TOWAMENCIN – They say a person’s life can change in one second – on a basketball court a whole lot can certainly change in one second. When Bianca Picard’s shot clanged off the rim as the final second ticked away in last night’s second round District One playoff game, North Penn fans were able to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
The Lady Knights of North Penn pulled off a nail biting, 35-34 win over conference rival Souderton.
“Souderton is a great team, with the loss of their assistant coach this morning, I thought they played very emotional and did a great job defending and pressuring us early on in the game,” said Coach Maggie DeMarteleire, referencing the passing of a member of the Souderton coaching staff yesterday.
To start the game, Souderton would out execute the Lady Knights on all sides of the ball winning the first quarter 6-5. The Lady Knights had many chances to take the lead throughout the second quarter but were unable to capitalize on the opportunities thus trailing Souderton at the end of the first half 19-13.
Starting off the third quarter, Souderton seemed to be closing in on an early lead when North Penn answered with a series of buckets toppled with a momentum shifting three-pointer by junior Erin Maher that would give the Lady Knights their first lead of the game. North Penn and Souderton would continue to go back and forth for the remainder of the third quarter, which would end in a 24-24 stalemate.
In a fourth quarter dominated by strong and aggressive defense, both teams would continue their back and forth battle. With 7.2 seconds left in regulation the Knights were up 35-33 as Souderton’s Bianca Picard headed to the line to shoot for two following a technical foul. Picard went 1 for 2 as the game moved to 35-34, with the clock running once more. Souderton inbounded the ball with one second on the clock, and the inbound to Picard was Souderton’s final chance to win, but the shot fell inches short, and North Penn would pull away with the close 35-34 victory over Souderton.
“I don’t think we played that great but I think the fact that we came together as a team and pulled out a win to make it to states proves that we are a much better team; we can pick each other up and keep heading in the right direction. Everyone stepped up with points at different times in the game, and even though our leading scorers might not have been on, Erin [Maher] and Mikaela [Giuliani] stepped up big time,” Said Senior Captain Lauren Crisler.
With a win over Souderton, the Lady Knights have clinched a spot in the state tournament, as well as further advancing towards the district championship.
“It feels awesome, coming into it we could feel the pressure but it feels great to have clinched states. I try to contribute as much as I can. The communication is getting better; on offense and defense we are making a lot better signals compared to early on in the season, and I feel like we are all peaking right now. The communication on the court is going to be the key going into the next game,” said Junior Captain Erin Maher.
“Tonight was like a weight lifted of off our shoulders because now we know we are definitely in the state tournament. Our two leading scorers, Vicky and Lauren, struggled tonight, with that being said there were a few players who made very big plays. Erin Maher really stepped up big in the third quarter, Jen [Halcovage] hit a very big three for us, Mikaela [Giuliani] played very well, so other kids stepped up when we really needed them to. Now it is time to get some film on Upper Dublin and focus on them,” said DeMarteleire.
The Lady Knights next travel to Upper Dublin for a 1:30 tip off on Saturday, as they face the Cardinals of the Suburban One American Conference in the next round of Districts.