Celina Bussanich finished with 19 points for 6th-seeded Pascack Valley, which advanced to the North 1, Group 2 state sectional semifinals with a 60-48 win on the road at third-seeded Mahwah.
MAHWAH - Pascack Valley was lights out with its offense in the first half, but the Panthers had to withstand a furious comeback by Mahwah to move on to the semifinals of the North 1, Group 2 state playoffs with a 60-48 victory on Monday.
“We couldn’t have played a better first half,” said Valley coach Jeff Jasper. “Can anyone shoot like that? We have it in us. We have been really good or not so good. We have those moments. When we’re good, we’re good and when we’re not so good …”
The Panthers connected on 5 treys in the first quarter and added 5 more in the second quarter to grab a 40-23 lead heading into intermission.
“We knew they were going to come out in a zone and everyone on our team shoots pretty well,” said senior Celina Bussanich. “So we had to make sure to pass quickly and get our shots up. That made them come out in a man [defense] and we were still able to score.”
The teams traded baskets early on. Valley freshman Keira O’Cathain took a feed from senior Ava Burke and scored from inside to open the scoring. Bussinach made it 5-0, 20 seconds later, with a 3-pointer. After Thunderbird sophomore Harper Cohn drained a long three O’Cathain tallied on a put-back and added a free throw. Mahwah junior Taylor Tremblay hit a short jumper and Cohn chipped in with a free throw to make it a 2-point game.
Panthers sophomore Raina Gibbs swished the first of her game-high six 3-pointers midway through the quarter to up the lead to five.
With less than a minute to go in the opening frame a 9-2 run boosted the lead to 24-12. Gibbs canned a pair of treys, sandwiched around a floater by Cohn and Bussanich added a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, as the Valley faithful roared their approval.
The onslaught continued into the second quarter as Gibbs connected twice from long range and after Cohn did likewise Bussanich hit her third trey to give Valley an 18-point lead. Sophomore Emma Costello came off the bench and chipped in with a pair of 3-pointers a minute apart, but Mahwah closed with a 6-0 run thanks to treys by Cohn and junior Ava Comer, which was a portent of things to come.
“We had a really good half - everyone was shooting really well,” said Bussinach. “But you have to be careful coming into the third quarter. It’s when we slow down sometimes.”
“[We knew] at the beginning of the third quarter we were going to take shots and they weren't going to go down,” said Jasper. “We’re going to travel, we’re going to turn it over and they were going to convert. They’re not rolling over and going, ‘oh yeah, ok.’ They’re a good basketball team.”
Burke canned a pair of free throws a minute and a half into the third quarter but the Thunderbirds went on a 15-6 run to cut the lead to 48-41.
The halftime talk between the Thunderbird players and coach Kerin Roche inspired the team.
“I don’t care about the score, this is doable - we’ve been here before,” Roche said she told the team. “You guys are good enough to take smarter shots and talk a little bit more on defense. You guys gotta want it; play with some heart. They came out and they did it.”
Cohn was all over the court, hitting four field goals, a trey and a pair of free throws to score 13 of her game-high 31 points to lead the comeback.
“She’s impossible to guard,” Jasper said. “She’s a great player. She handles the ball, shoots from anywhere, gets free. She’s awesome.”
“She’s a special kid,” Roche said. “She has grown up a lot and she tries to take a lot on her shoulders. She just does. All of the accolades she’s gotten this year are all deserved. I can’t wait to see what she has in store next year.”
A free throw by Comer early in the fourth quarter got the Thunderbirds within 6, 50-44, but less than a minute later Gibbs dropped her 6th trey to get the Valley lead back up to 9, 53-44. Gibbs was superb, contributing a team-high 22 points.
“Raina has been a great shooter for this team,” said Bussanich, who finished with 19 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. “Once she hit that shot it gave us confidence after they had scored a bunch of points. And I think we knew we were going to win this game. Mahwah came back but we made sure to keep the lead.”
“I am very big on composure and next play,” said Roche. “Things are going to be up and down during a game and as long as we can keep composed, stay positive and trust in the coaches and one another somehow, some way things will be ok. That’s how we worked things today: it was, ‘ok next play.’ You miss a shot, get back on defense. That’s what we tried to instill at the beginning of the season. They fell a little short today but it happens to the best of us. They’re an amazing group of young ladies and I would never pick a different team to coach. I would have each of those girls come back again and again and again. They did a phenomenal job and I’m super proud of them.”
With the win No. 6 seeded Pascack Valley moves on to play No. 2 Jefferson, 27-13 winners over Ramsey, Wednesday night at Jefferson High School.
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