Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Saturday. To view photos of the Abington/Upper Darby game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 46, LOWER MORELAND 33
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Hatters played stingy defense, limiting the Lions to just 19 points through three quarters. The end result was a win and the championship crown of the Hatters’ Tipoff Tournament.
“I’m really happy for our kids,” coach Ed Enoch said. “They’ve really worked very hard since I came to Hatboro-Horsham.
“They bought into what we’re trying to do. We told them – we’re probably going to be winning ugly early. We’re not real smooth offensively yet, but the kids are playing hard. We’re playing good defense and just trying to compete on every possession.”
It was an 8-8 game after one quarter, but the Hatters used a 13-5 burst in the second quarter to go into intermission with a 21-13 lead. They outscored the Lions 12-6 in the third quarter on their way to the double-digit win.
“We played a pretty ugly offensive game – we struggled offensively, but the kids played very hard,” Enoch said. “We played a real good defensive game.”
Walt Kimble set the tone for the Hatters’ standout defensive effort.
“The key was – the kid (Danny) Duffey is a very good point guard for them,” Enoch said. “We tried to keep him under control, and Walter Kimble – my point guard – did a very nice job of keeping him out of the lane and keeping him from making his other teammates better.”
Zeke Sloan led the Hatters’ attack with 13 points while Kimble added nine and Brian McEachem had eight.
Saturday’s win came on the heels of the girls’ squad also capturing the tournament title, giving the Hatters (2-0) a clean sweep of their own tournaments on Saturday.
“They don’t know the last time when that happened, so it’s a good thing for Hatboro-Horsham,” Enoch said.
Lower Moreland 8-5-6-14 33
Hatboro-Horsham 8-13-12-13 46
Zeke Sloan 13, Walter Kimble 9, Brian McEachern 8, Joe Russell 5, Kyle Katz 2, David Robinson 4, Pat Haggerty 2, Clifton Moore 3.
PENNBURY 53, LOWER MERION 41
The Falcons showcased their talents as part of the Scholastic PlaybyPlay 3rd Annual Tipoff Classic at Philadelphia University on Saturday night, and as beginnings go, it was a good one.
“It was a good game,” coach Bill Coleman said of his team’s win over an Aces’ squad that advanced to the district quarterfinals last year. “We kind of knew how they were going to play, and it was a good test for us.”
The Aces took a 25-23 lead into halftime, but the Falcons seized control in the second half. They outscored the Aces 19-13 in the third quarter to go on top 42-38 heading into the final frame when they closed it out with an 11-3 run.
“We really tried to take advantage of our physicality,” Coleman said. “We wore them down – we had them running around a lot with our trap.
“We tried to get the ball out of the key people’s hands, and we had a few other people take some shots that were a little ill advised on their part. Once we got the lead, we were able to flip the game plan on them because we spread them out and held them.”
Derrick Woods led the Falcons with 18 points, and Cameron Jones added 16. Mekhi Bryant and Juan Perez-Jones both added eight points.
“Juan started for us, and those eight points, which were big,” Coleman said. “One basket off a steal to finish the third quarter put us up four.
“He was big. We need others to step up. We have the three seniors – Cam, Mekhi and Derrick, but we’re looking for others to step up, and he did that tonight.”
Zach Roy added five points, including a big bucket in the first quarter to get the Falcons’ offense untracked.
“Lower Merion was spreading the ball out and kind of stalling on us, delaying the game,” Coleman said. “We were struggling a little bit to find a rhythm, and Zach Roy came in and hit a big three and kind of got us going.”
Pennsbury 10-13-19-11 53
Lower Merion 13-12-13-3 41
ABINGTON 48, UPPER DARBY 33
Abington made it a perfect four-for-four, winning its fourth tournament title in as many years with its convincing win over Upper Darby. The Ghosts blew open a close game in the second half, turning a 19-16 halftime lead into a 48-33 win.
“Playing at home means something to us,” said Amir Hinton. “Every time we play at home, our coach tells us to play hard in our house.
“We want to go further (than we did last year), but we just have to take it one game at a time and hopefully we’ll get there.”
“We just want to win every game,” teammate Matt Penecale added. “Don’t look ahead.”
Hinton led the Ghosts with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but it was his dunks that ignited the fans. He put an exclamation point on a big performance with a one-handed slam after splitting the defense in the paint with 3:50 remaining to put the Ghosts on top 44-30. Penecale added 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.
If there was a defining moment in the game, it came in the third quarter. A bucket by Penecale on a drive put the Ghosts on top 27-22 over a pesky Upper Darby squad, but it was back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Robbie Heath that gave the Ghosts a 33-24 lead and some serious separation from their opponent.
“It’s great having someone who can score, someone you can trust to kick out and hit the open shots, spread the floor,” Penecale said. “He’s a great basketball player.
“I know he’s only a freshman, but he doesn’t play like it. He really helps us out offensively and defensively.”
“He definitely hit two big three’s,” coach Charles Grasty said of Heath. “We were just grinding it out.
“Upper Darby made us play at their pace. They wanted to slow it down. They wanted to throw the ball around a little bit before they took a shot, and I thought those three’s kind of opened it up for us. Then they had to chase us and play our style.”
Heath finished with nine points while Brendan Gallagher, who was named tournament MVP, had five rebounds.
“The thing that impressed me was that the guys didn’t hang their heads,” Grasty said. “They were frustrated as well. It was 19-16 at the half – that’s not the kind of basketball that we wanted to play, but they didn’t hang their heads. They kept going, kept fighting, and we were able to open it up in the second half.”
Upper Darby 7-9-8-9 33
Abington 8-11-16-13 48
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 39, BENSALEM 33
The Patriots led wire to wire in a battle of SOL schools at the Archbishop Ryan Tournament. They opened up a 14-8 lead at the end of one quarter and led 27-19 at halftime. The outscored the Owls 15-14 in the second half to earn their second win in as many games.
Tommy Strasburger led the Patriots with 14 points – which included a pair of treys – and three steals. Teammate Blake Peterson had eight points and was a presence in the paint with six rebounds and five blocks. Connor Pattyson added five points in a contest that saw the Patriots connected on 17-of-32 shots from the floor (5-of-15 from beyond the arc).
Avery Nyekan led the Owls – who were a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line – with 11 points, and Neel Patel had seven. Nick Mulvey added five.
Central Bucks East 14-13-9-6 39
Bensalem 8-11-5-9 33
CB East – Strasburger 14, Peterson 8, O’Neil 4, Pattyson 5, Fink 3, Dann 2, Cenderelli 3.
Bensalem – Mulvey 5, Nyekan 11, Vaughn 4, Wade 4, Howard 2, Patel
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 55, SPRING-FORD 40
The Bucks rolled to a decisive win over Spring-Ford to earn a clean sweep of their opponents in the PAC-10 Challenge.
“Any time you start off the season 2-0, it’s a good thing,” coach Adam Sherman said. “We’re excited to have success at the beginning of the year, and we’re hoping it will carry over to the next game.”
Cal Reichwein led the Bucks with 22 points.
“The first night Owen Cooney played extremely well, and tonight Cal Reichwein played well offensively,” Sherman said.
Cooney, who was coming off a 17-point performance in the Bucks’ win over Pottstown, scored seven points. Jim McCusker added eight points.
“Jimmy McCusker is giving us some really good minutes,” Sherman said. “He’s been a very good decision maker on the court, and his plus-minus on the court is very good.”
The Bucks found themselves staring at a 15-10 deficit after one quarter but used an 11-6 second quarter to go into halftime deadlocked 21-21. They outscored the Rams 22-11 in the third quarter and 34-19 in the second half.
“We got great contributions off the bench in both games,” Sherman said. “We were able to go deep off the bench and get quality minutes from guys.
“Overall, there’s been a nice chemistry. The kids are playing unselfish, but it’s still early. Hopefully, it will continue.”
Central Bucks West 10-11-22-12 55
Spring-Ford 15-6-11-8 40
Luke Irons 2 1-1 5; Owen Cooney 3 0-0 7; Cal Reichwein 8 3-3 22; Erich Hohlenleitner 2 2-3 6; Nico Munari 2 1-5 5; Connor Lynch 0 2-2 2; Jim McCusker 2 3-3 8.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 68, POTTSTOWN 65
The Titans won a tightly-contested affair with the host Trojans to give the SOL a perfect 4-0 mark in this year’s PAC-10/SOL Challenge.
Junior Tim Waddington turned in a huge offensive performance for the Titans, scoring a team-high 24 points, which included six three-pointers. Sean Gallagher added nine points while Bryan Meyers and Ian Vogt both had five.
The two teams were deadlocked 9-9 after one quarter, but the Titans used a 19-11 second quarter to go into the intermission with a 28-20 lead. The Trojans trimmed three points off that lead at the end of the third and kept chipping away, but the Titans (2-0) prevailed.
Central Bucks South 9-19-16-24 68
Pottstown 9-11-19-26 65
QUAKERTOWN 75, UPPER PERKIOMEN 35
The Panthers rebounded from a disappointing loss to Harriton to trounce Upper Perk in the consolation game of the Southern Lehigh Tournament, opening up a 28-5 lead after one quarter and controlling play from wire to wire.
Griffin Schmidt (19 points) and Kevin Norvaisis (12 points) led the way offensively. Tyler Harrison and Jake Perrine both chipped in seven points on a day that saw 10 players get into the scoring column.
Quakertown 28-11-19-17 75
Upper Perkiomen 5-14-10-6 35
Schmidt 8 0-0 19; Perrine 3 0-2 7; Rejniak 7 0-0 18; Norvaisis 4 1-2 12; Baskin 0 1-4 1; Harrison 3 0-0 7; Howard 1 0-0 3; Nice 1 0-0 2; Drosnock 1 2-2 4; Grimmage 1 0-0 1.
PENNRIDGE 68, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 53
The Rams led 23-16 after one quarter and took a 40-34 lead into halftime. If there were any doubts about the outcome, those doubts were put to rest in a third quarter that saw the Rams go on a 21-10 tear.
The Rams were led by the trio of Joe Molettiere (18), Dan Long (19) and Zach Muredda.
Pennridge (1-1) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday night.`
Christopher Dock 16-18-10-9 53
Pennridge 23-17-21-7 68
Joe Molettiere 8 1-1 18; Dan Long 8 2-4 19; Zach Muredda 7 3-6 17; Stephen Lowry 3 0-0 7; Joe Unangst 3 0-0 7.
SOUDERTON 62, OVERBROOK 36
The Indians rebounded from an opening night loss to manhandle Overbrook in the consolation game of the 1st Annual Souderton Tipoff Tournament. They opened up a 17-11 lead at the end of one quarter and extended that to 31-18 by halftime, going on to outscore Overbrook 31-18 in the second half.
Tracey Simsick scored 25 points to lead the Indians, also earning a spot on the all-tournament team. Evan Slone and Ty Salone both added 10 points.
Overbrook 11-7-9-9 36
Souderton 17-14-18-13 62
Evan Slone 10, Ty Salone 10, Connor Lennon 3, Ben Wonderling 0, David Brush 4, Tracy Simisick 25.
UPPER MORELAND 45, WILLIAM TENNENT 37
The Golden Bears rallied from a 22-10 halftime deficit to outscore the Panthers 35-15 in the second half of the consolation game of the Hatters Tipoff Tournament. James Martin led the way with 19 points, and Brendan O'Donnell added 16 points.
For the Panthers, John Ryan led the way with 19 points. Chalie Wodack added 12 points.
William Tennent 13-9-12-3 37
Upper Moreland 9-1-18-17 45
William Tennent – Ryan 19, Griggs 2, Lees 4, Wodack 12.
Upper Moreland – Mulligan 2, O'Donnell 16, Washington 1, Decker 1, Martin 19, Trovato 2, Stone 4.
PHOENIXVILLE 58, NESHAMINY 52
The Redskins came up just short in the title game of the Interboro Tournament. Shammond Thomas led the ‘Skins with 14 points while Chris Arcidiacono added 12 points on four baskets from beyond the arc. Billy Warren led the Redskins under the boards with 10 rebounds.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 50, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 46
The Golden Hawks and Lions were deadlocked 41-41 heading into the final quarter of Saturday’s championship game of the Rabberman Tournament, but that’s when the points stopped coming for the Golden Hawks, who managed just five and wound up losing by four points.
Sophomore Austin Thomas led the Hawks with 16 points while senior Dan Buchnik added 13. Matt Stewart chipped in with eight points and Mike Stock had five for the Hawks (1-1).
New Hope-Solebury 15-6-20-9 50
Council Rock South 12-14-15-5 46
DOWNINGTOWN EAST 55, UPPER MERION 45
The Vikings were led by the tag team of Ethan Miller and Matt Faw, who contributed 15 and 12 points, respectively. The young squad more than held its own against a perennial Ches-Mont power and took a 29-27 lead into halftime. The game was close throughout the second half, but the Cougars took advantage of the double bonus to earn their first victory.
NEW FOUNDATIONS CHARTER 60, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 56
The Spartans dropped a close one to New Foundations Charter in the consolation game of their own Oreland Lions Tournament. Justin Hill (16 points) and Sean Stovall (12) had double-digit performances to lead the Spartans (0-2) offensively.
New Foundations Charter 15-15-4-26 60
Springfield (Montco) 15-8-10-22 56
DeAndre Johnson 6, Justin Hill 16, Noel Franzik 3, Christian Yoast 5, Ian Frasca 3, Sean Stovall 12, Ryan Daley 2, Quentin Johnson 2, Brendan Dugan 4.
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 61, UPPER DUBLIN 49
Simeon Fryer scored a game-high 24 points and John Barrett added 12, but it wasn’t enough to hold off a Patriot squad that put four players in double figures. The Patriots led Saturday’s title game of the Cardinal Classic from wire to wire, opening up a 19-13 lead at the end of one quarter and taking a 33-24 advantage into halftime.
NEWARK 69, CHELTENHAM 61
Cheltenham took a 46-41 lead into the fourth quarter only to watch Newark explode for 28 points – 16 from the foul line. For the game, Newark shot 43 free throws, and the Panthers lost a pair of players – Fatimir Al-Ahad and Anthony White – to fouls in the fourth quarter.
Leading scorers for Cheltenham were Khalil White with 16 points while Justin Sutton had 14 points and eight rebounds. Vaughnn Jenkins had 10 points and nine points and White had nine points and three steals.
Newark 10-18-13-28 69
Cheltenham 10-16-20-15 61
NORTH ALLEGHENY 73, NORRISTOWN 39
CONESTOGA 58, NORTH PENN 43
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