Vassallo’s dagger against Old Tappan sends Valley to the state sectional semifinals

Ethan Perlman, Sports Editor|March 4, 2022

Ava Kim

Jules Vassallo dribbles the ball away from her defender. She hit the game winning shot to send Valley to the semifinal round of the state tournament.

Jules Vassallo has always been a shooter. Like her coach Jeff Jasper asked her, “Jules, what’s the worst shot you are gonna take?” Vassallo answered with “the one I don’t take.” 

This answer proved to be the deciding factor in the girls’ basketball team’s win in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA North 1, Group 3 state tournament. Vassallo hit a buzzer-beating, fall-away 3 to defeat Valley’s rival, 5th-seeded Northern Valley-Old Tappan. 


“I had confidence and I knew that it had to go in for us to win the game. This was a very important game for us so we wanted to come back and show what we got and what we have learned,” Vassallo said.

Despite losing both regular season games against Old Tappan, Valley was able to rally together and defeat the 19-6 Golden Knights.

However, the game was not just won in overtime. Late in the fourth quarter, Lindsay Jennings snatched the missed free throw and drove all the way down the court, drew the foul, and hit the shot with 5 seconds remaining. After she nailed the free throw, Valley had tied the game, forcing it into overtime. 


“Lindsay Jennings [had] an amazing second half,” Jasper said. “[She was] on the glass, coast-to-coast, making the baskets, just phenomenal.”

The beginning of the game was very low-scoring, with Valley having just 7 points at the end of the first half. Valley trailed by as much as 13 in the second half and was down by 10 heading into the 4th quarter.

Freshman Ava Burke also helped the team massively, hitting 2 clutch free throws late in overtime, which tied the game at 33 with 8.4 seconds left. This led to Old Tappan turning the ball over, giving Vassallo the chance to hit the game-winning shot. 

Multiple freshmen shined today, as Celina Bussanich was the main ball handler for the team today and Shana Weiss received a few minutes as well. 

Regardless of this being Coach Jasper’s 49th year and him having the most wins in NJ state history, he was still stunned by Vassallo’s winner.

“How she did that was just Jules doing Jules’ things. That’s what she does,” Jasper said. “[When] Jules got it, she sniffed the rim and then threw it up there. The rest is history.”

Junior Tori Criscuolo played a main role as usual, scoring whenever Valley desperately needed a bucket and grabbing much needed rebounds, creating extra offensive possessions for Valley. 


Mackenzie Ward hit a couple of big shots for Old Tappan along with Maya Giordano, however, their efforts were not enough to stave off Valley’s roaring fourth quarter comeback. 

Although 13th-seeded Pascack Valley was only 3-7 in Big North play this year, they were able to reach the semifinals of their respective state tournament. They will play the winner of Sparta and Northern Highlands on Saturday.