Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. To view photos of the Pennridge/CB West, Wissahickon/Upper Moreland and Bensalem/CR South games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
American Conference
Upper Dublin 67, Cheltenham 43
An explosive first half allowed Upper Dublin to cruise to the convincing win over the Panthers at home.
Simeon Fryer led the Cardinals (3-2, 2-0) with 15 points, while John Barrett added 13. Ryan Stover had 11.
Upper Dublin – which led 18-13 at the end of one quarter – went up 35-19 at half and won the point battle in every quarter. The second (quarter) was the biggest for the Cardinals, who outscored the Panthers (1-5, 1-1) 17-6.
“We played an all-around game tonight,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “We played tremendous defense, we rebounded, handled pressure and executed on offense. We shared the ball and saw three guys with double figures.
“Last year, we were in a similar spot, at 2-2 and coming off a big win at Norristown. We lost to Cheltenham the next game at our place. We wanted to see how the guys would respond this year to the exact situation. They really wanted this game and we want to keep taking it one game at a time.”
Cheltenham 13 6 11 13—43
Upper Dublin 18 17 13 19—67
Norristown 61, Springfield 40
Mike Evans recorded his 250th career win in his 12th season with Norristown with his team’s convincing win over the Spartans.
“This is a testament to the kids I had over the years,” he said. “I have a great group of kids with me every year I’m coaching and tonight, they gave me a good effort and I just credit them.”
Roy Green led the way for Norristown (2-2, 1-1), scoring 20 points while tallying six steals. Darryl Carr added 11 points and four rebounds, while Carlton Brown collected six rebounds.
“The guys bounced back tonight after the heartbreaking loss we had on Friday,” Evans said of his team’s 45-44 loss to Upper Dublin. “The guys played hard, and we’re trying to put this thing together and a get a couple nice wins under our belt.”
Springfield (1-4, 0-2) was led by Christian Yoast’s 12 points. CJ Vecchione added eight.
The Spartans led by one after one quarter of play, but Norristown’s big second quarter allowed the Eagles to go up by six (29-23) going into the half. They continued to add to their lead, going up by 14 (48-34) entering the fourth.
Norristown 11 18 19 13—61
Springfield 12 11 11 6—40
Wissahickon 48, Upper Moreland 35
Brandon Pace had a huge game for the Trojans, recording 15 points while bringing down 13 rebounds to lead his team to the big road win.
Todd Bentley added 12 points, while Trey Holcolm and Ron Brundage finished with 10 and nine, respectively.
James Martin led the Bears with 11 points.
The Trojans (2-1, 2-0) outscored the Bears (2-3, 0-2) by eight points in the first quarter (12-4) before Upper Moreland came storming back, trailing by only one (22-21) at the half. In the third, Wissahickon’s defense stepped up in a big way, allowing a measly two points while going back up by 10 entering the fourth, 33-23.
Wissahickon 12 10 11 15—48
Upper Moreland 4 17 2 12—35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 66, Upper Merion 27
Plymouth Whitemarsh went on the road to Upper Merion and left with a dominating victory. Andre Mitchell had a big night for the Colonials. The senior captain led all scorers with 26 points while Xzaviier Malone added 16. Oakley Spenser, Devon Monteiro-Gray and Mike Lotito all added six points.
For the Vikings, Chris Carita led the way with 10 points while Matt Faw had eight points and Ethan Miller, seven points.
The win helped keep the Colonials undefeated at 5-0 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Vikings fell to 0-5 overall (0-2 SOL).
National Conference
Council Rock South 44, Bensalem 41
An excellent defensive effort in the second and third quarters helped propel the Golden Hawks – who limited the Owls to just seven points in both quarters – to a three-point win at Bensalem.
Leading the way for the Hawks was Dan Buchnik, who finished with 14 points – eight in the third quarter. Matt Stewart added 13, while Austin Thomas chipped in with seven.
Kevin Wade led the Owls with 10 points, while Neel Patel and Keith Howard added nine and eight, respectively.
After finishing the first quarter all knotted up 13-13, CR South (3-2, 2-0) outscored Bensalem by three in the second to go into halftime with a 23-20 lead. They upped that lead to 34-27 heading into the final quarter.
Council Rock South 13 10 11 11—44
Bensalem 13 7 7 14—41
Harry S. Truman 56, William Tennent 41
With his team clinging on to a one-point lead at the half, Harry S. Truman’s Tyquan Law went off in the final 16 minutes, scoring 18 of his 28 points while lifting the Tigers to the big win at William Tennent.
“Tyquan pretty much saved us,” Truman coach Alan Munford said. “His play in the second half – he kept his foot on the gas the entire time and never looked back, which I thought was an awesome thing.
“If it wasn’t for his play, we probably would’ve struggled in the third quarter, but he took his opportunities and he had lanes to drive and he knocked down a couple big three-point shots, which was extremely helpful for us going down the stretch. I am very proud of the way he played.”
Truman led 26-25 at the half below increasing its lead to five after three quarters (38-33). In the fourth, Truman went off, outscoring the Panthers (1-5, 0-2) by 10 to roll to victory
“We opened up the game in the second half,” Evans said. “I thought the kids came out with their foot on the gas in the second half and I was happy to see that. The defense in the second half was solid. In the first half, we were a little suspect. The kids came out and responded well.”
Lucas Walters also finished in double figures for Truman (2-2, 1-1), scoring 12 points. Tennent was led by John Ryan’s 18 points.
Harry S. Truman 10 16 12 18—56
William Tennent 14 11 8 8—41
Pennsbury 56, Council Rock North 43
Cameron Jones finished with 18 points and Derrick Woods added 16 as Pennsbury knocked the Indians from the ranks of the undefeated.
Rob Daly added nine for the Falcons (3-2, 1-1), while Mekhi Bryant chipped in with eight.
Riley Thompson led the Indians with 14 points, while Matt Margolis and Drew Glenn added 10 and eight, respectively.
The Indians and Falcons battled to a 15-15 tie after one quarter, but the Falcons used a 20-point second quarter to go into halftime with a 35-28 lead. Some excellent defense in the third quarter allowed the Falcons to go into the fourth up 13, at 46-33.
Council Rock North 15 13 5 10—43
Pennsbury 15 20 11 10—56
Abington 53, Neshaminy 43
The Ghosts, who are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference, along with Council Rock South are the only undefeated teams in the conference through just two games. The Redskins fell to 2-2 and 1-1.
Continental Conference
North Penn 55, Central Bucks East 33
Central Bucks East entered Tuesday night’s game at North Penn with an impressive 4-1 overall record while the Knights were 1-4, but it was the Knights coming out victorious, doing so in dominating fashion.
And it was the second quarter that made all the difference, as the Knights were able to shut out CB East 14-0. North Penn secured the lead in the second half, going up by 18 (40-22) entering the fourth quarter.
“We thought it was important to get off to a quick start,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. "Every game this year, at some point, we've been down in the first quarter, so in order to get off to a quick start, we knew we had to step it up on the defensive end. I thought that was the key to this game."
After the huge second quarter, North Penn took a 21-7 lead into the intermission and added to that lead in the third, going up by 18 points entering the fourth, 40-22. In the fourth, the Knights (2-4, 1-1) easily closed things out.
Defensively, Joey Richards and Ricky Johns stood out for the Knights.
"Joey was covering Tommy Strasburger and did a really nice job on him," Conrad said. "Ricky did a nice job on the defensive end in his first start of the season."
Johns finished with four points, while Richards, who held Strasburger to only seven points, added 10.
Kyle Hulmes led the Knights offensively with 14 points, while Jared Malone added 12 points and eight rebounds. Cordell Lord chipped in with six points and eight assists.
"Cordell didn't get a lot of points, but I thought he did a great job of pushing the tempo up the floor and getting us some easy baskets," Conrad said. "CB East is a good team, and our defense and being able to score in transition were big, but I also thought they didn't shoot well. We got them on a good night."
CB East was led by Justin O'Neil's nine points and Cooper Fink's eight.
Central Bucks East 7 0 15 11—33
North Penn 7 14 19 15—55
Pennridge 69, Central Bucks West 59
Central Bucks West entered Tuesday night’s game undefeated. Pennridge had an answer for that.
The Rams’ third quarter play – when they outscored their visitors 17-9 – allowed them to get past the Bucks. Dan Long’s 25 points led the way for Pennridge (4-1, 2-0).
The loss dropped the Bucks to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
“They’re obviously a pretty good basketball team, and (Adam) Sherman is an excellent coach,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “He has his kids ready to play, and they came out and went up 6-0 on us. It didn’t look like we had a lot of energy, but I think our defense really held down and stepped up.
“Dan Long got us going offensively. I thought that’s what sparked us.”
Pennridge led by seven at the half, up 28-21. In the third, the Rams outscored CB West by eight, taking a 45-30 lead into the fourth. In a final quarter that didn’t feature a whole lot of defense, the two teams combined to score 53 points.
“The fourth quarter got a little ugly,” Behrens said. “They started to hit some threes. They were in desperation mode. I’ll give them credit, they made things happen.”
Joe Molettiere finished with 16 points for the Rams, while Zach Muredda added 13. Kyle Yoder and Stephen Lowry added eight and seven, respectively. Long went 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
“In our league, it’s a good win beating CB West at our place,” Behrens said. “They were 5-0 to start the season and they have a nice team. You have to play well every night in our league to win. Anybody can beat anybody.”
Luke Irons went 7-for-8 from the free throw line and finished with 17 points to lead the Bucks. Owen Cooney added 13, while Cal Reichwein finished with 12.
Central Bucks West 8 13 9 29—59
Pennridge 9 19 17 24—69
Central Bucks South 38, Hatboro-Horsham 35
Central Rock South fought back from being down by 11 at the half to beat host Hatboro-Horsham by three points.
The Titans (4-1, 2-0), trailing 19-8 at the half, scored 15 points in each of the final two quarters, including a 15-6 third quarter to help CR South to come from behind and win.
The Hatters (2-2, 0-2) were led by Walter Kimble’s nine points. Zeke Sloan and Joe Russell each added six.
CB Southwas led by Chris Hones’ 11 points. Ryan Joerger added seven, while Alex Karras and Tommy Doyle each finished with six.
Council Rock South 6 2 15 15—38
Hatboro-Horsham 7 12 10 6—35
Souderton 56, Quakertown 32
Evan Slone led all scorers with 20 points in a decisive Souderton win over visiting Quakertown.
Tracy Simsick added 15 for the Indians (3-3, 2-0), while Steve Sosnowicz chipped in with seven. The Panthers (1-3, 0-2) were led by Griffin Schmidt’s 11 and Brian Rejniak’s nine.
Souderton outscored Quakertown by 13 points in the first quarter (15-2) and took a commanding 26-point lead into halftime, 33-7, allowing the Indians to clear their bench and cruise in the second half.
Quakertown 2 5 13 12—32
Souderton 15 18 12 11—56
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