Saturday, December 27, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Sophomore Nicole Pepe worked inside and out to net a career high 23 points in Holy Angels' 62-59 overtime win over Pascack Valley in the opening round of the Joe Poli.

HILLSDALE -- Two years removed from a county championship season and with three sophomores stepping into the starting lineup, Holy Angels head coach Sue Liddy knew that her team was in for a season full of learning experiences. What Liddy might not have been able to foresee was just how quickly her squad would be able to digest those lessons and put them into play on the floor. After all, it took just three days.

It was just Tuesday night when Holy Angels fell behind big on the road against Paramus Catholic before coming all the way back to force overtime. But when they got there, the Angels gave up the first six points of the extra session and fell apart thereafter on the way to their first loss of the season.

How would they bounce back? Well, after falling behind defending Bergen County and Group 2 state champion Pascack Valley on its home floor in the opening round of the Joe Poli Holiday Tournament on Friday afternoon, Holy Angels made up ground to force another overtime session and then gave none.

PV’s Traci Corra made the first basket of overtime, but it served as the Indians’ last lead. Holy Angels sophomore Nicole Pepe made a basket on the fastbreak and then made a free throw on her team’s next possession to give the Angels a lead they did not give back. Pepe’s three points kicked off a 7-0 run that made the difference in a 62-59 win in what could only be considered and upset despite the fact that it came so early in the season.

Junior Terry Ely led Pascack Valley with 14 points.

“The Paramus Catholic game definitely taught us how to control ourselves and how to just play the game and not get nervous,” said Pepe, who finished with a game high and career high 23 points. “We really pulled together as a team. We were passing the ball, we were shooting it only when we had the shot and we just played really good today. We played together.”

Pascack Valley was doing the same thing, especially early in the second quarter when it threatened to pull away. The Indians, who have only two returning starters from last year’s team that finished 30-2, held a slim two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but then scored the first seven points of the second quarter, the first two on a drive by Terry Ely and the last two by a tough turnaround jumper inside by sophomore Alyssa Matos, to open a 22-13 spread.

PV got the lead up to as many as 11 points in the first half when Jaclyn Martin put back a missed shot with 25 seconds to go in the second quarter before Pepe’s old-school flip shot drew Holy Angels back to within 29-20 at halftime.

“That was another thing that we learned in the PC game. We were down 15 and we came back, so we knew we could do it here,” said Pepe. “Really, the PC game taught us a lot and we put everything we learned from there into this game.”

AHA's Jaclyn Jerkovic scored most of 15 points from outside.

Holy Angels set about getting back in the game right from the get-go in the third quarter and it was Pepe who got it started when she completed a drive to the basket for the first points of the second half to kick off a 9-2 run. Kasheema Besley, another sophomore, hit a jumper with a foot on the line during the spurt and junior Emily Liguori hit a three-pointer to pull AHA to within 31-27 before Pepe made it a two-point game with a bucket from the baseline with 3:52 left in the third quarter.

The Angels got as close as 39-38 in the period before Pascack seemed to retake control when Martin made a three-pointer and Chelsea Lombardi made a jumper from the wing to close the third quarter scoring with PV ahead by 44-38.

But the Angels quickly erased that deficit and took it first lead since the first quarter when Jaclyn Jerkovich hit a three-pointer, put back her own missed shot on the Angels next possession to get AHA to within 46-45 and Pepe cut hard to the hole for a layup and a 47-46 advantage.

The lead switched hands two more times down the stretch and the game was all square at 52 with 1:10 to play. Christie Fredericks, AHA’s lone senior starter, made a basket with 31 seconds left in regulation, Terry Ely tied it with two free throws nine seconds later and overtime came when Pepe was forced to throw up a tough shot in traffic as the buzzer sounded.

Sophomore Alyssa Matos scored 8 points for Pascack Valley.

And when the extra period started, Liddy did not have to go too far back in the archives to come up with some relevant advice.

“All I told them going into overtime was to remember the other night. Against PC we lost the opening tap, they scored, and then they put a press on us, forced a turnover and scored and before we knew it we were down six points,” said Liddy. “We didn’t let that happen again and that was nice to see. They scored the first two points of the overtime, but we answered right back.”

Trailing 61-56 after Emily Liquor’s steal and layup with 17 seconds left in OT, Pascack Valley gave it one last go when Lombardi made a three-pointer with just under four seconds left and the Indians were still alive after Jerkovich made one of two free throws with 1.7 seconds left in the game, but ¾ court pass on the ensuing inbounds pass went off a foot and Holy Angels had its upset.

“These kids are sky high. I told them in the locker room that they could be as good as they want to be, but don’t get a big head because this was only one game in a much bigger picture,” said Liddy. “We came in to this tournament with the goal of winning two games here no matter when they came because there are only good teams here. We got the first one and we are half-way there.”

Kasheema Besley, one of AHA's three sophomore starters, finished with 7 points.

Terry Ely led Pascack Valley with 14 points and Lombardi added 13. Martin and Maggie Ely each finished with 9 points, Matos, a promising sophomore, added 8 for the Indians, who suffered their first loss after opening the season with three straight wins.

Pepe’s 23 points led all scorers, Jerkovich had 15 and Besley added 7 points to give AHA’s three sophomore starters a combined 46 of the Angels’ 62 points. Liguori and Jillian Crawford added 5 points apiece and Tiana Roman netted AHA’s other three points.

So can the Angels skip the rebuilding process and jump right back into the hunt for all of the titles they are eligible to play for?

“I think we can,” said Pepe. “I think we proved something out there today.”

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