North Penn captured the program’s first District One Class AAAA title, thanks to Friday night’s 63-51 win over Spring-Ford at Villanova University. To view game action photos, please check the Photo Gallery later this weekend.
By Mary Jane Souder
Irisa Ye was a lonely figure on the foul line in the closing seconds of Friday night’s District One AAAA game at Villanova University’s DuPont Pavilion. While the North Penn freshman was putting the finishing touches on the Lady Knights 63-51 win over two-time defending district champion Spring-Ford, her teammates – senior captains Erin Maher, Vicky Tumasz and Bri Cullen as well as freshman Sam Carangi – huddled with their arms around each other at midcourt.
The reality that the Lady Knights were about to win their program’s first district title was beginning to hit home.
“All four quarters we had our foot on the gas,” Maher said. “We had to be ready at any minute because we know what a tough, resilient team they are, and they can come back at any minute.
“We got in the huddle, we looked at each other, and we’re like, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to win,’ and we just had this huge sigh of relief, and we were all able to smile for the first time the whole game. When you’re in this setting, especially when you’re winning, you’re having fun, but you can’t really show it. At that moment in time, we could just breathe and know – wow, we had done it.”
“It’s incredible,” Tumasz said. “Knowing we were the first North Penn team to ever win anything, especially for coach ‘D’ (Maggie deMarteliere) who has never won a district championship in her many years of coaching, and then knowing that no one expected us to be this far and this good – we proved everybody wrong, and that’s truly a great feeling.”
The Lady Knights won because they once again displayed the kind of deadly long range shooting that teams simply cannot match. Tumasz was in a league of her own, torching the Rams for 27 points.
“She’s just mentally tough, and she’s really worked on her game,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said of her senior guard.
Tumasz buried three three-pointers and was officially on fire in the first and third quarters, igniting the Lady Knights with nine first-quarter points and then adding 11 more in the third. For good measure, she was 5-of-6 from the foul line down the stretch.
Not a bad day for someone who struggled to find her range during pregame warm-ups.
“I wasn’t hitting anything,” Tumasz said. “I was getting used to the lighting and the depth perception in the gym.”
Freshmen Irisa Ye and Sam Carangi were clearly unfazed by the bright lights and the big stage. Ye came off the bench to score 12 points, fearlessly attacking the basket. Carangi scored the first basket of the game, hitting nothing but net on a three-pointer after the Lady Knights fell behind 4-0. She finished with 11 points, which included three three-pointers.
What was the experience like for the rookies?
“It’s very honorable and exciting because as a freshman playing at Villanova in the district championship – it’s just incredible,” Ye said. “The whole team knew we had to come into this game mentally tough because Spring-Ford is mentally tough too.”
“It was amazing,” said Carangi, whose mother, Jen Snell Carangi, had a standout collegiate career at Villanova. “It was so much fun. There’s no other feeling like it. To play against that good a team and to play that well, it’s just a great feeling.”
Maher, standing nearby, couldn’t contain her pride.
“I’m so proud of you guys,” she said to the two freshmen. “It’s insane – calling on 14 and 15-year-olds to step up against 17 and 18-year-olds on a great Spring-Ford squad. Their program is notorious as one of the best in the state.
“For the freshmen to come out and not be intimidated against them and give us incredible performances like they did – I’m so proud of them.”
Maher turned in a workmanlike effort of her own in the paint, leading the Lady Knights with eight rebounds while also scoring 10 points.
“Erin Maher really battled underneath the boards,” deMarteleire said.
Just over a minute into the game, the Rams led 4-0, and the Lady Knights had turned the ball over twice. A Carangi three-pointer helped settle any jitters the Lady Knights may have had, and after the Rams went on top 6-3, Tumasz, despite being fouled, scored a fast break bucket off a Spring-Ford miss. She completed the three-point play to knot the score. Bri Cullen sank one-of-two from the foul line to put the Lady Knights on top 7-6, and then Tumasz reeled off six straight points to put her team on top 13-6.
A Carangi trey early in the second quarter gave the Lady Knights a 16-8 lead, but the Rams responded with a run of their own to go on top 17-16. Carangi scored off the dribble, and after a Spring-Ford miss, Ye connected on both ends of a one-and-one. Another Spring-Ford miss set the stage for a driving bucket by Ye, giving the Lady Knights a 22-17 lead.
“I was nervous, but I knew if we went out there, played our game and weren’t intimidated, we’d be good,” Ye said.
Maher buried a trey from the top of the circle to give the Lady 
Knights a 25-17 lead. The Rams trimmed that lead to five, but a bucket by Tumasz was followed by a Spring-Ford miss. Maher deflected the rebound to Tumasz, and the Lady Knights were off and running with Carangi finishing off the play with a three-pointer that sent the Lady Knights into halftime with a 32-21 lead.
“She doesn’t play like a freshman at all,” deMarteleire said of her rookie point guard.
Tumasz turned the third quarter into her own personal shooting clinic, connecting on three three-pointers with the third giving the Lady Knights a 40-27 lead.
“In the first half, we were attacking the basket more, and that caught them off guard because they knew we were (an outside) shooting team,” Tumasz said. “In the second half, they stepped off a little more because they didn’t want to get in foul trouble because they were, and that’s when we were hitting our shots. It was just a team effort overall.”
The Lady Knights – pushing the ball at every opportunity – looked as though they could run all day while the Rams showed signs of wearing down.
“That was definitely a point,” Maher said. “We knew we could push the ball on them. We wanted to get them in some foul trouble, and we did that early in the game.
“Just staying on the gas all four quarters was definitely a key, and Vicky and Sam hitting big shots, working under the boards, battling against their bigs. They’re just such a tough team. All seven of us had to step up.”
The Rams trimmed their deficit to 43-35 late in the third quarter, but a bucket by Ye at the buzzer sent the Lady Knights into the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead.
“I thought Irisa Ye came off the bench and did a nice job,” deMarteleire said. “She’s a hard matchup. In this setting, it was a great effort. She really did step up.”
North Penn had its largest lead of the game (51-37) when Cullen, after a Carangi steal, buried a pair at the foul line.
Coming as no surprise, the Rams didn’t go down quietly, trimming the Lady Knights’ lead to 55-49 after a bucket by Shelby Mueller with 1:10 remaining. The Lady Knights spent the final minute burying their foul shots to seal the Rams’ fate.
“We kept talking about how they were down to Penn Wood by 17, how they were losing to (Central Bucks) West, how they were losing to Mount,” deMarteleire said of Spring-Ford. “We had to stay focused. You know they’re going to make their runs at you, and we had to make sure we didn’t get rattled. I thought the kids really showed a lot of composure.”
When the final horn sounded, the celebration began in earnest as they players leaped into each other’s arms.
“It feels incredible,” Maher said. “I never would have imagined as a freshman being this good, and with this group of girls – we’re just one huge family. Our team chemistry really showed on the floor today. It just feels unreal. I’m a very talkative person, but I’m struggling for words.”
“I’m so happy right now,” Carangi said. “It’s amazing. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“Everything we worked for is paying off,” Cullen said. “Words don’t even describe it. I’m at a loss for words. I couldn’t be happier.”
For this Lady Knights’ squad, anything less than a district title would have been unacceptable.
“In the beginning of the season, me and Erin told each other – we’re not graduating unless we win a district championship or a state championship, and we won the district championship,” Tumasz said. “That’s obviously a great feeling, but I think the best feeling is knowing that no one expected us to be this good, and we just proved everyone wrong, and that’s truly an incredible feeling to have.”
Spring-Ford 6 15 14 16-54
North Penn 13 19 13 18-63
Spring-Ford (51) – Maggie Locke 5 2-4 12; Shelby Mueller 6 1-1 13; Julia Roshelli 2 0-0 0; 4; Amy Roth 1 0-0 2; Sammy Stipa 5 6-6 19; Sydney Wagner 0 0-0 0; Emily Walker 1-2 1; Abby Beyer 0 0-0 0; Kaity Dougherty 0 0-0 0; Maddie Haney 0 0-0 0; Molly Hynes 0 0-0 0; Totals 19 10-13 51.
North Penn (63) – Sam Carangi 4 0-00 11; Brianna Cullen 0 3-4 3; Mikaela Giuliani 0 0-0 0; Jess Huber 0 0-0 0; Erin Maher 2 5-6 10; Vicy Tumasz 8 8-9 27; Irisa Ye 3 6-10 12; Totals 17 22-29 63.
Three-point goals: SF-Sammy Stipa 3; NP-Sam Carangi 3, Vicky Tumasz 3., Erin Maher.
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