PV Basketball is on fire, with one exception
Indians place 3rd in annual holiday tournament
Sophomore Cerina Dunkel makes her way down the court in the team’s opening game at Old Tappan
So far, so good for the PV girls basketball team. That is, unless they are playing Old Tappan.
The Indians have jumped out to an impressive 5-2 record early in their season, with both losses at the hands of Pascack Valley’s local rival.
The team quickly overcame a 72-58 season opening loss at Old Tappan, by responding with three solid wins over Glen Rock, Tenafly, and River Dell. However, their winning streak was cut short in the low-scoring, yet aggressive 37-36 defeat to NVOT in the Joe Poli Holiday tournament.
In what turned out to be a slugfest, the girls proved they could play with some of the best, falling by one point to Nj.com’s #10 ranked team in the state heading into the year. An exhilerating last minute saw a basket and a foul from sophomore Toriana Tobasco and 3-pointer from senior Gina Criscuolo which kept the Indians in the game.
“We came into the second game with a different mindset and knew exactly how OT played,” said Tobasco, who lead the team with 9 points. “Our biggest problem was definitely our turnovers.”
“Defensively, we need to limit their shots and on offense we have to capitalize on every opportunity,” added Criscuolo. “We know we can do it we just have to stay focused.”
Despite the disappointing one point loss, the team fared very well in the always competitive holiday tournament, placing 3rd out of 8 teams. This is an impressive achievement, considering each of the teams that played in the tournament is ranked in the top 25. The girls earned a record of 2-1 in their 3 tournament games, defeating River Dell and Northern Highlands by scores of 50-30 and 65-40, respectively.
According to Senior Ashley Lagrosa, the team was “unbelievably focused and played with a lot of energy and passion throughout the entire tournament.” She goes on to note the significance of the tournament, saying “for us to play as well as we did was something very special.”
The girls have only played in one game since the tournament, the Indians won decisively in Bergenfield by a score of 59-30. Sophomore Kelly Petro led the team with 15 points, and Gina Criscuolo added 9 points.
Looking forward, the girls have to be excited about the possibilities and potential of this group based on the first few weeks of the season. The team’s morale is understandably high as well, as the young team is bonding and learning to play well with each other.
Sophomore Lindsay Rohde describes their closeness, saying, “We make this school a home for each and every person on the team and give us all a second family to go to. This is not just about the sport we play and love, but the family we made while playing.”
