Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Friday night.
SOL American Conference
HATBORO-HORSHAM 60, CHELTENHAM 58
The Hatters – barring anything unforeseen – won’t be going to districts, and it’s a safe bet there are more than a few teams in the District One 6A Tournament that are glad they’re not. Seven days after knocking off a Perk Valley team seeded 24th and more than likely in the 24-team field, the Hatters upset the playoff-bound Panthers.
“We’re starting to play good, but it might be too late,” coach Ed Enoch said. “I don’t know if we’re going to get in or not – I don’t think so. We started playing pretty good the last month.”
Behind six points from Erick Dixon and five from Khalid Johnson, the Hatters opened up a 15-9 lead after one quarter. The Panthers trimmed two points off that lead in the second quarter, but the Hatters still led 29-25 at haltime. Dixon scored 11 points in the opening 16 minutes to lead the Hatters.
It was a two-point game heading into the final quarter as the Hatters never could distance themselves from the Panthers, but then held on for the win.
“It was nip and tuck,” Enoch said. “We were up four at half, and they got up five in the third quarter, and then we battled back.
“We had the lead at the end of the game, but we never got it to a point where it was more than a one-possession game. If they hit a three – which they didn’t, they would have taken the lead. We ended up getting the rebound and were fouled with a half a second left.
“If we had made those two foul shots, we would have been up four, but we missed them both, but with .5 seconds left in the game, the clock ran out.”
Three players finished the game in double figures for the Hatters. Erick Dixon led the way with 18, Chris Edwards had 15, and Khalid Johnson added 14. Kyle Hogan had six points.
“Chris Edwards played a really big game – he was very physical, he handled the pressure pretty well, and he did a nice job.” Enoch said.
Jake Schalki’s name won’t show up in a box score, but the junior forward made important contributions.
“Jake Schalki got a couple of loose balls in the second half that were really important and kept possessions for us,” Enoch said. “His physicality and his willingness to get on the floor was very, very important.”
The Hatters escaped with their third win in seven days, but it was hard earned, according to their coach.
“They play so hard, and they pressure you so hard,” Enoch said of Cheltenham. “We weren’t perfect, but the one thing our kids have gotten better at was we competed. We played hard.
“The 50-50 balls – we got our share of them tonight. We got on the floor, we played big, we rebounded the ball pretty well. We still made a ton of bad plays – we had a lot of turnovers, but I was really proud of how hard we played. We didn’t back down.
“We’ve lost six or seven games this year by one or two possessions, and finally, my kids are buying into the fact – that’s how you win games by getting the 50-50 balls. Halfway through the third quarter when they took a five-point lead – about two minutes later, we had a one-point lead. I was really proud of our kids tonight. It’s a shame our season is over because right now we’re playing our best basketball.”
For the Panthers, Amir Lewis scored a game-high 19 points. Ahmad Bickley added 17 and Jaelen Mclone had 10. Zahree Harrison chipped in with eight. The rest of the team combined for four points.
Hatboro-Horsham (7-7 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-11 record. Cheltenham (10-4 SOL) finished its regular season with a 14-8 record. The Panthers are the 19th seed in the latest district power rankings.
Hatboro-Horsham 15-14-14-17 60
Cheltenham 9-16-16-17 58
Hatboro-Horsham (60) – Erick Dixon 18, Chris Edwards 15, Solomon McNair 5, Khalid Johnson 14, N’Giannni Cerisier 2, Kyle Hogan 6.
Cheltenham (58) – Amir Lewis 19, Zahree Harrison 8, Ahmad Bickley 17, Brandon Scott 1, Dom Polk 2, Jaelen Mclone 10, Kyin Healey 1.
SOL Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 58, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 47
If the Patriots needed a boost heading into the postseason, they got just that with a win over neighboring rival CB South. The win avenged a 45-42 loss at the hands of the Titans on Jan. 16.
With the district seeding meeting scheduled for Sunday, the Patriots are seeded 20th in the latest District One 6A power rankings. Twenty-four teams will earn district berths.
“This was huge because we were unclear where we sat – if we had already done enough or if we needed another win, so we kind of treated it like a playoff game to just assure our spot in districts,” coach Eric Henrysen said.
The Titans, who trailed 11-9 after one quarter, took a 26-24 lead into halftime, but their fortunes changed dramatically in a third quarter that saw the Patriots go on a 19-3 tear to go on top 43-29. They led the rest of the way.
“In the first half, we weren’t taking care of the ball,” Henrysen said. “We had 10 turnovers in the first half, and we just wanted to concentrate on taking care of the ball in the third quarter. We were getting shots as long as we didn’t turn the ball over.
“In the third quarter, we were able to kind of buckle down and take care of the basketball, and we got some easy baskets.”
Nick Roggio (17 points) and Kyle Cassidy (16 points) combined for 33 points to lead the Patriots. Roggio also led the Patriots with six rebounds while Cassidy had five rebounds and four assists.
Ben Masterson added nine points, and Jesse Rivera had eight points and dished out five assists.
“As they started to amp up pressure, our guards did a great job of getting past that first level of pressure and dumping down to Roggio for easy scores,” Henrysen said. “I think the combination of Collin Stein, Kyle Cassidy and Jesse Rivera getting into the lane and finding easy baskets was key.”
The Patriots won the game at the foul line where they buried 13-of-19 shots while the Titans were just 2-of-4.
For the Titans, Nate Robinson’s 11 points led the way. Mark Kannengieszer added seven while Tommy Kuypers and Alex Dietz had seven each.
Central Bucks East (5-7 SOL) closed out the regular season with a 12-10 mark, and Central Bucks South (8-4 SOL) finished its record season with a 14-8 record. CB South is 15th in the latest power rankings.
Central Bucks South 9-17-3-18 47
Central Bucks East 17-13-19-15 58
Central Bucks South (47) – Brady Prezelski 4, Cody Prezelski 3, Nate Robinson 11, Brock D’Aulerio 2, Jack Johns 2, Alex Dietz 6, Mark Kannengieszer 7, Tommy Kuypers 6, Ian McCaw 2.
Central Bucks East (58) – Jesse Rivera 8, Ben Markowitz 3, Kyle Cassidy 16, Collin Stein 5, Nick Roggio 17, Leo Masterson 9.
WILLIAM TENNENT 53, SOUDERTON 50
It took 12 games, but the Panthers picked up that elusive conference win in their final game of the season. The win brought a welcome end to a nine-game losing streak.
“It was a nice win,” coach Robert Mulville said. “We’ve been struggling to get wins lately, but they keep at it at practice and try and keep battling. We were able to get one on the last night, so that was a good thing.”
Friday’s win avenged a 62-50 loss to the Indians in the initial meeting between the two teams.
“I think our defense was a little better tonight,” Mulville said. “We didn’t try to do too much on the defensive end. We just tried to keep them contained in our 2-3 zone. We really didn’t get out of it too much.
“They’re on an away court, so they’re probably not going to shoot as good as they would be shooting at home. I think that was the main difference.”
The Panthers led 18-12 after one quarter and took a 36-22 lead into halftime. They still led by double digits heading into the fourth quarter when the Indians staged a late rally and actually had the ball with a chance for the tie. Their shot as time wound down deflected out of bounds off the Panthers with .9 seconds remaining, not enough time for another shot as the Panthers held on for the hard earned win.
“I said to the guys after the game – we’ve had some ups and downs, and maybe we didn’t achieve some of the goals we wanted to achieve, but they kept at it and kept battling,” Mulville said. “We lost some close games, and had a couple of those games gone the other way, we might be looking at a different scenario.
“They came out, and they played hard.”
Leading the charge for the Panthers were Markeith Baxter (15 points) ad Pat McCauley (13 points).
“I thought McCauley and Baxter – two of the seniors that have started for us the whole year – really played well for us tonight,” Mulville said.
Ben Satz added 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. He also buried a pair of foul shots to give the Panthers a three-point lead after the Indians pulled to within one (51-50). Derrik Cosenza added six points.
Thomas Hanrahan and Mekhi Williams both scored 13 to lead the Indians. Trevor Watts and Kavi Ramchandani each had eight points.
William Tennent (1-11 SOL) finished its season with a 6-16 mark, and Souderton (3-9 SOL) closed out its season with an 8-14 record.
Souderton 12-10-12-16 50
William Tennent 18-18-8-9 53
Souderton (50) – Tomas Hanrahan 13, Mekhi Williams 13, Trevor Watts 8, Kavi Ramchandani 8, Andrew Vince 2, Stephen Luchansky 2, Dom Natale 2, Mitch Finkenbeiner 2.
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 54, HARRY S TRUMAN 46
The Golden Hawks scored just 25 points in a 39-25 loss to Harry S Truman on Jan. 26. Two weeks later, they more than doubled that offensive output in a winning effort. As endings go, it wasn’t a bad one for the Golden Hawks.
“I was happy that the seniors were able to leave with a great memory,” coach Derek Wright said. “We talked about going through and living through experiences, and this season did not go the way we wanted, but at the same time, it’s an experience that you can learn from.
“When you have experiences, you have opportunities to succeed and have great memories. Hopefully, they understand that they can get through even things that don’t go their way. In that sense, I was proud of them.”
Shawn Blank (18 points) and Christian Jabbar (14 points) had big offensive performances to lead the Golden Hawks. Blank also had three assists, and Jabbar had four rebounds, three steals and two assists.
“Christian Jabbar was a rock for us again tonight,” Wright said. “He’s been great all year. He’s just a great competitor.
“Shawn Blank, who’s had a rough year because he’s been injured most of the season, was able to play for us the second half of the year. He’s not in his best shape, and we haven’t been able to practice a lot because we’ve had so many games – he had a really nice night tonight.”
Council Rock South (3-9 SOL) closed out its season with a 6-16 record, and Harry S Truman (2-10) finished its season with a 7-15 record.
Harry S Truman 7-17-9-13 46
Council Rock South 15-13-12-14 54
Harry S Truman (46) – Jeff Nixon 8, Zierr Reid 2, Carter Kelley 4, Kashun Holden 2, Javeer Peterson 6, TJ Rogers 10, Treszon Chapman 2, Gabe Gipli 12.
Council Rock South (54) – Jack Rebholz 3, Kyle Meakim 6, Christian Jabbar 14, Kevin McNamee 2, Simon Magidenko 6, Shawn Blank 18, Esteban Gomez 4, Spencer Haun 1.
ABINGTON 65, BENSALEM 56
Sparked by the 31-point effort of Robbie Heath, the Ghosts wrapped up a perfect SOL National Conference season. Thirty-one was a career high for the senior guard, topping his 30-point effort in the Ghosts’ district title win last year at Villanova University. Heath connected on 11-of-17 shots from the floor and 8-for-11 at the foul line. He also had seven rebounds and five assists in a stellar outing.
Heath picked up some of the slack in the absence of all-everything center Eric Dixon, who sat out Friday’s game awaiting doctor’s clearance for a hand injury he suffered in Tuesday’s win against Central Bucks East. Lucas Monroe collected his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ghosts, who finished the game 20-for-29 at the foul line, connected on the front end of seven consecutive one-and-ones.
The Ghosts wrap up the regular season as the second seed in the District One 6A power rankings. If that seed holds, it will be the highest ranking since the Ghosts were number two in 1994.
The Owls fell behind 15-5 after one quarter but edged the Ghosts 51-50 the rest of the way. Ward Roberts and James Leible both scored 18 points to lead the Owls. Taco Douglas had 10.
Abington (18-4, 12-0 SOL) returns to action Saturday when the Ghosts will take on Central Bucks West in the Suburban One League Tournament on Saturday (3:45 p.m.) at Bensalem High School. Bensalem (14-8, 7-5) is the 16th seed in the latest District One 6A power rankings.
Bensalem 5-13-16-22 56
Abington 15-11-18-21 65
Bensalem (56) – Taco Douglas 10, Ward Roberts 18, James Leible 18, Lamont Hasker 4, Kris Shields 4, Nick Fossile 2
Abington (65) – Robbie Heath 31, Darius Brown 3, Xavier Crawford 2, Brandon Coffman 4, Lucas Monroe 14, Hasan Whitby 3, Bryan Coffman 2, JP Nolan 6
About the Author
