Sunday,
January 27, 2012
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Jeff Jasper addresses the crowd after his 900th career victory as Pascack Valley down Dumont, 63-21, in the opening round of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday afternoon. |
HILLSDALE – He would not have grabbed a microphone to address a group of friends gathered in his living room, so there was no way he was going to it in another venue that is just as much his home. Jeff Jasper has been the Pascack Valley girls basketball head coach for 40 years, the only head coach the programs has ever known, so when he won the 900th game of his career on Saturday afternoon, 65-21 over Dumont in the opening round of the Bergen County Girls Basketball Tournament, he walked across the floor and addressed the crowd full of former players long-time supporters, family and friends with no notes, but with plenty to say in appreciation.
Positioned between the stands and his current team holding a banner marking milestone, Jasper, sans microphone, spoke from the heart. He thanked everyone who has ever contributed to the program with deeds large and small. He paid tribute to Joe Poli, a departed friend and confidant, remembered and relayed the advice of his father and saved his last words for “my assistant coach, my soul mate, my wife,” Lois. It was was a touching scene in commemoration of an incredible and likely never-to-be-seen again career achievement.
Jasper has won more games than any other coach in the history of New Jersey high school girls basketball by winning and average of 22.5 games per season in each of the last 40 years.
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Pascack Valley's Michelle Garay scored a game-high 24 points. |
“This has never been approached like a job, it's a beautiful thing. To be in the same place for 40 years and never feeling like I have ever gone to work is amazing,” said Jasper, who is long beyond being stressed in the lead-up to a any singular event in a basketball setting. “This one was hard to ignore because so many people asked when 900 was coming, so I was aware that it was on it way, but it wasn't anything that I had marked on a calendar. I was a little bit nervous because of its significance, but I was not saying, 'Wow, I can't wait for this to be over.' I embraced it and I enjoyed the lead up to it.”
That the win came against Dumont and its head coach Dave Cieplicki only added to the story. Before the tournament seeds were announced and before Jasper picked up win No. 899 on Thursday in a nail-biter against Tenafly, he made the effort to get to Union City on Monday to see Cieplicki win his 400th-career game. Jasper presented his friend with a bottle of champagne to mark the occasion, and on Saturday Cieplicki regifted. He handed the unopened bottle back to Jasper as the two shook hands.
“When I won my 400th on Monday, Jeff came all the way to Union City, which I appreciated, and he gave me the bottle of champagne. Today I gave back,” said Cieplicki. “I am one of his closer friends and he is one of mine and he told me that he was not happy that it was me he was playing today, but we can both accept that as something that happens when you are involved in this game.”
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Reda Nicholson scored a team-high 8 points for 25th-seeded Dumont. |
The game itself, the competitive portion at least, did not last long as Pascack Valley, the No. 8 seed, opened a 15-4 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 26-11 at the half. Dumont was playing without Gina Yanette, its best offensive weapon, who broke her foot on Thursday. That left the Huskies out-gunned on the perimeter as the usually 3-point happy side went the whole first quarter without even attempting a shot from long range.
Meanwhile, Pascack Valley's Michelle Garay outscored the Huskies by herself in the first half, 14-11, on the way to finishing with a game-high 24 points. PV's Kelly Svornic (11 points) was the only other scorer to reach double figures as Jasper went to his bench early and had 10 different players finish with at least one field goal, while Reda Nicholson finished with a team-high 8 points for Dumont. The second half was all about the countdown to 900.
“It was really cool to be a part of. We all know how many milestones he has hit already and until today they all just seemed like a number, but as the clock was ticking down it was such a great feeling. I was thinking, 'Wow, 900. That is a really big number,” said PV senior Sara Petro. “I remember sitting in the stands when my sister played here and even before that. I remember thinking how cool it would be to play for PV, to be a part of this program, and it has all gone so quickly. I remember being a freshman, it seems like it was last week, but today will stand out for me. It's not just a team or a program, it's a family that [Jasper] builds here and we are so happy that we got to be a part of his 900th win.”
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Kellyh Svorinic finished with 11 points for No. 8 Pascack Valley, which will play No. 9 Old Tappan in next weekend's Round of 16. |
Pascack Valley will move on to play ninth-seeded Northern Valley/ Old Tappan in the Round of 16 next weekend and Jasper will move on toward 1,000 wins. At this rate, it will be sometime near the end of the 2016-17 season. but to put the first 900 wins in the proper perspective, it is fitting to turn to the person who has seen just about all of them starting with win No. 1 40 years ago when Pascack Valley beat River Dell despite being hit with five technical fouls to start the game for wearing non-confirming uniforms that consisted of cut off shorts and T-shirts turned inside out with tape stuck on in the shape of numbers.
“It feels great, but this whole thing has been like the perfect storm. It's the perfect school with the perfect type of parents with the perfect type of kids and he got in at the perfect time. The fact that he had Janet Schwartz, Laura Daugherty and Rebecca Cooks on the same team, the legacy has just grown from there,” said Lois Jasper, who really was her husband's first assistant coach. “The amazing thing, and forget the 900 [wins] for a second, is that has there ever been another coach in any sport in the state of New Jersey that can say that they coached for 40 years and they never cut a single player. There is no such thing as tryouts, there is no such thing as putting up a list; every kid is included if they want to be included.”
Lois Jasper is as much as part of the program as her husband and if or when he ever decides to retire, it would be as big a transition for her as it would be for the head coach. But Jeff Jasper shows no signs of slowing down. He still rides his Harley Davidson and looks way less than his years, a comment Lois Jasper has heard many times and appreciates with one caveat.
“The only thing that bothers me about that is that people think I am a cougar. They think I married this baby,” said Lois. “And yes, you can use that.”
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