Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Friday’s games featuring SOL boys’ basketball squads. Wissahickon/Quakertown photos provided courtesy of Kim Supko. PW/Upper Moreland photos courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for a gallery of both games. (Purple Out photos provided by Souderton Area High School.)
By Jarrad Saffren
Eighteen Suburban One League boys basketball teams played league games on Friday night, as the second round of league play commenced across all three conferences. The action included all eight SOL American teams, six of seven SOL Continental squads and four of seven SOL National teams.
All nine results and recaps are below.
SOL American
Plymouth Whitemarsh 62, Upper Moreland 37
Plymouth Whitemarsh beat Upper Moreland by 48 back in December. The Golden Bears improved by 23 points in this rematch. But of course, PW still played a great game, winning the first and third quarters 17-6 and 21-9, respectively, maintaining a comfortable lead throughout.
“We had a great practice yesterday and were just trying to work on focusing. We came out trying to be too perfect and were actually overpassing. Upper Moreland is 7-6 and improving, so you can’t expect to win by the previous margin,” said PW coach Jim Donofrio. “They did a nice job spreading the floor and taking time off the clock. But our starting five found their niche in the third. We had a long stretch of holding them scoreless. The offense woke up but we came out with an edge defensively in the second half. We did it with high energy and precision, not over pursuing and helping. The veterans just stayed home on their men.”
PW’s Naheem McLeod (24) and Ish Horn (15) combined for 39 points. Ahmad Williams and Ahmin Williams added eight and six, respectively.
“Ish got on track from three, which was nice. That opened up his attack and he made some circus type shots,” Donofrio said. “Naheem was terrific, working around the rim with various moves. The twins did a good job moving the offense.”
Brett Brossman led Upper Moreland with 15 points, drilling four threes. Ryan Coyle had eight.
PW (13-0, 8-0 SOL) plays Haverford on Saturday at 4:30. Upper Moreland (7-7, 3-4 SOL) hosts Springfield Township on Monday night at seven.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 17-7-21-17 62
Upper Moreland 6-10-9-12 37
Plymouth Whitemarsh (62) – Ish Horn 15, Naheem McLeod 24, Danny Cooper 5, Ahmin Williams 6, Ahmad Williams 8, Alan Glover 4.
Upper Moreland (37) – Brett Brossman 15, Ryan Coyle 8, Christian O’Donnell 6, Beau Woollens 4, Tyler Ibbotson 2, Jake Villanueva 2.
Wissahickon 48, Quakertown 27
Wissahickon played its best defensive game of the season on Friday night, improving to 11-4. The Trojans held Quakertown to six points or less in three of four quarters, a 26 percent field goal clip and just 12 points in the paint. No Quakertown players scored in double figures, and the Panthers, who have been prolific from three-point range, shot 4-of-23 from beyond the arc.
“We got out of the gate well. It was 28-8 at one point. The guys were playing well. We were playing a really good defensive game,” said Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson. “I’ve seen Quakertown play several games and they can play much better. The kid Matt Lucas has been killing it with threes. So we said if we stop one thing, it has to be that. We can’t give him easy shots. It was 31-11 at the half, so the defense has really been going well for us. Man-to-man, some zone trapping. We are talking on defense, shifting, identifying where scorers are.”
It was the annual “silent night” at Wissahickon on Friday night. Trojan fans dressed in Halloween costumes, didn’t make any noise until Wissahickon scored its eighth point and then went wild. Wilson said the odd scene and sudden noise helped the Trojans.
“It’s a crazy energy because they come in Halloween costumes. Everyone goes crazy when we score. We scored eight quickly and then boom, it was hard for (Quakertown) coach (Kevin) Keeler to call plays for his team,” Wilson said. “Our kids fed off of that and we played better because of it.”
Zach Reiner had 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Wissahickon. Eddie Fortescue posted nine points and four boards. Max Rapoport had six points and four assists. Donovan Oliphant finished with four points and four rebounds.
“Reiner had a really nice game. He just puts in solid work every night and our guys feed off that,” Wilson said. “Eddie hit the big three that brought the crowd into it. But everybody contributed, and we played strong defense through every substitution, which really makes a coach happy.”
Wissahickon (11-4, 6-2 SOL) plays PW on Tuesday night at seven. Quakertown (4-10, 2-5 SOL) battles Bethlehem Liberty on Saturday at 1:30.
Quakertown 3-6-12-6 27
Wissahickon 14-13-14-7 48
Quakertown (27) – Sam Rice 7, Kevin Juszynski 1, Grey Mitchell 4, Matt Lucas 6, Matt Catalano 3, Tyler Merwarth 5, Matt Tuley 1.
Wissahickon (48) – Zach Reiner 15, Eddie Rotescue 9, Max Rapoport 6, Donovan Oliphant 4, Seth Compas 4, Anthony Lawrence 4, Tyler Caso 2, Harrison Williams 2, Carmen Ostroski 2.
Cheltenham 76, Upper Dublin 71 (OT)
On Tuesday night, in Cheltenham’s win over Hatboro-Horsham, the Panthers lost Jack Clark to a knee injury. Clark finished a dunk in the third quarter, cut Hatboro’s lead to two and went down. He left the game and his teammates finished the comeback. Cheltenham coach John Timms thinks Clark may be out for the season.
“We haven’t practiced since,” said Timms. “So tonight was our chance to adjust and move forward.”
Cheltenham did just that, forcing overtime with a fourth quarter comeback and winning OT 10-5.
“We don’t come out from start to finish with a sense of urgency,” Timms said. “The team didn’t know it could play without Jack. They recognized when the game got started that we could. Our defense got better once we gained confidence.”
Tim Myarick, Cheltenham’s sixth man, started in place of Clark, and drilled three threes. “Jack stretches the defense with his shooting,” Timms said. “Tim did that by knocking down three threes.”
Ahmad Bickley, Cheltenham’s point guard, shifted over to shooting guard to help replace Clark’s scoring production. Bickley dropped 22 points, 11 above his average, to go with eight assists and five steals. Zahree Harrison replaced Bickley at the point, and finished with eight points, seven assists and three steals.
“We are going to count on Ahmad to score more now that Jack is out,” Timms said. “Zahree played pretty well. He got the ball to Ahmad in the right spots, which allowed him to score 22. The starters picked up the slack.”
Cheltenham’s Kyin Healey had 16 points, 18 rebounds and five blocks.
“So he played well,” Timms said. “The starters picked up the slack. We’re a team and we’ll hopefully continue to stick together, and play better defense. But we’re confident we can keep playing Cheltenham’s brand of basketball.”
Cory Stover (17), Corby Watkins (15) and Ian McGonagle (14) scored in double figures for Upper Dublin. Nyjee Scott added nine.
Cheltenham (10-2, 6-1 SOL) plays Abington on Saturday at two. Upper Dublin (4-12, 3-6 SOL) battles Quakertown on Tuesday night at seven.
Cheltenham 20-15-18-13-10 76
Upper Dublin 20-17-18-11-5 71
Cheltenham – Amir Lewis 15, Zahree Harrison 6, Ahmad Bickley 22, Tim Myarick 13, Brandon Scott 2, Kyin Healey 16.
Upper Dublin – Nyee Scott 9, Corby Watkins 18, Brian Klammer 5, Joe Ryan 8, Mike Slivka 3, Bazel Brady 2, Ian McGonagle 11, Cory Stover 15.
Hatboro-Horsham 56, Springfield Township 31
Hatboro-Horsham improved to 6-8 with this convincing win. Springfield Township dropped to 2-10.
“We played well. We came out in the first quarter, took control and played well and hard for four quarters,” said Hatboro-Horsham coach Ed Enoch. “We played very good defense and limited them to one shot, which allowed us to get out on the break and get easy baskets.”
“Kyle Logan gave us a big lift on the boards, with two or three put-backs that helped us keep the lead,” Enoch added. “Chris Edwards also rebounded very, very well.”
Hatboro-Horsham (6-8, 3-5 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on Tuesday night at seven. Springfield Township (2-10, 0-8 SOL) takes on Upper Moreland on Monday night at seven.
SOL Continental
North Penn 61, Central Bucks East 49
North Penn improved to 7-7, starting both halves strong, winning the first quarter 12-5 and the third quarter 21-9. CB East was not able to overcome the consistent deficit.
“We got off to a good start. Not losing the first quarter was huge. We defended really well by doing a better job knowing the scouting report and executing it,” said North Penn coach John Conrad. “Kyle Cassidy is a nice player and we did a good job on him. We made him work for everything. Solomon Robinson did a good job on Nick Roggio. We were aware of where they were.”
David Robinson led North Penn with 26 points. AJ Mitchell, Chris Coleman and Joey Lindsay had nine, nine and eight points, respectively.
“David Robinson had a nice night. We are committed to throwing the ball to him inside and he did a nice job converting,” Conrad said. “We also made fouls, which we haven’t done all year.”
North Penn entered Friday night shooting 52 percent from the foul line. The Knights shot 17-of-18 in this game.
“It’s been a point of emphasis and we were able to do it well tonight,” Conrad said.
Cassidy and Roggio led CB East with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
North Penn (7-7, 3-4 SOL) plays Boyertown on Saturday night at eight. CB East (9-6, 3-4 SOL) hosts Souderton on Tuesday night at seven.
Central Bucks East 5-12-9-23 49
North Penn 12-12-21-16 61
Central Bucks East (49) – Jesse Rivera 3, Kyle Cassidy 17, Leo Masterson 7, Collin Stein 6, Nick Roggio 13, Joe Jackman 3.
North Penn (61) – AJ Mitchell 9, Joey Lindsay 8, AJ Catanzaro 5, David Robinson 20, Chris Coleman 9, Solomon Robinson 4.
Central Bucks West 55, William Tennent 30
CB West dominated the first three quarters, winning them 13-5, 11-6 and 24-4, respectively, taking a 48-15 lead into the fourth. Collin MacAdams and Jake Reichwein had good games for the Bucks. MacAdams posted 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Reichwein had 14 points and four boards.
“It was a good defensive effort. We kept them at bay, it was good energy. We played tight man-to-man and were able to limit their three-point shooters. They have some pretty good ones,” said CB West coach Adam Sherman. “Offensively guys executed well. We were able to get the ball inside.”
“MacAdams and Reichwein both had good games,” Sherman added. “Shane McCusker and Mika Munari gave us good minutes. It was a pretty balanced attack.”
McCusker had nine points and four steals. Jack Mulhearn finished with seven assists and six rebounds. Chase Heller had three rebounds and three steals. Jack Neri added seven points.
CB West (10-4, 5-2 SOL) plays Academy Park on Saturday at 3:30. William Tennent (5-9, 0-7 SOL) battles Council Rock North on Saturday at one.
Central Bucks West 13-11-24-7 55
William Tennent 5-6-4-15 30
Central Bucks West (55) – Shane McCusker 9, Mika Munari 3, Collin MacAdams 14, Jake Reichwein 14, Jack Neri 7, Connor Briece 4, Chase Heller 2, Reed Zerweck 2.
William Tennent (30) – Pat McCauey 5, Michael Mulville 5, Alex Wadsworth 5, Markeith Baxter 6, Kip Mooney 4, Dave West 3, Shead 2.
Central Bucks South 57, Souderton 53
CB South improved to 7-0 in league play, holding off Souderton in a game that was close throughout, with no quarters decided by more than four points. Tommy Kuypers (17), Mark Kannengieszer (12) and Nate Robinson paced the Titans in the scoring department.
“It was a hard fight. Souderton was ready to play and real physical. They scored the first five in the third, which put us down. I called time and challenged my guys to be more physical on defense and more patient on offense,” said CB South coach Jason Campbell. “We pressed and got a lot of good turnovers out of the press. That changed the momentum. We jumped our lead up to like six but Souderton just kept fighting back.”
Campbell was pleased with Kannengieszer and Brock D’Aulerio, two bench players who got extended minutes and played well.
“We talked earlier in the week about getting more bench guys to step up. Mark was one of the guys we wanted to play more. He scored on drives and was active defensively. Brock D’Aulerio gave us good minutes defensively. He had a key steal and layup in the first half. That gave us a lot of energy,” Campbell said. “They got more minutes tonight with guys in foul trouble. We wanted to see what they could do and they stepped up. It will make us a stronger team down the stretch.”
CB South remains alone in first-place in the SOL Continental, two games ahead of CB West.
“They were all certainly hard fought wins. We just have to take it one game at a time and pace ourselves. We have to keep playing with our back against the wall. Everyone wants to knock off the top team,” Campbell said. “Pennridge and CB West this week, it’s a tough part of our league schedule coming up.”
Tomas Hanrahan (19) and Antonio Rodriguez (13) scored in double figures for Souderton.
CB South (11-3, 7-0 SOL) hosts Council Rock South on Saturday at 1:30. Souderton (5-9, 2-4 SOL) plays Pennridge on Monday night at seven.
Central Bucks South 9-14-14-20 57
Souderton 5-15-15-18 53
Central Bucks South (57) – Brady Prezelski, Cole Prezelski, Nate Robinson 10, Brock D’Aulerio 4, ack Johns 5, Mark Kannengieszer 12, Tommy Kuypers 17.
Souderton (53) – Stephen Luchansky 5, Kavi Ramchandani 7, Tomas Hanrahan 19, Antonio Rodriguez 13, Trevor Watts 5, Dom Natale 4
Souderton held a Purple Out at Friday’s game as part of its Project Purple initiative, which brings awareness to substance and alcohol abuse to high school students. Project Purple was started in 2011 by former Boston Celtic Chris Herren, who will be speaking at Souderton Area High School on May 30. As part of Project Purple, sponsored by SAVE, students are making a pledge to make better decisions for themselves and their future.
SOL National
Council Rock North 54, Harry S. Truman 44
After a 61-26 loss to Abington on Wednesday night, CR North came in motivated on Friday night. And the Indians locked in defensively and controlled this game, improving to 5-9.
“We came ready to play. I was really proud of our guys because we got beat up pretty good against Abington. They wiped that out, forgot about it and we got off to a good start. We played with energy for four quarters and a lot of guys stepped up,” said CR North coach Jesse Krasna. “The Abington game made us really look at what we were doing defensively. It startled us but also woke us up. We didn’t do anything different schematically. It was more personnel. James Duffy did a great job boxing out. All five guys did. It was our intensity and focus, for four quarters.”
Duffy had eight points and double digit rebounds. CR North’s Justin Walton and Matt McAlister scored 15 and 14 points, respectively.
“Walton made some big shots and big drives,” Krasna said. “James Duffy was the x factor. We started him for the first time and he took advantage of that opportunity. He played like an absolute animal and set the tone on the defensive end.”
CR North (5-9, 2-5 SOL) hosts Tennent on Saturday at one. Harry S. Truman (5-8, 1-5 SOL) plays Long Branch on Saturday at 1:30.
Abington 59, Council Rock South 40
Council Rock South stayed in the game with six first half threes. But Abington still led 35-24 at halftime, and pulled away in the third, winning it 20-3. Eric Dixon led Abington with 18 points and 11 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the season. Robbie Heath added 12 points.
“Our energy in the third was great. The first half they were on fire. They came out with a lot of energy, ran a five out and got open. They run good sets. But in the second half we matched their energy and took it up a couple levels,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “We went out in transition and fed the big fella. Our size hurt them.”
“Dixon is a special player and talent. He’s doing what we expected and a little more,” Grasty added. “He didn’t even take a ton of shots. He was pretty efficient.”
JP Nolan and Lucas Monroe both scored nine for Abington. Nolan buried three threes.
“JP Nolan played really well. The first half they made their run and he helped us take the lead with three threes,” Grasty said. “He’s one of the best shooters on the team. He got some open looks and knocked them down. He’s getting his basketball legs after not playing last year. We’ll definitely lean on him in that role.”
Abington shot 12-of-13 from the line and only committed six turnovers, with all 14 players seeing time.
Christian Jabbar (16) and Kyle Meakim (12) scored double-digit points for CR South, with each guy making four threes.
Abington (10-2, 7-0 SOL) hosts Cheltenham on Saturday at two. CR South (3-9, 2-4 SOL) plays CB South on Saturday at 1:30.
Abington 17-18-20-4 59
Council Rock South 8-16-3-13 40
Abington – Robbie Heath 12, Darius Brown 2, Xavier Crawford 2, Lucas Monroe 9, Dante Knox 3, Bryan Coffman 4, JP Nolan 9, Eric Dixon 18.
CR South – Kyle Meakim 12, Christian Jabbar 16, Simon Magidenko 3, Shawn Blank 5, Connor Lewis 2, Zach Schade 2.
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