In a game against Emmaus, Liv Stone intercepted a pass, stole the ball, and passed to Caleigh Sperling for a layup instead of taking a shot herself.
Rather than taking a shot, the North Penn senior Liv Stone chose to pass the ball to Caleigh Sperling for a layup and a foul.
Liv Stone hesitated to take the shot herself and decided to pass to Caleigh Sperling when she saw her near the basket.
Sperling made the free throw after a foul, adding to the score and putting North Penn ahead 44-29 with 3:48 left in the PIAA-6A first round matchup.
Sperling had a hunch that Liv Stone would pass the ball to her, and she was right. She approved of the pass.
Sperling's successful play, assisted by Stone, gave the Knights a comfortable lead in the second half, leading to a 48-34 victory over the Green Hornets.
Liv Stone praised the team's communication and aggressive offense, emphasizing the importance of driving to the basket when shots weren't falling.
Sperling finished with 22 points, while Lily Brown contributed eight of her 12 points in the second quarter, leading the Knights to a 24-5 record and their first PIAA win since 2017.
North Penn, without any 3-pointers, secured a 16-of-17 record from the foul line. They will face North Allegheny in the second round.
Mya Cooper and Cassie Doemling both scored nine points for Emmaus, which reached the PIAA for the first time since 2007.
Green Hornets coach Kelsey Gallagher reflected on their journey from a 5-8 start to making it to the states for the first time in 17 years, crediting their improved chemistry and drive.
Emmaus made it to the states for the first time in 17 years, attributed to their unity, improved chemistry, and desire to improve.
North Penn's most recent qualification for states was in 2020. Coach Brianna Cullen's first season in 2021-22 ended with the Knights achieving an 8-13 record. Last year, NP defeated Great Valley in the District 1 first round and finished 13-12. This season, the Knights had a 17-game win streak and won the SOL Colonial Division outright title.
Stone, who is heading to play soccer at Cincinnati, said, “it feels so surreal because we worked so hard, like you said from eight wins to this. We can see all the hard work we put in over the years. And two years ago, it was hard at the end of the season, showing up to practice, running. And we went through a little slump but I think practice has been good, energy has been good and yeah just feels really surreal.”
North Penn, which came into Friday on a two-game skid, lost to Perkiomen Valley in the district semifinals then to Conestoga in the third-place game. They led 24-14 at halftime and extended their lead to 28-16 after two Sperling free throws at 5:55 in the third. Cooper, however, scored a basket then Gabby DeVita made a 3-pointer to reduce Emmaus' deficit to 28-21.
Sperling made the second of two foul shots at 4:55 then scored off a pass from Brown to put the Knights up 31-21. Stone stole a Hornet inbounds and was fouled on a fast break – making two from the line to make it 33-21 at 4:07.
Gallagher said, “we were able to play really tough we were able to get it down to seven. North Penn did a really nice job defensively with their matchup zone kind of made us second-guess our self on what we wanted to do and we struggled a little bit with it.”
Emmaus got within nine twice – the last time at 35-26 after a Doemling basket off an offensive rebound – but that was as close as it could get. Sperling ended the third with a transition jumper while a Leah Mikulski basket to start the fourth had the Knights' lead at 39-26.
The Hornets were behind 39-29 after two Cooper free throws with 5:28 remaining but Stone got a basket then found Sperling for her three-point play, putting North Penn up 44-29 at 3:48.
Emmaus led just once Friday night, Taylor Griffin making a 3-pointer to make it 3-0 Hornets before the Knights scored the next six.
A Doemling basket inside had the Hornets down 6-5 but Mikulski scored with a Sperling assist then Cameron Crowley made a jumper for a 10-5 North Penn edge.
Sperling converted on a drive to put the Knights up by five again, 12-7, before Kayla Snyder made a three-pointer. Sperling, however, was fouled with 1.9 seconds and made both free throws for a 14-10 NP lead after a quarter.
Sperling, a senior Jefferson University commit, said, “I think for a good few minutes we were kind of frazzled a bit, didn't really know what to do. But then I feel Cam did a real nice job calling out plays and communicating to the offense and we were able to get into some good plays.”
Brown had success driving to the basket in the second quarter, scoring the period’s first four points off drives to make it 18-10. Doemling scored inside and drew a foul at 3:01 to bring Emmaus within six, but Brown scored two from a drive and Stone made two free throws for a 22-12 lead at 1:50.
Stone described Brown as very aggressive and unafraid of contact, which was crucial for their team. It gave them a lot of momentum, and she's fearless.
Cooper made a basket and then Brown made two free throws with 39.7 seconds left, putting the Knights up by 10 at halftime.
North Penn 48, Emmaus 34
Emmaus 10 4 12 8 – 34
North Penn 14 10 13 11 – 48
Emmaus: Mya Cooper 3 0 3-4 9; Cassie Doemling 4 0 1-3 9; Gabby DeVita 1 1 0-0 5; Kayla Snyder 0 1 1-2 4; Taylor Griffith 0 1 0-0 3; Sofie Laird 1 0 0-0 2; Sylvia Sokolofski 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 10 3 5-9 34.
North Penn: Caleigh Sperling 7 0 8-9 22; Lily Brown 4 0 4-4 12; Liv Stone 2 0 4-4 8; Leah Mikulski 2 0 0-0 4; Cameron Crowley 1 0 0-0 2; Totals 16 0 16-17 48.
