Well-rested North Penn too much for Souderton
FRANCONIA >> There’s no substitute for some good rest.
Instead of playing in any holiday tournaments or showcases last week, the North Penn girls basketball team took some time off. It may seem unusual to say high school athletes need a break, but it seems to be just what the Knights needed.
“It’s such a help,” senior guard Irisa Ye said. “It’s a mental break because as high school students we have school to juggle with basketball and it’s a huge commitment so that break helps a lot. When we come back, we’re rejuvenated and more energized.”
Fully rested, North Penn started a big week with a big win on Tuesday, handing Souderton a 45-27 loss in Big Red’s gym. Irisa Ye and Bri Hewlett paced the Knights with 12 points each and their defense frustrated the Indians into a rough night offensively.
Souderton took an early 8-5 lead thanks to good ball movement. Kate Connolly twice used a swing pass to find an open shooter for corner 3-pointers. North Penn was sloppy early, with four turnovers in the opening stages of the first frame but eventually calmed down and got some stability when Hewlett took two trips to the foul line.
“I was fearful we’d be sluggish, and we were a tiny bit, but not as much as I had envisioned,” Knights coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “The girls did a nice job. Our decision-making wasn’t the greatest at points in the first half, but I thought we played outstanding defensively.”
Ye carried North Penn through the first quarter, assisting two of the Knights’ first three baskets, then scoring the team’s last six points of the frame, also managing five rebounds. Her last basket was her best, snaring a defensive board, going up the floor and using a behind-the-back dribble before stepping through into a layup and a 15-10 lead.
“Someone had to score,” the USciences commit said. “The shots were open and there, so I took them.”
The teams played to a 6-6 tie in the second quarter with Connolly again the starter for Souderton, scoring once and again finding a corner 3-point shooter. Sam Carangi got her first points on a runner with 2:39 left in the half before Ye again scored the last hoop with 44.6 left, for a 21-16 edge. Ye and Falencki each had eight at half to lead the scoring while Ye and Souderton’s Tori Dowd, both guards, led with six rebounds apiece.
Souderton left a lot of points on the table all game, something that’s been too much of a trend recently.
“It’s been an issue where we’re missing layups and we’re missing foul shots,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “It’s hard to win when those things happen and it’s impossible to beat a team as good as North Penn when those things happen. Irisa Ye really stepped up for them, created her own shot and finished and they killed us on the offensive rebounds.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL: @NPKnightsGBB Irisa Ye with the layup just before the Q3 horn at Souderton pic.twitter.com/7tbZMpL0P2
— Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3) January 4, 2017
The second half started with a blitz on offense for North Penn. After a hoop, Jess Huber blocked a driving Souderton lay-up then as the trail player, got a wide-open look for 3 from the top of the arc and buried it.
A possession later, the senior again got a look from outside and canned the right-wing triple to extend it to an 8-0 run and prompt a Souderton timeout. Huber almost hit a third straight from deep, but the shot rimmed out.
“We played more team basketball and got it into the middle more and found mismatches,” Ye said. “Once we got it in the middle, it got our offense going because we were moving the ball and people were open.”
North Penn won the third quarter 17-7 to open the game up and continued to defend the Indians very well. Hewlett and Jess McKenzie did well defending inside, holding Connolly and Alana Cardona to a combined 10 points and not letting Walbrandt or Dowd much room to drive into the paint.
Souderton’s guards played with their usual aggression and tenacity, but it didn’t faze North Penn. Instead, it was something that helped the Knights get going.
“When they pressure, we can just drive by and if teams lay off, we can just hit the 3,” Ye said. “I didn’t think it was a problem.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL: @SoudertonGBB Connolly finds Sami Falencki for 3 against North Penn pic.twitter.com/GBYNtSdTDf
— Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3) January 4, 2017
Ye and deMarteleire noted the North Penn chorus group’s assist in getting the Knights extra time off. The team cut a deal that if the chorus group won a radio competition it was in back at the start of December, there would be no practice on New Year’s Eve.
“Not only was the chorus group cheering at seven o’clock that Friday morning, but so was the girls’ basketball team,” deMarteleire said.
Rest time is now firmly over, as North Penn hosts Central Bucks South on Thursday while Souderton is at Central Bucks West on Friday.
North Penn 45, Souderton 27
North Penn 15 6 17 7 – 45
Souderton 10 6 7 4 – 27
North Penn (45): Irisa Ye 6 0-0 12, Jess Huber 3 0-0 8, Sam Carangi 1 2-3 4, Jess McKenzie 1 0-0 2, Bri Hewlett 4 3-6 12, Mia Melchior 2 1-2 5, Jenny Hulmes 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 6-11 45.
Souderton (27): Tori Dowd 1 0-0 2, Alana Cardona 1 1-2 3, Megan Walbrandt 2 2-4 7, Sami Falencki 3 0-2 8, Kate Connolly 3 1-2 7. Nonscoring: Bealer, O’Donnell. Totals: 10 4-10 27.
3-pointers: NP Huber 2, Hewlett: S Falencki 2, Walbrandt.
Top Photo: North Penn’s Irisa Ye drives to the basket during the Knights’ game against Souderton on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. (Debby High/For Digital First Media)
