Crisler has grand night against CB South
Lauren Crisler drove hard to the basket, was fouled by a Central Bucks South defender, and then headed to the foul line for maybe the most memorable free throw of her North Penn career.
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“I was just trying to think of it as a normal foul shot, but that was hard,” Crisler said smiling. “I knew I had all my friends there cheering in the stands so that was awesome.”
Crisler, needing 13 points coming into the game to reach her milestone, scored a game-high 17 points in all to lead North Penn to a 4429 victory over the Titans in a Suburban One Continental Conference game.
“She’s very diverse - she can do a lot of things,” Maidens coach Maggie deMarteleire said of her star 6-foot-2 senior. “She can hit shots from the outside, she can post up on the inside, she’s a good passer, she’s a good offensive rebounder - there’s just a lot of ways she can score. She’s tough to defend.”
Crisler got off to a fast start, scoring eight points in WKH fiUsW TuDUWHU Wo NHy D 16-8 North Penn lead. Crisler’s shot was there from the start, as she hit a jumper from the foul line to get things going. 6KH wDs DOso fiQGLQJ UooP underneath, scoring on a lay-in and then on a baseline jumper to push the Maidens (15-2, 8-1 conference) out in front early.
“I just knew I had to let the game come to me. I didn’t want to force anything,” she said. “I can trust my teammates so much and I knew they could pull the weight too.”
Crisler’s performance was complemented by a 16-point night by freshman guard Mikaela Giuliani.
“I thought she really stepped up,” deMarteleire said. “She handles pressure really well.”
A jumper by Lauren Mosher brought the Titans (10-7, 4-5 conference) within 2116 by halftime, but it was to be North Penn’s night.
Once Crisler hit 1,000, she was mobbed by her teammates and also her own cheering section, as a large gathering of students holding up Crisler signs throughout rushed onto the court to congratulate the senior. Crisler then gave the ball to her parents and UHcHLvHG D bouTuHW oI flowers before returning to the line to calmly sink her second free throw.
Crisler joins 10 other North Penn basketball players - both male and female - to hit 1,000 career points, including Crisler’s former teammate, 2012 graduate Steph hnauer.
“It feels really good. I’m really excited,” Crisler said. “Seeing Steph do it last year was great, and she was one oI WKH fiUsW 1oUWK 3HQQ SODyers to do it in nine years. So to have it happen two years in a row is awesome.”