Jarrad Saffren recaps Tuesday’s games featuring SOL boys’ basketball teams. CR South/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Pennsbury/Truman provided courtesy of John Gleeson, Wissahickon/Springfield(M) courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for galleries of action photos…CLICK HERE to go directly to the BOYS' BASKETBALL GALLERY.
By Jarrad Saffren
It was a busy Tuesday night in the Suburban One League. Twenty of 22 SOL boys basketball teams played league games.
All 10 results and recaps are below.
SOL National
Council Rock South 51, Neshaminy 36
Chris Arcidiacono reached a milestone when he buried a baseline 3-pointer in the closing seconds of Tuesday’s contest. With the basket, the high-scoring senior reached the 1,000-point plateau. Arcidiacono needed 28 points to reach the milestone, and he finished with exactly that number.
It was the lone highlight of the night for the Redskins asCR South started strong and finished strong, winning the first quarter 14-4 and the fourth quarter 16-7. Shawn Blank, starting his first game of the season, led the Golden Hawks with 24 points, 18 in the first half. 
Blank suffered a bone bruise during South’s first week of practice back in November. He got some minutes in South’s last two games, but was not yet ready for extended action.
“It’s been a long road getting him back, so I was happy for him. He just needed time to heal and he felt he was ready to go tonight,” said CR South coach Derek Wright. “Shawn relieved (Christian) Jabbar of some pressure.”
Jabbar, South’s leading scorer, posted 11 points Tuesday.
“Esteban Gomez and Zach Schade, our big guys, also played well and made some big shots,” Wright said.
Arcidiacono scored 28 of Neshaminy’s 36 points. CR South shut down everybody else.
“We executed a game plan well,” Wright said. “Our positioning was really good and we rebounded the ball. We controlled the glass on the defensive end, which was really important. We made them take some contested shots.
“You have to do it with all five guys against Arcidiacono. We communicated and helped each other out when he drove. We tried to keep him off the line and kept our fouls down in the second half. Kyle Meakim and Jabbar played him most of the time, but we played a bunch of guys on him.”
CR South (3-8, 2-3 SOL) hosts Abington on Friday night at seven. Neshaminy (9-3, 3-2 SOL) plays Avon Grove on Saturday at one.
Council Rock South 14-15-6-16 51
Neshaminy 4-13-12-7 36
Pennsbury 69, Harry S. Truman 46
Pennsbury won for the sixth time in seven games, improving to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in league play. Raylil Winton Law (22), Chad Weldon (15), Josh Arruda (12) and Gary Francis (11) combined for 60 of Pennsbury’s 69 points.
Winton scored 12 points in the first half – including three 3-pointers – while Arruda added 10 and Weldon, nine, as the Falcons opened up a 40-24 halftime lead.
“The kids were focused and we were able to stay on point with our game plan,” said Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman. “That was good to see. We did a better job defending. We had been struggling with that lately. When we defend, we can compete with anybody.
“Ray (Winton) led the way offensively. But we had different people taking turns. We have all year long. Jake Martell stepped up as a starter tonight, too, so everyone contributed.”
Coleman is impressed that his team has come this far.
“When you come into a season and flip over a roster completely, we had a bunch of kids who were unfamiliar with what it took to play at the level we want to play at,” Coleman said. “But we can control attitude, effort and defense, and they are starting to play defense at a high level. We had a hiccup against CB East, but that woke us up and helped us play better tonight.”
Pennsbury hosts Bensalem on Thursday night at seven. Truman (5-7, 1-4 SOL) plays CR North on the same night and time.
Harry S. Truman 8-16-5-17 46
Pennsbury 21-19-13-16 69
Harry S Truman (46) – Jeffrey Nixon 17, Zierr Reid 2, Carter Kelley 5, Javeer Peterson 7, Terrance Rogers 6, Cameron Culver 2, Treszon Chapman 2, Gabe Gipli 5.
Pennsbury (69) – Sam Ruta 2, Jake Martell 6, Raylil Winton 22, Josh Arruda 12, Chad Weldon 15, Gary Francis 11.
Abington 68, Bensalem 51
Abington won three of four quarters and cruised to another double-digit league win, its fifth in five games. Eric Dixon (29), Robbie Heath (23) and Lucas Monroe (11) scored 63 of Abington’s 68 points.
Dixon shot 12-of-17 from the field and had 13 rebounds, five offensive. Heath shot 12-of-12 from the foul line and posted 12 boards and five assists.
Heath, a senior, has 1,228 career points, good for fifth on Abington’s all-time scoring list. He is four points behind Abington’s third all-time leading scorer, Dave Brooks (Class of 2000), who has 1,232, and two points behind Corey Cann (’97), who is in fourth place with 1,230. Dixon is in sixth place with 1,197 points.
Ward Roberts (16) and James Leible (13) scored in double figures for Bensalem on Tuesday night. Taco Douglas added eight.
Abington (8-2, 5-0 SOL) plays CR North on Wednesday night at seven. Bensalem (7-6, 3-3 SOL) battles Pennsbury on Thursday night at seven.
Abington 14-20-16-18 68
Bensalem 7-16-17-11 51
SOL Continental
Central Bucks South 45, Central Bucks East 42
Late in the fourth quarter, a CB South player missed the front end of a one-and-one. CB East came down and hit a three, cutting South’s lead to one. It had been 10 at one point earlier in the fourth. The Titans inbounded to Tommy Kuypers, who got fouled and made both free throws. Five seconds remained on the clock. CB East dribbled up, shot a half court three and missed, allowing the Titans to escape with the win.
Tommy Kuypers (16), Nate Robinson (14) and Ian McCaw (9) carried the scoring load for CB South. Kuypers and Robinson also each had seven rebounds.
But CB South coach Jason Campbell was especially pleased with his team’s defense. “Our defense was outstanding until the fourth,” the Titans’ coach said. “We held them under 10 for three quarters. We were just playing man-to-man. We did a good job containing the three-point shot and forcing them to put the ball on the floor.
“We had good rim protection when Jack Johns was in. We also did a good job holding them to one shot. That’s important when you have kids who can make pull-up jumpers. They’ll make you pay if you give them more than one shot.”
“Johns had a really good game. He was real aggressive in the post,” Campbell added. “The Prezelski kids (Cole and Brady) did a real good job playing defense.”
CB East’s Collin Stein and Kyle Cassidy had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
CB South (10-3, 6-0 SOL) plays Souderton on Friday night at seven. CB East (9-5, 3-3 SOL) plays North Penn on the same night and time.
Central Bucks East (42) – Jesse Rivera 2, Kyle Cassidy 11, Collin Stein 13, Leo Masterson 4, Ben Markowitz 5, Nick Roggio 7.
Central Bucks South (45) – Nate Robinson 14, Brock D’Aulerio 2, Jack Johns 4, Tommy Kuypers 16, Ian McCaw 9.
Pennridge 66, North Penn 57
Pennridge built a 33-24 halftime lead and held on through the second half. Sean Yoder (18), Jon Post (15), Ryan Warner (12), Tyrese Lewis (9) and Jake Pestrak (8) combined for 62 of Pennridge’s 66 points.
“We got off to a great start. Sean Yoder played out of his mind. He hit two threes, went to the basket, hit foul shots and distributed the ball well,” said Pennridge coach Dean Behrens. “Jon was solid, stepped up and hit shots when we needed.”
Pennridge faced some tension late in the fourth, when Yoder fouled out. But Warner and sophomore Christian Guldin stepped up as ball handlers.
“Warner and Christian Guldin did an amazing job handling their pressure with Sean out, and they brought it,” Behrens said. “They have a good team, too. AJ Mitchell brought it. Jon calmed us down too, with two sophomores on the floor.”
Mitchell (19), David Robinson (13) and Joey Lindsay (11) scored in double figures for North Penn. Chris Coleman added nine.
Pennridge (10-4, 3-2 SOL) hosts Souderton on Monday night at seven. North Penn (6-7, 2-4 SOL) plays CB East on Friday night at seven.
North Penn 14-10-10-23 57
Pennridge 19-14-10-23 66
North Penn (57) – AJ Mitchell 19, Joey Lindsay 11, AJ Catanzaro 2, David Robinson 13, Chris Coleman 9, Nathan Hartman 3.
Pennridge (66) – Ryan Warner 12, Sean Yoder 18, Brett Henofer 2, Jake Pestrak 8, Mike Molettiere 2, Tyrese Lewis 9, Jon Post 15.
Souderton 62, William Tennent 50
Souderton won its second consecutive game and improved to 5-7 overall. Kavi Ramchandani and Tomas Hanrahan led Souderton with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Ten other Souderton players also scored.
The Indians won the first two quarters, opened a 31-16 halftime lead and held serve in the second half.
William Tennent’s Michael Mulville led all scorers with 25 points. Markeith Baxter and Derrik Cosenza added 12 and nine, respectively.
Souderton (5-7, 2-3 SOL) plays CB South on Friday night at seven. Tennent (5-8, 0-6 SOL) battles CB West on the same night and time.
William Tennent 12-4-16-18 50
Souderton 20-11-14-17 62
William Tennent (50) – Michael Mulville 25, Markeith Baxter 12, Derrik Cosenza 9, Ben Satz 2, Nick Meltzer 2.
Souderton (62) – Kavi Ramchandani 14, Tomas Hanrahan 10, Stephen Luchansky 7, Mitchell Finkenbeier 6, Andrew Vince 6, Antonio Rodriguez 5, Trevor Watts 5, Alec Newbery 2, Kyle Waker 2, Branden Stauffer 2, Dom Natale 2, Mekhi Williams 1.
SOL American
Plymouth Whitemarsh 91, Quakertown 47
Quakertown hung with Plymouth Whitemarsh for a while, trailing the state’s top-ranked team by just a 22-20 score early in the second quarter. The Colonials outscored the Panthers 71-25 over the next two and a half quarters. Four Colonials players—Naheem McLeod (18), Ahmad Williams (15), Ish Horn (14) and Alan Glover (11)—scored in double figures.
“It’s one of those things where we’re trying to get the guys into a rhythm,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “With the weather lately, we’ve been out of our rhythm. I’m just trying to get our energy up. I didn’t have a feel for Quakertown the way I wanted to, so we gave up a bunch of threes to (Matt) Lucas to start.
“But it was all in the first quarter. We had to take the first quarter to figure them out. They don’t have a ton of size, so coach (Kevin) Keeler did a good job spreading our defense and forcing Naheem (McLeod) to pick a guy to come out on.”
PW pulled away by going back to its old, reliable style of play.
“We gave Na a break and played fast,” Donofrio said of McLeod. “We cranked down defensively and put the full court stuff on. I was happy with that and with the shared scoring again.
“It was nice to see the old style again with (Danny) Cooper, the twins, Ish and Glover. They were relentless. Naheem is terrifically hard to deal with if you don’t have size, and he alters defenses like crazy. But then you don’t get the bite you need when you turn it around. I can’t ask him to go 92 feet at 7-foot-2.”
Anthony Straface added eight points for PW. Cooper and Caelin Peters both had seven.
Halfway through the league schedule, PW is 7-0, with win margins of 44, 20, 38, 29, 57, one and 48, or an average of 33.8. Donofrio is not impressed yet.
“The good part with these games is our guys can learn from these high IQ teams that run their stuff really well,” Donofrio said. “Our best teams have an ability to play teams multiple times with the same results. Does this team have that ability? We’ll find out the second time through the league.”
Matt Lucas led Quakertown with 18 points, on six threes – all in the first half. Eli Ortiz and Grey Mitchell both had eight.
PW (12-0, 7-0 SOL) starts the second round of league play against Upper Moreland on Friday night at seven. Quakertown (4-9, 2-4 SOL) plays Wissahickon on Friday night at seven.
Quakertown 17-10-11-9 47
Plymouth Whitemarsh 20-25-27-19 91
Quakertown (47) – Eli Ortiz 8, Sam Rice 4, Kevin Juszynski 2, Grey Mitchell 8, Matt Lucas 18, Nick Mestayer 2, Merwarth 5.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (91) – Ish Horn 14, Dan Farrer 2, Caelin Peters 7, Naheem McLeod 18, Danny Cooper 7, Anthony Straface 8, Ahmin Williams 6, Brendan Sullivan 1, Ahmad Williams 15, Alan Glover 11, Jordan Evans 2.
Wissahickon 82, Springfield Township 55
Wissahickon raced to a 46-23 halftime lead and emptied its bench in the second half. The Trojans again won by creating easy baskets, outscoring Springfield 42-28 in the paint, and scoring 25 points off turnovers.
“Our guys came in, shared the rock, made the extra pass and found themselves sitting at halftime with a 20-point lead. I said that’s hard work,” said Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson. “They played solid defense, moved their feet, got out in transition and got easy baskets. And that’s something they stuck to all night.”
Max Rapoport (21) and Eddie Fortescue (20) combined for half of Wissahickon’s points. “A lot of good high school basketball comes down to guard play,” Wilson said. “They did a good job getting their feet set in good positions and taking quality shots. They get to their spots by working hard before the ball arrives. It’s hard to stop both of them. If they focus on Eddie on one side, Max is open on the other, and it opens the floor up.”
Zach Reiner again filled the stat sheet for Wissahickon, with 13 rebounds, seven assists, seven points, three blocks and two steals, in about one half of basketball. Reiner played the first two minutes of the second half and then sat the rest of the game.
“We usually log a lot of miles on Zach,” Wilson said. “We were on the bus back from the game and tonight was the first night where he said he felt weird, because he only played two minutes in the second half.
“I said, ‘Don’t get used to it.’ And he still had solid numbers in only about a half. We tell the younger forwards, ‘Watch what Zach does.’ Then they go in and share the rock and think like point guards.”
Seth Compas (12) and Donovan Oliphant (10) also scored double-digit points for the Trojans. Quentin Johnson and Ben Rittenhouse both scored 10 for Springfield. Jordan Pauls added nine.
Wissahickon (9-4, 5-2 SOL) battles Central on Thursday night at seven. Springfield (2-8, 0-6 SOL) plays Upper Dublin on Wednesday night at seven.
Wissahickon 25-21-17-19 82
Springfield Township 13-10-14-18 55
Wissahickon (82) – Max Rapoport 21, Eddie Fortescue 20, Seth Compas 12, Donovan Oliphant 10, Zach Reiner 7, Anthony Lawrence 4, Alec Catterton 2, Tyler Caso 2, Maurice Willis 2, Carmen Ostroski 2.
Springfield Township (55) – Ray Ebner 3, Jordan Pauls 9, James Joseph 4, Wilson Krewson 6, DeJaun Waters 6, Ajai Heath 6, Ethan Hamilton 1, Quentin Johnson 10, Ben Rittenhouse 10.
Upper Moreland 48, Upper Dublin 47
Jake Villanueva hit a free throw to put Upper Moreland up by one with just seconds remaining. Upper Dublin then went the length of the floor and threw up a running shot at the buzzer. It bounced off the rim and onto the hardwood.
The Golden Bears held on and improved to 7-6 overall. They trailed by four at halftime (25-21), took the lead with an 18-10 third quarter and then held on at the end.
“Upper Dublin played really well,” said Upper Moreland coach Sean Feeley. “Their coach had them ready to go, great game plan, and we struggled to guard (Nyjee) Scott in the second half.”
Upper Moreland’s Ryan Coyle led all scorers with 17 points.
“Ryan has been great all year for us,” Feeley said. “He attacked, came to jump stops, stayed under control and made tough layups.”
Christian O’Donnell added nine points for the Golden Bears. Brett Brossman had eight, and played great defense on the final play.
“Brett Brossman played great defense all game for us,” Feeley said.
Nyjee Scott (14) and Corby Watkins scored in double figures for Upper Dublin. Jason Williams had nine points on three threes.
Upper Moreland (7-6, 3-3 SOL) hosts PW on Friday night at seven. Upper Dublin (3-11, 2-5 SOL) plays Springfield on Wednesday night at seven.
Upper Dublin 11-14-10-12 47
Upper Moreland 11-10-18-9 48
Upper Dublin (47) – Nyjee Scott 14, Corby Watkins 10, Jason Williams 9, Joey Ryan 6, Mike Slivka 6, Brian McCarry 2.
Upper Moreland (48) – Christian O’Donnell 9, Brett Brossman 8, Jake Villanueva 7, Beau Woolens 6, Tyler Ibbotson 1.
Cheltenham 62, Hatboro-Horsham 55
Cheltenham trailed 42-40 after three quarters, but won the fourth quarter 22-13. Jack Clark led Cheltenham with 17 points and nine rebounds. The Panthers suffered a major setback when the La Salle-bound senior went down with an injury in the third quarter and did not return.
Zahree Harrison scored 14 points. Ahmad Bickley had eight points and 10 assists.
“They play hard,” said Cheltenham coach John Timms of the Hatters. “It was a great inter-conference game. Whenever we can get a win on the road in the league, we’ll take it by one or 10. It doesn’t matter if we can get out of that place with a W and get on the bus.”
Erick Dixon (16) and Chris Edwards (10) scored in double figures for Hatboro-Horsham. Solomon McNair, Khalid Johnson and Kyle Hogan all had nine.
Cheltenham (9-2, 5-1 SOL) plays Upper Dublin on Friday night at seven. Hatboro-Horsham (5-8, 2-5 SOL) battles Springfield on the same night and time.
Cheltenham 10-16-14-22 62
Hatboro-Horsham 12-12-18-13 55
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