North Penn defeated Northampton 73-45 in a second round PIAA Class AAAA state playoff game on Tuesday.
FRANCONIA TWP – There’s a quiet confidence surrounding the North Penn Lady Knights these days, so when they found themselves staring at a 10-3 deficit less than three minutes into Tuesday night’s PIAA Class AAAA second round game against Northampton, there were no signs of panic, no hasty timeouts.
Instead, it was business as usual, and when sophomore Mikaela Giuliani scored on a putback less than five minutes later, the Lady Knights had a one-point lead. The Koncrete Kids buried a shot to go back on top by one, but moments later, Erin Maher scored off a Northampton turnover, and the Lady Knights had a lead they would not lose.
By the time it was over, the Lady Knights had cleared their bench, and they were coasting to a 73-45 rout.
“The five of us stay composed,” Maher said. “It’s pretty easy to hang your head and let them extend the lead.
“We started hitting our shots, stayed composed and bared down on defense, and we were able to bring it back. In the third quarter, we just broke it out.”
Did they ever.
The Lady Knights closed out the first half with a 12-2 run and opened the second with a 19-1 tear.
“We were clicking on all cylinders,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “It was nothing I said – trust me.”
Do the math – the Lady Knights outscored the Koncrete Kids 31-3 during a 10-minute and 18-second stretch that bordered on perfection.
“I think it was our defense,” freshman Sam Carangi said. “From our defense, we were able to get our offense and our fastbreaks because that’s how our team likes to play. We like to push the ball and go.
“Our defense tonight was really good. We were just getting open looks from that.”
Also playing a prominent role in that stretch was the Lady Knights’ ability to control the backboards. It was one-and-done for the Koncrete Kids (15-13) almost all night, most notably during the third quarter when the Lady Knights turned those misses into transition buckets.
Making most of the outlet passes that ignited the fastbreaks were Maher (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Giuliani (14 points, 12 rebounds),
“I played seven sports when I was little, and I like to think I see the court relatively well,” Maher said. “I’m usually on the back end of it and kicking it out to Sam or Vick or Bri, but I love to find my teammates. I love to make good passes.”
In addition to making good passes, the Lady Knights were throwing some defense at the Koncrete Kids. Giuliani made freshman center Aja Blount a complete non-factor. Blount was 4-of-4 from the foul line in the opening quarter. She did not score a point the rest of the way.
“Mikaela has been terrific on defense this postseason,” deMarteleire said. “She’s a very good defender anyway, but she’s really stepped up her game – playing that girl from Rustin (Adashia Franklyn) and now playing this girl. She’s really done a nice job.
“The girl from Lebanon the other night (Madison Rakow) - she shut her down too. She’s done an outstanding job in the postseason. She’s stepped up.”
Vicky Tumasz led all scorers with 22 points, which included a pair of treys and four baskets in transition – two of those were three-point plays. She also had four steals and three assists.
“Sam was hitting her shots, and that gave us motivation,” Tumasz said. “We were pushing the ball, and that got us wide open looks.
“We were just attacking. We played basketball, we played well.”
Carangi scored 11 of her 18 points in a third quarter that saw the Lady Knights outscore the Koncrete Kids 27-7 to go on top 61-31. She also connected on a pair of three-pointers, including the first bucket of the game. For good measure, she had five assists.
Any nerves the freshman point guard may have had when the postseason rolled around appear to be nothing more than a distant memory.
“It feels pretty normal now,” Carangi said. “The first couple of games I was pretty nervous, but now I’m good.”
Carangi and her teammates displayed both confidence and poise in Tuesday’s win, turning the game into their own clinic on how to push the basketball. The Koncrete Kids had no answer.
“I felt like they got tired, and there were just a lot of holes, and the kids were seeing them all,” deMarteleire said. “We had a lot of assists, and we didn’t have many turnovers. We took care of the ball pretty well.”
The Lady Knights, who had just seven turnovers, advanced to Friday night’s Elite Eight where they will face West Chester Rustin, a 56-36 winner over District 11 champion Parkland in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Souderton. North Penn defeated Rustin 76-59 in a district semifinal game two weeks ago, but the players insist they still have a point to prove.
“Me and Bri were talking about this the other day at practice – last year we were the underdogs, and we beat the number two team in the state at that time,” Tumasz said of the Lady Knights’ second round upset of Wilson. “Anyone can win if they play their best game.
“I still feel like the underdog here. Nobody expected us to be this far and be this good, and we’re proving them all wrong. If we keep playing the way we have been, we’re set.”
Northampton 14 10 7 14-45
North Penn 17 17 27 12-73
Northampton (45) – Ali Reppert 2 0-0 5; Kayla Csencsits 3 0-0 9; Leandra Sterner 5 1-2 13; Erica Filipovits 2 0-0 4; Aja Blount 0 4-4 4; Sophia Eckroth 0 0-0 0; Giovanna Martinez 0 0-0 0; Amber Farnholtz 1 0-0 3; Zeniyah Sanders 1 4-4 6; Autumn Klucsarits 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 14-10-12 43
North Penn (73) – Erin Maher 3 6-8 12; Mikaela Giuliani 6 2-4 14; Bri Cullen 1 1-2 3; Vicky Tumasz 8 4-4 22; Sam Carangi 7 2-3 18; Irisa Ye 1 0-0 2; Jess Huber 0 2-4 2; Tina Miller 0 0-0 0; Isabelle Schwenk 0 0-0 0; Julia Puia 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 26 17-25 73
Three-point goals: Northampton – Kayla Csencsits 3, Leandra Sterner 2, Ali Reppert, Amber Farnholtz; NP – Vicky Tumasz 2, Sam Carangi 2.
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