December
27, 2004
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| Pascack Valley's Heather Zurich (left) scored 16 points, added seven assists and played the complete game on both ends of the floor for the Lady Indians. | |
HILLSDALE -- Every dribble that goes off a foot, every illegal screen and every pass that goes off a fingertip and out of bounds. Every possession that does not end in a quality shot at the hoop is going to hurt an opponent of the Pascack Valley girls basketball team.
That's because the Lady Indians take every trip down the floor as a clinic in the fundamentals of the game and rarely come away with anything other than a well-run offensive set, whether or not it results in points.
"We do
play every possession as if it is important to us. It's not that we do well
on every possession because, quite frankly, we don't, but we know how important
the moment is," said Pascack Valley head coach Jeff Jasper. "We are not good
enough to take anything for granted so we have to get after and take care
of the little things."
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| Alexis Keller was the lone bright spot on offense for Old Tappan, scoring 22 of her team's 33 points. |
Little things, big things, the Indians did them all well in a 77-33 win over Old Tappan on Sunday afternoon in the opening round of the Joe Poli-Pascack Valley Christmas Tournament.
The play on which PV opened the double digit lead that would never be cut below 10 points came late in the first quarter and it was textbook. Senior guard Heather Zurich had the ball on the wing to the left and ran the perfect pick and roll with junior Hilary Scacchetti. Zurich waited for the switch before dropping the perfect bounce pass in space to Scacchetti, who rolled to the basket, made the shot and free throw that came with it for a 22-10 PV lead.
And the
ironic part was that Old Tappan did not play a terrible first quarter or even
first half, despite trailing by 15 points, 37-22, at the break. The Knights
(3-1) got 18 points from junior guard Alexis Keller in the first half and
were getting results from the motion offense.
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| Freshman Rebecca Lynch came off the bench to score 14 points for Pascack Valley. |
But the PV defense took over in the second half, limiting Old Tappan to just two field goals in the third quarter, three-pointers by Keller and Stephanie Tendler. Keller scored a game-high 22 points, including three 3-pointers, but got little support. Tendler finished with three points, Kaitlyn Kiely and Ashley Lamparello each had two points and Jamie Zavardino hit two fourth quarter jumpers to finish with four.
The Indians put the game away with a 21-7 run that spanned the third quarter and the fourth quarter was left to the benches on both sides.
Zurich, who has already accepted a scholarship offer from Rutgers, did it all on the offensive end. She scored 16 points without forcing a shot, made six of her seven free throws and added seven assists.
"We have
a bunch of players that can play here, everyone is really stepping up, and
I am just trying to get the ball to the right people," said Zurich, a starter
since her freshman season. "I don't really think of myself as the 'go-to'
player. I am part of a team, these are my teammates and I guess I want them
to look for me and get me the ball, but I am going to do the same thing for
them. Everyone has to be able to handle the ball, everyone has to be able
to pass and catch and I think that is what makes our team good."
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| Stephanie Tendler had one of Old Tappan's three 3-pointers. |
PV spread the points around on Sunday. The starters combined to score just 41 of the Indians' 77 points and 12 different players scored at least one basket. Scacchetti led the way with a team high 18, and freshmen Rebecca Lynch and Sarah Ely combined to score 22 points. As a team, PV was 20 of 23 from the foul line.
"The team worked really well together," said Scacchetti, a junior. "There is a lot of team unity, everyone knows where they are supposed to be on the floor and we work well together."
Jasper's teams always do and the winningest coach in the history of Bergen County basketball, boys or girls, is on the verge of yet another milestone. The win over Old Tappan marked No. 699 in his 30-plus years as the only head coach PV has ever had and he could make it an even 700 when PV takes on Montclair in the tournament semifinals on Tuesday in a 4:15 start.
In typical
fashion, Jasper played down the coming milestone, but that does not make it
any less impressive.
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| PV freshman Sarah Ely scored all eight of her points after halftime. |
"That doesn't mean anything," said Jasper, whose teams have won 26 straight league titles, 11 state sectional titles, five state championships and five Bergen County crowns. "If I knew what I was doing I would have had it a lot earlier."
IN
OTHER ACTION FROM THE FIRST DAY OF THE JOE POLI TOURNAMENT:
Lehman (Brooklyn, NY) opened the day's quadruple header with a 55-35 win over
Ridgewood. The Lions broke open a close game with a 23-6 run that lasted the
length of the second quarter to take a 35-14 lead at the break.
The Lions, who will take on the winner of yesterday's nightcap between Holy Angels and Cresskill, were balanced on the offensive end with only Naima Ahmed (10 points) finishing in double digits but with plenty of others chipping in.
Shari Cordero, Crystal Ahmed and Louvinia Hayes each scored nine points, while Kaminie Jeeuth added seven and Alyson Rodriguez finished with six. Mallary Van Horne led the way for Ridgewood with 11 points.
St. Mary's (Rutherford) also fell into the loser's bracket where it will take on Old Tappan on Tuesday after falling to Montclair, 57-31.
FOR MORE PICTURES FROM THE JOE POLI TOURNAMENT OR TO PURCHASE A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT THE NJS.com SCHOOL STORE!
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