Playoff-minded North Penn holds off rival CB South

TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn found its way, through a maze of a fourth quarter that took plenty of twists and turns and had eight lead changes in all.

“At this point, we’re playing for our playoff lives,” said Knights coach Jen Carangi.

Playoff hearts are still beating at North Penn, thanks to a resounding 54-48 victory over rival Central Bucks South that saw the Knights withstand the relentless Alexa Brodie and take the lead for good with two minutes to play.

“This is what my kids needed,” Carangi said. “They keep grinding and keep playing hard, especially against someone like Brodie, who is lights out. That kid is — if not the best — one of the best players in our league.

“The good news is we’ve been in a lot of games like that. The kids don’t panic anymore. I think in the beginning of the season, that’s a game we would have lost because we didn’t have the experience. As this season has gone on, we’ve learned a lot of lessons, and that’s been one of the big ones.”

Junior guard Alaina Mullaly scored 16 points and sophomore Alli Lindsay had 10, as North Penn — ranked 21st in District 1-6A coming in — further solidified its playoff positioning in the 24-team field.

“At the beginning of the season, the entire team wrote down a couple goals that we had, and we wanted to make the playoffs — that was No. 1 for everyone,” said Mullaly, who hit a three and also went 5-of-6 from the line in the fourth. “Going into this week, we knew we had two really important games and this was the first one.”

The Knights, who travel to Pennridge Thursday for the regular-season finale, went up 47-45 with two minutes to go, a drive by Cayla Sharkey (9 points) putting them in front. A defensive stop led to two free throws by Mullaly, making it 49-45 with 49 seconds remaining.

Two more freee throws by Mullaly soon made it 51-45, and then Brodie scored the last of her game-high 22 points on a three, slicing it to 51-48 with 22 seconds left.

Two foul shots by Carley Adams locked it up for North Penn (9-12, 5-6 Suburban One League Continental).

“We needed some sort of separation between us and them,” Mullaly said of the final eight minutes. “We wanted to get into making our foul shots, and find our open shots and our open players.”

Mullaly hit a trio of threes in all and was crucial in helping the Knights start off strong and finish even stronger.

“She’s been playing so great,” Carangi said. “She’s been playing so confidently. She and Alli, two players that didn’t come in with a ton of varsity experience, you see their growth from start to finish. And it’s been so fun to watch.”

North Penn also benefited from the inside play of Val McGriff (8 points) as well as timely baskets and smooth ball handling by Carley Adams (7 points).

“It’s special to go out for our two seniors (Sharkey and Alayna Faison) and give this win to them,” Mullaly said. “We knew it was gonna be a tough game so getting this win for them and even for our entire team is huge for us.”

North Penn’s night began with a three pointer by Mullaly.

The Knights led for most of the first quarter, stretching their advantage to 15-10 at the end of the period when Lindsay hit for three.

The Knights continued to control things into the second quarter, leading by as many as eight.

CB South put together a 9-0 run to take the lead, with Mackenzie Erb hitting a three, Brodie driving, and Kirsten Schaller hitting a pair of free throws.

Another drive by Brodie put South up 23-20 before North Penn tied it with a three by Sharkey.

A well-executed play by the Titans, finished off when Brodie fed a driving Allie Burke, provided a 25-23 edge at the half.

But North Penn led by one after three and played its best in the fourth.

CB South (12-9, 7-4 conference), playing its fourth game in five nights, saw its six-game win streak come to an end. The Titans were 17th in District 1-6A going into the game.

“It’s time to reboot, get back to practice,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “We’ll get back at it and put our best effort out on Friday (at home against CB West) and see what happens in the playoffs.”