North Penn saw its historic season come to an end when the Lady Knights fell to Cardinal O’Hara 48-41 in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal game. To view photos of the game, please visit the Photo Gallery...CLICK HERE.
ROYERSFORD – The silent parade of players exiting the locker room – eyes firmly fixed on the floor - told at least a part of the story. The ending had been a cruel and unexpected one for a North Penn squad that led by eight with just 11 minutes and 40 seconds to play in Tuesday night’s PIAA Class AAAA semifinal game against Cardinal O’Hara.
Protect the lead for 11 minutes and 40 seconds, and the Lady Knights are celebrating a trip to Hershey for Friday’s state championship game, but that didn’t happen.
North Penn – after scoring nine points in the first four minutes and 20 seconds of the third quarter – managed just 10 in the final 11:40 while the Lions scored 25.
“It was really frustrating,” senior captain Mikaela Giuliani said. “I don’t even know what was going on. It’s almost a blur at this point.
“We just kept running offenses and turning it over or missing a shot or doing something.”
So what changed?
“I have no idea,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “When I look at the tape, I’ll try and figure it out.
“When high school girls are playing, it’s all about decision making, and we were making really good decisions, and then all of a sudden we weren’t. That’s all I can say. That was disappointing, just disappointing. We had them, and we just let it slip away.”
Maybe if they hadn’t been so close, it might have been easier to see the dream of playing for a state crown slip away, but endings are never easy.
“This is my last season, it was my last shot, and to have it end like that, it’s really hard,” Giuliani said. “We all know we could have played better.
“When we had a lead, we let up, and when you play a team as good as O’Hara – if you let up even for a second, they’re going to convert, and that’s just what they did.”
The Lady Knights struggled to find their stride out of the gate, turning the ball over three times before Jess Huber – who scored a team-high 17 points – buried a shot that made it a 3-2 game three minutes into the contest.
The Lions led 6-2 after Hannah Nihill buried her team’s second of seven three-pointers, but Giuliani scored on an inbounds play, and when Irisa Ye connected on a basket, the teams were deadlocked at six. A Nihill bucket with 1:30 remaining in the quarter put the Lions on top 13-8, but Sam Carangi buried a short baseline jumper that made it a 13-10 game after one quarter.
Giuliani turned a steal into a basket to open the second quarter, and when Huber hit nothing but net on a baseline three, the Lady Knights led 15-13. They still led by one after a Bri Hewlett basket, and Ye’s three-point play with four seconds remaining sent North Penn into halftime with a 22-18 lead.
A pair of Huber foul shots stretched that lead to six early in the third quarter, and the Lady Knights led 31-23 after Huber – gutting it out on an injured foot - scored on a tough shot in traffic.
“She’s been playing on it for two or three weeks, and her will to win and her competitive nature is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” deMarteleire said. “She’s very competitive.”
Although the Lady Knights appeared to be in command, things were never the same after Huber’s clutch bucket. By the end of the third quarter, the Lions had knotted the score 33-33, thanks to a 10-2 run, and their student section began chanting ‘I believe that we will win, I believe that we will win.’
In this case, it turned out to be prophetic. The Lions took a 35-33 lead on a basket by Mary Sheehan, and when Sheehan – after a North Penn turnover – buried a three-pointer on her team’s second shot of the possession, the Lions led 38-33.
“They made shots and we just couldn’t,” Ye said.
“We all knew we had a chance to get back,” Huber said. “We wanted to keep fighting.
“I give them credit – they played very (good) defense on Mikaela and Sam, and they just kept hitting shots.”
Hewlett answered with a bucket for the Lady Knights, breaking a three-minute and 40-second scoring drought to open the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Gardler – who led all scorers with 18 – connected after another North Penn turnover, and when Sheehan scored on a layup with 1:23 remaining, the Lions led 42-35. The Lady Knights would get no closer than five the rest of the way.
“The last two minutes and the beginning of the fourth – they just took the game over, and we helped them,” deMarteleire said. “I thought defensively we didn’t play bad, but then we had to foul them, and they started making shots.
“I wasn’t displeased with our defense, but when we’re in a situation where we’re down by five with three minutes left and they’re so guard oriented, we’re in a little bit of trouble.”
In addition to 17 points, Huber also had a team-high five rebounds. Giuliani added eight points while Hewlett had six for a North Penn squad that finished its season with a 29-4 record and an SOL National Conference crown.
“We had a great season – I’m proud of the whole team,” Ye said. “It’s a bunch of great girls, and we played so together.”
“It was a tremendous season,” deMarteleire added. “The only time you end happy is if you win your last game, and that’s very difficult to do.”
The Lady Knights made history by advancing to the state semifinals for the first time in program history.
“I feel like the program itself – each kid that comes in wants to elevate it to the next level,” deMarteleire said. “And I feel like we’ve done that. Hopefully, next year we will get one more step of the way.”
Giuliani – who won over 100 games during her four-year varsity career - is entrusting the team to the leadership of her fellow captains.
“I’m trusting Sam, Jess and Irisa to take the program over just like Bri (Cullen), Vicky (Tumasz) and Erin (Maher) trusted me when they left their senior year,” the senior captain said. “It’s just really been awesome that I made all these friends from this.
“I’m going to be coming and rooting for them next year so they can get the state championship since I wasn’t able to.”
Cardinal O’Hara 13-5-15-15 48
North Penn 10-12-11-8 41
Cardinal O’Hara: Kristen Denoncour 0 0-0 0; Mackenzie Gardler 6 2-4 18; Maura hendrixson 2 0-0 5; Lauren Leicht 0 0-0 0; Hannah Nihill 5 3-4 14; Molly Paolino 0 2-2 2; Mary Sheehan 4 0-0 9; Totals 17 7-10 48.
North Penn: Sam Carangi 1 0-0 2; Mikaela Giuliani 4 0-0 8; Bri Hewlett 3 0-0 6; Jess Huber 6 3-4 17; Mia Melchior 1 0-0 3; Irisa Ye 2 1-1 5; Totals 17 4-5 41.
Three-point goals: NP-Jess Huber 2, Mia Melchior; CO-Mackenzie Gardler 4, Maura Hendrixson, Hannah Nihill, Mary Sheehan.
- Log in to post comments
