TOWAMENCIN – When the North Penn Girls’ Basketball team came out victorious against Garnet Valley, 62-44, it was more than just another late season victory: the team’s 26th victory of the season marked coach Maggie deMarteleire’s 500th career win.

Junior Jess Huber paced the team with 18 points, including four three-pointers, while senior Mikaela Giuliani came up big and put up 12 points while coming up with five steals.

The Lady Knights started off slow, laboring to a 13-8 lead after a first quarter full of sloppy plays and turnovers. Both teams struggled to keep possession of the ball, but neither team could capitalize on other side’s mistakes.

However, North Penn woke up in second quarter, pouring in 23 points to finish the half with a 17 point lead. Huber and fellow junior Sam Carangi combined for 15 points to propel the Lady Knights to a big lead.

“I think our defense starts everything,” explained Huber. “So our defense started it off and our offense was fueled from the defense.”

Once they took the lead, the home team never looked back, finishing off the Lady Cougars 62-44.

“I thought we executed the game plan really well,” said Huber. “It was the determination that led to our win.”

“I’m really excited,” added Giuliani. “We came in here and we did exactly what we wanted to do. Everyone played together and we played really well so it was a good win.”

While North Penn dominated the game as a whole, deMarteleire still pointed out that the team could always improve.

“We had a lot of turnovers for the whole game,” stated deMarteleire. “We are going to need to clean that up.”

In a previous meeting between these two teams this season, the Lady Knights were the victors, winning by 34 points. This, however, did not affect the team heading into the game.

“We don’t like to think about the games in the past,” Giuliani noted. “You never know how the team’s going to play.”

After the game, the celebration ensued and deMarteleire was honored by her team and the community for her 500th career win. She was presented with balloons and a collage of pictures from her team.

“(I’m) pretty emotional,” laughed deMarteleire, “for all the support and stuff. It’s really nice.”

The North Penn coach was embraced by many members of the community who attended the game. Despite being overwhelmed by the crowd for her individual milestone, she did not forget to credit her partners through her journey.

“I coached a lot of great kids, and it’s all because of them,” praised deMarteleire, “and my husband has been a wonderful support and I would not have done this without him.”

Her players also had no shortage of praise for their coach.

“She’s a great coach,” declared Huber. “She’s one of the best coaches I had and she really cares about you. She really wants you to succeed as an individual and a team,” said Huber.

“I am honored to have had her as a coach for past four years,” Giuliani weighed in, “and it’s really exciting to be able to experience this with her.”

The Lady Knights now turn their attention to the state playoffs which tip off next week.