CARLISLE — Tri-County North matched its win total of a season ago with a win on Saturday, Nov. 26, during the opening weekend of the high school girls’ basketball season.
North, 1-22 last season, jumped out to a 26-8 lead over Northridge and never looked back en route to a 60-33 win.
Junior guard Megan Poling lead the way with 15 points and five steals, while freshman Aubrey Stupp added a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. She also had four steals, two blocks and three assists.
“We came out strong,” North coach Jessica Cherry said. “We jumped out to a quick lead 20-4 within the first three minutes and never looked back. We got to play the whole bench tonight and utilized everyone.”
Cherry said the win was a team effort.
“We played hard the whole game, played as a team, and competed and finished,” she said.
Junior Cassie Stinson added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Shyanna Baker chipped in with seven points and three rebounds and sophomore Preston Lipinski added six points and three steals.
In the season-opener on Friday, North couldn’t hold a halftime lead and fell to host Carlisle, 59-51.
Stupp led the Panthers with 20 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, while Poling added 18 points and four steals. Stinson chipped in with seven point and four rebounds.
North held the lead at the end of the first quarter, 17-9 and at the half 25-17, before being outscored 23-12 in the third quarter to fall behind 40-37.
“We came out strong in the first quarter against Carlisle,” Cherry said.
Stupp had 11 of the 25 points in the first half for the Panthers.
In the second half, North struggled hitting their shots along with getting into foul trouble. The Indians took advantage by getting the foul line 16 more times than the Panthers in the final two quarters.
Despite the loss, Cherry was happy with her team’s performance.
“We competed tonight,” she said. “Scoring 51 points is huge since we only averaged 26 points per game last year. We did a lot of good things. We played a very good defense and shot the ball well. We just couldn’t come out on top at the end.”
North (1-1) was scheduled to play at Brookville on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and travel to Miami East on Thursday, Dec. 1.
