TOWAMENCIN-The North Penn Knights picked up that all important first win of the season Tuesday night.
The girls hoops squad knocked off the Unionville Longhorns with a hefty 20 point win, 47-27.
After their first two games of the season resulted in losses, the girls were able to come back and kept the lead for all four quarters.
“We definitely played as a team, which is something we’ve been lacking,” head coach Bri Cullen said.
The girls were able to put pressure early on with a 9 point lead by the end of the first quarter, and started to completely pull away by the third. Points were fairly evenly distributed amongst players, with 11 girls finding the basket.
While this game was a triumph, the season started off a bit bumpy due to absence of some key players. Last year the team lost vital seniors Caleigh Sperling, Liv Stone, and Kelly Donnelly, and this season has been a chance for some of the younger players to improve their skills.
“We’re learning. This is a whole new team this year that we have to make so we’re changing a lot of things in defense and offense,” added Assistant Coach Kelly Secoda. “All the younger ones are coming up and really putting some pressure on the older ones for playing time.”
While the game started off a bit slow, things started to heat up in the second half, as the Knights’ capitalized on Unionville’s numerous turnovers, and their shooting efficiency improved. The expectations going into the game was to run the correct plays and do more boxing out, which the girls certainly delivered.
“We made adjustments based on what Unionville brought. They have a pretty big team, so we kind of packed the pain a little bit more, which was good,” Cullen noted.
Spearheading the defense was captain and senior Leah Mikulski, while sophomore Lily Brown commanded the court and scored a 3-pointer in the 4th quarter. Other key players of the night included Cam Crowley (senior, captain), Tally Smink (junior, captain), and Lily Mcgee (senior).
Though excited about the first win, they are already looking forward to their next matchup, as they’ve got a long season ahead.
“I’m super proud of them,” Cullen stated. “I think this was an important win for us and we have a couple big games coming up, so hopefully it gets us rolling.”
The North Penn girls will travel to CB West for the next game on Friday, while the boys will play the Bucks at home.