Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. To view photos of the Hatboro-Horsham/Quakertown and Truman/Pennsbury games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh 68, Upper Dublin 54
Heading into a holiday break that will see PW take on three of the area’s perennial basketball powers, the Colonials were looking for a little momentum.
They got just that going up against one of their tougher tests in the conference, Upper Dublin.
PW received 18 points and eight rebounds from junior Xzavier Malone in a 14-point win over the visiting Cardinals.
Andre Mitchell added 18 points, seven assists and two steals, Cameron Johnson finished with four points, 16 rebounds and three steals, and Jimmy Murray added 13 points, two assists and three steals as PW remained undefeated at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.
“It was a very good game for us, and we knew Upper Dublin was a solid team,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “We were very respectful of the fact that they can easily come in here and win, so I like how our guys responded. We had to bring a lot of energy into the night and we did, so I’m happy about that.”
The first quarter was high scoring, as the two teams combined on 39 points with PW holding a three-point advantage (21-18). The Colonials led by eight at the half and went on to outscore Upper Dublin (4-3, 3-1) in each of the four quarters.
“We got out of the gate well, and it was high-scoring,” Donofrio said. “Cameron Johnson was a huge reason for that. He was all over the place offensively and defensively, and he’s that guy in the middle who is a three-year starter and a glue guy. He plays much bigger than he looks and because of him, we got second and third chances all night long, especially in the first quarter.
“We were just trying to make it an 85-foot game, which was good. We kind of kept the pressure on all night, and Upper Dublin is just such a good half-court team that we knew we had to prepare for them and concentrate.”
Mike Lotito added 12 points and four rebounds for the Colonials, who will now face Friends’ Central, Chester and George Washington before returning back after winter break to continue the conference schedule.
“This is a heck of a run for us right now,” Donofrio exclaimed. “This is the true test. We’ll see what we’re all about after we get back on Jan. 3. We have three tough games over the break with three of the most respected teams in the area.”
Upper Dublin was led by Curtez Goff’s 13 points. Simeon Fryer and John Barrett added 12 and 11, respectively, for the Cardinals.
Upper Dublin 18 11 13 12—54
Plymouth Whitemarsh21 16 15 16—68
Springfield 44, Upper Moreland 23
With a brand new head coach for the first time in a very long time, Upper Moreland was looking for its first conference win of the year.
The Bears got that against Springfield on the Spartans’ home floor with Brendan O’Donnell’s 20 points leading the way for Upper Moreland.
Upper Moreland (4-4-, 1-3) saw O’Donnell start knocking down three-pointers in the second half after the two teams played to an extremely futile first half offensively.
Upper Moreland led just 13-9 at the intermission and held a five-point lead going into the fourth quarter (23-18) before completely dominating the floor in the final period.
“It feels good,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “We’ve been battling and going along, but it feels good to get the first conference win and move forward in the next few weeks with the guys.”
Springfield, which had no player with more than six points, fell to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in conference play.
“We played our tempo and our style and they made a nice little run in the third, but we just continued to fight and fight and fight,” said Heiland, who noted it was a full-time defensive effort. “Eventually, we pulled away.”
Upper Moreland got to the foul line early in the fourth and eventually took a 16-point advantage in the final eight minutes to completely put the game out of reach.
“Brendan was fantastic tonight and he did a nice job of controlling the pace of play,” Heiland said. “He’s our point guard and he had the opportunities to knock down shots and he knocked them down. He kind of propelled us with his threes, and once he started hitting shots, our other shooters started knocking down theirs.”
Senior James Martin also had a big night for the Bears, scoring 18 points.
Upper Moreland 4 9 10 21—44
Springfield 3 6 9 5—23
National Conference
William Tennent 54, Council Rock South 51 (OT)
William Tennent went on the road, faced a conference team, came from behind, forced overtime and came out with the win. That was the story last Friday when the Panthers visited Neshaminy.
But it also was the same exact story on Tuesday when the Panthers visited Council Rock South and came out on top in overtime to earn their second straight exciting victory.
To add to the coincidental storylines, it was the second straight game in which John Ryan scored the game-tying points and the second time in as many games that saw a Tennent player do all of his damage in the overtime period.
This time, it was Kevin Simonson, who scored all seven of his points in overtime.
“Kevin was out the last few games with a foot injury, and this was the first time he had played in 11 days. He just got out of the boot yesterday,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “Again, it was a real nice win on the road, and we were really happy with that.
“We knew (Matt) Stewart was a really good player, and they had a couple good wins under their belt and we were just happy to come away with it.”
Tennent trailed by eight points after one quarter and again trailed entering the fourth quarter, this time 33-30 before eventually tying things up, but Mulville said that his team is just very resilient.
“I think some of our guys are getting comfortable in their roles, and they really support and believe in each other,” he said. “They make things a lot easier for us when we’re in those situations. I think these guys are really developing a sense of trust with each other.”
After Tennent tied the game up at 42-42 with 1:45 remaining thanks to a pair of free throws from Ryan, the Panthers called timeout and switched up the defense.
CR South, which is now 3-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play, held for the final shot, but Tennent’s defense stopped the Hawks from getting anything.
Eventually, a 12-point overtime showing saw Tennent come (3-5, 2-2) come out on top.
“Different guys stepping up is what’s happening,” Mulville said. “These guys (our first-year varsity players) are really doing a great job, and I think that’s the great thing about this group. They’re really trying to grow together as a team. I believe they’re putting forth an incredible effort trying to get their team to win.”
Ryan finished with 21 points to lead the Panthers. Kyle Lewicki added 10 for Tennent. Stewart led all scorers with 25 (four three-pointers), while Kevin Newbert and Austin Thomas finished with nine and eight, respectively.
William Tennent 3 16 11 12 12—54
Council Rock South 11 6 16 9 9—51
Pennsbury 60, Harry S. Truman 42
Pennsbury improved to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play with a convincing win over host Harry S. Truman.
Derrick Woods led the way for the Falcons with 22 points, while Cameron Jones and Mekhi Bryant each scored 10. Pennsbury trailed 14-12 after one quarter, but a monster second quarter saw the Falcons go into the half up by 11, on top 33-22. In the third, Pennsbury upped its lead to 19
Truman (3-5, 1-3) was led by Tramere Adams, who finished with 14 points in the losing effort.
Pennsbury 12 21 16 11—60
Harry S. Truman 14 8 8 12—42
Abington 55, Bensalem 34
Abington remained undefeated in conference play following its 21-point win against host Bensalem.
The Ghosts outscored the Owls (1-7, 0-4) in every quarter, leading by five after one quarter and by seven (25-18) at the half.
Amir Hinton led the Ghosts (7-1, 4-0) with 16 points, while Matt Penecale added 12. Big man Robby Heath chipped in with six. Bensalem was led by Nick Mulvey and Keith Howard, who finished with 10 and eight, respectively.
Abington 13 10 17 15—55
Bensalem 8 8 10 8—34
Continental Conference
Pennridge 49, Souderton 32
Heading into the holiday break, Pennridge is the lone undefeated team remaining in Continental Conference play.
The Rams followed a 20-point first half in combined scoring – they led 11-9 – with a huge second half, outscoring the Indians 38-23 in the final two quarters to come out with the big road win against Souderton, which was previously undefeated in the conference.
Zach Muredda led the way for the Rams (6-1, 4-0) with 22 points, while Dan Long added 14 points.
“It’s nice going into the New Year guaranteed at least being in first place,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “We pick up again on Jan. 6 after two non-league games, and it’s kind of a nice feeling that you start the new year in first place, but that’ll be short lived. It starts up – Tuesday, Friday; Tuesday, Friday – and it’s really a rat race down the stretch. I think in our league, it’s not like teams couldn’t come out and beat us. I think anybody can beat anybody in this league.”
In what was the third unusually high-scoring fourth quarter for both teams in a Pennridge game this year, it was Pennridge – which led 24-14 after three quarters – coming out with 25 points.
The Indians, who managed only 14 points in the opening 24 minutes, scored 18 in the final eight, but it was too little, too late.
“I think what has happened is that we’ve gotten up, and teams have to go out and play us,” Behrens said. “We have all guards and no guys over 6-1, and we wanted to play up-tempo. They did a good job to zone us in the first half, but we picked up the tempo and turned it into the full-court war.”
Pennridge shot very well from the line in the fourth quarter, going 11-for-13 after some abysmal free throw shooting in the first three quarters.
Defensively, Pennridge was led by Joe Unangst, who also hit a three-pointer at the end of the third to put the Rams up by 10.
“Joe was tremendous on defense tonight,” Behrens said. “We put the game out of reach and made Souderton get out of their zone and go to man. That really helped us at the start of the fourth quarter. Souderton is a big, long matchup problem for us, so when they had to come up and really man us up, we were able to run our offense and play to our advantage, which is using a little bit more speed and quickness.”
Evan Slone led Souderton (4-4, 3-1) with 16 points, and Tracy Simsick added seven. The Indians only got to the line five times all game.
Pennridge 5 6 13 25—49
Souderton 5 4 5 18—32
Central Bucks South 55, Central Bucks East 33
Central Bucks South rolled to a convincing win over Central Bucks East, defeating the visiting Patriots by 22 points.
CB South, which is now 5-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play, was led by Tommy Doyle and Tim Waddington, both of whom finished with 11 points. Josh Brodie added 10 while Alex Karras finished with eight.
Matt Pattyson led CB East (4-5, 0-4) with nine, while Justin O’Neil added nine.
After a fairly even first quarter that saw the Titans hold a 16-15 edge, CB South took a six-point lead into the half (23-17) before increasing its lead to double digits after three quarters (39-24). The Titans closed things easily with a huge fourth quarter, outscoring the Patriots by 11.
Central Bucks East 15 2 7 9—33
Central Bucks South 16 7 12 20—55
Central Bucks West 60, North Penn 49
Central Bucks West received 20 points from Cal Reichwein – which included four shots from beyond the arc – in its win over visiting North Penn. Owen Cooney and Luke Irons each added eight points for CB West (6-2, 2-2). Jim McCusker connected on a pair of threes and was good for nine points for the Bucks.
CB West took a 17-12 lead into the second quarter and led 34-27 at the intermission. The Bucks upped their lead to double digits at the end of three quarters (45-35) and held a 15-14 edge in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Knights (4-5, 2-2) in all four quarters.
Jared Melone and Kyle Hulmes each scored 15 points for North Penn.
North Penn 12 15 8 14—49
Central Bucks West 17 17 11 15—60
Hatboro-Horsham 56, Quakertown 43
Hatboro-Horsham was almost automatic at the free throw line against Quakertown, knocking down 20 of 23 free throws en route to a big over the visiting Panthers.
The Hatters (5-2, 2-2) were led by Zeke Sloan’s 19 points. Brian McEachern added 16 while Walt Kimble finished with 14.
Quakertown (2-4, 0-4) was led by Kevin Norvaisis and Griffin Schmidt, who finished with 12 and 11, respectively. Jake Perrine and Brian Rejniak each scored eight.
The Hatters went into the fourth quarter up by only three (38-35), but a huge final eight minutes – they outscored the Panthers 18-8 – helped propel Hatboro-Horsham to the double-digit victory.
Quakertown 8 11 16 8—43
Hatboro-Horsham 8 15 15 18—56
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