Scott Huff previews the District One quarterfinal basketball games featuring SOL boys’ basketball teams.
By Scott Huff
And the beat goes on…
PIAA Quad-A District One Quarterfinals
Friday – February 20, 2015
# 6 Abington Ghosts (23-3) @ # 3 Pennridge Rams (22-3)
Season Resume:
Abington: The Ghosts finished the regular season as the champion of the Suburban One League National Conference. The signature wins this year came against Pennsbury (59-58), Pennsbury (52-50), and Central Bucks West (58-49).
Pennridge: The Rams finished the regular season as the champion of the Suburban One League Continental Conference. The signature wins this year came against Central Bucks West (69-59), Boyertown (68-52), and Souderton (58-56).
Playoff Resume:
Abington: The Ghosts advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One quarterfinals with a thrilling 55-47 overtime victory over # 11 Chester. Amir Hinton fueled the Abington offense with a game-high 19 points, while Matt Penecale scored in double digits with 17 points. Sophomore Robbie Heath scored nine points for the winners.
Chester Clippers 10 10 15 8 4 – 47
Abington Ghosts 16 9 10 8 12 – 55
Abington opened the district playoffs with a 59-58 victory over # 27 North Penn. Hinton paced the Ghost scoring with a game-high 19 points, while Penecale scored in twin digits with 17 points. Brendan Gallagher scored eight points for the winners.
Pennridge: The Rams advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One quarterfinals with a 53-47 victory over # 14 Coatesville. Danny Long scored a team-high 15 points to fuel the Pennridge offense, while sophomore Ryan Cuthbert was clutch, scoring 13 points. Zach Murreda (11) and Joey Molettiere (10) each scored in double figures for the Rams.
Coatesville Red Raiders 13 7 10 17 – 47
Pennridge Rams 7 14 15 17 – 53
Pennridge opened the district playoffs with a 78-54 victory over # 30 Spring-Ford. Long paced the Ram scoring with a 25-point scoring performance, while Murreda registered a 23-point effort. Joe Unangst scored eight points and Molettiere added 7 points for the winners.
Abington Head Coach Charles Grasty says: “Pennridge is a team that plays with a great deal of chemistry. They play hard – shoot the ball well – share the ball very well – and don’t take any plays off. They are a lot like us in that they don’t have one player that you can focus on. We were able to get by Chester – and that was huge. The kids were super excited to beat a program with that history. Our goal is to win the districts – and Chester stopped us the last couple of years. We won a conference championship – won the Suburban One League championship – and we made it to states. Matt (Penecale) and Amir (Hinton) both know what it takes to win, and we will need that experience if we want to beat Pennridge at their place and get a chance for a district championship.”
Pennridge Head Coach Dean Behrens says: “The players realize that we are only 32 minutes away from getting to play at Temple in the semifinals – and this is a team that really likes to play under the bright lights. Abington plays the game with a lot of chemistry and has a team that knows their roles and embraces what they have to do to win games – take charges, rebound, play defense – whatever it takes. We are going to have to play extremely well if we are going to beat them – (Matt) Penecale is a player that makes everyone on his team better. Some people always want to bring up what we can’t do – but I know that there are a lot of good things that we can do.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # 2 Methacton versus # 7 Pennsbury game in the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals at Temple University @ 6 pm next Tuesday (2/24/15).
The Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the Methacton-Pennsbury in a seeding game at a site and time to be determined.
# 12 Lower Merion Aces (16-9) @ # 4 Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (22-2)
Season Resume:
Lower Merion: The Aces finished the regular season as the second place finisher in the Central League. The signature wins this year came against Abington (63-57), Ridley (53-42), and Penncrest (54-42).
Plymouth Whitemarsh: The Colonials finished the regular season as the champion of the Suburban One League American Conference. The signature wins this year came against Chester (72-70), Washington (67-64), and Friends Central (58-55).
Playoff Resume:
Lower Merion: The Aces advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One quarterfinals with a 47-36 win over # 28 Penncrest. Jule Brown led Lower Merion with a game-high 14 points – while Corey Sherman (9), Steve Pendleton (9), and Asher Barry (8) also scored important points.
Penncrest Lions 8 4 15 9 – 36
Lower Merion Aces 9 10 8 20 – 47
Lower Merion opened the district playoffs with a 38-37 victory over # 21 Council Rock North. Brown (9), Pendleton (9), Barry (8), and Sherman (8) scored in the balanced Aces attack.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: The Colonials advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One quarterfinals with a 49-35 victory over # 20 Springfield (Delco). Andre Mitchell scored a game-high 15 points to pace the PW attack, while Devon Monteiro-Gray (10) and Jimmy Murray (10) also scored in double digits. Xzavier Malone added seven points for the winners.
Springfield Cougars 7 4 15 9 – 35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 19 8 7 15 – 49
Plymouth Whitemarsh opened the district playoffs with a 73-33 victory over # 29 Cheltenham. Mitchell fueled the Colonial offense with a 29-point performance, while Murray (12) and Malone (12) also scored in double figures.
Plymouth Whitemarsh Head Coach Jim Donofrio says: “Lower Merion is a program that has always been one of the best programs in the district. Both Lower Merion and us have a tradition of being successful and the two programs have accomplished a lot in their history. It seems like somewhere along the way we always meet them in the postseason. It is going to be a player’s game – and all we can do is what we do best. Our pace is a pace that most teams don’t see during the season, and we have to make sure that is how we play the game. We will be playing our third home game of the playoffs – and we have to take advantage of that. The team that owns the moment is going to win the game.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # 1 Conestoga versus # 9 Ridley game in the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals at Temple University @ 7:30 pm next Tuesday (2/24/15).
The Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the Conestoga-Ridley game in a seeding game at a site and time to be determined.
PIAA Quad-A District One Quarterfinals
Saturday – February 21, 2015
# 7 Pennsbury Falcons (21-5) @ # 2 Methacton Warriors (23-3)
Season Resume:
Pennsbury: The Falcons finished the regular season as the second place finisher in the Suburban One League National Conference. The signature wins this year came against Lower Merion (53-47), Math, Civics and Sciences (63-61), and Pennridge (78-67).
Methacton: The Warriors finished the regular season as the champion of the Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division. The signature wins this year came against Central Bucks West (58-47), Souderton (55-36), and Spring-Ford (63-53).
Playoff Resume:
Pennsbury: The Falcons advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 55-41 victory over # 10 Downingtown West. Mekhi Bryant scored a team-high 20 points for Pennsbury, while Cameron Jones (14) and Derrick Woods (11) also scored in double figures.
Downingtown West 7 6 12 16 – 41
Pennsbury Falcons 18 4 19 14 – 55
Pennsbury opened the district playoffs with a 70-53 victory over # 26 Central Bucks South. Woods had a monster game and scored a game-high 36 points, while Jones scored in twin digits with 15 points. Bryant added eight points for the winners.
Methacton: The Warriors advanced to the PIAA Quad-A District One semifinals with a 64-54 victory over # 15 Phoenixville. Chris McCarthy and Sean Mann each scored 17 points to fuel the Methacton offense, while Tom Dyer scored in double digits with 16 points. TJ Tornetta added nine points for the winners.
Phoenixville Phantoms 13 10 13 18 – 54
Methacton Warriors 19 13 16 16 – 64
Methacton opened the district playoffs with a 76-60 victory over # 31 Marple-Newtown. Justin Ardman scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Warrior offense, while Dyer (20), McCarthy (18), and Mann (15) also scored in twin digits for the winners.
Pennsbury Head Coach Bill Coleman says: “It might be a good thing for us to have the extra day of practice. Methacton is an excellent team that plays team basketball and gets contributions from players one to eight. They are very athletic and all of them seem to be able to shoot the basketball. They play a hard man-to-man defense and it is going to be a challenge for us. Mekhi (Bryant), Cameron (Jones), and Derrick (Woods) know what it takes to get deep into the playoffs. Their experience should help the younger players. They understand you have to both give effort and focus on detail. We want the district title – but we also know that we have to take it one game at a time.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # 3 Pennridge versus # 6 Abington game in a PIAA Quad-A District One semifinal game to be played at Temple University next Tuesday (2/24/15) @ 6 pm.
The Loser Gets: The loser of this game will play the loser of the Pennridge-Abington game in a district seeding game to be played at a site and time to be determined.
PIAA Class AAA District One Quarterfinals
Saturday – February 21, 2015
# 8 Upper Moreland Golden Bears (7-15) @ # 1 Octorara Indians (22-3)
Season Resume:
Upper Moreland: The Golden Bears finished as the sixth place finisher in the Suburban One League American Conference. The signature wins this year came against Truman (48-40), William Tennent (45-37), and Upper Merion (40-37).
Octorara: The Indians finished the season as the champion of the Ches-Mont League American Conference. The signature wins this year came against Coatesville (74-70), Great Valley (60-47), and Oxford (74-69).
Players To Watch:
Upper Moreland: James Martin, Brendan O’Donnell, and Casey Decker.
Octorara: Levi Washington, Tarojae Brake, and Jackson Ray.
Upper Moreland Head Coach Matt Heiland says: “We knew what we were getting into when we were paired with Octorara. If they were a Quad-A school – they would have been the # 1 seed. Our expectations are to give our seniors another game and get some playoff experience for our younger players. Ryan Coyle is a freshman that will be starting a playoff game and Casey Decker is a sophomore who has also started every game for us this season. We have not been playing great lately, but we have competed with some very good Quad-A teams in our league like Norristown, Cheltenham, Upper Dublin, and Wissahickon. And we were leading Plymouth Whitemarsh by seven points in the first half – and PW is one of the highest ranked teams in the state. We really believe that we can play with anyone.”
The Winner Gets: The winner of this game will play the winner of the # Pottsgrove # 5 Holy Ghost Prep game next Wednesday (2/25) @ Plymouth Whitemarsh High School @ 7:30 pm in the PIAA Class AAA District One semifinals.
The Loser Gets: Season over.
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