Mahwah's Taylor Tremblay hit the game winning shot as time expired to give the Thunderbirds a 23-21 victory over Pascack Valley in the NJSIAA North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals on Saturday.
MAHWAH - There were plenty of storylines to go around before the North 1 Group 2 quarterfinal between Mahwah and Pascack Valley even began. The obvious one was the quest for New Jersey's most legendary girls' basketball coach, Pascack Valley's Jeff Jasper, to keep his career going for one more game. On the opposite end of the court, Mahwah's three senior starters, all of which having started since they were freshmen, were looking to play one more game together. Not to mention, Mahwah head coach Kerin Roche played for Jasper at PV. It is also a rematchfrom the same round in the state tournament from last year, a wire-to-wire win for PV. In front of a packed house, old school defense ruled the day as both teams refused to give an inch.
Through three-plus quarters, Mahwah's Taylor Tremblay could not buy a basket. Her frustration was evident, but her confidence never wavered. When her team needed her team her most, the gritty point guard delivered.
Tremblay hit two clutch free-throws to tie the game with 30 seconds left. Then off of an out-of-bounds play, Tremblay got a sliver of room and let one fly. Her baseline jumper dropped through as the buzzer sounded to lift extend Mahwah's season into the North 1 Group 2 semifinals and put a tough end to Jasper's amazing 53-year career at Pascack Valley with a 23-21 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Mahwah High School.
"We're going to make mistakes, and all types of things are going to happen in a game, and you have to be ready for any situation," said Roche. "Today was about mentally locking in. We needed to win this game defensively and on the boards. This is what we worked for all season. Taylor couldn't hit a shot, but she stayed confident and we stuck together. She hit those big shots when it mattered."."
Jeff Jasper finished with a New Jersey state record 1,153 wins.
Mahwah got off to a quick start when Emma Jordan scored on a layup and Ava Comer banked in a three from the top of the key for a 7-2 lead. From that point on, to say this game was a defensive struggle would be a massive understatement. Both teams were locked in on the defensive end of the floor. Danielle Regula's floater gave Pascack Valley (16-12) its first lead going into halftime with an 11-9 lead.
Mahwah was in a dangerous area with three starters having three fouls early in the third quarter. Not to mention, the Thunderbirds went a whopping 15 minutes without a field goal spanning the first through third quarters before Aliza Cadestin's jumper snapped the drought.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Pascack Valley (playing without star guard Raina Gibbs) had a six-point lead and looked to pull away. The Thunderbirds were desperate for an offensive spark and got one with four quick points from Jordan. Near the midway point of the quarter, Tremblay finally got a three-pointer to drop to cut the lead to one. The lead was two when Tremblay was fouled on a drive and stepped to the charity stripe for two shots. With the season on the line, she calmly knocked down both to tie the game at 21.
"It's about perseverance and keep pushing one possession at a time," said Tremblay. "Hitting the three was a sigh of relief for me after not being able to hit a shot. PV plays that in-your-face, man-to-man defense that makes it hard to create shots or get good looks at the basket. Once I hit that three, it gave me the confidence to keep shooting."
After a PV miss, Mahwah had one last chance with the ball under the PV basket and 4.5 seconds left. It was a play Mahwah head coach Kerin Roche has drilled into her players all season. The ball came into Tremblay, who rose up over a charging defender and knocked down the deep baseline jumper as the buzzer touching off a massive celebration on the Mahwah side and an equally massive heartbreak for Jasper and his players.
Emma Jordan led all scorers with nine points.
"The triangle out-of-bounds play reacts to what the defense gives us," added Tremblay on the game's final play. "The play is designed to either get me to the opposite corner or have (Jordan) slip to the block. Emma set a great screen, I got the shot off in time, and I went in." "
The ending brought of a mixture of emotions from the players to the coaches to all of those who were in attendance.
"It's a bittersweet feeling I'm having right now, " said Roche. ""I'm so happy for our girls but also hurting for Coach Jasper. He has contributed so much to the game of basketball. I feel honored to have played for him and it's very sad to see him go. A great guy, a great coach and he's left such a positive mark on the lives of his players."
Mahwah (17-8) moves onto the North 1 Group 2 semifinals. They will travel to face top-seeded and defending section champion Glen Rock on Tuesday.
For Jeff Jasper, this was an event he knew was going to come one day but fought like hell to postpone it for another day, another practice, another game. The numbers are simply staggering. Seven Bergen County Tournament titles, six state championships, a state record that will likely never be broken of 1,153 wins and the Morgan Wooten Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Basketball Hall of Fame.
He accomplished everything he set out to do and more over his 53-year career. Coincidentally and poignantly, Jasper walked out of a gymnasium and onto the bus for a final time as the Pascack Valley head girls' basketball coach a car drove by loudly playing the song 'Take It to the Limit' by The Eagles. A fitting ending for a coach who punched the clock every single day and pushed his players to be the best versions of themselves on and off the court for 53 years.
"Whether it was today or the next game or the one after that, it was going to end some time," said an emotional Jasper. "This ending was coming, it crept up on me, and it's been on my thoughts 24/7. My kids gave a great effort; they give a great effort all the time. I tried to handle all of this with dignity and class. Felt that this is how I've coached and how I've conducted myself and that's how I want to end it, with dignity and class."
TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
