Jarrad Saffren recaps all of Saturday’s games featuring SOL boys’ basketball teams. CR North/Tennent photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson…CLICK HERE to go directly to the BOYS' BASKETBALL GALLERY.
By Jarrad Saffren
Fourteen Suburban One League boys’ basketball teams played non-league games on Saturday. Three games featured two SOL teams.
It was a busy Saturday after a busy Friday night for SOL teams, so many were playing for the second day in a row.
Ten results and recaps are below. We are still waiting on the Quakertown-Bethlehem Liberty result.
Non-League
Central Bucks South 49, Council Rock South 38
CB South won the third quarter 13-3, stretching a four-point halftime lead to 14. The Titans kept CR South at a double-digit distance throughout the fourth, improving to 12-3. The Golden Hawks fell to 3-10.
“It was a great team effort with our defense. Everyone, from starters to bench, I was proud of the energy we brought today,” said CB South coach Jason Campbell. “Playing Friday night and then Saturday afternoon is tough for high school kids. I was concerned because Rock South plays with a lot of energy and is very well-coached. I told my guys, ‘Don’t take this game lightly.’ You will have to match their intensity and outlast them.”
The Titans held the Hawks to single-digit point totals in three of four quarters. Tommy Kuypers (19 points), Nate Robinson (11) and Cole Prezelski (8) paced CB South offensively. Kuypers and Robinson also pulled down seven and six rebounds, respectively.
“We talked to Cole the other day about getting more offense from him, and he hit a couple threes today. That kept the floor more spread. And he did a good job on defense playing (CR South leading scorer Christian) Jabbar,” Campbell said. “Kuypers and Robinson were great. Kuypers was solid on both sides of the floor. His midrange game has been fantastic. They are also both good rebounders and have been all year.”
Jabbar (14) and Shawn Blank (11) scored in double figures for the Hawks.
CB South (12-3, 7-0 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Tuesday night at seven. CR South (3-10, 2-4 SOL) plays CR North on the same night and time.
Council Rock South 9-9-3-17 38
Central Bucks South 12-10-13-14 49
Council Rock South (38) – Kyle Meakim 3, Christian Jabbar 14, Simon Magidenko 5, Shawn Blank 11, Zach Schade 5.
Central Bucks South (49) – Cole Prezelski 8, Nate Robinson 11, Jack Johns 4, Alex Dietz 3, Mark Kannengieszer 4, Tommy Kuypers 19.
Pennsbury 47, Frankford 45
Frankford came back from a nine-point deficit to take a three-point lead with only seconds to play. Pennsbury’s Chad Weldon got fouled on a three, missed the first free throw, made the second and missed the third on purpose, on instruction from Falcons’ coach Bill Coleman.
Raylil Winton spun off a box-out, got the rebound and kicked it to Gary Francis, who drove and got fouled. Francis made both free throws to tie the game. Then Frankford, while setting up a play on offense, threw the ball out of bounds.
Pennsbury passed the ball back to Francis, who curled off a screen and scored a point-blank layup, winning it for the Falcons at the last second.
“We were up nine and Josh (Arruda) and Jake (Martell) fouled out. We also had a couple turnovers at the end, which hurt,” said Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman. “But against a team like that, that won’t quit and will play with toughness, it was good to salvage a win.”
The Falcons drilled seven threes as a team. Francis sank three of them and led the Falcons with 13 points. Collin Connor hit two threes and scored 12. Winton, Arruda and Weldon added nine, seven and six, respectively.
“They were in a zone and we shot the ball very well,” Coleman said. “Being a sophomore, it’s hard for Collin getting thrown into that situation. But he responded very well today. He played very well, especially on the defensive side.”
Pennsbury (9-6, 4-2 SOL) plays Abington on Tuesday night at seven.
Frankford 20-0-13-12 45
Pennsbury 29-0-8-10 47
Frankford (45) – Martinez 2, Ndiaye 19, Rogers 7, Cosby 5, Williams 2, Anderson 8, Tukes 2.
Pennsbury (47) – Collin Connor 12, Raylil Winton 9, Josh Arruda 7, Chad Weldon 6, Gary rancis 13.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 63, Haverford Prep 56
Plymouth Whitemarsh fell behind 12-1 and then 21-3, committing 12 turnovers in the first quarter alone. It was PW’s worst quarter of the season by far. Coach Jim Donofrio called for a full court press, and it turned the game around. PW fought all the way back, taking the lead with three minutes left in the game and keeping it the rest of the way.
“Haverford is a challenging team to go back-to-back and not have a chance to practice for. They have two 1,000-point scorers and run a matchup zone. It was also our first back to back. At 13-0 it’s human nature to think you’re concentrating and you’re really not. It was good for us to take it on the chin. But in the second quarter we woke up,” said PW coach Jim Donofrio. “We pressed the entire game. We had to. They run a nice offense and they could hold it and delay it if we didn’t pressure.”
“Caelin Peters and Kyree Pendleton came off the bench and played well,” Donofrio added.
Ish Horn (19), Ahmin Williams (15) and Naheem McLeod scored in double figures for PW.
“Ish Horn was exceptional in the third and fourth,” Donofrio said. “Danny Cooper was exceptional on defense. Him and Ahmin really set the tone in the second half. Naheem had 11, and he was in and out, so that’s not bad.”
In the end, PW stayed undefeated, improving to 14-0, and faced true adversity for the first time in a while.
“We needed that kind of game,” Donofrio said.
PW (14-0, 8-0 SOL) plays Wissahickon on Tuesday night at seven.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3-22-11-27 63
Haverford School 21-11-10-14 56
Haverford School (56) – Christian Ray 18, Kharon Randolph 14, Asim Richards 2, Gavin Burke 9, Christiann Clover 10, Nasir Smith 1, Bobby Stratts 2.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (63) – Ish Horn 19, Caelin Peters 2, Naheem McLeod 11, Danny Glover 6, Kyree Pendleton 6, Ahmin Williams 15, Ahmad Williams 3, Alan Glover 1.
Central Bucks West 47, Academy Park 26
CB West played another exceptional defensive game, holding Academy Park to five, eight and two points in the first, third and fourth quarters, respectively. Only one Academy Park player scored in double figures. Only four AP players even scored.
“It was a good defensive effort, so we are pretty happy,” said CB West coach Adam Sherman. “We just played good team defense. The guys communicated well.”
West’s Collin MacAdams had 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Jake Reichwein posted four points, six boards and four dimes. Jack Neri put up four points and six rebounds. Mika Munari and Shane McCusker had 10 and six points, respectively.
“It was a balanced attack,” Sherman said. “Mika Munari, Collin MacAdams, Jake Reichwein and Shane McCusker gave us quality minutes.”
CB West (11-4, 5-2 SOL) battles North Penn on Tuesday night at seven.
Central Bucks West 15-10-15-7 47
Academy Park 5-11-8-2 26
Central Bucks West (47) – Shane McCusker 6, Jack Mulhearn 3, Mika Munari 10, Collin MacAdams 18, Jake Reichwein 4, Jack Neri 4, John Murnen 2.
Academy Park (26) – Morrero 11, Roundtree 7, Harrison 3, Northerm 5.
Bensalem 51, Holy Ghost Prep 29
Bensalem won the first quarter 14-4 and the second quarter 19-7, taking a 33-11 lead into halftime. The Owls then held serve in the second half.
“We played really, really well tonight. Our kids came out with a lot of energy and got after them,” said Bensalem coach Mike McCabe. “We scored a lot on fast breaks. Taco Douglas and Ward Roberts really pressured their guards and got a lot of steals and easy baskets.”
Roberts led Bensalem with 20 points. Douglas added 10. Carlos Gonzalez sank two threes. Bensalem made seven threes as a team in the first half.
Bensalem (8-7, 3-4 SOL) plays Neshaminy on Tuesday night at seven.
Holy Ghost Prep 4-7-11-7 29
Bensalem 15-19-11-6 5
Holy Ghost (29) – Jack Elliott 3, Chris Thompson 2, Matt Sobon 5, Tyler Mish 2, Greg Calvin 4, Sean Elliot 4, Kevin Morrison 2, Sean Sylvester 4, Marko Dimitriadis 3.
Bensalem (51) – Taco Douglas 10, Ward Roberts 20, Keith Parrish 4, James Leible 4, TJ Igielski 2, Carlos Gonzalez 6, Rueben Phillips 3, Kris Shields 2
North Penn 45, Boyertown 41
North Penn won the fourth quarter 11-5, turning a two-point deficit into a four-point win. Chris Coleman (18) and David Robinson (14) combined for 32 of North Penn’s 45 points.
“It was an ugly game. Our kids really competed. We played really well defensively and did enough offensively to get the win,” said North Penn coach John Conrad. “We made them work for a lot. I was just happy with the way we competed."
North Penn (8-7, 3-4 SOL) plays CB West on Tuesday night at seven.
North Penn 9-9-16-11 45
Boyertown 10-10-16-5 41
North Penn (45) – AJ Mitchell 5, Joey Lindsay 4, AJ Catanzaro 4, David Robinson 14, Chris Coleman 18.
Boyertown (41) – Saata 5, Benning 4, Kiefer 6, Tamasitis 3, Kapp 20, Thomas 3.
Abington 74, Cheltenham 54
This rivalry game was tied at 37 at halftime, but Abington won the second half 37-17. Eric Dixon (31), Robbie Heath (21) and Lucas Monroe (13) combined for 65 of Abington’s 74 points.
Abington shot 26-of-33 from the foul line, including 9-of-12 in the bonus down the stretch. Dixon shot 10-of-11 from the line and grabbed 10 boards, his seventh double-double in 13 games. He also moved into fourth-place on Abington’s all-time scoring list, with 1,256 career points, including 312 this year, an average of 24 points per game.
Heath had nine rebounds and six assists to go along with his 21 points. Monroe put up seven boards and five assists.
Ahmad Bickley led Cheltenham with 18 points. Zahree Harrison, Tim Myarick and Amir Lewis added 10, nine and eight, respectively.
Abington (11-2, 7-0 SOL) hosts Pennsbury on Tuesday night at seven. Cheltenham (10-3, 6-1 SOL) plays Springfield Township on the same night and time.
Cheltenham 12-25-6-11 54
Abington 18-19-15-22 74
Cheltenham (54) – Amir Lewis 8, Zahree Harrison 10, Ahmad Bickley 18, Tim Myarick 9, Scott 3, Kylin Healey 4, Jaelen Mclone 2.
Abington (74) – Robbie Heath 21, Xavier Crawford 2, Darius Brown 2, Lucas Monroe 13, Hasan Whitby 2, Bryan Coffman 3, Eric Dixon 31.
Council Rock North 60, William Tennent 46
Council Rock North won its second consecutive game and improved to 6-9. Matt McAlister led the Indians with 14 points and eight rebounds. DJ Mischak had 12 points and five boards. James Duffy chipped in 11 points and four rebounds.
CR North (6-9, 2-5 SOL) plays CR South on Tuesday night at seven. William Tennent (5-10, 0-7 SOL) plays Truman on the same night and time.
Avon Grove 48, Neshaminy 46
Neshaminy lost its second straight game and fell to 9-4. It plays Lower Merion on Sunday at one.
Long Branch 68, Harry S. Truman 40
Truman lost its ninth straight game and dropped to 5-10. On Saturday, the Tigers were missing three starters because of the flu bug.
Truman (5-10, 1-5 SOL) plays William Tennent on Tuesday night at seven.
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