Earlier in the season, if the Pascack Valley girl’s basketball team was losing early in the game, chances were they weren’t going to come back. This notion has changed.

After another weather-postponed game, the Indians overcame an early deficit to defeat Rutherford in the first round of the Bergen County tournament 51-41 at Pascack Valley on Sunday.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game coming into it and we were ready to give it everything we had,” said senior Else DiGiacopo, “It was a lot of fun to come out with this win especially coming back from being behind in the beginning.”

The team lagged a little in the first half, playing “back on their heels,” as coach Jeff Jasper said. Early in the second quarter though, the Lady Indians upped the tempo of the game. They put a full court press on Rutherford and started to move the ball more fluidly.

Jasper praises his team saying, “We were down by 10 and quite frankly, we changed a little bit about what we were doing, but the biggest change was our energy level.”

And Jasper attributed this change in energy to freshman Kelly Smith, who came into the game in the second quarter and ultimately scored the point to tie the game late in the first half.

“[Smith] just came on the floor and just played with such heart, and more than that enthusiasm,” Jasper said.

Smith did change the way that the team was playing. The game was tied at the half and after halftime, PV came out strong and powerful; a side that has only shown seldom during the season. The Indians were cohesive, something the team struggled with early in the season. They were showcasing their stamina and ability to hold a lead.

The team also played a zone defense for part of the game, something the Indians rarely do. That also could have been a contributing factor to help stop the momentum that Rutherford had.

High scorer of the game was sophomore Shannon Culloo with 23 points; DiGiacopo added 13 points, while Smith and freshman Kelly Petro both scored five.

“I came out of the game so proud of the passion we had,” Smith said. “We will carry this energy through the week of practices and games into next Saturday.”

The team will need to keep its morale up going into the second round of the county tournament as they face Westwood. The game is on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Pascack Valley. Westwood is seeded No. 6 in the county, while Pascack Valley is seeded No. 11. This will be a tough battle for the Indians and they will need to be at their very best.

“For the next few days we just have to practice really hard to go in with the right mindset on Saturday,” said Petro.

Last week: On Thursday, the Lady Indians defeated Ridgewood 33-28 in a close game. High scorers were Culloo with 10 points and DiGiacopo with 9 points.

This week: Leading up to Saturday’s tourney clash with Westwood, Pascack Valley hosts Wayne Hills at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The team will travel on Thursday to Ramapo to play at 7 p.m.