SOL Boys' Basketball Wrap (1-7-14)

Check out all of the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Tuesday. To view photos of the Pennsbury/Truman and CB West/CB South games, please visit the Photo Gallery.

American Conference

Plymouth Whitemarsh 67, Norristown 42
While his name may only have two points next to it on the box score, senior T.J. Minetola was one of the main reasons why Plymouth Whitemarsh was able to defeat its top rival on Tuesday night.
Minetola pulled down 10 rebounds and played excellent defense while helping lead the Colonials to a 67-42 win at Norristown High School.
The Colonials led by only five at the half (32-27), but ripped off a huge second half, outscoring the Eagles 14-7 in the third and 21-8 in the fourth en route to the 25-point win.
“We kept our pace up,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said.  “Obviously, Norristown has size, but we kept it an 85-foot game and we hoped that eventually the pace would help us, which it did. 
“We didn’t switch anything up at half and they stayed straight man-to-man on us and kept up-tempo on the other end, so we were able to run a lot of sets and run a nice offense against them.”
Minetola’s defensive play was a big reason for the fantastic second half performance.
“T.J. was terrific,” Donofrio said.  “We look like a small team, but the kids play great together and they learned a lot from last year, and it’s starting to pay off.
“T.J. was a big reason for our play tonight. He’s been a heck of a warrior taking on kids with a whole head over him in size and he does great stuff for us.  He has been unbelievable for us defensively, and offensively, we’re trying to get him involved more and more.  The kids are gaining their confidence, and tonight, we were able to spread the ball on offense and space it out.”
Offensively, the Colonials were led by Jimmy Murray’s 26 points.  Andre Mitchell added 17, while Brett Paul finished with nine.
“Jimmy has been great with his scoring, but it’s nice to know that we have other guys who can get points,” Donofrio said.  “We have been showing great chemistry, and the light bulb is going on for us on the defensive end. 
“We are playing with high team energy and playing defense the right way.  The kids are playing disciplined, and they understand what they have to do now.  Once you get that experience, good things happen.”
Norristown was led by Curt Lever’s 20 points.  Chris Evans added eight, while no other scorer was able to put up more than four points on the night.
The Colonials are a perfect 5-0 in conference play (8-2 overall) while the Eagles fell to 2-2 in the league (5-3 overall).
Plymouth Whitemarsh  16           16           14           21—67
Norristown         7              20           7              8—42

 Wissahickon 67, Upper Merion 38
Wissahickon used huge second and third quarters to roll past Upper Merion in a 21-point win on Tuesday night.
The Trojans outscored the Vikings 21-15 in the first before going on a 40-16 run in the next two quarters.
In the dominating win, the Trojans were led by Chris Vila’s 19 points.  Todd Bentley added 12, while Stephen Driscoll finished with 11.  Chris Carradorini added eight.
“It was a well-balanced game and we forced a lot of turnovers,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said.  “The kids played really well.”
Upper Merion was led by C.J. Reinert’s 10 points in the losing effort.  Samir Patel also added nine.
The Trojans are 3-1 in league play (5-4 overall) while the Vikings fell to 1-4 in league play (4-5 overall).
Upper Merion   15           7              9              7—38
Wissahickon       21           16           24           6—67

Upper Dublin 56, Springfield 41
Upper Dublin’s Simeon Fryer led the way with 24 points, as the Cardinals got past the Spartans in a 15-point win on Tuesday night.
Upper Dublin’s defense did the job in the first half, holding the Spartans (2-8, 0-4) to only nine points in the opening two quarters, while the Cardinals took 27-9 lead into the half.
Kevin Woods and John Barrett both added seven points for Upper Dublin, which improved to 6-5 overall and 3-2 in league play with the victory.
Larry Clark led the Spartans with 14 points.
Upper Dublin     11           16           12           17—56
Springfield          3              6              21           11—41

Cheltenham 52, Upper Moreland 41 
Cheltenham trailed 12-9 after one quarter but stormed back and outscored Upper Moreland in the final three quarters to come out with an 11-point victory on Tuesday night.
The Panthers, who were led by Aaron Burton’s 22 points, improved to 3-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Upper Moreland, which fell to 2-8 overall and 1-4 in conference play, was led by Chris Corr’s 12 points and Kevin McFall’s 11.
Upper Moreland              12           11           8              10—41
Cheltenham       9              18           13           12—52

National Conference

Abington 62, William Tennent 50
When Anthony Lee went down with a broken leg while playing quarterback for the Abington Ghosts’ football team back in the fall, it put his basketball season into question.
But after rehabbing the injury, Lee is back on the basketball court and, in his fourth game back, made a big impact on Tuesday night.
Lee finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists while helping the Ghosts to a 62-50 win over visiting William Tennent, helping Abington to a perfect 5-0 record in conference play on the season.
Despite the impressive play, Lee said he’s still not 100 percent.
“I’m getting there and I’m working hard every day,” Lee said.  “We’re working hard as a team and we’re playing as a team and we have a lot of scorers.”
Abington does have a lot of scorers, as it had four different players in double digits in points on Tuesday night.
Amir Hinton scored a team-high 14 points for the Ghosts, while Laz Macrides scored 12 while going 5-for-9 from the floor, which included a pair of three-pointers.  Junior Matt Penecale added 12 and finished with three steals.
“We like to pass it around and get the best shot possible.” Abington coach Charles Grasty said.  “We have a style that we have to play with and we don’t have any individual scorers who are going to come out and take 16 or 18 shots.”
The Ghosts, who are now 9-2 overall, got off to a hot start, going up 16-7 after one quarter. Tennent (3-5, 2-2) used a 10-2 run in the second quarter to cut the deficit to only two points, but an 8-2 Abington run helped the Ghosts to regain a sizable lead.
Tennent again made it a close game, as Matt Alden hit a basket and then a free throw after getting fouled late in the third quarter, making the score 41-38 in favor of Abington, but the Panthers never got closer, and Abington ran away with the victory in the fourth.
Jordan Neel added four points and four steals for Abington, which will visit Pennsbury on Friday night.
Regarding the balanced scoring, Lee said, “It helps a lot.  We can take breathers as a team.  Everybody plays as a team and everybody gets touches.”
Tennent was led by Alden’s 19 points in the losing effort.  Alden shot 10-for-13 from the free throw line.  Cory Hamlet added 11, while Ian Drumm finished with 10.
William Tennent               7              16           15           12—50
Abington             16           13           14           19—62

Bensalem 39, Council Rock North 30
Bensalem was finally able to celebrate this season – and it was able to do so thanks to a superb defensive effort.
The Owls held Council Rock North to only 30 points, and offensively, they received 15 points from Avery Nyekan in a nine-point win over Council Rock North on Tuesday night, giving Bensalem its first win of the year after nine games.
The Owls’ defense came up big, allowing just three points in the first quarter and five in the third.  Bensalem led 7-3 after one and 18-16 at the half before outscoring CR North in each of the final two quarters.  Brian Kilcoyne had a solid game for the Owls (1-8, 1-5).
The Indians (3-6, 1-3) received 10 points apiece from Josh McWilliams and Matt Margolis in the loss.
Council Rock North          3              13           5              9—30
Bensalem            7              11           8              13—39

Pennsbury 78, Harry S. Truman 44
Pennsbury defeated Harry S. Truman 78-44 on Tuesday night.  In the win, the Falcons outscored Truman by 17 points in the first quarter (25-8) and rolled from there.
Pennsbury, which improved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in league play, was led by Cameron Jones’ 25 points.  Steve Ciotti added 22, while Mekhi Bryant finished with 16. The Falcons put up a whopping 47 points in the first half and didn’t slow down in the final two quarters.
Truman (3-9, 1-4) was led by Zaire Brown’s 11 points.
Pennsbury          25           22           15           16—78
Harry S. Truman                8              13           6              17—44

Council Rock South 37, Neshaminy 30
Tommy Townsend led the Golden Hawks with 15 points as Council Rock South got past Neshaminy on Tuesday afternoon.  Will Faccenda added eight points for CR South, while Dan Kockott and Stewart each chipped in with five for the Hawks in the low-scoring affair.
Despite limiting the Golden Hawks to just five points in the first quarter, Neshaminy was stifled by CR South's defense, which held the Redskins to only four points in the opening quarter.  The Hawks led 17-12 at the half and after taking only a one-point lead (25-24) into the fourth, CR South shut the door with a big fourth quarter, outscoring Neshaminy 12-6 to come out on top.
Neshaminy was led by Kyree Moore's 14 points while Jaylen Pickett added 11.
CR South improved to 4-6 overall and 3-2 in league play with the win, while Neshaminy dropped to 1-5 and 1-4.
Neshaminy         4              8              12           6—30
Council Rock South          5              12           8              12—37

Continental Conference

Central Bucks South 45, Central Bucks West 40
Mason Kummer is nowhere to be found on the score sheet for Central Bucks South, but thanks in part to his great defensive effort, the Titans were able to hold Central Bucks West to only 40 points on Tuesday night.
The 45-40 CB South win helped the Titans to improve to 6-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play, while also giving them their fifth win in six games.
“I think the difference tonight was that we did a better job of playing some man-on-man defense consistently,” CB South coach Jason Campbell said.  “Mason did a great job of coming off the bench to cover guys like Jared Kelley and Cal Reichwein.  He’s a very athletic kid, he’s a great defender and he gave us solid minutes.”
Kummer, a senior, often comes off the bench for CB South.  And while he generally never puts up more than a few points, his coach knows he can always count on him for other things up and down the court.
“Mason is a guy who won’t score a lot, but he’s always there athletically and defensively,” Campbell said.  “He has a good basketball IQ.”
Sean Gallagher, who scored seven points for the Titans, also had a solid defensive game, limiting CB West’s Kyle Schechter to only two points.
“Sean is physical and he’s very athletic and he held his man from scoring a lot tonight,” Campbell said.  “We had guys like Bryce Dobisch carry us in the first half and guys like Matt Scamuffo had a really good third quarter, hitting some big foul shots to get us in a good flow in the second half.”
CB South led 10-5 after one quarter, but trailed by one (18-17) at the half.  A big third quarter saw CB South outscore the Bucks (6-4, 2-2) 12-7 to take a four-point lead into the fourth.  Both teams had their best quarters scoring-wise in the final period, with CB South edging out CB West 16-15 to hold on for the five-point win.
“I think that if you hold a team under 50 points, you always put yourself in a good position to win,” Campbell said.  “I told the guys tonight that in order to win at West, you have to hold them to one shot on most possessions.  It’s a tough gym to play in.  It’s hot, it carries a good fan base and they’re a well-coached team.  I thought that overall, we did a pretty good job at holding them.”
CB South was led by Dobisch, who finished with four three-pointers en route to an 18-point night.  Scamuffo added 14 points while knocking down all four of his free throw attempts in the third quarter.
The Bucks were led by Jared Kelly and Pat Kelley, who finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
CB South will look to win for the sixth time in seven games on Wednesday when it visits Hatboro-Horsham.  The Titans will then host Souderton on Friday. 
Central Bucks South        10           7              12           16—45
Central Bucks West         5              13           7              15—40

Pennridge 58, Souderton 39
Pennridge’s Joe Molettiere scored 24 points while leading the Rams to a convincing win over Souderton on Tuesday night.  The Rams also received 12 points apiece from Stephen Lowry and Dan Long in the win.
Pennridge outscored the Indians 9-5 in the first quarter and led 23-13 at the half before an even third quarter.  Pennridge scored 23 point in the fourth while running away with the win.
In the losing effort, Tim Markow and Evan Slone finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively, for Souderton.
Pennridge improved to 9-2 overall and 5-0 in league play with the win to remain in first place.  Souderton dropped to 5-6 and 1-5.
Souderton          5              8              12           14—39
Pennridge           9              14           12           23—58

North Penn 73, Hatboro-Horsham 60
Noah Melchior’s 20 points – which included four made three-pointers – helped North Penn to a 13-point win over Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday night.
Suleyman Hakim added 18 points for the Knights, while Cordell Lord and Brian Coleman finished with 13 and 12, respectively, helping North Penn to its fifth win of the year.  The Knights are now 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league play after Tuesday’s win.
The Knights outscored the Hatters (5-5, 2-2) 18-15 in the first quarter and increased their lead to 37-28 before halftime.  North Penn again outscored Hatboro-Horsham in the third, 17-13, before holding on in the fourth for the win.
“I thought we closed it out well,” North Penn coach John Conrad said.  “We have lots to work through on the defensive end.  Giving up 60 (points) is not something to be proud of, but a win’s a win.
“I just thought we were unselfish and shot well tonight, which is fortunate for us.”
The Hatters were led by Zach Quattro’s 22 points.  Quattro drained three treys, while Walt Kimble, who finished with 16 points, knocked down a pair of three-pointers.
North Penn        18           19           17           19—73
Hatboro-Horsham           15           13           13           19—60

Quakertown at Central Bucks East (Ppd.)

0