CB South and CR North were winners in SOL girls’ basketball action Thursday night.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 48, NORTH PENN 34
The Knights might have known it was not going to be their night when – before the game even began – they were assessed a technical for a lineup violation in the scorebook. The Titans turned that miscue into a 5-0 lead, thanks to a pair of Alexa Brodie foul shots and – after the Titans were awarded possession – a Lexi Edwards three-pointer.
The tone for the game might well have been set.
“That was very big,” senior Meghan Kuypers said of the Titans’ quick start. “When Alexa made those, that really boosted us up.
“During warm-ups, we were all nervous, but her making those showed that we’re not messing around.”
For a while, the Knights kept it close, twice pulling to within one. Jess Huber’s trey made it an 8-7 game, but Haley Meinel connected on her team’s third three-pointer of the quarter to give the Titans an 11-7 lead. After a North Penn miss, Meinel scored on a baseline drive to make it a 13-7 game after one quarter.
The Titans stretched that lead to 18-7 after back-to-back baskets by Kuypers – a three-pointer – and Brodie, who wound up on the floor in obvious pain.
Moments later, the sophomore point guard, who rolled her ankle, was helped off the court.
Her thoughts?
“That I wasn’t going to be on the court to help my team come out with a huge win,” Brodie said. “This was a huge game.
“There was so much hype for us, hype for North Penn. When I went down and knew I wasn’t going to be on the court, that was just a huge blow for me and for the team because I know they look to me for leadership.”
This was an opportunity for the Titans to collapse, a built-in excuse to come up short. That didn’t happen. Instead, they extended their lead to 24-9 after a three-point play by Meinel that was set up by a beautiful Kuypers pass after a steal by Melissa Veal on the defensive end.
“It was definitely devastating for us because we didn’t know when (Brodie) was going to come back in or if she was going to come back in, so we had to pull out the win for her,” Meinel said. “That was our mentality throughout.”
The Knights trimmed four points off the Titans’ lead after a pair of Sam Carangi foul shots and a bucket by Irisa Ye in the closing minute to make it a 24-13 game at halftime.
“At halftime, we said we can’t let one player – who’s obviously a very good leader on our team – let us lose the game,” Kuypers said. “We wanted to win for her. We knew she was going to come back in because she was not giving up and neither were we.”
The Titans – or more specifically Edwards – owned the third quarter. Edwards scored on a putback, and after a North Penn miss, Kuypers buried another three. Kupyers followed that with a steal and – despite being fouled – a layup that put the Titans on top 31-13. A Knight miss was followed by another Edwards three-pointer, this one on a pass from Kuypers who penetrated and kicked the ball out. A Carangi three broke a North Penn scoring drought of seven minutes and 15 seconds, but an Edwards three-pointer in the closing seconds sent the Titans into the fourth period with a 37-16 lead.
“Lexi Edwards just hit huge shots in the third quarter,” Mattern said. “She had 11 points tonight, but her points were so timely.”
The Titans opened up their largest lead on a Meinel basket (39-16).
“It’s not what you would have thought would happen when we take our point guard off the floor,” Mattern said. “I think it just showed that people wanted it.
“They also wanted to play hard for Alexa. She’s a gamer, she’s into it, and it also shows that at practice, everyone is paying attention. Everyone was in on the game plan. This was a team (that) was motivated together to play as a team.”
A Bri Hewlett three ignited the Knights, who reeled off 15 unanswered points in a four-minute span to make it a 39-31 game with 2:50 remaining. Hewlett accounted for 10 of those points.
“We just have to start hitting the open person,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “If they’re putting that much pressure on you, somebody’s got to be open.
“I don’t think we hit an open person until Irisa (Ye) drove the lane and hit Bri Hewlett who hit a three, and then all of a sudden we started playing, but it was 28 minutes too late. We were down by 21.”
Meinel broke the Knights’ run by sinking the front end of a one-and-one, and when Brodie – who re-entered the game with 4:18 remaining – scored on a drive, the Titans led 42-31. After the Knights misfired on three straight shots, Brodie sank both ends of a one-and-one to seal North Penn’s fate.
“When I was on the bench, (our trainer) was like, ‘I don’t think there’s any chance of you going in,’” Brodie said. “I said, ‘Can we just keep the tape on, let the adrenaline kick in, let the mojo kick in.’ He was testing me out in the hallway. I was like, ‘Rick, please.’ He said, ‘All right, you guys are up by 20. If they keep that lead, we’re going to sit you out. If they need you, you can go back in if coach lets you go back in.’
“Every person that was on the court today stepped up, whether it was a steal, a huge shots, anything.”
Brodie finished with eight points on a night that saw the Titans put three players in double figures – Meinel (15 points), Kuypers (11) and Edwards (11). Veal added seven rebounds.
“This group is really motivated,” Mattern said. “They’re highly motivated internally.
“I was kind of worried at the beginning because our practices changed a little bit from last year. A lot of things changed in the number of players and the number of players who left, and at first I was a little concerned because I didn’t know if we had the same intensity, but then I realized it’s just our personality. Practices are very intense. They’re very tuned in with what the game plan is, with whatever we’re working on.
“Honestly, they soak it in, they talk about it, they watch film together at lunch. They’re just dialed in on what they want to accomplish right now.”
Hewlett (10 points) led the Knights while Huber and Carangi both added eight.
“Our effort tonight was definitely not what I expected,” deMarteleire said. “For us to score 13 points in 26 minutes, that’s just embarrassing. We all – including the coaching staff – need to take a look at ourselves. It’s a long season, and we have a lot of time to fix things.”
While the Knights fell to 6-2 (2-2 SOL), the Titans upped their record to a perfect 10-0 (4-0 SOL).
“I’m honestly shocked, but we worked so hard,” Kuypers said of the Titans’ strong start. “We work hard in practice, we work so hard on our days off, and we’re not giving up.”
“We practice hard,” Brodie said. “We have a possibility to win every single game with our work ethic. I don’t’ know if everybody else thought we would be 10-0, but we just love proving people wrong, and we want to keep doing that.”
Central Bucks South will face Perkiomen Valley on Sunday at the University of the Sciences at 4 p.m. North Penn will host Upper Dublin on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Central Bucks South 13-11-13-11 48
North Penn 7-6-3-18 34
Central Bucks South (48) – Melissa Veal 2, Meghan Kuypers 11, Haley Meinel 15, Alexa Brodie 8, Lexi Edwards 11, Lindsay Scott 1.
North Penn (34) – Irisa Ye 4, Jess Huber 8, Sam Carangi 8, Jess McKenzie 2, Bri Hewlett 10, Carley Adams 2.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 52, PENNSBURY 19
The Indians opened the game with a 7-0 run and led 19-12 at the end of one quarter. Becca Margolis led the charge, scoring nine of her 14 points in the frame. The remainder of the game belonged to the Indians’ stifling defense as the Falcons did not score a field goal during a 20-minute span that ended when Sydney Buell buried a three-pointer with 4:48 remaining. Those were the final points of the game for the Falcons, who managed just two free throws in both the second and third quarters.
Margolis, who led a balanced Indian attack, also had five steals. Emily Mackin added 10 points and four steals. Dana Bandurick and Mackenzie Tinner both contributed eight points and six rebounds. Hannah Weiler added six points and four rebounds. Kaelin Mealey had three steals.
Council Rock North (8-2, 5-0 SOL) is off until next Thursday when the Indians will be on the road at Truman.
Pennsbury 12-2-2-3 19
Council Rock North 19-13-13-7 52
Pennsbury (19) – Kate Mix 4, Sydney Buell 8, Meredith Webber 7.
Council Rock North (52) – Becca Margolis 14, Camryn Polinsky 3, Megan Haggerty 3, Emily Mackin 10, Dana Bandurick 8, Hannah Weiler 6, Mackenzie Tinner 8.
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