Kenzie Bergman looks to pass for NorthWood. Bergman had eight points in a 48-33 loss at Penn.

MISHAWAKA – Leave it to a senior. In a girls basketball matchup of two young teams with promising futures, to steal  the show at Penn Saturday afternoon.

Sara Doi of the Kingsmen showed that experience does matter in pacing Penn past NorthWood 48-33 in a prep matinee marquee clash.

Guard Doi canned a game-high 22 points to power the Class 4-A No. 12 ranked Kingsmen past the Panthers in the second game of the young season for both young squads.

Penn, which has not lost to NorthWood since the 2004-05 season, improves to 2-0. NorthWood drops to 1-1.

Doi, one of just three seniors for the Kingsmen, was simply sensational. The 5-5 backcourt ace drilled a handful of treys in the win.

Doi also helped pace an aggressive defensive effort by the hosts that limited the Panthers to just eight field goals in the contest, including no two-point field goals in the second half.

“Sara’s our leader and the face of our program,” said Penn coach Kristi Ulrich. “It’s beyond tremendous the growth that she has made from her freshman year until now. She just played with a lot of confidence today. She’s a three-year captain for me and I’ve only had one other kid do that.”

“We wanted to play great team defense and for the most part we made them work today for what they got. No question about that. But we definitely have things to work on, like our weak side defense. A big focal point for us today was to limit their second shots with their size.”

The Panthers, who opened with a 58-36 win at home over South Bend Riley Thursday night, led just one time at 1-0. Penn used a 9-1 burst, ignited by five points from Doi, to take a 9-2 lead. NorthWood made its first field goal and only one of the first quarter with 1:25 left in the opening period on a triple by junior Neely Trenshaw. The Panthers had seven turnovers in the opening frame against a Penn lineup that started two freshmen.

Karlie Fielstra makes a sweet bounce pass for the Panthers.

NorthWood, whose roster has just one senior, pulled within 15-11 midway through the second stanza. Penn, which beat LaPorte 40-25 in its opener Thursday night, closed the half with an 8-4 run to take a 23-15 edge into intermission.

The Panthers had just four field goals and 10 turnovers in the opening half.

“I just think that we were unsure and their defense had a lot to do with that,” said NorthWood coach Adam Yoder. “They push you out on the floor and they help each other so well defensively. Their defensive intensity had a lot to do with controlling the pace of the game. That’s a very good basketball team.”

NorthWood, which dropped a 48-36 final to Penn last season, stayed close through three quarters. Penn led 32-22 after the third period before pulling away in the fourth frame for the 15-point win. The hosts opened the final stanza with a 7-0 run to put the game away.

The Panthers, who finished 16-10 last season, hit eight buckets in the contest with five of them coming from beyond the 3-point arc. NorthWood hit four triples in the second half. The Panthers were also just 12-20 from the free throw line in the game.

“We take nothing but positives from a game like this at this time of the year,” Yoder said. “I was happy with the way we competed. We went toe-to-toe with them for three quarters.

“They made shots today and we didn’t. We do have to look to score more.

“Eight of our nine girls played a fall sport and our fall teams had a lot of success. We have to give them some time to get their sea legs. I’m very, very, very optimistic about this team.”

Ulrich, whose team went 20-5 a year ago, is always looking for her team to play better.

Savannah Feenstra eyes a free throw attempt.

“We definitely have things to improve on,” said Ulrich, a former blue collar guard at Mishawaka High School and Bethel College. “We had some young mistakes and we need to clean up our fouls.”

Ulrich, who guided Penn to a Class 4-A state championship in 2016, is 180-26 in her ninth year.

Savannah Feenstra, the lone senior for NorthWood, and junior Kenzie Bergman each had eight points to pace the Panthers. Sophomore Maddy Payne was 7-10 from the free throw line for her seven points. Sophomore Kate Rulli had four points and Trenshaw and junior Emily Demitruk three each.

Payne, one of three players six-feet or taller, had five rebounds and five steals. Feenstra and sophomore Karlie Feilstra each had three assists.

Sophomore Reganne Pate scored seven points Freshman Trinity Clinton had six for Penn.

Penn won the junior varsity game 51-44. Alea Minnich and Bre Wise each had 13 points to lead NorthWood. Maddie Kuhn had 10 points and Kendal Miller eight for the Panthers. Anne Goralczyk scored 10 points and Delayne Sanchez nine to lead the winners.

Penn won the freshman game 37-23.

NorthWood hosts Mishawaka (0-0) Tuesday night. Penn entertains Riley (0-1) Thursday night.

Sara Doi (at left) and Victoria Smith (at right) focus on a rebound for Penn. Doi canned 22 points to lead the Kingsmen past NorthWood Saturday at Penn.