Jarrad Saffren recaps Saturday’s games featuring SOL boys’ basketball teams. Souderton/Quakertown photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE to go directly to the BOYS' BASKETBALL gallery of photos.
By Jarrad Saffren
Eleven Suburban One League boys’ basketball teams played non-league games on Saturday. Most finished off weekend tipoff tournaments.
Some games were cancelled because of snow. Pennridge and all three Central Bucks schools were supposed to play on Saturday, but didn’t because of the weather.
The results and recaps are below.
Non-League
Bensalem 49, Penn Wood 42
Bensalem earned its first win of 2017, taking an early 12-3 lead, falling behind by five in the third quarter and then coming back with a full court press. Ward Roberts and Kris Shields led the Owls with 13 points each. Keith Parrish sparked the press.
“Keith started tonight and played really well,” said Bensalem coach Mike McCabe. “He didn’t score a lot but played well.”
Bensalem was aggressive on offense and defense, shooting 23-of-31 from the foul line and generating steals and baskets out of its 1-2-1-1 press. In the fourth quarter, they were 16-of-21 from the charity stripe. For the game, Roberts was 8-for-10 from the line while Shields connected on 7-of-8.
“We lost a heartbreaker last night. (James) Leible had a shot to win it at the end and it bounced off the rim,” McCabe said, referring to Bensalem’s one-point loss to Upper Darby on Friday night, in its season opener. “It was nice to come back and get a win after a really tough loss last night.”
Bensalem closed the Quad Tipoff Challenge, which it hosted on Saturday, with a 1-1 record. The Owls will play Wissahickon in a non-league game on Thursday night at seven.
Bensalem 12-8-9-20 49
Penn Wood 3-13-17-9 42
Bensalem (49) – Taco Douglas 5, Ward Roberts 13, Keith Parrish 5, James Lieble 8, Kris Shields 13, Nick Fossile 5.
Penn Wood (42) – Kyem 5, Nash 15, Moore 3, Wilmore 3, Holloway 6, Johnson 10.
North Penn 70, Upper Moreland 58
North Penn won the first three quarters, taking a 57-38 lead into the fourth. Upper Moreland won the fourth 20-13, but that wasn’t nearly enough to come all the way back.
AJ Mitchell (24), David Robinson (20) and Chris Coleman (12) scored in double figures for North Penn, combining for 56 of the Knights’ 70 points.
“AJ got it going from the perimeter with five threes. Their big guy got in foul trouble, so we put the ball inside to David and he did a good job either scoring or getting to the line,” said North Penn coach John Conrad. “Chris does a little bit of everything. He has a 15-footer, he’s good from the perimeter. Everything he got was in the flow of the offense. He’s unselfish. He could score even more, and I always tell him that.”
AJ Catanzaro also played well for North Penn.
“AJ Catanzaro has played really well both nights,” Conrad said, referring to North Penn’s win over Upper Perkiomen on Friday night, the first night of the 2nd Annual Golden Bears Tipoff Classic at Upper Moreland. “We put him on the guy who was really hurting us from the perimeter. AJ does the dirty work that doesn’t show up in a box score.”
Upper Moreland’s Ryan Coyle led all scorers with 26. Brett Brossman added 13 for the Golden Bears.
North Penn is 2-0 at the conclusion of this tipoff tournament, just like it was last year, when it went on to win the SOL Continental title.
“I don’t know if we have the depth and size we had last year. We were big and long and experienced,” Conrad said. “This year we have talent, but we’ll see if we have the depth.”
Upper Moreland ended its eponymous tipoff tournament at 1-1, reaching the championship with a 20-point win over New Hope-Solebury on Friday night.
North Penn hosts Pennsbury on Tuesday night at eight, in a non-league game. Upper Moreland plays Lower Moreland next Friday night at seven, also in a non-league game.
North Penn 15-22-20-13 70
Upper Moreland 8-20-10-20 58
North Penn (70) – AJ Mitchell 24, Joey Lindsay 5, David Robinson 20, Chris Coleman 12, Nathan Hartman 9.
Upper Moreland (58) – Ryan Coyle 26, Brett Brossman 13, Jake Villanueva 7, Christian O’Donnell 8.
Hatboro-Horsham 45, Council Rock South 36
Hatboro-Horsham bounced back after a season-opening loss to William Tennent on Friday night, in the Hatters’ Basketball Tipoff Classic.
“The whole team played better today than it did yesterday,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Ed Enoch. “We stayed out of foul trouble, which was key, and defensively we buckled down and prevented them from getting easy attempts. We played man and made them earn it.”
Council Rock South fell to 0-2, again struggling to score. The Golden Hawks scored 64 points in two tipoff classic games.
“It was better for us than last night, I’ll tell you that. It was a hard fought game,” said CR South coach Derek Wright. “They built an early lead and we had a hard time scoring in the first half. We got it going in the second half but struggled again down the stretch, and they made free throws.”
Kyle Hogan led Hatboro-Horsham with 15 points.
“Jake Schalke also played really well,” said Enoch. “He rebounded very well for us today.”
Hatboro-Horsham hosts Springfield Township on Dec. 19 at seven, in its SOL American opener. CR South hosts Central Bucks East on Wednesday night at seven, in another non-league game.
Abington 65, Valley Forge Military Academy 38
Valley Forge Military Academy has developed into a really good program in the Bicentennial Athletic League, filling its roster with speed, size and college prospects. Yet Abington beat VFMA by 27 in the Galloping Ghosts Classic. The Ghosts are going to be hard to beat in 2017-18.
Abington only led by one at halftime, but won the third quarter 23-2.
“They were good. They are long and their length bothered us in the first half,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “We came out with a lot more energy. We had jitters. It was our first game, a nice crowd at home. We took a lot of quick shots. We took our time in the second half and made the right pass.”
Valley Forge Military Academy did what most teams will do against Abington this year: Played a zone defense. The Ghosts, with Eric Dixon and Robbie Heath, are too hard to defend man-to-man. So in the first half, against the zone, Abington settled for too many jumpers.
“You know how it is with high school kids, the team is in a zone and guys get the ball and they are open and they just want to take it,” Grasty said. “We work on our zone offense a lot. And in the second half it worked. We were just more patient. We also turned up the pressure a little bit defensively.”
The usual suspects, Dixon, Heath and Lucas Monroe, “played well once we settled down,” Grasty said. The complementary players did too for Abington.
“Xavier Crawford gave us a huge spark off the bench, a lot of energy. Senior JP Nolan also gave us a lot of energy,” Grasty said. “Dante Knox played well, too. They’ve been working hard all offseason and we got a chance to play everybody and they played well.”
Heath (19), Dixon (18) and Monroe (13) scored in double figures for Abington.
Abington (1-0, 0-0 SOL) plays Bethlehem Catholic in a non-league game next Saturday at five.
Souderton 44, Quakertown 42
Souderton improved to 1-1 in 2017-18, bouncing back from a close loss to Lansdale Catholic on Friday night, in the 4th Annual Jim Church Classic at Souderton. Quakertown fell to 0-2, losing a tight one for the second straight day. The Panthers lost to Germantown Academy by five on Friday night.
Kavi Ramchandani led Souderton with 18 points, and now has 28 points through two games. Antonio Rodriguez and Trevor Watts both added six. Eli Ortiz led Quakertown with 12 points. Sam Rice added nine.
Souderton hosts Methacton on Tuesday at five, in a non-league game. Quakertown plays Pennridge on Friday night at seven, also in a non-league contest.
Quakertown (42) – Ortiz 12, Rice 9, Juszynski 7, Rey 6, Mitchell 6, Mestayer 2.
Souderton (44) – Ramchandani 18, Vince 8, Rodriguez 6, Watts 6, Natale 4, Luchansky 2.
Cheltenham 71, Frankford 59
Cheltenham was in midseason form this weekend, winning two games by a combined 46 points, starting the season 2-0 and capturing the title of its own tournament with a win over Frankford on Saturday.
“I was glad they didn’t cancel the game because we are playing so well,” said Cheltenham coach John Timms. “Teams aren’t peaking yet but we are playing well now. So it’s good for us to jump on these teams now.”
Cheltenham has scored 143 points in two games, but Timms is more excited about his team’s defense.
“It goes back to defense because a lot of those points are created off of turnovers. We’ve been doing a great job pressuring and turning teams over,” Timms said.
Jack Clark (28) and Ahmad Bickley (21) combined for 49 of Cheltenham’s 71 points. Tim Myarick added 10 points. Zahree Harrison pitched in seven.
But again, Timms was more impressed with how each guy played defense.
“Ahmad Bickley is our leader and he guards the best player on the other team, so he’s the catalyst. Jack Clark is using his wingspan and is playing well defensively this year,” Timms said. “Kyin Healey is protecting the basket. It’s imperative that someone guards the basket when you pressure, and he’s doing a great job of that.”
Amir Lewis, who scored 14 in Cheltenham’s win on Friday night, did not score on Saturday night. But he continued to control the boards. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound forward is stepping into the role that Trevonn Pitts played so well for Cheltenham over the last couple years.
“He’s almost a mirror image,” Timms said. “He’s the grit and the muscle we need.”
Even at a very impressive 2-0, Cheltenham still has room to grow.
“We have so much room to grow still. We got killed on the offensive glass in both games,” Timms said. “We have to do a better job boxing out. We leak out a lot cause we’re fast, which allows teams to get offensive rebounds.”
Cheltenham plays Archbishop Carroll in a non-league game on Wednesday night at seven.
Cheltenham 20-14-17-20 71
Frankford 9-21-9-20 59
Frankford (59) – Martinez 3, Ndiaye 4, Corbett 17, Corby 8, Williams 5, Tukes 4, Rogers 18.
Cheltenham (71) – Zahree Harrison 7, Ahmad Bickey 21, Tim Myarick 10, Jack Clark 28, Brandon Scott 1, Scott 4.
Lower Moreland 55, William Tennent 36
Lower Moreland won the first quarter 12-0 and the first half 29-9. William Tennent played better in the second half, even winning it 27-26, but Lower Moreland was comfortable by that point. The Lions went 10-of-14 from the line in the fourth quarter.
“We came out and got some open looks and didn’t hit them. They converted and we dug ourselves a hole and didn’t play that much better in the second quarter,” said Tennent coach Robert Mulville. “We tried to push the tempo in the second half and it worked a little.”
Markeith Baxter led Tennent with 14 points. Dave West had nine.
Despite losing the championship of the Hatters’ Basketball Tipoff Classic, Tennent still enjoyed a pretty good start to the season this weekend, beating Hatboro-Horsham on Friday night.
“You have to look at the bright side. We played well last night and with a lot of energy,” Mulville said. “We just have to take tonight as a learning experience. But we feel good about being 1-1 and we’ll just have to build on it.”
Tennent plays Neshaminy on Thursday night at seven, in a non-league game.
Lower Moreland 12-17-12-14 55
William Tennent 0-9-15-12 36
West Catholic 56, Pennsbury 37
Pennsbury dropped its season opener on Saturday in the Play-by-Play Tipoff Classic at Archbishop Carroll. The Falcons were down by 10 at halftime, cut the deficit to three in the third and then turned the ball over on four straight possessions.
“The effort was there. I was very happy with the attitude and our defense,” said Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman. “I wasn’t happy with the execution. But that will have to come with effort for a team with little varsity experience.”
Coleman was happy with two of those inexperienced players. “Josh Arruda played well,” Coleman said. “And Chad Weldon rebounded well.”
Pennsbury (0-1, 0-0 SOL) plays Archbishop Ryan on Thursday night at seven.
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