March 9, 2004
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Pascack Valley escapes with
North 1, Group 2 title

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

By Jim McConville
NJS.com Staff Writer

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Mike Blackgrove helped Pascack Valley to its first sectional championship since 2001.

ALLENDALE - There were 46 seconds on the clock as Pascack Valley senior Sean Martini walked towards the scorer's table to get ready to inbound the basketball. As he reached the sideline, he nodded towards the assembled member of the press and confidently stated, "we're going to win this."

With 25 seconds to go, his running, underhand scoop shot hit nothing but air, with Mahwah grabbing the ball and heading towards the first of four chances to win the North 1, Group 2 sectional title for the first time since 1989.

Four missed shots later, the Indians literally escaped with a 45-44 win for their first sectional title since 2001, sending them to the state semifinals against Summit, the North 2 winner, on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. at Vernon High School.

Ken Ebeling and Mahwah built a 10 point lead midway through the third quarter.

Mahwah was up 42-39 after Bryan Reid hit a jumper from the line with 2:32 left in the game, but Valley got three big plays to regain the lead. First, Mike Blackgrove got free along the baseline for a layup with 2:15 to go, then Justin Warshaw swung the game with a steal and a layup with 1:55 to go.

"He (Reid) had the ball right here," Warshaw said, holding his hands right in front of him. "I just reached out and smacked it up in the air. I knew I had the height advantage (a good six-plus inches), I jumped for it, came down with in and went down for the layup."

He was fouled on the play, and though he missed the free throw, teammate Greg Lippert grabbed the rebound. His shot missed, but Warshaw filled the lane and got the second rebound and cashed it in for a 45-42 lead.

Reid cut it to two with a backdoor move for a layup with 58 seconds to go, and Valley brought the ball up to midcourt and called a timeout.

Justin Warshaw converted a steal and an offensive rebound into four game-deciding points.

Off Martini's miss, the Thunderbirds had a chance but could not convert, with Lippert grabbing his 10th rebound of the game. He was fouled with 9.8 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Mahwah's Jaleel Jones grabbed the rebound and the T-Birds came downcourt, missing a drive and a putback before the ball went out of bounds with 1.3 seconds left. Mahwah used a timeout to set up a last shot, and they got a clear look for Kevin Fahey, but his three-point try from the left wing caught the back iron and bounded away as the horn sounded.

"We got the rebounds, we got the shots, and we had a real good look at the end," Mahwah head coach Jim Taranto lamented. ""He's hit a couple of those to win games and put us in overtime. He's got ice in his veins, he's a shooter and he got a great look."

Mahwah's Kevin Fahey had the game's final shot, a three pointer from the corner with :01 left to play.

That the game came down to the end was a tribute to two very unsung players for PV (21-4), Lippert and Greg Miller. On a day where Martini shot 3 of 21 (2 for 10 from three-point range) and scored just 9 points, the two Gregs picked up the slack.

Lippert had 10 points for a double-double, while Miller had 8 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. They scored all of the points in an 11-0 third quarter run over 4:49 that turned a 29-19 Mahwah lead into a one-point Indian advantage.

"When we were up 10, we started not rebounding and lost a little bit of our composure on offense and took some bad shots," Taranto commented.

Lippert had seven of the points, and even though Fahey hit a jumper to give the Thunderbirds a 31-30 lead after three quarters, it was now a game for the final eight minutes.

Pascack Valley's Greg Lippert finished with a double-double.

Mahwah (14-10) got a three from Fahey and a pair of Reid free throws to make it 36-30 before Martini broke an 0 for 15 shooting night with a layup and a free throw. After Tremblay scored for Mahwah, Martini banged down back-to-back three pointers to put Valley up by one with 3:40 to go.

"We said at halftime to keep pounding it in and for Sean to keep shooting," PV head coach Keith Onderdonk said. "He's too good to keep missing."

Warshaw's 11 points topped the Indians, who shot 17 of 50 from the field and 8 of 13 at the line. Fahey led all scorers with 14 points and Tremblay added 12 for the Thunderbirds, who were 18 of 44 from the floor and 5 of 8 at the line.

Sean Martini shook off a tough shooting night with nine points in the fourth quarter.

"This takes the pressure off of us," Warshaw said of winning the sectional title after losing the final to Northern Highlands last year, but Onderdonk said that, "I think we'll get greedy and get after it. This is a senior group, and no Valley (boys) team has ever gotten past the (state) semifinal."

"A one-point game in the sectional final," Taranto said. "We had a magnificent run, at Hawthorne, the triple overtime at Pequannock and then this one. They played their hearts out. That's basketball."

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