Struggling offense leads to loss against Indians

Junior Carley Adams angered by a foul in the first quarter.

TOWAMENCIN- In the first game of the Thursday night basketball double header, the Knights had a very off night on the offensive side of the court.  The Knights only put up 7 points in each quarter of the second half and could not pull off a comeback in the rivalry match.

The Souderton Indians (2-1) beat the North Penn Knights (1-1) 41-29 in a highly anticipated rivalry matchup.  Unfortunately for them, the Knights could not deliver a win to the home fans.

“I definitely think offense has been our weakness…the problem is we can’t score and we had opportunities.  Looking at our shooting chart after the game we missed wide open layups, I mean like nine of them so that’s 18 points right there,” Head Coach Jen Carangi said.

Souderton jumped out in front 4-1 in the first quarter off a Megan Walbrandt three pointer.  Sophomore Alli Lindsay was able to tie the game at 5 with 2:20 left in the first, but the tie didn’t last long as Mikaela Reese hit a two-point jumper to give a 7-5 advantage to Souderton.  The Indians would score again and take a 9-5 lead into the 2nd quarter.

Souderton’s Curran O’Donnell buried a three to begin the second quarter and Erica Stephens added another two points on a baby hook shot in the paint and gave the Indians a 14-7 lead.  North Penn had a nice run to close out the 2nd quarter and it started with senior Cayla Sharkey, who missed her first shot but then got the offensive rebound and scored on the second chance effort.  Junior Carley Adams hit two free throws and then a layup with 42 seconds left in the first half.  This trimmed the lead down to one, as the Indians went into halftime with a 16-15 lead.

Souderton didn’t take much time to extend their lead as they went on a 5-0 run and had a 21-15 lead early in the 3rd quarter.  However, the Knights battled back to within 3 when Sharkey made her shot and was fouled in the process.  Her free throw was good and the score was 21-18 with 5:11 left.  Then the Indians went on one of their best stretches of the night and took a 31-22 lead into the final quarter.

Both teams went scoreless in the first 1:40 of the 4th quarter until an Indian free throw extended the lead to ten.  Junior Val McGriff hit a three pointer to possibly give the Knights one last glimmer of hope but the jump shots and layups continued to not fall for the Knights.  The Indians would hang on to win the game by a 12-point margin.

“We definitely weren’t hitting our shots on the court and we missed a couple wide open layups and foul shooting wasn’t that great tonight,” Sharkey said disappointingly.

The Knights will be back in action Saturday against the Neshaminy Redskins for a home matchup.

“We got a big game Saturday [against] Neshaminy.  I mean they are gonna be tough and I told the girls, I said good news and bad news is we come right back again on Saturday.  We get a chance to redeem ourselves,” Coach Carangi said.

Souderton: Bealer 10 pts, Reese 9 pts, Walbrandt 7 points, C. O’Donnell 7 pts, Stephens 4 pts, Schneider 2 pts, O’Donnell 2 pts

North Penn: Sharkey 11 pts, McGriff 5 pts, Lindsay 4 pts, Adams 4 pts, Doran 2 pts, Mullaly 2 pts, Faison 1 pt