Thames, North Penn cruise past Downingtown West in District 1-AAAA 1st round

TOWAMENCIN — Taylor Thames just wanted to be on the positive side of a District 1-AAAA tournament game for the first time in her career Saturday afternoon. And with strong efforts on both ends of the court, the senior guard helped the North Penn girls basketball team into the postseason win column.

Thames collected a game-high 14 points and contributing to shutting down Maddie Dew and Downingtown West as eighth-seeded North Penn rolled to a 45-20 first-round victory over the No. 25 Whippets.

“It’s a good feeling. This is my first playoff win, because last year I played for Unionville, so it was a good win,’ Thames said. “It was all because of our defense. Our goal was to shut down Maddie Dew, she’s their best scorer, and that’s what we’ve been practicing all week, defense and rebounding. And we came out and did what Coach said and that let us win.’

Mikaela Giuliani and Jess Huber each scored seven points for the Maidens (18-6), who advanced to the second round for the sixth straight season. North Penn hosts No. 9 Bishop Shanahan — which beat No. 24 William Tennent 60-48 — for a spot in the quarterfinals Wednesday.

“I thought defensively, us shutting down Maddie Dew was the key,’ North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “I thought Irisa (Ye), Taylor Thames and Sam Carangi just did a really good job of not letting — she didn’t really touch the ball that much — and that was the game plan going in and I thought the kids really executed it really well.’