Sunday, February 3, 2008

By Tony Albro
Special to NJS.com

HILLSDALE -- In the opening game of four in the Sweet 16 of the Bergen County Tournament, Ridgewood, the No. 16 seed, had nothing to lose when it had the unenviable task of taking on top-seeded Pascack Valley on its own home floor.

Ridgewood was obviously at a disadvantage, but not when it came to shooting percentage, which was just about 25 percent for both teams in the game. A stat like that might indicate a close game, right? Well, as far as this game went, it was about more than one isolated stat.

Pascack Valley defeated Ridgewood by a score of 44-21, and the game was more about defense than about the similar shot percentages. Both teams started off a bit slow attempting to execute their offensive patterns against man to man defensive schemes, and Ridgewood Junior Center Sarah Higbee hit two free throws to give the Maroons a 2-0 lead with 4:40 to play in the first quarter. Pascack Valley than ran off the next 10 of 13 total points scored in the quarter to grab a 10-3 lead.

The second quarter was a struggle offensively for both teams, but Pascack Valley’s traditionally sound defensive play made it difficult for Ridgewood to work the ball into a scoring position. Ridgewood only managed 16 field goal attempts in the first half while Pascack Valley took 33 shots over that same span.

The Indians were able to move the ball well; skipping passes over the Maroon help side defenders, but struggled to finish at the basket. PV did manage a double digit lead at the break at 19-9, and seniors Rebecca Lynch (6 points) and Sara Ely (7 points) combined for 13 of the Indians’ points.

The Indians seemed a bit more determined as they took the floor after half time, and opened the scoring with a Lynch lay-up and continuation free throw. It was an Ely sister combo (Sarah and Terry) that opened the largest lead at 28-12 with 4:33 to go in the third quarter and PV extend its advantage to 30-14 by the end of the third quarter. The Indians spent most of the fourth quarter on the free throw line and finished 13 of 20 from the line for the game.

Ridgewood showed a great effort in playing into the second round of this year’s tournament, and juniors Kelly Hommen, Sarah Higbee, Gabby Barbera, and sophomore Kim Porfido displayed the kind of potential that bodes well for a deeper run in next year’s tournament.

Higbee finished with six points, six rebounds, two blocks and two assists, giving Ridgewood a formidable post presence when it was able to penetrate the Pascack Valley pressure.

Pascack Valley had nine different players contribute to the scoring column, but no effort was greater that that of Senior reserve Alli Lombardi. Lombardi was the first player off of the bench in the game, and immediately supplied energy and an effort that seemed to uplift the team and awaken a quiet crowd. Lombardi finished with three points, a team high 7 rebounds, two steals, and seemed to always have a hand on the ball.

“That is the Alli that we get in every practice, in every game, and she makes us better,” said PV head coach Jeff Jasper. “You cannot tell by just looking at her size, but she gets off the ground and plays very big for us.”

The win moves the top-seeded Indians into next weekend’s quarterfinal round where they will play eighth-seeded Holy Angels, the defending county champion, at Becton Regional High School with start time yet to me announced.

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