Junior Celina Bussanich finished with a game-high 19 points for Pascack Valley, which opened the seasonw with a 58-36 win over River Dell on thursday.
HILLSDALE - Pascack Valley jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead and built upon it the rest of the way en route to a 58-36 win over River Dell on Thursday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.
The Panthers did so with a young and fairly new team.
“Four of our starters are missing from last year,” said junior Ava Burke, who tallied 10 points. “I think we did a really great job today of just stepping up and playing as a team. During the scrimmages we gained the team chemistry that we need to play. Obviously there are underclassmen and a lot of people have to step up into their role. I think as time goes on we’ll play even better and have more chemistry.”
Coach Jeff Jasper appreciated the effort of Burke, which he said “is just off the charts.”
“She might drive you crazy on occasion - that’s just part of the charm,” he said, laughing. “Sometimes you have to take a little bit of that out of control play because there are so many times she makes plays that only she can make. And you’re like, ‘that’s awesome.’”
Jasper utilized 10 players in all: four juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen to top the Golden Hawks. Nine of the players scored at least two points.
“I think a big part of it is ball movement,” Burke said of the balanced scoring. “Everyone on our team is very unselfish with the ball. It’s never going to be someone scoring all the points. We’re swinging the ball around constantly and Jasper tells us to always look for the best shot. We’re never going to be dribbling into a billion people or forcing any shots. We want everyone to score and we want everyone to be a part of it.”
“Raina Gibbs (14 points) played a great game as a freshman,” Jasper added. “There is a lot to her. She’s got holes in her game but she’ll work on those things. Freshman Emma Costello came in, in the second half, and gave us a ton of stuff. [Junior] Shana Weiss played really well in her time. [Junior] Maddie Gibbs and [sophomore] Riley Hirsch did great off the glass. The contributions were all over the place.”
Valley junior Celina Bussanich led all scorers with 19 points.
“Celina is a phenomenal player and she does it the right way,” said Jasper. “She works and works and works. She’s a kid that never takes a drill off in practice. It’s her third year and she’s never taken a drill off. And the number of players that I’ve had who haven’t taken a drill off I can list on one hand. That’s how special she is.”
Late in the first quarter the Hawks went on a 5-2 run, thanks to a drive to the basket by junior Kasey Ziegler and a 3-pointer by junior Morgan Sconza to cut the lead to 10-7. Sconza finished with a team-leading 11 points, while senior Sofia Sanchez added 10, but the Panthers came roaring back with a 12-2 run to grab a 22-9 lead.
“You always look good when you shoot well - and we shot well,” said Jasper. “That’s (River Dell) a heck of a team. [Coach] Lindsay [Steffner] does a great job. She’s a great coach and those are really good players. They missed shots, we got the rebound. And we got good shots and we made them.”
The other part of the Panthers’ success in this game can be attributed to their superb defense, a staple of the Pascack Valley game for decades.
“Coach Jasper says defense takes heart and guts,” said Burke. “You don’t have to be super-skilled as a player to do well on defense. As a team we have learned how to play with that grit and tenacity which makes us a good team.”
It seemed like Valley got every loose ball whether it was off a rebound, blocked shot or errant pass.
“Going after loose balls is completely mental,” Burke said. “You have to be willing to sacrifice your body for the ball and I think that is something everyone on this team is willing to do. It’s a big reason why we won today.”
Jasper was happy with the energy shown by his team in this first game of the season.
“The beauty of youth is they have great energy,” he said. “They played with great energy and enthusiasm and you can’t fault their effort. And that energy energizes me and that energy energizes everybody on the bench and they all get fired up on the court. I love when a kid makes a shot and they’re like ‘YEAH!!’ on the court. That’s how I know they’re so invested. They play with a lot of joy. It’s great.”
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