeated Valley by a 44-39 score. The teams also met in the 2001 final, when PV won the last of its 6 titles, 48-43.
Zurich scored 13 of her 19 points in the first half when Valley established a 24-11 lead, and she added 10 rebounds while helping to close off the inside on defense. She had five baskets off left baseline jumpers and scored 19 of PV's first 33 points.
"Last time, they played us in a junk defense (diamond and 1) and she took only nine shots and fired out 10 assists and played the game the way it is supposed to be played," Jasper said. "Somehow, you made a hero of a kid on their team saying she held Heather Zurich to six points.
"I'm sorry, but that was a lack of understanding of what it is. You look in the box score, see six points and say, must have had a bad game. Who held her to six, must have been a great player. That so frosted me. She came out here today, and I don't care who was playing her, she was going to light it up."
True to her personality as well as her team concept, Zurich was more willing to give credit to her teammates for their efforts than extol on her own, but she did let on that this was not an ordinary game for her.
"That
was a big factor," Zurich said of the previous game. "My dad said to me, the
first thing people are going to do is look at the box score. I'm not a person
who needs to score 20 points every game, that's not important to me.
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| Despite foul trouble, PV's Hilary Scacchetti finished with 12 points and 7 rebounds. |
"Some of the comments that were made, I'm not going to repeat them now, but I wanted to come out in this game and show people what I could do. There was definitely a fire."
"She's the only player who can dominate a game based on what is given to her," Jasper continued. "Players either have to dominate the ball or dominate the action. She can just play whatever there is and make the game come to her. That's why she is so good."
Her game was not lost on the Highlanders, either. They are 19-3 on the year, with two of the losses coming at the hands of the Indians (they also pinned the only loss of a 22-1 campaign on Valley).
"Heather Zurich," was NH head coach John Smith's answer to what he felt decided the game. "A senior who's been there, done that, and carried her team. She's a player. It doesn't matter what you do.
"We talked
about playing them like we play Highlands basketball," Smith continued. "That's
straight up man-to-man and see what they can do. Heather took it on her shoulders
and carried them. She did a great job."
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| Taylor Shea led Northern Highlands on the boards, finishing with 7 rebounds. |
That Pascack Valley played the entire game with the lead was also a huge factor. Erin Thames scored off a rebound for the first points, Sara Ely hit a free throw and Zurich a baseline jumper to make it 5-0.
After Highlands got within 7-6, the Indians went on a 12-0 run spanning the first and second periods, as NH was scoreless for 5:50. Zurich had six of the 12 points, and Rebecca Lynch scored four off the bench.
"From a team standpoint, I thought we worked so hard," Jasper said of his team's performance. "We were after everything. Sara Ely, for a freshman guard in this surrounding, played a great floor game. We had a number of quality possessions with the lead and milked the clock. That made the foul trouble manageable."
That foul trouble effected Thames and Hilary Scacchetti, but it did not effect the interior defense that collapsed on KR Ling, holding her to just 2 points and 2 rebounds. With the inside all but shut off, Highlands looked to the perimeter.
"If they're going to do that," Smith said of taking out Ling, "we have to shoot well from the outside, and we didn't do that."
Sarah
Knott, who had a tournament record-tying six three-point field goals two weeks
ago, was just 1 of 10 behind the arc this time. Suzanne Cannon did knock down
a trio of threes (she had four all season coming into the game), but Highlands
was just 12 of 36 from the floor overall.
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| Freshman Rebecca Lynch came off the bench to score 4 points for PV. |
"I thought Erin and Hilary played superb," Jasper remarked, "considering how much foul trouble they had. They still held their own. We had to limit Ling's touches, because she's that good, and that's what we did."
"This team helps each other out," Zurich commented. "We get people in foul trouble, there's somebody there to step up. We play a great team game. We share the ball on offense, and on defense we're gonna help each other."
Highlands could get no closer than nine in the second half as Valley's patient passing offense was able to take chunks off the clock. Cannon was the only Highlander in double figures with 13 points, and Taylor Shea led NH with 7 rebounds. The Highlanders were also only 3 of 9 at the foul line.
Scacchetti supported Zurich with 12 points and 7 rebounds and Valley had a 31-16 rebounding advantage. The Indians were 16 of 40 shooting and 8 of 18 at the foul line, something they'll need to do much better against IHA next week.
"I want a county championship," Zurich said. "I want one so bad. I'm so happy. I can't wait to play IHA. They're an awesome team, and hopefully, we'll come out ready for them."
"It's important to be there because Heather deserves it," Jasper said of next week's final. "It's also important for the rest of them because of how hard they've worked all year. We're here not necessarily because we're good, but because they've worked so hard. The truth is that hard work does have its rewards."
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