Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. To view photos of the Souderton/Truman game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
SOUDERTON 45, WISSAHICKON 40
By Scott Huff
Souderton wanted to prove that its 48-45 victory over previously unbeaten Father Judge in the Wissahickon Holiday Tournament opener was not a fluke – and the Indians did just that by holding on to a 45-40 victory over host Wissahickon in the tournament final.
“We wanted to prove to ourselves that we could beat two really good teams in this tournament,” said Souderton senior Evan Slone, who earned the MVP of the tournament. “It seems like we beat teams we were supposed to beat this year – but then we would lose to the teams people thought were better than us.”
“We need to beat the tough teams – and both Father Judge and Wissahickon are tough teams,” agreed Souderton head coach Pete Chimera. “There is no question that this is going to make us a better team down the road.”
That road to victory over the Trojans proved to be a bumpy one as Wissahickon rallied back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit (35-24) to knot the score at 38-38 with 2:14 left in the contest.
“I am very proud of the way the players didn’t stop fighting,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson. “We didn’t win the game, but we gave ourselves a chance to win the game at the end.
“We let them dictate how the game was being played for most of the game,” added Wilson. “We played their style of basketball, and they’re good at it.”
The Souderton style of basketball this season has been slow and deliberate on offense – and hard nosed on defense.
“We take a lot of pride in the way we play defense,” said Slone who dominated the paint defensively and also led both teams in rebounds. “For us, it is not all about scoring, it is about playing defense. Defense wins games.”
Slone was impressive all afternoon defensively – and also contributed a game-high 15 points. He was clutch down the stretch going 4-for-4 in the final two minutes of the game from the free throw line to seal the win for the Indians.
“Slone is very tough – and was a physical presence that we had trouble dealing with,” said Wilson. “He was voted the MVP – and he deserved to be the MVP.”
“Evan has tremendous today – and has been tremendous all season,” said Chimera. “Everyone is going after him – trying to be physical, and he has worked hard to fight through that.
“This is a game that we should have been able to close out earlier,” added Chimera. “But we didn’t handle the pressure as well as we might have and that let them back in the game, but Ty Salone did a nice job of handling the pressure at the end of the game and that was big.”
Wissahickon was relentless at the outset of the fourth period. In a three-minute span – senior Todd Bentley drained a trio of three-pointers from beyond the arc – and junior Tre Holcomb added an old-fashioned three-point play and a field goal to spark to 14-3 Trojan run to force the 38-all deadlock.
“We learned a lot about our team even though we lost,” said Wilson. “When we played our style we played well – and we know we have players that are capable of making plays.”
But in this 2014 Wissahickon Holiday Tournament championship game – it was Souderton that made the most plays.
Wissahickon Trojans 9 6 9 16 * 40
Souderton Indians 11 9 13 12 * 45
Wissahickon: Todd Bentley 14; Tre Holcomb 5; Stephen Driscoll 7; Brandon Pace 4; Ron Brundage 4; Zach Reiner 2; Michael Howard 4.
Souderton: Evan Slone 15; Ty Salone 10; Ben Wonderling 1; Tracy Simsick 12; Tim Markow 4; Steve Sosnowicz 3.
PENNRIDGE RAMS 68, BOYERTOWN BEARS 52
Pennridge won its third straight Boyertown Bear Christmas Tournament with a comfortable 16-point victory over the host Bears.
“We won the game without myself coaching and without Zach (Muredda) on the court,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “There was a problem in the (79-70) win over Governor Mifflin and we both had to sit out a game.
“(Senior) Joey Molettiere stepped up big time for us,” added Behrens. “He scored 32 points and took control of the game.”
Molettiere – who buried three three-pointers – was supported by junior Dan Long who scored 19 points for the Rams. Junior Steve Lowry added eight points, senior Joe Unangst tallied six points, and sophomore Kyle Yoder rounded out the scoring with three points.
Pennridge – which improved its overall record to 8-1 – broke open a tight game with a 20-point third period, turning a 30-25 halftime lead into a 50-35 advantage.
“This was a very nice win for us concerning the circumstances,” said Behrens. “We get Christopher Dock next week – and then we get right back into our league schedule.”
Pennridge Rams 19 11 20 18 * 68
Boyertown Bears 10 15 10 17 * 52
Pennridge (68) – Joe Molettiere 32, Dan Long 19, Steve Lowry 8, Joe Unangst 6, Kyle Yoder 3.
Boyertown (52) – Christian Smith 5, Eric Spohn 2, Kevin McAteer 4, Dave Kreis 2, Jerry Kapp 13, Ben Longacre 15, Colton Moyer 4, Kyle Dennin 5, Rob Merwarth 2.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 58, FRIENDS CENTRAL 55
Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-0) remained unbeaten for the season with an impressive victory over Friends Central (9-4).
“When you play against a Friends Central and follow that with a game against Chester on Monday – you learn a lot about your basketball team,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “I love coaching this basketball team, but sometimes we look like veterans and other times we look like babies.”
The Colonials had their big boy pants on in their win over Friends Central.
They led 15-13 after one quarter only to watch Friends Central rally take a 24-22 lead into the halftime intermission. The Colonials used a 16-8 third quarter to go on top 38-32 and then held off Friends Central in the fourth quarter.
Jimmy Murray was spectacular with a 24-point scoring effort while Andre Mitchell also was an effective offensive weapon with 21 points. Xzavier Malone scored in double digits with 10 points, while Mike Lotito rounded out the scoring with three points.
“It was by far Jimmy’s best game of the year,” said Donofrio. “Last year so much of the offense was centered around him, and now he has to blend his game with three or four others. It was nice to see him play big on the big stage.
“We have 24 hours to take a breath before Chester on Monday,” added Donofrio. “Sometimes I wonder who makes this schedule.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 15 7 16 20 * 58
Friends Central 13 11 8 23 * 55
ST. JOE PREP HAWKS 62, ABINGTON GHOSTS 45
Abington was more competitive than the final score would indicate in the Ghost loss to St. Joe Prep in the opening round game of the Kobe Bryant Classic at Lower Merion High School.
“We really didn’t shoot all that well, and we were still within five points most of the fourth period,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “We battled back from a poor second period, but we never could get all the way back into the game.
“You never like to lose, but we were not all that disappointed with the loss,” added Grasty. “Last year we were 7-2 at this point of the season – and right now we are 7-2. We went on to have a pretty good season, and we hope that can happen again this year.
“When you play good teams – and St. Joe Prep is a good team – you have to get better,” continued Grasty. “We want to challenge this team – and we accepted that challenge.”
The Ghosts had three players reach double figures in the loss to the Hawks. Robby Heath scored a team-high 15 points, while Amir Hinton (12) and Matt Penecale (11) also scored in twin digits.
Abington will face Lower Merion in the consolation game on Monday at Lower Merion. Lower Merion lost to Parkland 70-49.
Abington Ghosts 9 5 19 12 * 45
St. Joe Prep Hawks 12 13 17 20 * 62
UPPER DUBLIN 63, HARRITON 53
Simeon Fryer scored 23 points to lead the Flying Cardinals to the big win in the opening round of the Great Valley Holiday Tournament. Curtez Goff added 11 while Luke Teesdale added eight.
The Flying Cardinals led 11-10 at the end of one quarter and took a 27-22 lead into halftime but blew the game open with a 17-9 third quarter tear.
“In the first 30 seconds of the second half, we had two quick plays, and we scored four points real quick,” coach Josh Adelman. “Simeon got a layup – it may have been him with two straight. In the third quarter, he had nine points, and it really kind of snowballed from there, and we just started to hit on all cylinders.”
Also key to the win was the superb defensive effort of senior Matt Thompson on Harriton standout Jordan Wright. The Rams’ point guard finished with 15 points, but three of those came on a trey as time expired in the game.
“Matt really did a great job,” Adelman said. “He stuck with him. We had scouted them pretty heavily, and he was their go-to guy. He’s a really great ball handler, very quick, and Matt stuck right with him.
“That was his main job, and he still scored five points, and he had a three in the third quarter that gave us a nice little cushion.”
The Flying Cardinals (5-3) will face Great Valley in Monday’s title game at 7:30 p.m.
Upper Dublin 11-16-17-19 63
Harriton 10-12-9-21 53
Upper Dublin (63) – Simeon Fryer 23, Curtez Goff 11, Luke Teesdale 8, Matt Thompson 5, John Barrett 5, Ryan Stover 5, Will Derr 2, Gary Fields 2, Phil Santerion 2.
QUAKERTOWN PANTHERS 64, NORTHAMPTON 50
Quakertown advanced to the finals of the Salisbury Holiday Tournament with a nice opening round victory.
The Panthers outscored Northampton in each of the four periods to cruise to the victory. They led by just one after one quarter (18-17) and then outscored Northampton 27-18 in the second and third periods to break open a close game, turning a 33-26 halftime lead into a 45-35 advantage.
Junior Griffin Schmidt had a magnificent contest with a game-high 24 points. Senior Jake Perrine also registered an outstanding performance with a 21-point scoring effort, which included three three-pointers.
Quakertown will meet host Salisbury in the tournament final on Monday (12/29) with a scheduled 7:30 pm tip off.
Quakertown 18 15 12 19 * 64
Northampton 17 9 9 15 * 50
Quakertown (64) – Griffin Schmidt 24, Jake Perrine 21, Brian Rejniak 5, Kevin Norvaisas 9, Ryan Howard 3, Lewis 2.
Northampton (50) – Azar 3, Ellwood 15, Heffelfinger 11, Decker 2, Hahn 3, McNeil 3, Oplinger 13.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 62, SPRING-FORD 30
The Indians took an early lead and never looked back in Saturday’s non-league game against the visiting Rams. They led 15-6 at the end of one quarter – connecting on three three-pointers (two from Drew Glenn), and they took a 27-14 lead into halftime. Steve Nowmos led the Indians with eight of his team-high 14 points in the half.
If there were any doubts about the outcome, those doubts were put to rest in a third quarter that saw the Indians outscore the Rams 23-9 to go into the final quarter with a 50-23 lead. Nowmos added six points in the quarter while Riley Thompson and Will Desautelle each had five.
“I think we got a little fortunate in the first half,” coach Derek Wright said. “They missed some shots that they might have wanted back, but we had a decent lead at halftime.
“In the third quarter, we really imposed our will on them defensively and were able to convert those stops into baskets and build a pretty big lead in the third quarter.”
In addition to scoring 14 points, Nowmos also had six rebounds. Margolis also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with six assists, and Desautelle added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. Thompson had eight points, and Glenn had nine.
“Steve Nowmos and Will Desautelle did a really nice job in the paint for us,” Wright said. “They both rebounded really well.
“Steve was real aggressive and controlled the paint at both ends. Matt Margolis did a nice job sharing the ball. It was a good team win. Everybody played their part.”
The Indians (5-1, 3-1 SOL) will return to action on Monday when they will face Central Bucks South in the opening round of their own Athletes Helping Athletes Tournament.
Spring-Ford 6-8-9-7 30
Council Rock North 15-12-23-23 62
Spring-Ford (30) – Cam Reid 6, Liam Matthes 1, Matt Gnias 10, Jake Freedman 4, Ryan Corcoran 3, Brent Corcoran 4, Charles Scalies 2.
Council Rock North (62) – Steve Nowmos 14, David Hills 4, Matt Chandlee 2, Riley Thompson 8, Matt Baniewicz 2, Will Desautelle 9, Noah Ehlin 2, Drew Glenn 9, Matt Margolis 10, Tyler Nowmos 2.
FATHER JUDGE 61, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 52
The Golden Hawks got off to a slow start, scoring just 14 points in the opening half and falling behind 33-14. They recuperated to score 38 in the second half but never could make up the ground they had lost in the first two quarters.
Alex Nordenholt led a balanced attack with 12 points, which included 10 points in the fourth quarter. Kevin Newbert added eight points while Mike Agasar, Austin Thomas and Mike Stock each chipped in with seven points. Dan Buchnik had six.
The Golden Hawks take a 3-5 record into the New Year (2-2 overall).
Council Rock South 9-5-18-20 52
Father Judge 15-18-8-20 61
Council Rock South (52) – Mike Agasar 7, Matt Stewart 5, Austin Thomas 7, Kevin Newbert 8, Mike Stock 7, Dan Buchnik 6, Alex Nordenholt 12.
Father Judge (61) – Quincy Reed 8, Marc Rodriguez 7, Will Brazukas 8, Justin Fleming 10, Aaron Higgins 14, Nick Nowack 7, Pat Mulville 7.
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