Megan Ngo (above) had eight assists in Saturday’s win. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
Upper Dublin had no issue from near or far against North Penn, going 22-of-37 from the floor while hitting 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Junior wing Emilia Coleman connected on 3-of-4 from deep, the Division I recruit going for 15 points with five rebounds as well as an assist, steal and block.
Megan Ngo didn’t score, the junior guard and FDU commit taking only one shot as she continues to work her way back from that February ACL tear. But she dished out eight assists and grabbed two steals and two rebounds and provided the steadying on-court presence the Cardinals missed last February, when they lost their final four games of the year, three in the district seeding rounds and then in the first round of states.
“It’s a great feeling to have her back and her passes and her scoring, it’s nice to see her playing like herself again,” Clark said.
Lexi Ngo, a 5-0 freshman and the youngest of the Ngo sisters, came off the bench for 10 points, including a clean catch-and-shoot 3 off a Coleman feed in the third quarter and a tough and-one in the fourth. Fellow freshman Ella Morris, who starts for UD, finished with six points, two assists, two steals and a block; DiMartile added six points, four rebounds and three steals.
North Penn (2-3) got eight points off the bench from freshman Paityn Debro.
With the win, Upper Dublin showed why it’s the Suburban One League favorites and has a chance to be playing several rounds into March, though there are a few other teams in District 1 and the Catholic League that will provide stiff competition in both the district and state brackets. But the lack of seniors means this is a group that has two years left to play together, and the future looks very bright, indeed.
“I think today was probably the most complete game we’ve played,” Funsten said, “and it’s a little preview of the special type of team that we can be.”
By Quarter
UD: 13 | 17 | 21 | 7 || 58
NP: 6 | 2 | 5 | 13 || 26
Shooting
UD: 22-37 FG (6-11 3PT), 8-11 FT
NP: 12-37 FG (0-8 3PT), 2-3 FT
Scoring
UD: Tamia Clark 17, Emilia Coleman 15, Lexi Ngo 10, Ella Morris 6, Bridget DiMartile 6, Kaitlyn Zacharia 3, Maeve Hogan 1
NP: Paityn Debro 8, Jadyn Sperling 6, Lily Brown 6, Cam Crowley 4, Tallie Smink 2