Tumasz, North Penn down Souderton

Vicky Tumasz was a little afraid before the season that she was going to lose her starting spot to a freshman.

Tumasz is a senior shooting guard and a two-year cocaptain for the North Penn girls' basketball team, and a player like that usually has nothing to worry about when it comes to the prospect of relinquishing a starting position.

Her job most likely wasn't in real jeopardy, but Tumasz remembered how she was when she was a freshman. This year, she saw an extremely talented trio of ninth graders come to practice every day with such a high intensity.

It motivated her.

After scoring 23 points in the Maidens' 68-51 victory over Souderton on Friday night in the Suburban One Continental opener for both teams, Tumasz can breathe a sigh of relief.

"She just lit it up," senior forward Erin Maher said. "She took great shots."

"By all means, Vicky can take over a game," Maher added. "And she did just that tonight."

It didn't matter where Tumasz shot from on Friday - everything seemed to go in. Whether it was from the left side, right, or center, swish. Off an inbounds play, nothing but net.

She drained four three-pointers for the Maidens (3-0), and a few of her other jumpers came from close to the arc.

"We were passing the ball well, we were looking for that open shot, and we weren't forcing things," Tumasz said.

"We had Erin, Bri [Cullen], and Mikaela [Giuliani] setting those good screens for me to cut across," Tumasz added. "It was a good team effort."

But it wasn't just their sharp shooting that propelled the Maidens, as North Penn outrebounded the Indians (1-2) and played a much more physical style of basketball.

The game was closer than the score indicated, as the Indians were within seven points with just 2 minutes, 42 seconds to play, led by their dynamic senior guard, Bianca Picard, who netted 17 points.

"It felt like when we would inch closer, they would make a play," Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said.

"We didn't go away for a while, but they held us at arm's length."

To be more specific, Vicky Tumasz's arm's length.

North Penn 10 19 19 20 – 68

Souderton 13 12 15 11 – 51

NP: Vicky Tumasz 23, Sam Carangi 14, Erin Maher 13, Mikaela Giuliani 7, Bri Cullen 6, Irisa Ye 3, Jess Huber 2.

S: Bianca Picard 17, Allison Gallagher 15, Sarah Derstein 8, Devon Boehm 8, Katie O'Connor 3.