North Penn defeated Central Bucks West 48-47 in overtime to capture the SOL Tournament title on Monday night at Bensalem. Check back to view Keith Clemens' action photos…CLICK HERE.
NORTH PENN 48, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 47 (OT)
As Maggie deMarteleire walked past Makenzie Mason on her way out of the locker room after Monday night’s title game, the North Penn coach said, ‘Good luck, hope we see you again.’
“You probably will,” West’s senior captain said. “We always see you guys multiple times.”
Monday’s meeting in the SOL Tournament title game was the third between the three teams, and each one was closer than the one before.
“These last three games between East, South and North Penn – they’ve definitely built our confidence up,” said Mason. “We’ve been playing very strong, and coming off a one-point loss against North Penn – we’ve been chipping away.
“We lost by a bunch the first time (63-51), the second round three points (49-46) and now one point. People are gaining more confidence going into it because some of them haven’t played as much in the beginning of the season. Having Alex (Burkauskas) and Maddie (Maio) out definitely hurts.”
The most recent meeting was a roller coaster ride for both teams, and after surviving a shaky fourth quarter that saw the Bucks rally from 10 down to knot the score, the Lady Knights responded like the champions they are in overtime.
“Overall, I’m glad we won,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “But our shooting percentage was abysmal.
“Some of that had to do with them, but we had a lot of looks in the first half. I thought the third quarter our defense was really outstanding, and I thought we played pretty good defense the rest of the way after the first quarter.”
The Bucks had the better of play in the opening quarter. While the Lady Knights struggled to find the basket, the Bucks closed out the quarter with a 10-4 run to go on top 14-8. A Molly Rodebaugh three-pointer broke a 4-4 tie, and when Mason buried her first of three triples from the top of the circle, the Bucks led 10-4.
A foul line jumper by Sam Carangi was followed by a Jess Huber drive to make it a 10-8 game, but back-to-back baskets by Tori Abelson and Mason (Abelson assist) capped the Bucks’ run.
Mason’s second three-pointer put the Bucks on top 17-10, but a nifty spinning drive by Huber made it a 17-16 game. Izzy Treon’s baseline jumper gave the Bucks a three-point lead, but Mikaela Giuliani answered with a basket. Huber’s trey from the top of the circle put the Lady Knights on top 21-19, but Mason answered with a three-pointer of her own. A pair of foul shots by Huber – who had 11 points in the half – sent North Penn into halftime with a 23-22 lead.
“It didn’t help that we shot 6-for-16 from the paint in the first half,” deMarteleire said. “We got looks, and we were just not finishing underneath the basket.”
After a pair of Treon baskets around a bucket by Irisa Ye, the Bucks led 26-25, but Giuliani connected on 1-of-2 from the foul line, sparking an 11-0 North Penn tear. Included in the run was a Carangi three from NBA range, five points from Giuliani and three from Ye as the Lady Knights opened up a 36-26 lead. A basket by Bailey Tracy with 20 seconds remaining in the quarter made it a 36-28 game.
“That was huge,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “Bailey has been working real hard to get into the rotation, playing a role.
“She did a great job today – got some rebounds and made that shot.”
The Lady Knights went back on top by 10 after Giuliani scored on North Penn’s first possession of the fourth quarter. An Abby Spratt three-pointer was followed by a Carangi basket to make it a 40-31 game with 6:26 remaining. The Lady Knights did not score the rest of the way while the Bucks closed out regulation with a 9-0 run that included four points from both Maggie Rakowsky and Mason as well as an Abelson foul shot. West knotted the score with 2:36 remaining when Rakowsky made one-of-two foul shots. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
A Rakowsky basket from just inside the arc gave the Bucks an early lead in OT, but Carangi got that back with a driving shot to knot the score. The Lady Knights’ junior point guard broke a 43-43 tie when she connected on both ends of a one-and-one, and after the Bucks misfired, Ye buried a pair at the line to put the Bucks on top 47-43 with 17 seconds remaining.
Rodebaugh connected on a runner, and the Bucks came oh-so-close to picking off Huber’s baseball pass on the inbounds just beyond midcourt. It didn’t happen, and Giuliani made one-of-two at the line with six seconds remaining to put the Lady Knights on top 48-45. A basket at the buzzer by Rakowsky made it a one-point game.
“You think about that game – there were probably six plays that, if we get it to roll our way – even at the end, we tried to force them to go deep on us because we had some pretty fast kids in there,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said of North Penn’s inbounds play with a two-point lead. “We were that close from taking that ball and going down to the other end.
“It was a great game. For us, it was an awesome, awesome experience.”
The Lady Knights once again displayed the kind of balance that has made them so dangerous. Four players finished the game in double figures. Carangi led the way with 13 points to go along with 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Huber added 12 points, and Ye had 11. Giuliani finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“The thing I’m most proud of – we had a 10-point lead and blew it, but in overtime everybody made a play,” deMarteleire said. “We missed a foul shot, and Bri Hewlett tipped the ball and we ended up getting the rebound.
“Mia (Melchior) played really good defense. Mikaela (Giuliani) was struggling around the basket, but when it counted in the second half, she made them. Sam – in the fourth quarter, her decision making wasn’t the greatest, but in overtime, I thought it was. I felt like we left the fourth quarter go and played overtime pretty solid.”
“We really just pick each other up on the court,” Carangi said. “When anyone makes a mistake, we have to pick them up and get their confidence back because mistakes can just snowball.
“CB West is such a good team, and playing teams like CB South, CB West – every single team in our league is good, so it really helps us prepare for districts and states.”
West was a late entry into the four-team tournament field, earning the at-large bid after beating CB South last Thursday. The Bucks wasted little time before proving they belonged, defeating American Conference champion Upper Dublin in Saturday’s semifinal game before extending North Penn to the limit in Monday’s title game.
Mason led the Bucks with 15 points while Treon and Rakowsky both added eight. Treon also had five rebounds. Abelson added six points, six rebounds and three steals.
North Penn (22-2, 14-0 SOL), the District One AAAA Tournament’s number one seed, will host 32nd-seeded Penncrest in an opening round game on Saturday. Tenth-seeded Central Bucks West (17-7, 11-3) will host 23rd-seeded Kennett.
Central Bucks West 14-8-6-12-7 47
North Penn 8-15-13-4-8 48
Central Bucks West: Abby Spratt 3, Makenzie Mason 15, Tori Abelson 6, Izzy Treon 8, Maggie Rakowsky 8, Molly Rodebaugh 5, Bailey Tracy 2.
North Penn: Irisa Ye 11, Mikaela Giuliani 10, Jess Huber 12, Sam Carangi 13, Mia Melchior 2.
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