Starting her third varsity season off this past month, one of North Penns’ very own basketball stars, Abby Plaugher, continues to lead this young team throughout their season as a junior captain.

Plaugher has had a starting position on the team since her freshman year. For her freshman and sophomore year, besides Plaugher, the starting lineup consisted of juniors and seniors, which meant plenty of experience out on the court. With only one senior remaining on the team this year, Plaugher knew she needed to take initiative and step up with her natural leadership skills.

“I feel really excited just because I’m gonna be the second oldest one there so I feel like I’ll have a lot of freedom to help lead also because I’m gonna be the most experienced one out there,” explained Plaugher.

Plaugher described this year as their “rebuilding year” as she had mentioned many times that this year’s team is very young. The starting lineup is the combination of three sophomores, a freshman, and Plaugher, a junior. While many think this could be threatening to their success, Plaugher explained that it is one of their biggest advantages for this season.

“I feel like this year could be our year. With the team being so young, it just gives us so much more room to create a whole new and even better atmosphere. Next year will be even better because all of our starters will return, which will be a huge advantage,” said Plaugher.

Not only does this year’s roster have many young, new faces, but there is also a whole new coaching staff. When the new varsity head coach Bri Cullen started off the season with open gyms, it took her little to no time to recognize the love and authority Plaugher showed for both the game and her team.

“Even the first day, first open gym, I saw that every play mattered to her and that basketball really mattered to her. She is a natural leader and as soon as she stepped on the court, with her actions and her vocals, I could just tell,” exclaimed Cullen. “With the team having so many freshman and underclassmen, they can kind of steer in the wrong direction and have the wrong mentality about the sport and about the team as a whole. But somebody like Abby, who is a leader, can kind of frame their four years as athletes at North Penn.”

Throughout her years of playing rec, travel, middle school, and now high school basketball, it was only a matter of time before Plaugher got recognition for her dedication to the sport and for her natural-born gift. Plaugher made the honorable mention for an All-State team, meaning if you’re a team in her league, she is one to watch out for.

¨Last year this was a very big accomplishment for me and now it just pushes me to do better like getting first or second team this year. It also pushes me because there’s a lot of good players in this league that are competing for the same thing, so I always have that in the back of my head,¨ stated Plaugher.

It’s evident that Plaugher contributes a large amount to the success of the team, but being a leader, she is also able to see the hard work that her teammates put in, which has helped her get to where she is today.

¨I feel like we have a really good group. I do feel a little pressure, but I have four other girls on the court that are more than capable of playing well too and also helping me out,¨ said Plaugher.

While Plaugher continues to play out her junior season, with her natural skill, the help of her teammates, and the support of her coaches, there is no telling what she will achieve.

“It’s a new challenge we are all taking on together. Our focus this year is culture and family, so if we are doing those things together especially with leaders like Abby, then we are gonna be great,” emphasized Cullen.