Pennridge wins season opener over Palisades

EAST ROCKHILL >> Stifling defense and a whole lot of Sophie Cweiber defined Pennridge’s season opener on Friday evening against Palisades.
“I think, defensively, we really stepped it up,” Rams coach Mike Elton said. “I thought we did a real nice job of guarding (Palisades’ Trinity Williams). Evelyn (Loughery) guarded her pretty well. Obviously, Sophie went off on offense so that was really nice to have.”
Cweiber’s game-high 19 points led the way to a 63-32 non-league win for Pennridge in its home Tip-Off Tournament opener. The Rams jumped out to a 22-4 lead in the first quarter and dominated throughout.
“In general, it was a pretty good first game,” Elton said. “I’m encouraged. We kind of have some experience at the top but we’re also trying to get a lot of young kids in too. So we’re a little young.
“But they all stepped up. It was a good first game.”
Pennridge connected for 10 three-pointers in the contest, including a game-high five by Cweiber.
“I felt good. Once you start going, you get going,” Cweiber said smiling. “My teammates and I really look for each other and we really played well as a team today.”
The Rams had five players with eight points or more. Corinn Mart (8), Julia Kreider (8), Emma Pyne (8) and Evelyn Loughery (10) all contributed heavily on the offensive end.
“Great start to the season,” Cweiber said. “We were really looking forward to this. We’ve been talking about it for weeks now so it’s good to have a game. Definitely our help defense (was what I was most happy with). It’s always been something we had been struggling with and we’ve really been working on it, with our traps and everything.
“We’re just gonna keep going forward, every game, take it slow. Every team is different and we’re just gonna keep working hard.”

Pennridge 63,
Palisades 32
Palisades 4 19 5 4 – 32
Pennridge 22 16 11 14 – 63
Palisades: Williams 3 4-6 10, Campbell 1 0-0 2, Odle 4 2-10 10, L. Stiansen 3 0-0 6, Marto 1 2-2 4. Totals 12 8-18 32.
Pennridge: Corinn Mart 4 0-0 8, Grace Rosica 1 0-0 2, Sophie Cweiber 7 0-0 19, Katie Yoder 2 0-0 4, Julia Kreider 3 1-2 8, Kiersten Moyer 1 0-0 2, Emma Pyne 3 0-0 8, Evelyn Loughery 4 0-0 10, Ashley Gordon 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 3-4 63.
3-pointers: Penn-Cweiber 5, Kreider, Pyne 2, Loughery 2.