Senior Lindsay Jennings scored 7 points and was a key piece to the defensive effort as Pascack Valley advanced to the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament with a 41-18 victory over upstart Mahwah.
DEMAREST - Pascack Valley jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never looked back en route to a 41-18 victory over Mahwah, the No. 19 seed and a surprise entrant in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Women Coaches Association Tournament on Saturday at Northern Valley/Demarest High School.
The teams started off slowly but midway through the first quarter Panthers senior Lindsay Jennings opened the scoring with a short jumper and senior Tori Criscuolo followed with a steal and coast-to-coast sprint up the court for a layup. A minute later sophomore Celina Bussanich drained a three-pointer to make it 8-0. The Panthers ended the first quarter with an 11-2 lead. Midway through the second quarter all five starters and the first player off the bench had tallied at least a point.
“We are working as a team, knowing it’s all five of us on the floor,” explained Jennings. We’re just sharing the ball.”
Meanwhile the Valley defense was smothering the young Mahwah squad, which featured two freshmen and three juniors in the starting lineup.
“My job is to be a leader on the floor,” said 6-foot senior Madison McCarthy. “And with my pressure, my length and my voice we can really get stops and that is what makes us hard to play against.”
McCarthy, a transfer back from Saddle River Day, who sat out the first 30 days of the season, had plenty of help from her teammates as they successfully ran the defense that coach Jeff Jasper has taught his teams for more than 40 years.
Jennings, a senior, picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter but did not draw another foul the rest of the way.
“[Head coach Jeff] Jasper was telling me I had to keep my hands off, play good defense and not swat at the ball,” she said. “My favorite part of the game is playing defense.”
Ava Comer and Mahwah made a Cinderella run from the No. 19 seed to the quarterfinals and the T-Birds will return all five starters next season.
Another strong quarter for Valley boosted the lead to 22-8 at the half and a 15-3 third quarter pretty much decided the winner of the game. But Jasper continued to yell out instructions to his team for the entire game.
“He just wants me to get better,” McCarthy said. “He does expect a lot of us - that we all have it in us. And he just tries to get us out of our comfort zone.”
McCarthy was unable to play against Mahwah in a December 28 game where the Panthers edged the Thunderbirds, 36-35.
“I was on the bench,” she said, “and I saw how they played. I made sure we did things differently. They are young and on the shorter side compared to me and we took advantage of that.”
Bussanich led all scorers with 13 points. McCarthy tallied 8, while Jennings and sophomore Ava Burke chipped in with 7 apiece. Junior Marissa LaVerghetta scored 7 for the Thunderbirds. Valley moves on to play No. 2 seeded Immaculate Heart Academy, 53-38 winners over Holy Angels next Saturday in Fair Lawn.
“Anything can happen,” McCarthy said. “We just take it game by game.”
With the victory, Jasper earned another trip to the Final Four of the tournament, which means he has guided the Panthers into the Final Four in six separate decades. Jasper began his 50th season this past December. He is the only coach the Pascack Valley girls basketball program has ever had.
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