TOWAMENCIN- Caleigh Sperling is playing the game the right way, according to her head coach.

“Caleigh played very unselfish basketball, as a group we have been talking about this more and she really bought into that,” Knights head coach Bri Cullen said.

During Tuesday night’s game, Sperling led the Knights to a 51-40 victory with her 29-point performance. 

The Knights (5-6) defeated the Council Rock North Indians (5-7) Tuesday night in a game with many lead changes, but in the end, the Knights came out with a victory.

The first quarter started very poorly for the Knights as they already had two fouls with less than 2 minutes of play and the defense let Council Rock North start the game on a 4-0 run.  

“We talked about how we needed to play a hard game and not allow them to dictate the pace of the game,” Cullen stated. 

The first points on the board for North Penn came 4 minutes and 10 seconds into the first quarter as Emily Orth hit a three-pointer. With 2 minutes and 30 seconds in the first quarter, the Knights took their first game lead at 7-5. After a few fouls and turnovers, the Knights led 11-7 at the end of the first.

“We like to play a very fast-paced style of basketball, and we were slowing it down to match them, but once we adjusted it, we were able to put more into the offensive side of the ball,” Cullen stated.

Thirty seconds into the second quarter, Sperling expanded the Knights lead to 13-7 with a jump shot, but then Council Rock went on a 9-0 and claimed a lead at 18-15.

“We started making adjustments. They started to pound the ball inside a little bit more so we needed to adjust our defense with that,” Cullen explained.

With only 1:25 left before halftime, Sperling scored six straight points, putting her team up 22-18 at the half. She scored 15 out of the team’s 22.

“A lot of the shots weren’t falling, and I was getting a lot of fouls called under the basket. I was trying to drive to the basket because I knew I’d get the foul call,” Sperling exclaimed. 

Coming into the third quarter, the Indians scored immediately, scoring 22-20, still down, but juniors Olivia Stone and Kelly Donnelly both sparked the offense by hitting two three-pointers, putting the Knights up 28-21 with 4 minutes and 40 seconds left in the third quarter.

“In practice, we do everything game speed so that when we come into big moments, we are not tired, and we are shooting with our legs still. That’s something we work on,” Cullen stated. 

Council Rock called a timeout with 4:05 left and switched up to zone defense, but Donnelly hit her second three-pointer, putting the Knights up 31-23. After a few fouls called on Council Rock, North Penn led at the end of the quarter 37-25.

With the game ending, North Penn needed to maintain their lead. Council Rock tried to lock North Penn’s offense up but ended up fouling instead. With 3:00 left in the game, North Penn was up 42-29 after a few fouls called on Council Rock. Sperling scored a layup with 18 seconds left in the game, which made her total points for the game 29. 

“We did well as a team and passed around a lot. I got a lot of good passes from my teammates under the basket, and I’m glad they were able to find me for some easy layups,” Sperling stated.

The Knights take on Council Rock South away Thursday at 7 pm as they look to extend their winning streak. They are now 3-3 in the SOL Continental Division.