North Penn holds off Souderton for 5th straight win
TOWAMENCIN >> The lead the North Penn girls basketball held Friday night was comfortable, but not exactly secure.
“We would start to pull away and then they would make some big plays,” Maidens coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “And then we would start to pull away, and they would start to make (plays).”
North Penn led Souderton by double digits for most of the second half, but the Indians never let the home side relax in the Suburban One League Continental Conference. Yet in the end, the Maidens did enough on offense to beat Big Red 47-35 for their fifth victory in a row.
“We should of put them away earlier. I mean, they’re a good team, they’re going to stick with us, they’re going to work hard,” North Penn senior Mikaela Giuliani said. “But I think it really came down to the boxing out and our offense just wasn’t flowing. We were taking quick shots, doing stupid things. So, we just have to change that next time.”
Giuliani finished with a game-high 13 points while Irisa Ye added 11 points for the Maidens (9-2, 6-0 SOL Continental), who led 33-16 at the end of the third quarter. Souderton cut the margin to 11 with six points in the first 52 seconds of the fourth, but a Bri Hewlett 3-pointer blunted the Indians’ comeback charge.
“Everyone can contribute, so it’s not like you can focus on one person,” deMarteleire said. “But again, if everyone can get consistent with their game, we would be unbelievable.”
Down 42-26, Souderton (5-7, 2-4) used a 9-1 run to get within eight in the final minute, but that was a close as the Indians could get in dropped their 13th consecutive matchup with the Maidens.
“I thought they played really hard and they always play well against us,” said deMarteleire of Souderton “They played well defensively, they rebounded the ball really well, particularly offensively. So, we’re going to work on that.
“My kids, I thought, at times I thought offensively we looked really good, and at other times we didn’t. So, we want to get more consistently efficient on offense.”
Dowd scored all of her team-high 12 points in the second half. Schneider and Megan Walbrandt each chipped in seven points for the Indians.
North Penn is back on the court Sunday as it takes on Gwynedd Mercy 2:30 p.m. at the Maggie Lucas Girls Play By Play Classic at Philadelphia University.
“They’re just fundamentally sound, so we’re going to have to play a smart, good game,” deMarteleire said.
The Maidens finished the third quarter with an 8-1 run, with a Jess McKenzie basket giving North Penn’s largest lead of the contest at 33-16.
Megan Walbrandt opened the scoring in the fourth with a corner 3, while Dowd capped a steal with a layup and was fouled. She finished the and-one to get Souderton within 33-22 with 7:08 remaining.
Hewlett, however, knocked down a trey from the top of the arc, pushing North Penn’s lead back to 14. The teams traded baskets before Giuliani scored four straight points inside to give the Maidens a 42-26 advantage.
“When our shots are off, we always say to put it inside,” Giuliani said. “And I had a lot of great passes. I didn’t finish on a few layups, but we got to pull it together.”
Two Krista Schneider threes powered a late Souderton run that cut NP’s lead to 43-35 in the final minute, but Sam Carangi and Jess Huber both made a pair of free throws to keep the Maidens in sole possession of first in the SOL Continental.
The Indians’ only lead Friday came in the first quarter as Marissa Sandeon’s 3-pointer had Big Red up 3-2. North Penn responded with eight straight points, the last two coming from Mia Melchior to make it 10-3. Another Sandone three cut NP’s lead to four before two Hewlett free throws made it 12-6.
Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter – combining for just 11 points. Souderton pulled within four twice but two Ye free throws at 1:24 and Melchior knocking down a three from the wing just before the buzzer put the Maidens up 19-10 at the break.
“At the end of the first half, Mia hit a big three. Different parts, different people can step up,” Giuliani said. “And even though we have three sophomores and three juniors and I’m the only senior and we’re kind of younger, we still can put it together.”
A Giuliani free throw at 7:23 in the third gave North Penn a 10-point lead. Ye drove for two then connected on a three to push the advantage to 25-10.
Five straight points from Dowd had Souderton back within 10, but the Maidens collected eight of the quarter’s final points to go up 17.
