North Penn senior Vicky Tumasz surpassed the 1,000-point mark in Saturday’s win over Council Rock South.
By Mary Jane Souder
Vicky Tumasz knew she was approaching a milestone.
The North Penn senior entered Saturday’s District One AAAA opening round game against Council Rock South needing 21 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
“It’s hard not to know,” Tumasz said. “My dad tried to keep it away from me so it wouldn’t get in my head, but then yesterday at practice, they were talking about it.”
If Tumasz was feeling any pressure, she certainly didn’t let it show. By halftime, the senior sharpshooter had 14 points, and it no longer was a question of if she would reach it but rather when.
Tumasz answered that question when – after taking a pass from teammate Erin Maher – she was fouled going in for a layup on a fastbreak. With the scoreboard clock frozen at 3:05 in the third quarter, Tumasz stepped to the foul line and hit nothing but net on her first shot. The second – which put her name in the history books - hit the rim and fell through.
Tumasz leaped into the arms of Maher and was mobbed by teammates.
“Erin came up to me before I took the shots and said, ‘All right, don’t worry about it. You’re going to get it,’” Tumasz said.
Maher had one additional instruction.
“She said, ‘Jump in my arms afterwards,’” Tumasz said. “We had a plan. It was great.”
The senior captain turned in a masterpiece in the Lady Knights’ 83-51 win, finishing with 21 points. She buried three three-pointers and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line, including the historic basket.
“It was a little suspenseful,” she said. “I was afraid I was going to brick it or airball it.
“I thought I got it (earlier), but Maggie said, ‘No, you need two more.’ Then I missed a wide open layup.”
Tumasz didn’t miss many shots on Saturday, and while it’s impossible to script milestone moments, the Lady Knights’ senior guard would have had a hard time topping the one that took place.
“We said at the beginning of the game – ‘Our points were going to come. We don’t have to force it in to me. We just have to play like we normally play, like North Penn does,’ and that’s what we did,” Tumasz said. “We won, and I got my points, so it was a great game overall.”
Tumasz is the ninth female player in program history to reach the magical milestone and the third in the last three years, following in the footsteps of Steph Knauer (’12) and Lauren Crisler (’13).
“It’s truly incredible thinking about Steph getting it and then Lauren,” Tumasz said. “It’s exciting knowing I’ll see my name on that banner next year. It’s just amazing. I couldn’t be any more grateful and blessed.”
In Saturday’s win, Tumasz displayed her wide arsenal of shots, scoring from just about everywhere on the court.
“Vicky has really improved over the course of her four years here,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “She’s an outstanding three-point shooter, but now she can shoot off the dribble, and she can attack the basket.
“She really has improved her overall game, and I’m really, really pleased with her. She’s a hard worker, and she deserves this.”
Maher has been Tumasz’s teammate since the beginning, and it was appropriate that it was her pass on a fast break that set up the historic foul shots.
“I’m really proud of her,” Maher said. “The word that stands out to me is pride.
“Sometimes people take it for granted here at North Penn just because we’ve had three 1,000-point scorers in three years, but it’s something really special. She’s an extremely unselfish player, and I can’t think of anyone that deserves it more than her.”
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