Indians continue their “magical ride”

Basketball is a game that can hinge on one possession.

That’s long been the philosophy of Pascack Valley girls basketball coach Jeff Jasper.

And on Thursday night, it indeed came down to one possession—and one player—to turn the tide for the Indians.

Junior Cerina Dunkel, coming off the bench, provided what proved to be the game’s most important basket, a 3-pointer at the final seconds of the third quarter to bring the score to 45-43 Somerville.

From there, PV got the spark it needed to rattle off a 13-3 run, and pull off a come-from-behind 66-53 victory over North 2 Group 3 champion Somerville. With the win, the Indians (29-1) head to Pine Belt Arena in Toms River where they will vie for their sixth state championship when they take on Ocean City (30-1) at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Dunkel, who saw no action in Tuesday’s sectional final game, admittedly wasn’t expecting to get the call, but rose to the occasion when it counted most.

“I was honestly shocked,” she said. “You never when it’s your time to go in, and when your number is called you just have to step up.”

PV coach Jeff Jasper wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of Dunkel either, but knew that his bench depth would come in handy two days after Nicole Arden provided what Jasper dubbed “some of the most key minutes” off the bench in the Indians semifinal win.

“How do I know?” Jasper said. “I plucked her off the bench, who knows. The other day it was Nicole Arden, so who knows?”

Before that three, the Indians had entered the third quarter down 29-22, their largest halftime deficit of the season, after not getting their first possession of the second quarter until 6:14.

But they adjusted quickly after the half, and propelled by improved defense and tenacity, went on an 11-4 run, eventually tying the game at 33.

“I think the thing that really did it was the tenacity with which we came out in the third quarter,” he said. “There were a couple of steals in there that definitely turned the tide, and the shot was nice, but that was all a product of everything else that occurred.”

Somerville then answered with a run of its own, going up 45-40, before Dunkel hit the shot at the buzzer to make it 45-43. She was able to gather a loose ball with about two seconds left, and as time expired, fired off the shot.

“I actually didn’t know how much time was left,” she said. “I just heard the people on the bench screaming ‘shoot it’ and then I just turned around and shot it.”

In addition to the 3-pointer, she converted on 7-of-8 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter, giving her 10 points.

Brianna Wong, who scored 25 points in the previous game, added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Kelly Petro added 18 and three, respectively.

Petro, Wong and the rest of the Indians have propelled them on what Jasper called “a magical ride,” and one that he likely won’t soon forget.

“This team is as if my son Geremy (a filmmaker) wrote the script, directed it and then Disney produced it,” he said. “This is a magical ride and I feel like I’m in Magic Kingdom or something.”