Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. Check our gallery to view photos of Wm Tennent/HH, Upper Dubline/NP, CB South/Spring-Ford, and Upper Moreland/Lower Moreland.
Upper Dublin 54, North Penn 36
Upper Dublin has hosted a season-opening basketball tournament for five years. In the previous four, the Cardinals have not been able to win their own tournament, despite coming close. Thanks to Friday night’s win, the Cardinals will have a chance to play for the tournament title on Saturday.
John Barrett led the way for Upper Dublin with 23 points, knocking down five three-pointers while helping his team to the dominating victory.
“John was a shot in the arm,” UD coach Josh Adelman said. “He came right off the bat and he was on fire in the first half.”
The Cardinals went up 29-14 at the half, as Barrett helped Upper Dublin (1-0) to go on a run in the second quarter. Of Barrett’s 23 points, 20 were scored in the first half, and by halftime, the game was all but out of reach for the Knights, who trailed 29-14.
Ryan Stover finished with eight rebounds and six assists for Upper Dublin, while Matt Thompson dished out four assists. Simeon Fryer added seven points and six rebounds. Barrett shot 9-for-13 from the floor – 5-for-6 from downtown.
“I think we played well and had some good spurts on defense,” Adelman said. “John shot extremely well, which helped, but I don’t think we played a great game overall. We were sloppy at times, but the guys continued throughout and I thought it showed a lot of depth. It should keep us ready for tomorrow.”
The Cardinals will now prepare for a 7 p.m. game with Germantown Academy on Saturday in the title game.
“We’ve come close (to winning this tournament), but we haven’t gotten over the hump yet,” Adelman said. “We’re going to have to work hard to make that happen. It would mean the world to us. We’ve been so close and these guys work so hard and we want it. Everybody’s been talking about how difficult this tournament is, and we want to show people that we’re a good team, too.”
Joe Richards and Cordell Lord led the Knights (0-1) with 12 and 11 points in the losing effort.
North Penn 7 7 12 10—36
Upper Dublin 12 17 12 13—54
Central Bucks South 54, Spring-Ford 43
The difference in Friday’s game, according to Central Bucks South coach Jason Campbell, was at the free throw line. It’s hard to deny that when looking at the scorebook, as the Bucks hit 17-of-24 shots from the charity stripe while Spring-Ford knocked down only 9-of-24.
The final result was an 11-point CB South win over the Rams in a Day One of the Suburban One-Pac-10 Challenge at Central Bucks South High School.
Tim Waddington and Sean Gallagher led the way for the Titans (1-0), scoring 13 points apiece. Gallagher scored 11 of his 13 in the fourth quarter, hitting 7-of-8 free throws.
“Sean is a very good free-throw shooter and it just so happens that our guards were being denied and Sean did a great job of opening up off of screens and coming to the ball, and he really kind of won it down the stretch,” Campbell said. “If he misses those, it’s a much closer game. I think that (the free-throw shooting) was the ultimate difference in the game.
“Spring-Ford is always a quality program and they always have talented players and are tough and well coached. They have some size guys and some guys looking to shoot from the perimeter, and for us defensively to hold them to one shot on most possessions was good. We controlled the boards.”
Chris Hones led the way on the boards for CB South, bringing down 10 to go along with his 10 points. Josh Brodie added six points, four rebounds and four assists, while Ian Vogt recorded six rebounds and three assists.
“Brodie got into foul trouble early and Vogt came off the bench to really help us out. It was a big team contribution,” Campbell said. “Overall, as a team, I think we did well boxing them out, and it allowed us to try and control the tempo of the game.”
CB South will visit Pottstown at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon.
Spring-Ford 8 10 9 16—43
Central Bucks South 12 10 13 19—54
Abington 61, West Chester Henderson 52
For the fourth consecutive year, Abington will have a chance to play in its own tournament’s championship game.
Led by Amir Hinton’s 24 points and Matt Penecale’s 16, Abington got past West Chester Henderson by nine points in the opening round of the Ghosts Tip-off Classic at Abington High School.
Having already won the previous three championship games, the Ghost (1-0) will go up against Upper Darby on Saturday in hopes of winning yet another one.
“It’s good to be back in the championship,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “Our young guys got a lot of playing time tonight, and I thought they responded pretty well. Besides Matt (Penecale) and Amir (Hinton), we don’t have a lot of senior experience. I thought they responded well for their first game. There were a lot of jitters, but once they settled in, they played well. Henderson is good.”
Penecale added nine assists, while Hinton tallied eight rebounds. The Ghosts went up by 10 after the first quarter and were able to hold onto that lead until the end.
Abington freshman Robert Heath scored 13 points in his first game with the Ghosts.
“Robert played well and within himself,” Grasty said. “Those can be corrected. I told him yesterday that I’m not going to keep saying ‘freshman mistakes’ and he can make them, but I thought he responded. He definitely played well for us and he knew he could put the ball in the basket. He’s getting better and he has a lot to learn, so he’ll be getting there.”
West Chester Henderson 7 13 13 19—52
Abington 17 11 12 21—61
Hatboro-Horsham 50, William Tennent 42 (OT)
With a brand new coach and without its top scorer from last year (Zach Quattro), Hatboro-Horsham – despite trailing for much of the game – figured out how to win its first game of the season, coming from behind to defeat William Tennent in overtime by seven points in the opening round of the Hatters’ Tipoff Tournament.
With Ed Enoch at the helm in his first year with the Hatters, Walter Kimble stepped up in a big way, scoring eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter to help the Hatters force overtime.
“It was a really big win and just something to build on. It was important in that respect,” Enoch said. “Walter (Kimble) played very, very well for us defensively and he’s got a ways to go offensively. He knows that. He made some real big plays for us down the stretch and some that really won the game for us.”
The Hatters tailed 8-2 early on and were down by five at the half (21-16). They still trailed by seven entering the final quarter. In the fourth, Hatboro-Horsham (1-0) outscored the Panthers (0-1) 16-9 to force the extra period.
Zeke Sloan added 11 points for the Hatters, six of which came in overtime.
“We played a really good fourth quarter defensively and we rebounded the ball very well,” Enoch said. “We made some foul shots when we had to and we won a game that was an ugly game, but it was a very good win.”
Regarding getting his first coaching win with the Hatters out of the way, Enoch said he was just proud of his players.
“I was just really happy for the kids,” he said. They worked really, really hard and it is never easy when you have a new coach come in with a new system. I told them how proud of them I was for how they battled. They fought, stayed in it and we didn’t give up.”
The Panthers were led by junior John Ryan’s 23 points.
William Tennent 14 7 9 9 3—42
Hatboro-Horsham 11 5 7 16 11—50
Neshaminy 55, Interboro 47
Billy Warren paced Neshaminy with 10 point and 10 rebounds in an opening round win at the Interboro Tournament. Shammond Thomas added 13 points for the Redskins while Zach Treadway and Chris Arcidiacono chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively.
With the win, Neshaminy (1-0) will face Phoenixville in the title game on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Council Rock South 51, Jenkintown 33
In the opening round of the Rabberman Tip-off Tournament, host Council Rock South had a relatively easy time against Jenkintown. The Hawks sprinted to a 14-4 lead after one quarter and took a 22-16 lead into halftime. They outscored the Drakes 29-17 in the second half, controlling the game wire to wire.
Matt Stewart led the Hawks with 16 points, while Austin Thomas added 12.
Jenkintown 4 12 8 9—33
Council Rock South 14 8 14 15—51
Central Bucks West 71, Pottstown 42
In the first game of the Suburban One-Pac-10 Challenge at CB South, Central Bucks West had no trouble with Pottstown, winning its home opener by 29 points.
Owen Cooney nailed three triples and led the way for the Bucks, scoring 17. Cal Reichwein and Nico Munari each added nine, while Luke Irons scored seven. CB West went up by 15 after the first quarter (21-6) and never looked back.
The Bucks will face Spring-Ford on Saturday at Pottstown.
Pottstown 6 14 10 12—42
Central Bucks West 21 18 13 19—71
Central Bucks East 45, Lincoln 27
Central Bucks East defeated Lincoln in the opening round of this weekend’s Archbishop Ryan Hoop Club Tip-off Tournament.
Tommy Strasburger led the Patriots (1-0) with 17 points, all of which came in the second half. Blake Peterson added 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while Ryan O’Neil chipped in with six points and 10 rebounds.
CB East went 13-for-14 from the free-throw line in the second half, 14-for-18 in the game. After going into the half tied at 12-12, the Patriots seized control of the game in the third, scoring 18 points while limiting Lincoln to just nine. East – which will face Bensalem in Saturday’s contest – outscored Lincoln 34-15 in the second half.
Central Bucks East 7 5 18 16—45
Lincoln 5 7 9 6—27
Norristown 70, State College 67
Norristown opened its season with a huge win over State College in the opening round of the Skip Coleman Memorial Tipoff Invitational at State College.
Darryl Carr led the way with 23 points and six rebounds while Roy Green finished with 14 points and four steals. Kyle Simpson added nine points and six steals for Norristown, which went led 17-6 after one quarter. The Eagles took a 34-24 lead into halftime, but State College made things interesting, trimming that lead to 52-45 heading into the final frame before falling by just three.
Darius McGowan and Rashon Wiggins both added five boards.
Norristown 17 17 18 18-70
State College 6 18 21 22—67
Plymouth Whitemarsh 64, Dobbins Tech 15
Jimmy Murray led a balanced PW attack with 13 points while Xzavier Malone added 11 points. Devon Monteiro-Gray had 10 points, and Andre Mitchell also had 10 points for the Colonials.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14 26 19 5-64
Dobbins Tech 2 5 4 4-15
Archbishop Ryan 56, Bensalem 53 (3 OT)
Bensalem suffered a heartbreaking loss to the host team in an opening round game at the Tipoff Tournament at Archbishop Ryan High School.
In the loss, the Owls (0-1) were led by Kevin Wade and Brandon Vaughn, who finished with 11 points apiece. Avery Nyekan and Nick Mulvey both added nine while Anthony Greene scored seven.
Bensalem 8 12 14 8—53
Archbishop Ryan 9 5 10 18—56
Upper Darby 45, Wissahickon 42
Wissahickon’s Todd Bentley led the Trojans in a losing effort as Upper Darby came out on top in the first game of the Ghosts TipOff Classic at Abington High School.
Bentley finished with 14 points, while Ron Brundage added eight for Wissahickon. Tre Holcomb chipped in with seven for the Trojans, who trailed 10 after one quarter (15-5). The Trojans, who still trailed 27-18 at halftime, made things interesting with a 12-5 third quarter burst, trimming Upper Darby’s lead to 32-30, but they couldn’t get over the hump
Wissahickon 5 13 12 12—42
Upper Darby 15 12 5 13—45
Downingtown West 67, Upper Merion 45
The Vikings opened their season with a loss at the Downingtown West Tournament, falling to the host Whippets.
Matt Faw led Upper Merion with 11 points, while Andrew Persaud and Ethan Miller added nine and seven, respectively. Connor McDermott added six points off the bench for the Vikings, while Isaiah Graham Mobley led the way in rebounding with 10.
Saucon Valley 76, Pennridge 65
Pennridge’s defense couldn’t get the job done in the fourth quarter as Saucon Valley exploded for 29 points to pull away in the tightly-contested opening round game at the Pennridge Memorial Classic.
Joe Molettiere led Pennridge (0-1) with 17 points, while Dan Long and Zach Muredda added 16 and 15, respectively.
Muredda knocked down 9-of-11 shots from the free throw line while Molettiere hit 5-of-6. The Rams took a one-point lead into the half (29-28), but Saucon Valley outscored the Rams 48-36 in the second half. Pennridge will face Dock at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Saucon Valley 14 14 19 29—76
Pennridge 15 14 15 21—65
Harriton 70, Quakertown 62
Harriton outscored Quakertown by eight in the fourth quarter, and that proved to be its final margin of victory over the Panthers in the opening round of the Southern Lehigh Tournament. The Panthers trailed 19-15 after one quarter but rallied to knot the score 29-29 at halftime. The two teams were still deadlocked entering the final quarter (58-58).
In the loss, Quakertown was led by Griffin Schmidt’s 26 points, which included a trey. Kevin Norvaisis added 11 for the Panthers while Brian Rejniak and Jake Perrine each finished with eight. Perrine had a pair of three-pointers in a contest that saw Harriton connect on 10 shots from beyond the arc.
Quakertown 15 14 19 14-62
Harriton 19 10 19 22-70
Simon Gratz 56, Souderton 53
Souderton came up just short against Simon Gratz in an opening round tournament game at Souderton High School. The Indians stayed close the whole game, trailing by just one at the end of one quarter (13-12) and at halftime (25-24). Gratz took a 40-37 lead into the final quarter and held off the Indians the rest of the way.
Tracy Simsick led the Indians (0-1) with 19 points. Evan Slone scored 16, while Ben Wonderling knocked down a pair of threes and added eight.
Simon Gratz 13 12 15 15—56
Souderton 12 12 13 16—53
Phil-Mont Christian 44, Springfield 42
Springfield dropped a tough one to Phil-Mont Christian, losing by just two points in a non-conference matchup at the Oreland Lions Tournament.
Lower Moreland 45, Upper Moreland 27
Lower Moreland was able to get past Upper Moreland in dominating fashion, defeating the Bears in an opening round game at the Hatboro-Horsham Tip-Off Tournament.
Glen Mills 67, Harry S. Truman 42
Harry S. Truman lost its season opening game to host Glen Milles. The Tigers were down by 17 after one quarter (25-8) and could never fully recover.
Truman was led by Tyquan Law’s 22 points and Lucas Waters’ 13.
Harry S. Truman 8 16 7 11—42
Glen Mills 25 8 14 20—67
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