Tappan Zee 66, Spring Valley 61
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- February
- 1
Pretty good game in Rockland between two teams with some hopes of challenging Peekskill (and others) for the Section 1 Class A title. TZ off a bad 10-point loss at home to Albertus Magnus, pulled it out in the end, by making the free throws Spring Valley missed.
By winning, TZ may have gotten itself a home playoff game, and it delayed Spring Valley’s clinching of the league title, which could still come with a win over Nyack on Tuesday.
Pat Peterson went for 18, including eight second-half free throws, several of those in crunch time. From early in the third quarter to the middle of the fourth, neither team had more than a two-point lead, with nine ties in that span. It was pretty wild.
“That was a really good comeback for us,” Peterson said. “That was a good team we just beat and that should build our confidence for the games to come.”
Those would be the final two games of the regular season, the Rockland County crossover games, and of course the sectionals. If Spring Valley wins the league, it would play for the county title on Saturday.
“I could care less,” an annoyed Spring Valley coach Willie Worsley said. “I’m not happy. This team’s not sharp and we’ve got three games left and it leads to tournament time. If they can’t step it up here, tat doesn’t say a lot for us right now. We’ve gtot a lot of work to do. I’ m concerned a lot.”
Tappan Zee’s concern was raised by the Magnus game, and somewhat relieved by this game.
“Spring Valley’s a great team and this is a great win for us,” TZ coach George Gaine said. “But this is all about, ‘What type of team are we going to be entering sections?’”
Niko Perez had a game-high 26 for the 12-3 Tigers, and Tevin Mackey added 10. Peterson led the 12-5 Dutchmen with 18, followed by Ryan O’Rourke and Joe Letizia with 14 apiece and Brendan Donahue with 11.
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on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 10:52 pm by Carp.
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Josh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. Away from sportswriting, Josh lives in Westchester and spends his free time either with his wife, Sarah, or expertly managing his various championship-winning fantasy sports teams. He's visited 21 major-league baseball stadiums and insists that Fenway Park and Wrigley Field are the best by far. Josh graduated from Carmel High School in 1998, then went to Boston University, where, in 2002, he received a degree in communications with a minor in history.
Spring Valley continues to show inconsistency. Capable of springing the upset of North Rockland as they did earlier in the year, then capable of this loss. Which team will show up for the playoffs?????
Willie should be concerned, the tigers are meowing of late. It may not have been the plan for TZ to foul down the stretch, but the Tigers failed to convert on those gifts, with the clock stopped. The Valley missed big time at the line. Good win for TZ. No upset of NR coming this weekend.
Congrats to TZ on their win !!
I wouldn’t call TZ’s loss to Albertus the other night a bad loss. Albertus isn’t exactly a pushover. It could be bad if only for the reason that TZ played horribly and no one seemed interested in passing once they got the ball. Obviously a more balanced stat sheet is what TZ needs to be successful as evidenced by tonights win. Donahue needs touches inside and Peterson and O’Rourke need their shots. The kid Tahj can do the dirty work and the point guard can facilitate. Thats all TZ needs, not Peterson thinking me, me, me all the time. He’s a very gifted passer but he doesn’t do it often enough.
Sorry, that’s what I meant … no disrespect to Albertus. The Dutchmen were concerned with the way they played in that 10-point home loss … not that they lost to Albertus.
What sticks out the most when Spring Valley loses? I mean from a talent stand point, should they really lose to PR and TZ? Answer: COACHING!!! Year after year this team under achieves and loses games they aren’t supposed to. Congrats to TZ and coach Gaines. Solid young coach. Houston..one of the best around.
@ observations – you aren’t observing what everyone else is… valley lost at the free throw line, coaching can’t make free throws, get a clue…
Not agreeing with the me me me attack on Peterson. Except in the last minutes vs Magnus for some inexplicable reason he threw every touch at the rim, when the game was already over. If that is what you refer to then will agree, but not in terms of a full season.
Peterson in fact did not shoot well vs the Valley, even with 18 points, except at the line, and on his drives. Clearly he needs to shoot the most for TZ to succeed on offense when only 5 maybe 6 play.
Some spot up shooters on TZ bench have never gotten on the court. Even when the staters are clearly off, on any given day. Thats a TZ mantra. The other starters are fairly good shooters, but inconsistent and streak type. In those kind of circumstances Peterson is the one who should be taking the shots. Much more with the help of screening and earlier in the game when he is fresh. Not just when the game is on the line, in the last quarter, and he has seen no rest.
observations
Raise an interesting point. The Valley relies on run and gun, free lance the talent. Some times the fundamentals on defense and blocking out do not show up. To beat TZ they needed to press earlier, or at least in spurts earlier. TZ runs the starters ragged. The key to defeat them is to use your bench. TZ does not use theirs, save forced to. Get in Peterson’s grill, press the rest. They will wear down, with no plan B, and no prepared bench. It will show in sections as it has before. Not sure thats such good plan for a coach either. There is no major fall off in talent on the TZ bench.
The Valley did not use a lock down pressing style until the last 4 or so minutes. It worked, but they did not convert their regular shots off those turnovers. They in effect blew both chances to win, were cold, off the turnovers, and at the foul line. So could a better game plan be a factor. Venture to guess that happens in a lot of Tiger games, they do not close it out early, and let these TZ PR type games get away from them. Most times they ratched it up at the end, and it works, but not yesterday.
Valley you are MORON. Look at the whole scope, not just one instance. They wouldn’t have had to rely on the free throws if a proper game plan was in place. Spring Valley top to bottom is more talented than any Rockland B school. They lose because they are erratic, inconsistent and get OUTCOACHED by guys like Jerry Houston.
Any scores from tonight?
The ending of the Roosevelt -Gorton game was crazy, anybody have the details
Does anyone know the time of the Bears game tomm. Looking forward to seeing them end Pville win streak.
Pville by at least 10pts over BCliff…Panthers go into the post season unblemished at 18-0.
@ observations – look chump, losses happen, but with a winning record like Valley has, the kudos goes to Coach Worsley, who is not only a classy guy but a great coach… a 14-3 record doesn’t look very inconsistent, looks like you’re the moron…
bcliff beat pville by 2…heard 8 players fouled out…but fortee played amazing…Spring Valley or TZ over Peekskill…my votes the ZEE