Indians win Group 3 title in close victory

For Pascack Valley, the winning formula goes beyond strategy or X’s and O’s.

“There’s no one who lives more in the moment than I do,” Pascack Valley coach Jeff Jasper said Sunday after picking up his program’s sixth group title behind a 48-45 victory over Ocean City at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. “So I know how lucky this is to have everything fall in your favor. You’ve got to be good, you’ve got to be healthy, your matchups have to work, you’ve got to hit shots. Who controls that? Nobody.”

Even with everything falling into place, teams don’t get to be as successful as this without some modicum of skill.

They score at will thanks to long possessions and are helped by their ability to get rebounds, which leads to points in transition. They also defend at a high level, despite often being undersized in the post.

All of that skill was on display as PV (30-1) won its sixth group title, its first since 2008, after holding on to beat Ocean City 48-45 in a game that came down to the wire.

The Indians have been granted the No. 5 seed in the six-team Tournament of Champions field and will face No. 4 Franklin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pine Belt Arena, although it appears likely the game will be postponed to Thursday due to the impending snowstorm.

PV shot 8-for-24 in the first half, but managed to take an 18-12 lead into halftime. That comes just three days after PV trailed Somerville by seven at the half, the largest such deficit for the Indians this season.

“He [Jasper] got our energy going and just said ‘We’ve got this,’” sophomore Brianna Smith said of the message at halftime and game plan going forward. “Usually we back down in about the first three minutes of the third quarter, but this time we weren’t letting this one go. We came all this way to win.”

Smith led PV in scoring with 16 points, including four threes, and also added five rebounds.

Neither PV’s early shooting woes, nor the back and forth play in the final minute of regulation got to the Indians, and they were able to stay composed under pressure.

“We just stayed out there and had a positive attitude thinking we were going to win and we had the potential to win,” Cerina Dunkel said. “There’s only one team left in Bergen County and that was us. Why couldn’t we win this game?”

Dunkel, who once again made a difference off the bench, hit the two deciding free throws with eight seconds left to keep PV ahead 48-45.

The three-point win is the closest margin of victory this season for PV, which quickly saw its 10 point lead evaporate late in the fourth quarter.

PV entered the fourth quarter up 33-28 and then went on a 7-2 run to jump out ahead 40-30 at the 6:03 mark.

PV continued to hold strong for the next three minutes until Ocean City answered with its own 8-0 run to cut the score to 42-41 PV with 3:16 remaining.

It was at that point the Indians were in unfamiliar territory—being in a close game late.

Kelly Petro found Brianna Wong on a fast break to make it 44-41 PV with 3:07 left.

Ocean City then answered to make it 44-43, until ultimately, the Red Raiders cut the lead to one again with nine seconds left, but after Dunkel made her two free throws with eight seconds left, Ocean City heaved up a three point shot as a last ditch effort to try and tie, but fell short, securing a victory for PV.

The 48 points are the fewest PV has scored in a win all season as a result of Ocean City dictating how the game would be played, forcing turnovers and out-rebounding PV which allowed the Red Raiders to push the tempo in transition
That didn’t stop PV from trying to play its game of pass the ball, wait, and find the open shooter, as Brianna Wong added nine points, while Kelly Smith added seven points and seven rebounds.

Shannon Culloo also finished with seven rebounds and three steals, while Petro contributed five points, four rebounds and five blocks.

“I knew going in that was what the game was going to be,” Jasper said. “We weren’t getting up into the 60s to the 70s because, one, you’re not turning them over – those two guards are too good. Secondly, they run a great half-court set – they’re too patient, they’re too well-coached. So it was really a matter of us just staying with what we do.”

Despite the Indians staying with what they do best, Jasper still never envisioned this outcome.

“The goal was never to get to Toms River,” he said. “Who ever thought that we would come to this center to play? I certainly never thought it. I never thought we’d win 30 games. Never. That never even entered my mind.”