Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. To view photos of the Cheltenham/Upper Merion game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
American Conference
Springfield 55, Upper Moreland 49
It took Springfield 13 games to finally get a win in the American Conference. And for the seniors, it couldn’t have come on a more special night.
The Spartans got their first conference win of the season, a six-point win over visiting Upper Moreland, on their team’s Senior Night.
“This means everything to us right now,” Springfield coach Dave Turetzky said. “Knowing that we can compete and seeing all that hard work come through is great, and these guys deserved it. They played well, and it was great to see them execute what we do in practice every single day and finally have it come through on the court. It was such a great way to send off the seniors also, so that was really special.”
Springfield (3-17, 1-12) trailed 27-20 at the half and went into the fourth down five points (38-33), but the Spartans outscored the Bears 22-11 in the fourth to come out on top.
“All-around, everybody who got on the court played well tonight,” Turetzky said. “They executed and did all the little things we tried to do all year to win, but we were finally able to put it all together tonight. It was a very special night.”
Larry Clark led Springfield with 19 points while Malik Ball added 11. Justin Hill scored seven, while Christian Yoast drained a pair of three-pointers and added six.
The Bears received a whopping 31 points from Kevin McFall in the losing effort. James Martin also added 10 for Upper Moreland.
Upper Moreland dropped to 6-15 overall and 4-9 in conference play with the loss.
Upper Moreland 9 18 11 49
Springfield 9 11 13 22—55
Upper Dublin 49, Plymouth Whitemarsh 47
It’s not every day Upper Dublin beats a team like Plymouth Whitemarsh. Then again, before Tuesday night, no team from the American Conference had bested the Colonials.
While celebrating Senior Night, Upper Dublin senior Kevin Woods made his way into the lane and hit a left-handed layup at the buzzer to give the Cardinals a two-point victory over PW, which was 12-0 in conference play before the loss.
“It was a great team win,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “It really says a lot about them. We’ve lost two games at the buzzer, and we had a stretch where we came out on the short end of the stick, but they handled their pressure and played well tonight. They just looked for each other on the offensive end.”
Woods finished with nine points, while sophomore Ryan Stover added seven – all of which came in the fourth quarter.
“Ryan (Stover) really stepped up for us in the fourth and he just played a great defensive game,” Adelman said. “Someone mentioned to me after the game that no team had held (PW) to 47 points and we just had a great effort. We played some zone defense and some man defense, and we played really well. If you’re going to beat PW, you have to play as a team, and I thought we really hung in there tonight.”
Upper Dublin trailed by one at the half and even went into the fourth quarter down six, at 39-33, but the Flying Cardinals outscored the Colonials 16-8 in the fourth to come out on top.
Matt Thompson and Zach Greenberg led the Cardinals with 10 points each.
PW (18-3, 12-1) was led by Andre Mitchell’s 15 points and T.J. Minetola’s 11.
Upper Dublin (9-11, 6-7) is still in contention for the district playoffs with two games remaining.
“We still have a chance to make the playoffs,” Adelman said. “We play Central Bucks East tomorrow if the weather is good, so we hope to get that game in. If we can finish 11-11, and with some good wins against teams like PW and Norristown, we have a chance.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh10 12 17 8—47
Upper Dublin 8 13 12 16—49
Norristown 43, Wissahickon 41
Norristown improved to 12-7 overall and 9-4 in American Conference play with a two-point victory over Wissahickon.
The Eagles’ win came in come-from-behind fashion as Norristown outscored the Trojans (11-9, 8-5) by nine in the fourth quarter to come out with the victory (13-4).
Chris Evans led the Eagles with 10 points, while Kip Patton and Curt Lever each added nine.
Wissahickon took a 23-18 lead into the half and added onto that in the third, leading 37-20 going into the fourth. Norristown stepped up huge defensively in the final quarter and came out with the road victory.
Chris Vila led the Trojans with 18 points, while Jared Reed added eight.
Norristown 10 8 12 13—43
Wissahickon 10 13 14 4—41
Cheltenham 77, Upper Merion 61
By Antonio Pelullo, Cheltenham High School for SuburbanOneSports.com
It was a special night for seven Panther seniors and their families as they were honored for their services over the course of their individual careers to Cheltenham’s basketball program.
The Panthers led from start to finish, outscoring the Vikings (5-15, 2-11) by eight in the first and three in the second before running away with the game in the second half. The Vikings were plagued by turnovers.
“Obviously, we didn’t capitalize on enough possessions in the first half, and then the second half was the same story,” Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer said. “We kind of preached at the beginning of the game – we got to value every possession, take care of the basketball.
“We felt like we were in the game. At the end, we made a run, just a little too late.”
Cheltenham’s Aaron Burton, who led the Panthers with 20 points, connected on his first four shots, which included a big three to start the game. Behind him was a Coleman but not the usual starter – Jeremiah Coleman – but Joshua Coleman with 15 points.
Every time Upper Merion tried to make a run, Cheltenham pulled away with a young lineup that picked up the slack for the Panthers’ senior lineup that struggled.
“I think the (senior lineup) defense was lax a little at the beginning, and the younger guys pick that up,” Cheltenham coach John Timms said.
The Vikings were led by Jovan Nicholson’s 12 points. David Stecz added 11. Kevin Graham added four assists for Cheltenham, which will travel to Norristown to close out its league season on Friday. Upper Merion will look to finish its season strong at home against Upper Dublin.
With the win, Cheltenham (10-11, 10-3) clinched at least a share of second place in the American Conference with the win.
Upper Merion 11 10 19 21—61
Cheltenham 19 13 25 20—77
National Conference
Abington 63, Pennsbury 55
As an Abington assistant coach pulled down the last piece of net from the rim after Abington had just been crowned as National Conference champions, he pointed to the Abington boys’ basketball state championship banner from 1974.
“Forty years!” he screamed to a bunch of Abington students, athletes and parents. “Forty years!”
It was 40 years ago next month that Abington won its first and only state title, but it was the second time in as many years that the Ghosts were able to be called conference champions.
Abington’s second straight title was due in large part thanks to the game’s opening few minutes, when they went up 8-0 and 11-2 thanks to some stellar three-point shooting.
“We shot the ball well and I thought we took open looks,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “They were able to be successful early on.”
The Ghosts, who are now 18-3 overall and a perfect 13-0 in conference play this season with only one game to go, held the Falcons (16-4, 10-2) to only two points in the game’s opening four minutes and 43 seconds.
Abington led by 12 at the end of one quarter (21-9), but allowed Pennsbury to go on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to get back in the game. However, the Ghosts would answer, finishing the half on a 9-0 run of their own.
In the second half, Pennsbury fought, but Abington junior Matt Penecale and company made sure to never allow the Falcons to get too close.
“Oh, it’s awesome,” Grasty said. “It feels great. Last year, I felt like a lot of people thought that we could do it with all of our guys coming back, but this year, we kept talking about our guys leaving and our guys coming to practice every day. They wanted to win and this feels good.”
The Ghosts were led by Penecale’s 19 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals in the win.
“Honestly, this one feels better (than last year’s),” Penecale said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game. Back-to-back Suburban One League champions is great.”
Abington junior Amar Hinton added 15 points, three rebounds and two assists, while senior Anthony Lee added 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Jordan Neely scored nine points.
Penecale went 9-for-9 from the free throw line, while Hinton went 8-for-8. At one point, the Ghosts made 22 consecutive foul shots.
Pennsbury was led by Cameron Jones’ 17 points in the losing effort. He hit three treys. Steve Ciotti added 12 points for the Falcons.
Abington hit nine three-pointers in the first half, with three of them coming from Lee.
Pennsbury 9 15 14 17—55
Abington 21 15 8 19—63
William Tennent 54, Council Rock South 52
William Tennent’s Matt Alden scored on a floater with 3.5 seconds remaining on the clock to give the Panthers (8-11, 6-6) a two-point win over host Council Rock South on Tuesday night.
Alden hit a three-pointer in the final minute to tie things up at 52-52 before hitting the game-winner.
After getting the ball back with 40 seconds remaining after a travel call against CR South, Tennent let the clock tick down to eight seconds before Alden ran a play.
“We had a play where Matt gets a handoff near midcourt and then he just breaks the man down,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “He got it on the left side of the court and drove right down the middle of the lane and rose up over two guys and made the shot.”
Alden’s final basket gave him a team-best 18 points. John Ryan added 15 for Tennent.
CR South (6-15, 4-9) went up by seven after one quarter, but the two teams were tied at 31-31 going into the half. Tennent outscored CR South 11-7 in the third before coming out on top in the end.
Tom Townsend’s 21 points led CB South in the losing effort.
“It was a huge win for us just because we had to get back on the winning side,” Mulville said. “We had tough losses against Abington and Holy Ghost Prep and even though we didn’t come out on top, I thought we did some nice things. They just weren’t enough to get a win, so it was nice to go out there tonight and get a win on the road with a solid team effort.”
William Tennent 12 19 11 12—54
Council Rock South 19 12 7 14—52
Bensalem 58, Harry S. Truman 48
Bensalem (5-14, 4-8) defeated host Harry S. Truman by 10 points on Tuesday night.
The Tigers and the Owls (5-16, 3-10) played to a 9-9 tie after one quarter before Bensalem outscored Truman by six in the second and seven in the third en route to the victory.
Chris Kilcoyne led the Owls with 17 points, while Avery Nyekan added 12. AJ Brody and Jeffrey News added nine apiece.
Tyquan Law and Zaire Brown led Truman with 14 and 10, respectively.
Bensalem 9 19 16 14—58
Harry S. Truman 9 13 9 17—48
Council Rock North 61, Neshaminy 25
It was a one-sided affair at Neshaminy, as the Redskins fell to Council Rock North by 36 points on Tuesday night.
Leading the way for the Indians (11-9, 7-5) was Chris Rowland, who finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds while recording his second double-double in three games.
Will Desautelle added nine points for CR North, which outscored Neshaminy in all four quarters, including a 19-3 drubbing in the second.
Neshaminy (3-12, 2-9) was led by Jaylen Pickett’s six points.
Council Rock North 9 19 15 18—61
Neshaminy 7 3 7 8—25
Continental
Central Bucks West 41, North Penn 34
Despite losing to North Penn in the previous meeting, Central Bucks West was able to get past the Knights by seven points in an all-important conference game on Tuesday night.
North Penn (10-10, 10-10) was stifled by CB West’s defense, which allowed just eight points in the first half.
“Our defense was huge,” said CB West coach Adam Sherman, whose team led 18-8 at halftime. “Kyle Schechter came up huge on defense and to hold a team to only eight points in a half is huge.”
CB West (12-8, 7-6) was led by Schecter’s nine points, while Jared Kelly and Pat Kelley scored eight points apiece.
North Penn was led by Noah Melchior’s nine and Jason Jones’ eight.
“We were beating them the whole time we played them the first time, but we fell apart,” Sherman said. “We were right there, but we were able to not let them get hot tonight. Defensively, we played better and we rebounded better and we didn’t allow them to get in a rhythm.”
Regarding districts, Sherman believes his team should be playing in the postseason.
“We should be in districts, but it’s kind of funny – there are probably some aspects sometimes where it might be better to lose and get a 24-seed rather than a 17-seed,” Sherman said. “I don’t know where we are, but we should have enough wins to get us in the playoffs. We hope to win on Friday, our strength of schedule is pretty high and we should be in a decent place.”
Central Bucks East 65, Pennridge 48
Central Bucks East improved to 11-9 overall and 8-5 in conference play with an 18-point win over Pennridge on Tuesday night.
Tommy Strasburger led the way with 18 points for CB East, while Brandon Birkhead, who stepped into a starting role in place of big man Blake Peterson on Tuesday, added eight.
“Brandon did a great job tonight, but it was really just a collective effort,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. “It was a huge win for us. We’re definitely in playoff mode and we come out and play with confidence. We were making shots at the beginning and that really got us going and we didn’t let up.”
The Rams (14-6, 8-4) received 12 points from Long in the losing effort. Zach Muredda and Joe Molettiere each added 11, while Mike Tatarowicz finished with 10.
Pennridge trailed by 10 at the half, but allowed CB East to win the third quarter 16-8 and run away with the game.
“Pennridge is a good team, and we feel like we’re a good team as well,” Henrysen said. “When Blake Peterson went down, we had to kind of figure out a way to play without him and that’s what we’ve been able to do the last couple games. Tonight, things worked out for us.”
Strasburger added six rebounds and six assists for CB East, while Brendan McLaughlin added 16 points. Mike Gentry also finished with 11.
Pennridge 16 12 8 10—46
Central Bucks East 19 19 16 11—65
Hatboro-Horsham 59, Quakertown 56
Hatboro-Horsham (7-13, 4-10) was led by the 19-point efforts of Chris Hobbs and Zach Quattro in Tuesday’s three-point win over Quakertown.
The Hatters went down 16-7 after one quarter, but a huge second quarter helped Hatboro-Horsham to get right back in the game. They trailed 22-21 at the intermission and then outscored the Panthers 22-16 in the third quarter.
Hobbs nailed five three-pointers while Quattro added a pair on a night that saw the Hatters bury nine treys. The Panthers (7-13, 2-10) were led by Brian Rejniak’s 18 points. Kevin Norvasis and Jake Perrinne added 13 and 12, respectively, for Quakertown.
Quakertown 16 6 16 18—56
Hatboro-Horsham 7 14 22 16—59
Souderton 60, Central Bucks South 52
As if there wasn’t enough craziness lately in the Continental Conference, first-place Central Bucks South lost to host Souderton by 18 points on Tuesday night.
The Indians trailed 16-13 after one quarter, but came out on fire in the second, outscoring CB South 16-3. The fourth quarter belonged to Souderton (12-9, 5-8), which outscored 17-7 and came out with the commanding upset victory.
“We have been in so many tight games this year,” Souderton coach Pete Chimera said. “I think it builds character. I’m so happy for these seniors because they played really well.”
Souderton, which was a full five games behind CB South (13-8, 9-4) in the Continental Conference before Tuesday night, is still fighting for a spot in districts.
“With this win and a lot of good wins out of our league, I think we should be in districts,” Chimera said. “We just have to close the season out with a win and see where we stand.”
Souderton closes its season against Quakertown this Friday night.
In the win, the Indians were led by Evan Slone’s 16 points and Carter Knight’s 14. Slone went 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Jared Bernhart also added eight points for Souderton.
Matt Scamuffo, Bryce Dobisch and Paul Weeks all finished with eight points to pace CB South.
“Souderton played well and we didn’t play our best basketball,” CB South coach Jason Campbell said. “We didn’t play our best defense tonight.”
Central Bucks South 16 3 16 7—42
Souderton 13 16 14 17—60
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