North Penn impressive in District 1-AAAA 2nd round win over Penn Wood

TOWAMENCIN >> The three-point bombs of Sam Carangi along with the determined inside play of Mikaela Giuliani were more than enough to send top-seeded North Penn to a commanding 64-36 victory over No. 17 Penn Wood in a District One Class AAAA Second-Round Playoff Game Wednesday night at North Penn.

“We knew that they were a very good team — they were very athletic, so we knew we had to stay composed,” Carangi said of the Patriots. “The defense sparked our offense.”

North Penn (24-2), helping on defense and taking away Penn Wood’s ability to drive, stifled the Patriots, limiting them to 16 first-half points, the same point total Carangi had by the half.

North Penn broke the game open in the second quarter to clinch a spot in states and lock up another home game on Saturday, as the Lady Knights will host conference rival Central Bucks South at 1:30 p.m. in the district quarterfinals.

“(In the second quarter), I felt like we did a better job and we had much better balance on offense,” said coach Maggie deMarteleire, who has guided NP to the state playoffs for the fifth straight year and sixth time in the last seven seasons. “We had open threes in the beginning, but it got to the point where that’s all we were shooting, and I felt like when we mixed it up, we started attacking the basket and that opened up more things for us.”

Two quick threes by Carangi helped the Lady Knights jump out to a 8-3 lead early.

“I wasn’t making anything in warmups so it was nice,” Carangi said with a smile.

Moments later, Carangi and Giuliani worked the fast break to perfection, passing it back and forth until Giuliani’s layup extended North Penn’s early run to 10-3.

Penn Wood battled back to draw even, threes by Gabrielle Hairston and Joy Morton helping to knot the game at 10. But a basket underneath by Bri Hewlett enabled North Penn to take a 12-10 lead into the second quarter.

And that is where the Lady Knights broke the game open.

A basket by Giuliani, coming off a steal by Carangi, got NP on its way, and a drive to the hoop by Jess Huber stretched the margin to 16-10.

GIRLS #BASKETBALL: @NPKnightsGBB's @samiicar knocks down 1 of her 4 1st half 3s 2Q vs. Penn Wood pic.twitter.com/ustZ37yYt7

— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) February 18, 2016

On an inbounds pass underneath, Carangi found Giuliani cutting to the basket for two, and then a drive by Carangi less than a minute later pushed the Lady Knights further in front.

Back-to-back threes by Carangi and a tough effort for two by Giuliani had North Penn rolling at 32-16. Irisa Ye’s crossover dribble and finish climaxed a fast break to send the Lady Knights into the locker room on a 12-2 run, up 18.

“We were helping out on defense so (Morton and Dahyne Redd) couldn’t just drive in,” Carangi said.

“And that helped us get steals, which lit up our offense.”

Giuliani finished with a game-high 22 points, Carangi had 18, and Huber made sure North Penn stayed comfortably ahead after the break, adding 12 points.

Redd’s 18 led the Patriots (17-7), who will face CB East in district playbacks, with a chance to still make states.

“We broke down mentally,” coach Monique Boykins said of the second quarter. “I told the girls, ‘you’re playing a top-seeded team, so therefore you gotta expect that they’re gonna score.’

“I think it was an eye opener for the girls. They’ll be ready (for CB East). This was definitely a wake-up for them. We just have some mental toughness to fight through.”