Jarrad Saffren recaps Wednesday’s SOL boys’ basketball action. CR North/CB South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of action photos.
By Jarrad Saffren
Nineteen Suburban One League boys basketball teams played nonleague, holiday tournament games Wednesday night.
Ten won. Nine lost.
The results and recaps are below.
Dick Dougherty Holiday Tournament
Bensalem 74, Ben Franklin 66
Bensalem won its second straight game and the Dick Dougherty Holiday Tournament title on its home floor.
Ward Roberts (15), Kris Shields (13) and Brian Quarterman (11) combined for 39 points for the Owls. Roberts, who was named tournament MVP, also led them in scoring Tuesday night, in a 51-43 semifinal win over Bristol.
Bensalem’s Nadir Smith added nine points Wednesday night. Isaiah Carpenter and Isaiah Murray both had eight.
Nine Owls scored overall.
“It was such a team effort. There were a lot of great contributors to the game tonight,” Bensalem coach Mike McCabe said.
The key to the win?
“Energy from the get-go that we didn’t have last night in the beginning of the game,” McCabe said. “It was back and forth. We would punch them, they would punch us. They made some runs, and then we would make a run. We kind of opened the floor up and got a lot of easy baskets, which really helped us.
“It was a great game, and you know what, it was nice because we won it last year, so the kids kept talking about repeat, repeat. My thing to them is don’t talk about the game, just go out and play the game. Talk with your game, and I thought we did that tonight. We defended when we had to and we scored when we had to.”
Bensalem (5-3, 1-2 SOL) takes on Central Bucks South Tuesday night at seven. Then it continues league play Friday night against Council Rock South.
“We got a real tough schedule coming now, so it was nice to get two (wins) over these last two days,” McCabe said. “We definitely have a lot of work to do and we know it.”
Richard Dean—Bensalem’s leading scorer—should return for Tuesday night’s game. He missed Bensalem’s last three games.
“That’s what the plan is right now,” McCabe said. “A lot of people stepped up, and that’s what you need to happen when great players get hurt.”
Bensalem 16-20-17-21 74
Ben Franklin 14-19-18-15 66
Bensalem (74) – Ward Roberts 15, Keith Parrish 5, Isaiah Murray 8, Brian Quarterman 11, Nadir Smith 9, Kris Shields 13, Nick Fossile 2, Isaiah Carpenter 8, Carolos Gonzalez 3
Ben Franklin (66) – Foxworth 8, night 2, Chandler 20, Whaley 13, White 2, M.Davis 8, Tyson 9, K. Davis 4
William Tennent Classic
William Tennent 46, Phil-Mont Christian 34
The Panthers won their second straight game and improved to 2-5.
They also won the title of the William Tennent Classic.
William Tennent trailed by three after one quarter. But Tennent won the second quarter 15-0 and never trailed again.
“I think they had a pretty good scouting report on us. They came out and did a nice job against our half-court trap,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “In the second quarter, we changed defenses to our man-to-man, played up a little bit and put pressure on them. We got some easy turnovers and transition points off the steals.”
Markeith Alford-Baxter (12) and David West (11) combined for 23 points for Tennent. West made three threes. “West has been solid for us all year,” Mulville said. “He’s come off the bench, although he did start the last two games, and really, he just played with pretty good poise for a kid who’s a sophomore and really getting his first taste of varsity experience.”
Jorge Soto added eight points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
“He just brings a ton of energy every day. He brings it to practice, to games,” Mulville said. “We were talking after the game: Everybody makes mistakes, but it seems Jorge’s mistakes are more because he’s hustling, not because he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing. He’s just trying to make a play.”
Joe Shannon corralled seven boards. Pat McCauley and Brendan Carter each had three assists.
Soto and West were named to the all-tournament team.
Mulville was relieved to earn wins after an 0-5 start.
“I think it puts us on a good note going into the new year, and hopefully it can carry some momentum for us going into Tuesday,” the Panthers’ coach said.
William Tennent (2-5, 0-2 SOL) takes on Central Bucks East Tuesday night at seven. Then it plays Pennridge Friday night at seven.
Both are road games.
“We still have to go out and have two really good practices and get ready for CB East. Both are tough places to play,” Mulville said. “We just have to keep getting better. We’ve done some things better, so it was nice to finally get a couple of wins because we’re doing things right. But we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
William Tennent 9-15-10-12 46
Phil-Mont Christian 12-0-8-14 34
William Tennent (46) – Joe Shannon 4, Matt Berndlmaier 3, Pat McCauley 2, Brendan Carter 2, Markeith Alford-Baxter 12, Jorge Soto 8, Dave West 11, David Gassanova 4
Phil-Mont (34) – Shafqat 7, Tipton 8, DelPeer 2, Daniel Olinger 15, Schneider 2
Robert Hopf Memorial Tournament
Upper Moreland 50, Jenkintown 44
Upper Moreland trailed 19-18 at halftime but won the second half 32-25 en route to the tournament title.
“We’re familiar with Jenkintown, and they are familiar with us,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “It was a back and forth battle in the first half. They hit some shots early.”
Heiland reassured his players at halftime.
“I told them we were okay. We missed four wide open layups, and we were 0-for-3 from the foul line in the first half. I said, ‘You know what, that’s 11 points we left out on the floor, but we’ll get those back in the second half, and we’ll be fine. Just execute, finish your layups, and knock down your foul shots,’” the Golden Bears’ coach said. “Unfortunately, we did not knock down foul shots in the second half. We were only 10-for-21. That definitely allowed Jenkintown to stay in the game a little bit longer.”
Shane Stone led the Golden Bears with 16 points and earned the Robert Hopf Memorial Tournament’s MVP award. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half.
“We were running stuff for Shane. We knew he was the most athletic player on the floor out of the bigs, and we knew we could exploit them,” Heiland said. “Shane got three and-ones in the second half, and that allowed us to make a little bit of a lead.”
Damian Washington scored eight points and made the all-tournament team. Anthony Green added eight.
Brett Brossman and Ryan Coyle both scored seven points.
“Overall it was a great team effort to fight off a late Jenkintown rally,” Heiland said.
Upper Moreland’s title was its first holiday tournament championship in more than a decade.
“If memory serves me correctly, this is the first time we’ve won a holiday tournament since I think 2002. Obviously, we won districts in 2013. Outside of the district championship, which is obviously the most important championship, it was good for these guys to experience success in a championship game, a championship atmosphere and to understand what it takes to win a championship,” Heiland said. “Hopefully, it’s a building block. It’s not that we’re satisfied, but we’d like to build on it. We won three in a row, and hopefully we can carry that into the new year.”
Upper Moreland (5-3, 1-2 SOL) battles Quakertown Tuesday night at seven.
Upper Moreland 7-11-14-18 50
Jenkintown 6-13-9-16 44
Upper Moreland (50) – Christian O’Donnell 2, Damian Washington 8, Ryan Coyle 7, Anthony Green 8, Brett Brossman 7, Shane Stone 16, Jake Villanueva 2.
Jenkintown (44) – Kolb 16, Lafferty 5, Contoudis 5, Plange 11, Morrin 3.
George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament
Central Bucks West 69, Washington-Lee (Va.) 66
Central Bucks West held off a resilient Washington-Lee comeback effort to earn the win on day two of the George Long Holiday Hoops Tournament.
“We’re growing as a team every day,” Bucks coach Adam Sherman said. “By putting time in together when you get to be away with each other, kids get tighter, so when you get a little bit of adversity, I feel they’re able to fight their way through adversity a little bit better.”
CB West led by seven in the fourth, but Washington-Lee hit two threes to make it interesting.
The Bucks buried 10 straight free throws in the final minutes. CB West’s Jack Traina had eight points during that stretch.
Four Bucks players—Collin MacAdams (20), Jake Reichwein (15), Traina (13) and Liam Cooney (11)—scored in double figures.
“Down here there are very athletic teams, so this is a good tournament win for us,” Sherman said. “The team we played on the first night was way more athletic than most of the teams in our league, so it prepares us for teams we would see in district playoffs. That way we’re more familiar with going against teams with that kind of ability.”
Sherman also made the trip educational for his players. He took them on a tour of Arlington Cemetery Wednesday morning.
“The kids got a chance to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,” Sherman said. “We try and bring an educational component in, which is really neat and hopefully you have a positive impact on some of these kids.”
CB West (4-3, 2-1 SOL) plays Chantilly Thursday at 2:45, in its final game of the George Long Holiday Tournament.
Central Bucks West 10-18-15-26 69
Washington-Lee 15-8-20-23 66
Central Bucks West (69) – Jack Traina 13, Shan McCusker 7, Liam Cooney 11, Collin MacAdams 20, Jack Mulhearn 3, Jake Reichwein 15.
Washington-Lee (66) – Nick Miller 31, Chris Ozgo 13, Anthony Reyes 3, Will Wallace 5
Colin MacCullough 14.
Athletes Helping Athletes Tournament
Council Rock North 53, Central Bucks South 47
CR North ended the game on an 11-5 run. Drew Burton started the run by hitting a three, breaking a 42-42 tie and putting North up 45-42.
Noah Ehlin scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and led North with 18 overall. The Indians shot 9-of-11 from the foul line in the fourth.
North coach Jesse Krasna praised two players for complementing Ehlin.
“Ryan Costello came in and gave us a scoring punch off the bench in the second quarter. He isn’t afraid to step up and take a big shot and has kept us in games all year,” Krasna said. “And James Kosyla really battled inside.”
Kosyla held CB South center Colin Kenney to two points.
Andrew Dietz led CB South with 11 points. Alex Karras added nine.
North (3-7, 0-3 SOL) will play Central Bucks East in this tournament Thursday night at 7:30. CB South (3-4, 2-1 SOL) plays Haverford Thursday night at six.
Central Bucks South (47) – Alex Karras 9, Nate Robinson 7, Dan Tecce 7, Nate Johnston 6, Colin Sauers 5, Andrew Dietz 11, Colin Kenney 2.
Council Rock North (53) – Ryan Costello 8, Eric Levine 5, Drew Burton 5, James Kosyla 6, Tyler Shields 2, Noah Ehlin 18, Haggerty 4, Matt McCallister 5.
Haverford 62, Central Bucks East 61
Haverford built a 36-26 lead by halftime.
Central Bucks East won the second half 35-26, but it wasn’t enough.
CB East’s Matt Pattyson (14) and Elijah Seger (14) combined for 28 points. Nick Roggio added nine.
CB East (4-4, 1-2 SOL) will play Council Rock North Thursday night at 7:30pm.
Haverford 18-18-11-15 62
Central Bucks East 13-13-13-22 61
Haverford (62) – Randolph 15, Burke 11, Smith 2, Digrazio 2, Strotts 2, Nelson 10, Yoh 3, Ray 17.
Central Bucks East (61) – Matt Pattyson 14, Elijah Seger 14, Ryan Plack 4, Collin Stein 6, Cooper Fink 6, Nick Roggio 9, Matt Ernst 2, Ben Markowitz 6.
Jack Schott Holiday Tournament
HARRY S TRUMAN 58, BISHOP McDEVITT 56
Senior forward ZJ Jackson scored a career-high 16 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds to propel the Tigers to Thursday’s title game of the Jack Schott Holiday Tournament.
Jackson was 4-for-5 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, and he sank a pair of huge foul shots with less than 10 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Tigers.
Harry S Truman (5-1, 1-1 SOL) will face Lincoln High School from the Philadelphia Public League in Thursday’s title game at 7 p.m.
Boyertown Holiday Tournament
Pennridge 54, Boyertown 48
Pennridge won its first game in the Boyertown Christmas Tournament, its second straight win.
The Rams trailed by one at halftime but outscored their hosts 30-23 in the second half.
“Both teams were playing really hard. We really struggled putting the ball in the basket tonight,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “I give our guys credit. I kept saying, ‘Don’t worry about missed shots.’ We took good shots.”
The Yoder brothers again led the Rams to victory, combining for 35 points. Sean had 22, Kyle 13.
“Sean Yoder has been playing pretty good basketball for us,” Behrens said. “We’re putting him in a real tough position as a sophomore.
“I think it was probably the worst shooting night he’s had so far, but he was able to get to the basket a few times in the fourth quarter and finish off some plays, which I thought was great because he’s going to have a couple of nights when he doesn’t play his best. He just is. It’s like a young pitcher. They’re going to get shelled every once in a while, and you gotta say, ‘Okay, do it again tomorrow.’”
Ryan Cuthbert added eight points. Cuthbert missed Pennridge’s last game and the end of its previous game with a hip pointer.
“I didn’t think he’d play tonight. We brought him off the bench, gave him a go, and he hit two big threes in the second half, which I thought were huge,” Behrens said. “That gave us a nice little punch.”
Behrens was impressed that his team persevered in the winter break game.
“We didn’t hang our heads. We stuck together as a group, and we pulled one out. When you play at Christmas, it’s always a weird situation because the kids are off their schedules,” the Rams’ coach said. “They’re sleeping in, and now we have kids that are not feeling good. No one’s routine is normal. We have to do this again tomorrow.”
Pennridge (4-4, 1-2 SOL) plays Governor Mifflin Thursday at 4:30, in another Boyertown Christmas Tournament game.
“We play before the jayvee, but regardless, we got ourselves to 4-4,” Behrens said. “Our goal we said was to get to 5-4 going into league play because obviously we’re going to have a tough stretch.
“We ran into a little bit of inexperience with this group, but I thought the group hung in there. We’re really learning along the way. I’m hoping we shoot a little better tomorrow.”
Pennridge 18-6-15-15 54
Boyertown 12-13-12-11 48
Pennridge (54) – Sean Yoder 22, Ryan Kinky 5, Kyle Yoder 13, Tyrese Lewis-Eutsey 2, AJ Demarco 3, Jon Post 1, Ryan Cuthbert 8.
Boyertown (48) – Benning 7, McCloskey 9, Tamatasis 2, Kapp 19, Thomas 12, Shealer 2.
Palm Beaches National Basketball Classic
Plymouth Whitemarsh 64, Oxbridge Academy 51
Oxbridge Academy was 7-0 coming into the game.
“And they’re ranked fairly high in the Florida region, so it was a nice win,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “When you travel to another state, you don’t know anything about each other. The question is what gear are we at compared to what gear are they at. I think in the first half we showed them defensively. To hold a team like that to 16 points in a half is a great accomplishment. It was some intelligent pressure.”
PW led 26-16 at halftime. The Colonials maintained their lead the rest of the way even though Oxbridge “cranked up the pressure in the second half.”
“It became a battle of a whole lot of out of control players on both sides,” Donofrio said. “They’re a very athletic team. High level athletes but a little bit young, sophomores and juniors.”
Donofrio was impressed with three players in particular.
“The big boy, Naheem McCleod, had a very nice first half,” Donofrio said. “Ahmin Williams and Cheo Houston did a nice job for us in the second half.”
Donofrio was also relieved that his players survived Oxbridge’s pressure.
“It was a relentless pace, a relentless pace. Florida teams are very football oriented. Even the basketball guys, they just catch the ball and go, and if you aren’t ready, they’ll go all the way to the rim, so we really had to concentrate. Then they pressed us, and we’re still trying to figure that out,” Donofrio said. “Overall, you don’t want to put so much effort into a trip like this and not win your first game. That’s a little bit of a relief. You never know, this is a high level event. You could easily go 0-3 even if you play great. So to win one, we’ll take it and move on.”
Four Colonials finished the game in double figures. Ahmin Williams led a balanced attack with 14 – 10 in the fourth quarter. Kevin Tilghman, Matt Walker and Cheo Houston each added 10. McLeod finished with nine points.
PW (6-0, 2-0 SOL) plays W.T. Dwyer Thursday.
“A highly successful athletic school with a big-time football program. The basketball program has won three state titles in the last 20 years,” Donofrio said. “They’re a very, very aggressive athletic team. It’s a warrior mentality to beat a team that’s attacking. It’s a different kind of pace.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 18-8-16-22 64
Oxbridge 7-9-15-20 51
Plymouth Whitemarsh (64) – Ish Horn 4, Kevin Tilghman 10, Naheem McLeod 9, Danny Cooper 3, Matt Walker 10, Ahmin Williams 14, Cheo Houston 10, Ahmad Williams 4.
Oxbridget (51) – R.Hammonds 5, K.Aexandre 12, J.Meyers 3, D.Wilcox 10, K.Smith 14, R.Spencer 3.
Saucey’s Pizza Classic
Neshaminy 62, Harvest Prep (OH) 59 (OT)
Corey McGarry displayed poise under pressure, burying a pair of free throws with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime. McGarry was followed on the follow of a missed shot.
The Redskins outscored Harvest Prep 11-8 in the extra period to earn the win.
Chris Arcidiacono dropped 29 points to lead the Redskins, who had lost two straight games before Wednesday night.
Anthony Papeo added 10 points for Neshaminy. McGarry finished with nine, and Anthony Verracchio had eight.
The game was back and forth. Harvest Prep led by two at halftime. Neshaminy won the third quarter 19-11 and took a 40-34 lead, but Harvest Prep won the fourth quarter 17-11, forcing overtime.
Neshaminy (3-4, 1-2 SOL) takes on Council Rock North Tuesday night at 7:30.
Neshaminy 12-9-19-11-11 62
Harvest Prep 9-14-11-17-8 59
Neshaminy (62) – Zach Tredway 4, Corey McGarry 9, Chris Arcidiacono 29, Anthony Verracchio 8, Charles Dominick 2.
Harvest Prep (59) – Reynolds 3, Waugh 16, Daniless 8, Miller 2, Anthony 21, Penha 9.
Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shoot-Out
Methacton 78, Wissahickon 65
Methacton won the first quarter 27-13, buried nine threes in the first half and never trailed. The Warriors finished with 13 threes while the Trojans had 11.
Shane Ford led Wissahickon with 15 points. Zach Reiner added 11. Zach Gelman and Chaz Owens both scored nine. Max Rapoport had seven. Owens, Donovan Oliphant, Gelman and Ford each had two three-pointers.
Wissahickon (3-4, 2-1 SOL) takes on Cheltenham Tuesday night at seven.
Methacton 27-11-20-20 78
Wissahickon 13-21-14-17 65
Methacton (78) – O’Neill 25, Jones 7, Duda 11, Pisano 16, Marberger 12, Woodward 7.
Wissahickon (65) – Chaz Owens 9, Donovan Oliphant 6, Matteo Atkns 3, Zach Gelman 9, Max Rapoport 7, Alex Tappen 3, Shane Ford 15, Eddie Fortescue 2, Zach Reiner 11.
Perkiomen Valley 54, North Penn 45
The Knights (6-3, 2-0 SOL) play Souderton Tuesday night at seven.
Triangle Club Tournament
Father Judge 56, Hatboro-Horsham 51
Father Judge opened up a 13-9 lead after one quarter, but the Hatters came roaring back, outscoring Judge 17-9 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 26-22 lead. The Hatters still led by two heading into the final quarter that saw Judge close it out with a 19-12 tear to capture the title of the Triangle Club Tournament.
Ryan Black led the Hatters with 18 points, which included four three-pointers. Clifton Moore had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jay Davis added 11 points.
Hatboro-Horsham (5-3, 3-1 SOL) plays Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday night at seven.
Hatboro-Horsham 9-17-13-12 51
Father Judge 13-9-15-19 56
Dock Academy Holiday Tournament
Roxborough 47, Springfield-Montco 46 (OT)
Roxborough jumped to a 22-5 lead after one quarter. Springfield-Montco won the last three quarters 38-21 and forced overtime.
But Roxborough outscored Springfield-Montco 4-3 in overtime.
Springfield-Montco (1-7, 0-3 SOL) plays Upper Dublin Wednesday night at seven.
Roxborough 22-8-3-10-4 47
Springfield-Montco 5-16-6-16-3 46
Salisbury Holiday Tournament
Northampton 63, Quakertown 46
Northampton won every quarter, opening up a 19-15 lead after one quarter and extending that to 31-24 by halftime.
JR Grimmage led Quakertown with 13 points. Nick Drosnock scored nine points, on three threes.
Quakertown (1-6, 0-2 SOL) plays Upper Moreland Tuesday night at seven.
Northampton 19-12-17-15 63
Quakertown 15-9-11-11 46
Northampton (63) – Heffelfinger 9, Tocci 1, Elwood 30, Austin 14, Gribb 2.
Quakertown (46) – Rey 5, Ryan Howard 4, Nick Drosnock 8, JR Grimmage 13, Ortiz 3.
Great Valley Holiday Tournament
Pottstown 58, Upper Dublin 56
Upper Dublin lost on a buzzer beater.
The Flying Cardinals led 34-27 at halftime and carried a four-point lead into the fourth, but Pottstown won the fourth quarter 19-13.
“Tough loss,” UD coach Josh Adelman said.
Nyjee Scott led UD with 12 points. Cory Stover scored nine and Mike Cottom eight.
Upper Dublin (0-7, 0-2 SOL) hosts Springfield-Montco Wednesday night at seven.
Pottstown 13-14-12-19 58
Upper Dublin 16-18-9-13 56
Non-league
Council Rock South 34, Girard College 33
Council Rock South won its third straight game and improved to 7-1.
CR South trailed 28-18 after three quarters. But the Golden Hawks won the fourth quarter 16-5. South’s Austin Thomas buried three threes in the fourth. He had 12 points in the game, on four threes.
Alex Nordenholt added five points in the fourth. He scored 10 overall.
South (7-1, 2-0 SOL) battles Pennsbury Tuesday night at seven.
Council Rock South 6-4-8-16 34
Girard College 11-9-8-5 33
Council Rock South (34) – Austin Thomas 12, Shaun Smith 2, Alex Nordenholt 10, Kevin Newbert 5, Ryan McNamee 2, Ryan Boyd 2.
Girard College (33) – Stewart 3, Tuliver 7, Logan 7, Copeland 2, Jones 7, Smith 8.
Pottsgrove 51, Souderton 48
Souderton suffered its third straight loss.
Souderton’s Mike Bealer (18) and Trevor Watts (14) did combine for 32 points. Matt Cartwright had eight.
Souderton (3-5, 1-1 SOL) battles North Penn Tuesday night at seven.
Souderton (51) – Mike Bealer 18, Trevor Watts 14, Matt Cartwright 8, Jake Groller 4, DJ Landis 4, Blackwood.
Pottsgrove (48) – S. Hein 16, Dargan 8, Johnson 7, Savata 5, Curen 5, Levrtis 4, Clark 2, Blakey 2, J. Hein 2.
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