GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lily Brown scores 21, North Penn pulls away to beat Phoenixville in District 1-6A first round

TOWAMENCIN — If it’s working, why stop doing it?

The North Penn girls basketball team kept getting the ball inside to Lily Brown in the third quarter and the standout sophomore kept scoring in Friday night’s District 1-6A first-round matchup with visiting Phoenixville.

“I feel like we definitely adjusted to it in the second half after we realized down low they’re kind of weaker and their defense and help is bad,” Brown said.

Brown collected 10 points in the quarter, which began with the 15th-seeded Knights up nine and finished with them leading by 16. North Penn pulled away further from the No. 18 Phantoms in the fourth, extending its lead to as large as 23 before advancing with a 57-40 victory.

“It really showed how much we wanted to win and how much we wanted to take it one step further,” Brown said. “Cause the seniors are going soon and we just really wanted it for them.”

Brown had a game-high 21 points and was one of three players to score in double figures for North Penn (13-11), which advances to visit No. 2 Garnet Valley 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second round. Cameron Crowley had 12 points while Leah Mikulski added 10 points.

Emine Ulcay paced the Phantoms (14-11) with 13 points — seven in the first quarter — while Kayden Baratta chipped in 12 points. Phoenixville was looking to earn a district victory for the third straight season, having reached the Class 5A quarterfinals the past two years.

The Phantoms were 4-7 before winning their next season and went on to win nine of their last 11 in the regular season, the two losses coming to PAC powers Perkiomen Valley and Spring-Ford. Phoenixville topped Upper Merion in the PAC tournament first round before falling again to Perk Valley in last Thursday’s semis.

North Penn, which reached the District 1-6A semifinals and PIAA quarters last year, sat 8-10 before ending its regular season with four straight wins. The Knights lost to Upper Dublin in the Suburban One League tournament quarterfinals last Friday.

The Phantoms grabbed an early 6-2 edge in Friday’s district opener but the Knights took the lead for good with a 9-0 run capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Crowley and Brown that made it 11-6.

“It really settled us down in the beginning cause I guess we were a little startled at first,” Brown said. “But then we really settled down and played our way and it just worked out for us.”

Two Crowley free throws with 25.3 seconds left had North Penn up 17-9 after the opening quarter.

The Phantoms pulled within four after Baratta made it 20-16 hit two foul shots with 4:12 left in the half but the Knights responded with seven straight points — Crowley and Mehya Godhania converting on drives while Lily McGee knocked down a three to give the hosts a 27-16 lead.

McGee connected on a triple to put North Penn ahead 30-18 before Baratta beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to pull Phoenixville to within nine at the break.

But Mikulski posted the first four points of the third quarter while Brown scored in transition and was fouled — she missed the free throw — to have the Knights up 36-21 at 6:27.

“The end of the second quarter Lily McGee had two great threes at the end that kind of got us up a little more, got high energy,” Crowley said. “And then came in third quarter, same energy, Lily Brown had some tough baskets from Tallie (Smink’s) pass in the corner and felt good.”

A Nevaeh Latimore-Beasley basket had Phoenixville down 13 but Brown recorded the next four points. Baratta connected on a 3-pointer to make it 42-28 only for North Penn to push its advantage to 47-28 on a Brown bucket then Smink’s three.

Latimore-Beasley’s 3-pointer had the Phantoms’ deficit at 47-31 after three but the Knights collected the first five points of the fourth — a Godhania free throw making it 52-31 with 6:31 left. A Crowley foul shot at 2:24 gave North Penn its biggest lead at 55-32.

North Penn 57, Phoenixville 40

Phoenixville 9 12 10 9 – 40

North Penn 17 13 17 10 – 57

Phoenixville: Emine Ulcay 6 0 1-3 13; Kayden Baratta 2 2 2-2 12; Ava Gnias 2 1 0-1 7; Nevaeh Latimore-Beasley 1 1 0-0 5; Allyson Turner 1 0 0-0 2; Taylor Schneider 0 0 1-2 1; Totals 12 4 4-8 40.

North Penn: Lily Brown 8 1 2-5 21; Cameron Crowley 2 1 5-6 12; Leah Mikulski 3 1 1-3 10; Lily McGee 0 2 0-0 6; Mehya Godhania 2 0 1-2 5; Tallie Smink 0 1 0-0 3; Totals 15 6 9-16 57.