Balasa’s barrage leads UD past Imhotep

Cards soph hits five 3-pointers in victory

PHILADELPHIA >> The tattoo on Dayna Balasa’s upper left arm is symbolic.

The Upper Dublin sophomore’s ink, an image of a vintage key, symbolizes the ties that bind her family together. It also symbolized the impact she had for the Cardinals girls’ basketball team on Sunday afternoon against Imhotep Charter.

Balasa hit a barrage of five 3-pointers, each a key contribution at a crucial juncture for a 15-point outing as UD tamed the Panthers 45-33 as part of the Play-By-Play Maggie Lucas Classic at Jefferson University.

“Dayna is such a great shooter, she wanted a couple more of those to go down but to me, she’s as automatic as it gets when she’s open,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “It’s a nice thing to have.

“She had a really high basketball IQ and I think she’s starting to relive the pressure of last year. Trying to keep up the high shooting percentage and increasing the volume of shots with teams keying on her UPPER DUBLIN 45, IMHOTEP CHARTER 33 Up next: The Cardinals host Springfield-Montco on Tuesday night. was tough early on.”

Balasa and each of her siblings have a similar tattoo of a key, while her mom has the common denominator, a tattoo of a lock. Dayna got hers last March, at the end of a season where she shot 45 percent from behind the line and hit 73 treys to help Upper Dublin win its first state title in girls’ basketball. BARRAGE >> PAGE 3

DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA FILE PHOTO Upper Dublin’s Dayna Balasa hit five 3-pointers in a 45-33 win over Imhotep Charter Sunday.