March
10, 2005
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| Heather Zurich scored all 12 of PV's fourth quarter points and led the Indians to the 12th sectional title in the history of the program. | |
SECAUCUS -- One has already on her way to the Big East and big time college basketball, the other will likely follow in two years. Both are locks to be named first team All-Bergen county and all state honors of one form or another are also expected.
Both can score from inside or out, both can handle the ball, both play defense and both were the best players on the floor for their respective teams in Wednesday night's North 1, Group 2 state sectional final.
One is Pascack Valley senior Heather Zurich, the other is River Dell sophomore Alyssa May and both put on a show in the fourth quarter.
With
her team trailing by nine after three quarters, May scored four of the first
five points of the fourth to get the underdog Hawks to within four points.
Feeling the heat, PV resorted to a play as old as the game itself, using the
pick and roll almost exclusively down the stretch.
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| Sophomore Alyssa May scored 8 of River Dell's 9 first half points and 24 of its 35 in the game. |
Working off the screens set at the elbow by Hilary Scacchetti, Zurich scored all 12 of the Indians' fourth quarter points and led PV to the 12th sectional championship in the program's history, the first in Group 2, with a 43-35 win at Secaucus High School.
"I love that play and we run it all the time with me and Hilary," said Zurich, a four-year starter heading for Rutgers in the fall. "Hilary sets tough screens and I try to run off it tightly and look for my shot or look to get her the ball."
On Wednesday night its was the former option that got PV through the rough spots against a River Dell team that looked dead in the water after a three-point second quarter left it trailing by seven at halftime and by 14 when Zurich made two free throws with 1:56 left in the third quarter.
In a
scoring oddity, May and Maureen Kehoe (11 points) accounted for all of the
Hawks' points, but it was almost enough to bring them back. May hit a pull
up jumper and Kehoe made a steal and a layup to cut the lead back to 10 with
45 seconds left in the third. A Kim Vicari steal and assist that set up Kehoe's
three-point play 14 second later drew RD back to within 29-22.
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| Erin Thames, here grabbing a rebound, scored 6 first half points to help PV grab a 7-point lead. |
"We made a couple of layups and we picked up the pace of the game, which we were trying to do at that point," said River Dell head coach Lou Wejnert. "But we missed a lot of easy shots early in the game and no matter how early it is, those things come back to hurt you later on. We just had so far to go to get back in it."
Rebecca Lynch made two free throws to put the Indians back up by nine heading into the final quarter, which was owned by Zurich and May.
May compares favorably to where Zurich was as a sophomore with similar length and ball-handling skills, but the PV senior has learned over the last four years when it is time to call for the ball and take the responsibility for wins and losses.
Zurich scored on a putback with 6:15 to go in the game to answer May's two free throws that had brought RD to within four points, and scored on a jumper off the pick and roll to put PV up 35-27 with 5:57 left. May hit two more free throws at the 5:00 mark and forced PV coach Jeff Jasper to call his first timeout of the game. Zurich answered with a jumper off the pick and roll and added a putback with 1:35 left that pushed the lead back into double digits and finally put the game away.
"(Lou)
Wejnert is a great coach and that is a really good basketball team that plays
really hard. They didn't stop for a possession, but neither did we," said
Jasper. "Yeah, we took the hit, and you know what? We came right back up the
stairs."
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| Maureen Kehoe finished with 11 points and as of one of only two River Dell players to put the ball through the basket. |
While Zurich scored 19 of PV's 27 second half points and finished with a team-high 23, it was her teammates that carried the offense early. River Dell led just twice at 1-0 and 4-3, and Erin Thames (6 points) made two big baskets to help PV take a 16-9 halftime lead. She made two jumpers to close the second quarter scoring to turn a three-point lead into a seven-point edge at the break.
Freshman point guard Sara Ely made two-first half three-pointers to finish with 6 points, Rebecca Lynch scored all four of her points in the third quarter and Jessica Lynch (2 points) rounded out the Indians' score sheet.
"We just had to keep working the ball and other people were hitting shots. We got the ball to the middle a few times, Rebecca Lynch had some open looks, Thames hit a couple and we had to find different ways to score. It's not all about jump shots," said Zurich, who defers on offense when possible and takes over when necessary. "After (losing to IHA in) the counties, we had to come out focused and we got that black ball (signifying a section championship) and that is all that matters. We are just happy to keep going."
With
that loss to IHA now wiped from its record via forfeit, PV will carry a 26-1
record into Thursday night's Group 2 state semifinal against North 2, Group
2 champion Ridgefield Park at Vernon High School. The
Indians' knocked off RP in the Bergen County quarterfinals, 50-35, on Feb.
13.
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| PV freshman Sara Ely scored all six of her points on two first half 3-pointers to help the Indians take control. |
River Dell's season came to an end with a 22-5 record, but also with the experience of having made a section final and having all but one of its starters back next year. One of those returnees will be May, who scored 8 of her team's 9 first half points on Wednesday and 24 of its 35-point total. She was also 11 of 12 at the free throw line and a perfect 8 for 8 in the fourth quarter. Kehoe and May combined to go 16 of 21 from the stripe.
Obviously, May came out of her head to head matchup with Zurich on the short end of the final score, but not without invaluable experience that she has two more high school seasons to build on.
"She is a tough player. I want to play against the best and Heather is the best. She ran me through so many screens that I had to get fight through, but she is so good at it and I learned a lot," said May. "We had a great season, we fought all the way through and we'll take the momentum of making it to the finals right through the summer, continue to work hard and come back strong."
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