Abington and Central Bucks West advanced to Monday’s title game of the SOL Tournament. Check out all of Saturday’s results. Check back to view Karen Discavage’s photos of the CB West/PW game.
By Scott Huff
Newtown- Abington will defend its Suburban One League tournament championship on Monday (2/8/16) at 7:30 pm at Bensalem High School when the SOL National Conference regular season champion Ghosts will face SOL Continental Conference runner-up Central Bucks West.
Abington (19-4) opened the tournament with a 59-51 victory over SOL Continental Conference champion Pennridge (19-4), while CB West (19-4) advanced to the SOL title game with a 53-46 overtime victory over SOL American Conference champion Plymouth Whitemarsh (20-2). Both games were played on a neutral floor at Council Rock North High School.
Abington Ghosts 59 – Pennridge Rams 51
Abington showcased three marvelous youngsters – sophomore Robbie Heath along with freshmen Eric Dixon and Lucas Monroe – as the Ghosts held off a more veteran Pennridge Ram team in the SOL semifinal tournament contest.
Dixon – the 6-foot, 6-inch gentle giant – helped Abington dominate the paint. The polished 14-year old that some have tagged the ‘Baby Barkley’ led all scorers with 20 points and collected a double-double with 11 rebounds.
“We told him right away at the beginning of the season that he was going to be a major focal point of our team,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “He might not have said 10 words all year – but he can handle it. We wanted to play Pennridge from the inside out – and he had to be a presence inside.”
“It was hard for us to adjust to their size,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “They must have out rebounded us 2 to 1 – and that makes it very hard to win games.”
Monroe – Dixon’s fellow ninth grade teammate – scored in twin digits with 10 points. But it was his defensive effort against standout Pennridge senior Dan Long that had the biggest impact on the game. Long – who has been a sensational scoring machine all season for the Rams – was held to a season-low six points.
“He (Monroe) played good defense to contain Danny,” said Behrens. “But they were also so big inside it was hard for him to get to the rim like he usually does. They could defend without fouling.”
Heath – the sharp shooting Ghost sophomore guard – was held scoreless in the first half. The Abington sniper gunned home 15 second half points to help the Ghost secure a trip to the championship final against CB West.
“Robbie played well for us last year and knows what to expect in big games like this,” said Grasty. “In the first half, we got the ball inside – and in the second half they began to collapse a little which gave Robbie some open shots outside.”
“In the first half I wanted to make sure that I got my teammates involved,” said Heath. “I was confident that in the second half – if I got the shots – I could make them.
“We got the lead – they came back – but I wasn’t too worried,” added Heath. “I thought we controlled most of the game.”
Abington held a 13-10 first quarter lead; Pennridge rallied for a 17-13 advantage; the game was tied at 20-20; and a 10-3 Abington run at the close of the first half gave the Ghosts a 31-23 halftime lead.
Pennridge played its best quarter in the third period and trailed by just 43-41 at the close of the period – and the Rams fought back to take a 45-43 lead with 6:45 left in the fourth period.
Senior Steve Lowry – team-high 16 points – and 6-7 senior Max Wagner fueled the Pennridge comeback. However, after the Rams took the 45-43 lead, they would not score for the next 5:34 and fell behind 53-45. Pennridge would get as close as 55-51 with 0:52 left after a Lowry trey – but could get no closer.
“I’m sure that the people who saw this game felt they saw a good basketball game,” said Behrens. “We battled, we had fun, and we competed against a team at a high level. We would have liked to play Monday night in the championship game, but this was still a great experience for this team.”
“We will go home and enjoy the win,” said Grasty. “I gave them a quiz the other day about the seedings for district playoffs – and the younger kids had no idea what we were talking about.
“They don’t care about home games and higher seeds,” added Grasty. “They just want to hang out with each other and play basketball games.”
And the next game will be a championship battle for those young Ghosts.
Abington Ghosts13 18 12 16 * 59
Pennridge Rams 10 13 18 10 * 51
Abington: Eric Dixon 20, Robbie Heath 15, Lucas Monroe 10, Joe O’Brien 10, Jack Steinman 2, and BJ James 2.
Pennridge: Steve Lowry 16, Max Wagner 12, Devon Balmer 8, Dan Long 6, Sean Yoder 4, Kyle Yoder 4, Ryan Cuthbert 3.
Central Bucks West Bucks 53 – Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 46 (Overtime)
Central Bucks West was down 39-31 with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter – but the senior-tested Bucks refused to lose as Bill Power scored seven of his game-high 16 points in the final moments to secure a 43-43 deadlock at the close of regulation.
“We have eight seniors on this team and we weren’t going to panic,” said Power. “Coach (Adam Sherman) told us to be patient – that we still had enough time – and we kept playing our game.
“We showed that we are a good team that is coming back after a couple of tough losses,” added Power. “To be able to beat a team as good as PW is great practice for districts.”
“The kids were upset that we weren’t able to catch Pennridge and win our division,” said coach Sherman. “The division slipped through their fingers – and the opportunity to play for a league title is awesome.
“We have 24 teams in the Suburban One League and to be the last one standing is quite an accomplishment,” added Sherman. “We’re looking forward to playing on Monday.”
The journey to the title game was a difficult one for the veteran Bucks. CB West was thought to be the underdog against a powerful Plymouth Whitemarsh team that had lost just a single game all season.
“We will take some positive things out of this loss,” said Plymouth Whitemarsh head coach Jim Donofrio. “Tonight was a good opportunity to play a good CB West team, which should be one of the eight top seeds in the district.
“We were playing to win the game, even though everyone knows my mindset about playing in this tournament,” added Donofrio who declined an invitation to play in this SOL championship tournament last season. “I’m an old dog who has been around for 25 years – and I have my ways.
“Maybe the approach that I took might have had an effect on how we played tonight,” continued Donofrio. “But I respect the league – and we did a lot of good things tonight.”
The best of the PW outings was the outside shooting of Kevin Ashenfelter who scored a team-high 14 points. Senior Xzavier Malone – who played limited minutes in the second half – also scored in twin digits with 10 points.
“Our goal is to win league championships – and we did that,” said Donofrio. “And then we want to go deep into districts and to compete in states.”
The game was tightly contested from the outset. The two teams were deadlocked at 11 after one period, and the Colonials took an 18-16 lead into halftime. PW was on top 32-29 heading into the final quarter when the Bucks rallied to knot the score.
For the Bucks, Luke Irons scored 13 points, and Erich Hohlenleitner also finished in double figures with 10. Connor Lynch added seven.
CB West was the only team in the tournament not to win a SOL league title – but a win over Abington on Monday will earn the Bucks the SOL tournament championship.
Stay tuned.
Central Bucks West Bucks 11 5 13 14 * 53
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 11 7 14 11 * 46
Central Bucks West: Bill Power 16, Luke Irons 13, Erich Hohlenleitner 10, Connor Lynch 7, Jake Reichwein 6, and Colin MacAdams 1.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Kevin Ashenfelter 14, Xzavier Malone 10, Ahmid Williams 6, Mike Lotito 6, Oakley Spencer 5, Grady Minick 3, Ahmad Williams 2.
BENSALEM 72, GLEN MILLS 70 (OT)
The Owls won an overtime thriller in Saturday’s regular season finale
Early on, the Owls appeared to be command, opening up a 20-14 lead after one quarter and taking a 32-25 lead into halftime. The two teams played to a draw in the third quarter, but the Battling Bulls outscored their visitors 20-13 in the final frame to knot the score, setting the stage for overtime that saw the Owls hold a 10-8 edge.
Brandon Vaughn and Rich Dean both turned in huge offensive efforts for the Owls. Vaughn scored 23 points to share game scoring honors while Dean added 20. Ward Roberts added 11 points, and Taco Douglas and Brian Dumney both contributed eight points.
The Owls (6-8 SOL) closed out the regular season with an 11-11 record.
Bensalem 20-12-17-13-10 72
Glen Mills 14-11-17-20-8 70
Bensalem: Brandon Vaughn 23, Rich Dean 20, Ward Roberts 11, Taco Douglas 8, Brian Quarterman 2, Brian Dumney 8.
Glen Mills: Wilcox 10, Thompson 8, Penn 4, Jordan 14, Sanders 23, Dantzler 2, West 6, Johnson 2, Williams 1.
TELECOM 67, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 48
Telecom had the better of play in Saturday’s PA-New York Challenge at Council Rock South, opening up a 21-13 lead after one quarter and extending that to 34-20 by halftime. Telecom outscored the Golden Hawks 33-28 in the second half on their way to the win.
Alex Nordenholt and Kevin Newbert led the Hawks with 11 points each. Nordenholt connected on three three-pointers. Ryan McNamee added seven points.
Council Rock South (5-9 SOL) closed out its season with a 7-15 record overall.
Telecom 21-13-16-17 67
Council Rock South 13-7-13-15 48
Telecom: J.Brown 15, B.Khan 10, D.Ballon 13, M.Smiley 15, JR Rodriguez 4, T.Smith 9, M.Guadulope 1.
Council Rock South: Austin Thomas 5, Tyler Teufel 2, Tabbar 2, Michael Krepich 2, Alex Nordenholt 11, Kevin Newbert 11, Ryan McNamee 7, Ryan Boyd 4, Kenny Brightcliffe 4.
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