It was only two weeks ago that Pascack Valley Basketball tasted defeat at the hands of Ramapo in the final of the Cliffside Park Holiday Tournament.
In that contest, Ramapo held the Indians to only 44 points and disrupted their offense completely. Because of the frustration, it caused sloppy play in the closing minutes to assure Ramapo the hard fought victory.
When Valley's players saw that Ramapo was on the schedule again, they knew that this time, the result would be different.
In fact, that is exactly what occurred. Pascack Valley simply outplayed Ramapo to earn a season-changing 71-54 win on Saturday afternoon.
Sure Pascack Valley was confident coming into the game against the Green Raiders. But defeating a team of this caliber easily and by 17 points? They couldn't have imagined that would have ever happened...right?
Not so much.
"I wasn't surprised at all," said Senior Jamie Seymour. "We were the better team and we showed everyone that. It comes down to taking care of the ball and controlling the game and that's what we did."
Despite the blowout, the game wasn't always that way. In the early going, Pascack Valley and Ramapo were both hot from the field. Jamie Seymour led Valley with 9 points in the quarter and Junior Matt Grassi dominated for Ramapo. After a well played first opening period, Ramapo held a 19-18 lead.
The second quarter was much of the same for these two evenly matched squads. Unlike the first match up, Pascack Valley was getting everyone involved and were very successful because of it. Instead of playing tentative, the Indians showed the confidence of a team that truly believed it could win.
"We played as a team and got everyone involved," added Seymour. "We had 4 guys in double figures. Last game we beat ourselves and played with fear."
After one of the best halves Pascack Valley had played all year, they still only held a 32-30 lead over Ramapo at the break. It was easy to think that the Indians would not keep up their solid play and that in the second half, Ramapo would take control.
Instead, it was Pascack Valley who took their level of play to another notch. They continued to play with poise through Ramapo's pressure defense and were able to score several easy buckets. Kyle Onderdonk began to heat up from the outside and Seymour did plenty of damage from inside the paint. The Indians scored 16 in the quarter and held a 8 point cushion going into the fourth.
As if it couldn't get any sweeter, Pascack Valley dominated the fourth quarter. They allowed Ramapo to score only 6 points while adding 23 of their own! The ability to close out a game with such authority is something that still makes Pascack Valley one of the most dangerous teams in North Jersey. When it was all said and done, the rout was on.
Pascack Valley 71, Ramapo 54
"We played our game and not theirs. We played our tempo and not theirs. By doing both of those things, that is why we came out on top."
Jamie Seymour had a team high 21 points for the Indians who are now 5-4 on the year. The Junior trio of Kyle Onderdonk, Ryan Onderdonk, and Chris Jackson also scored in double figures. KO had 18, Ryan added 16, and CJ scored 12.
How does a team score 71 points against a high pressure defense? The answer comes from the foul line. Pascack Valley went a remarkable 27-28 from the charity strike, taking advantage of any opportunity they had to score easy points.
"We did all the little things like rebounding, taking care of the ball, and hitting our free throws. That's how you win ball games."
With this outstanding win behind them, it is time for Pascack Valley to look ahead to tomorrow's game against Hackensack, one of the best teams in the county.
If they hope to pull the improbable upset, Pascack Valley is going to have to do the little things extremely well.
@Feartheindian
No comments:
Post a Comment