Check out the recaps for SOL boys’basketball teams in action Friday. CR North/William Tennent photos provided courtesy of Mike Sperando. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos.
SOL American Conference
Cheltenham 73, Plymouth Whitemarsh 56
A superb second half by Cheltenham proved to be the difference as the host Panthers surged to a 73-56 victory over visiting Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday night. The Panthers trailed by four at halftime but outscored their visitors 45-24 in the second half.
The defeat marked the first SOL loss for the Colonials since Jan. 19 of 2016 when they lost to Upper Merion 57-43.
“They’re a great team, they’ve had success,” said Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury, a Cheltenham graduate.“I take my hat off to (Plymouth Whitemarsh coach) Jimmy (Donofrio). They brought (former Plymouth Whitemarsh standout) Chuck (Moore) back.
For us tonight, I think it was just a battle of styles and will.
“The stepping up of sophomore Mike McClain (12 points), was big for us. He’s been a consistent contributor. We always thought there’d be a game he’d hit double figures. He’s about 6-4, and he had to guard Naheem (McLeod, a Florida State University commit). He hit timely shots, he was patient. He was playing beyond his years. Justin Moore is a ninth grader and he was solid for us. The things he does don’t always show up on a stat sheet.”
Point guard Zahree Harrison led the Panthers with a game-high 23 points to go along with four assists, three steals and a block. Kyin Healey had 13 and seven rebounds. Tim Myarick was next for Cheltenham with a dozen points. Jalen Mickens led the defense with five steals.
“Zahree Harrison, it goes without saying,” Fleury said. “There’s not a lot of things I can say – he just works. He’s always looking to get better, trying to find the right play to make, and he has the freedom to do so. Just the way Zahree Harrison was able to orchestrate the offense and hit timely shots and really step up when the moment was there after being a facilitator and locking in.
“Kyin Healey – I can’t say enough. This year we just challenged him to be stronger, and he’s answering the call. He was even in foul trouble tonight, and he was still able to get 14 points and seven rebounds.
“Tim Myarick is a cerebral guy. The last two games – his shot hasn’t been falling the way that it needed to, so when we ended practice yesterday, he put in an extra hour and 15 minutes. The same shots he was practicing were there for him today. He shot them with confidence, and he stuck them. Tim is our guy who leads by example. It was just a total team effort led by Zahree (Harrison), Kyin (Healey) and Tim (Myarick).”
The 7-foot-4 McLeod led the Colonials with 20 points and Caelin Peters had 14.
“Naheem (McLeod) is an ACC player,” Fleury said. “There’s no real answer for him. People said, ‘You had a great game against him,’ and he still walks away with 20 points. It’s not easy. You’re not going to beat a team with a kid like that on it with just one individual effort.
The Panthers’ first-year coach pointed to last Saturday’s two-point loss to Pennsbury as an important learning experience.
“I think that Pennsbury loss was good for us just in terms of understanding the totality of what 32 minutes is like,” Fleury said. “But again, nothing but respect for Jimmy (Donofrio) and those guys. They’re going to be a top team in our conference for years to come. That’s part of the reason our conference gets the notice that it does."
The win kept the Panthers unbeaten in the conference and they did it in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
“We had a lot of alumni come in tonight,” Fleury said. “The Mansell family was there tonight, the only family in Cheltenham history to score 5,000 points as a family. The beautiful thing is the three boys did a lot of the heavy lifting, and Eve, the younger sister, capped it off and got the last 21 or 30 points they needed to get 5,000. It’s just a beautiful thing because starting in 1997 we all first met to now a couple of master’s degrees between us, families and we’re still coming back to the spot that made us family.
“To me, it’s more than basketball. LeBron James coined the phrase and I believe it – ‘It’s more than a game,’ and I think our kids are understanding that and understanding how important it is to give back and just be a part of the community to help lift it. We do our job, track will do their job, football and the rest of the sports will continue to rise. That’s what we want. This is a budding place, and we want that to be the story. Every place has its issues, and this is just a small feat to bringing the highlight of what this place really is at the forefront. I think we’ll see some of our other alumni come back. As long as we’re together, there’s no real telling where the season will take us.”
Cheltenham (5-2, 3-0 SOL) will take on Friends Central on Friday at1:45 p.m as part of the Pete & Jameer Nelson Classic at Chestnut Hill College. Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-2, 2-1) will face Unionville on Saturday, Dec. 29, 9:15 p.m., also at Chestnut Hill College.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 20-12-13-11 56
Cheltenham 15-13-24-21 73
Plymouth Whitemarsh (56) – Jaden Pryce 2, Caelin Peters 14, Naheem McLeod 20, Kyree Pendleton 8, Jordan Evans 6, Jason Cherry 6.
Cheltenham (73) – Zahree Harrison 23, Jalen Mickens 8, Tim Myarick 12, Brandon Scott 5, Mike McClain 12, Kyin Healey 13.
Upper Moreland 49, Hatboro-Horsham 33
Sluggish start, strong finish.
And it added up to a victory for Upper Moreland over arch-rival Hatboro-Horsham on Friday night.
“Our defense played well,” Upper Moreland coach Sean Feeley said. “I really respect the Hatboro-Horsham staff. (Head coach) Ed (Enoch) does a great job and had his guys prepared. We had to adjust to what he did.”
The adjustment worked as, after trailing 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, the Golden Bears would outscore their hosts 44-24 the rest of the way.
Christian O’Donnell and Beau Woollens paced the Upper Moreland offense with 14 points apiece.
“My senior, Christian O’Donnell, led the way for us both on offense and leading the team,” Feeley said. “And Beau Woollens played really well, also. And Jahire Johnson was tremendous on the glass for us. I’m really proud of the effort the program showed tonight.”
Khalid Johnson led the Hatters with seven points.
Upper Moreland (4-2, 1-2 SOL) will face Jenkintown on Friday at 7:15 p.m. in an opening round game of the Robert Hopf Tournament at Jenkintown High School. Hatboro-Horsham (2-5, 0-3) is off until Friday, Jan. 4, when the Hatters will travel to Springfield Township.
Upper Moreland 5-12-9-23 49
Hatboro-Horsham 9-2-11-11 33
Upper Moreland (49) – Byron Hopkins 11, Beau Woollens 14, Christian O’Donnell 14, Jahire Johnson 6, tyler Ibbotson 2, Matt Tiernan 2.
Hatboro-Horsham (33) – Khalid Johnson 7, Solomon McNair 6, Jake Schalki 4, Zeheir Creeze 4, Jack Marvin 6, N’Gianni Cerisier 6.
Abington 64, Upper Dublin 44
The Abington train continued to roll right along Friday night as the Ghosts dispatched visiting Upper Dublin to improve to 7-1.
The dynamic combination of seniors Eric Dixon (a Villanova University commit) and Lucas Monroe (a University of Pennsylvania commit) combined for 46 points in the victory.
The Ghosts led by five after one quarter before blowing things open with a 26-point second quarter to lead by 18 at halftime.
Dixon, who also had 16 rebounds, three blocks and three steals, led the way with a game-high 31 points. Monroe (nine rebounds, five assists) netted 15 points including a 9-of-10 effort at the charity stripe. Maurice Henry chipped in with a career-best 14 points. He was 4-of-7 from the field and buried 4-of-4 at the foul line. He also had three steals.
Drew Stover had 14 points for the Cardinals while Corby Watkins added 11. Bazel Brady also finished in double figures with 10.
Abington (5-1, 2-1 SOL) is off until Friday Jan. 4, when the Ghosts will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in a key conference battle. Upper Dublin (4-3, 1-2) will face Pottstown on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the opening round of the Great Valley Tournament.
Upper Dublin 10-13-12-9 44
Abington 15-26-7-16 64
Upper Dublin (44) – Drew Stover 14, Corby Watkins 11, Bazel Brady 10, Jason Williams 1, Brian Klammer 5, Mike Slivka 3.
Abington (64) – Lucas Monroe 15, Eric Dixon 31, Manir Waller 4, Maurice Henry 14.
SOL Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 58, North Penn 39
Central Bucks East pulled away over the final eight minutes to post a road victory over North Penn. With the win, the Patriots improved to 6-1.
“Tonight was a great team win,” Central Bucks East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We were able to get contributions from our bench which really helped us.
“North Penn is a very good team, so it was important for us to get support from multiple guys and that’s what happened.”
Sophomore Joe Jackman led the Patriots with a game-high 22 points including four 3-pointers. He also had a pair of steals.
“Joe Jackman is a 10th grader,” Henrysen said. “He’s had a few big games already and really played well tonight.”
Nick Roggio had 12 points (10 rebounds) in the win and Leo Masterson had 11. Ben Markowitz added nine points and six rebounds. Anthony Giordano led the defense with three steals.
The Patriots were a perfect 14-for-14 from the foul line.
“It’s always nice to go into the holiday break on a win,” Henrysen said.
Solomon Robinson, with a dozen points, was the only Knight to reach double figures. A.J. Mitchell was next for North Penn with seven points.
Central Bucks East (5-1, 2-1 SOL) will take on Dobbins on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in an opening game of the Dock Mennonite Holiday Basketball Tournament. North Penn (4-3, 1-1) will face Methacton on Thursday at 5 p.m. in an opening round game of the Perkiomen Valley Tournament.
Central Bucks East 10-15-9-24 58
North Penn 9-8-10-12 39
Central Bucks East (58) – Nick Roggio 12, Ben Markowitz 9, Leo Masterson 11, Joe Jackman 22, Jacob Rotondo 2, Anthony Giordano 2.
North Penn (39) – McIver 6, Mitchell 7, Barrow 2, Caputo 3, Carangi 1, Robinson 12, Swanson 5, Hartman 3.
Central Bucks South 60, Souderton 48
Central Bucks South continued its strong start to the season with a win over visiting Souderton on Friday. The Titans led by two after one quarter but extended their lead to 30-22 at halftime.
“We started off decent, they went up 2-0, and we went on a little bit of a run,” Central Bucks South coach Jason Campbell said. “We were up 9-4, and they hit a three at the end of the quarter to make it 9-7. In the second quarter, we did a little better job of running our offense.
"Alex Dietz banged a couple of threes in the quarter. He had a really good shooting game for us. The offense kind of came together. It’s always spread out with our team, but Dietz and (Tom) Kuypers were fantastic tonight, creating.
“Ian McCaw – even though he scored three points and was in foul trouble, he does a good job of passing out of the post. When you get away from the game plan, you have to refocus the kids and let them know – ‘Hey, this is a physical team. We have to be a little more physical to get our looks.’”
Dietz led the Titans with 17 points and Kuypers had 16.
Defensively, the Titans limited the Indians to seven points in the opening quarter and 11 over the final eight minutes.
“Defensively, we have been doing a pretty good job this season,” Campbell said. “If we can hold teams under 48 points, we have a chance to win the game because we do get enough offense, and our offense this year is a newer offense that our guys are still working at, but our starters and the first couple of guys off our bench have picked up on it. They believe in each other – they’re always looking for each other. They don’t care who scores as long as they win the game.”
And win they have done as the Titans are 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
“I told the guys after the game, ‘It’s nice to win this game, but you have to keep doing the little things,” Campbell said. “’We’re going to have some days off after tomorrow’s practice, and you still have to watch some game film on your break, you still have to take care of yourselves and get rest. You have a target on your back. The more games you win, the more teams are going to be playing up to beat you. If you’re not doing the little things, you’re going to wind up getting knocked off. It’s easy to be in second place and down. It’s really hard to stay on top because everyone wants to get a piece of it.’”
Andrew Vince, with 11 points, was the only Indian in double figures. Sami Chouiraf and Jack Towsen each added seven points.
Central Bucks South (5-2, 3-0 SOL) will face Bartram in Friday’s opening round of the Jack Schott Holiday Tournament at Holy Ghost Pre on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Souderton (2-5, 0-3) will take on Upper Darby in an opening round game of the West Chester Rustin Winter Classic on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Souderton 7-15-15-11 48
CB South 9-21-10-20 60
Souderton (48) – Andrew Vince 11, Sami Chouiraf 7, Jack Towsen 7, Mekhi Williams 6, Kyle Walker 5, Dominic Natale 5, Zachary Thatcher 5, Brian Reiner 2.
Central Bucks South (60) – Alex Dietz 17, Tommy Kuypers 16, Brady Prezelski 8, Mark Kannengieszer 7, Cole Prezelski 5, Ian McCaw 3, Brock D’Aulerio 2, Brian Shields 2.
Pennridge 50, Central Bucks West 36
Pennridge bounced back after back-to-back losses to knock off host Central Bucks West on Friday.
“This was a great win for us tonight after we lost two in a row,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said.“We’ve had a couple of injuries that hurt us, but we showed a lot of heart.”
Senior Sean Yoder, who is 24 points shy of 1,000, again led the Rams with a game-high 22 points and fellow-senior Jon Post added eight.
“Sean Yoder played great on both ends of the floor,” Behrens said. “And Jon Post was dominant on the boards. Trent Fisher (six points) contributed with his shot-blocking abilities.”
Mika Munari led the Bucks with 15 points and Jack Mulhearn had 10.
Pennridge (5-2, 1-1 SOL) takes on Scranton Prep on Saturday (6:15 p.m.) in the Allentown Throwdown at Muhlenberg College. Central Bucks West (3-3, 1-2) will face Parkville High School on Thursday at 5 p.m. in and opening round game of the Oakland Mills Holiday Tournament in Columbia, Md.
Pennridge 21-4-13-12 50
Central Bucks West 6-8-13-9 -36
Pennridge (50) – John Dominic 6, Sean Yoder 22, Nick Dunn 2, Trent Fisher 6, Pat Gillespie 5, Jon Post 8.
Central Bucks West (36) – Connor Briece 1, Jack Mulhearn 10, Mika Munari 15, Jack Neri 6, Spratt 4.
SOL National Conference
William Tennent 46, Council Rock North 41
William Tennent didn’t let a slow start hinder them as the Panthers rallied for a win over Council Rock on Friday. They trailed 13-5 after one quarter but outscored the Indians 41-28 the rest of the way.
“We were settling a little bit – taking some threes,” said William Tennent coach Robert Mulville. “They played pretty good defense on (Derrik) Cosenza inside, and instead of working the ball, we probably shot a little bit too early in the possession.We didn’t have a real good first quarter but then bounced back after that.
“I thought our press worked pretty well in the second half, but I think overall both teams were grinding it out as best they could. They missed a couple of shots in the fourth quarter that enabled us to get a lead late. We got up three or five with two minutes left in the game. At that point, we tried to work some clock and get to the foul line.”
The Panthers were led by the 14-point effort of Dave West. Kip Mooney and Cosenza added11 points apiece for the Panthers, who converted 5-of-8 foul shots over the final eight minutes.
“It’s not going to show up in the stats, but I thought (Jay) Stanfield played a really good fourth quarter,” Mulville said. “He was 2-for-3 from the line, but he hit a one-and-one to put us up five. He’s very athletic, and he was able to make them work a little bit harder on the defensive end because he was at the top of the zone. He was the first guy in our full court press too. He has long arms and a 40-inch vertical leap, but he’s a point guard, so you don’t think he has that.
“Kip Mooney played really well in the fourth quarter – he hit a bit three for us and did a great job on the defensive boards. He had four boards and a big one late in the game. Cosenza is always tough on the boards, and he hit the two foul shots that kind of sealed the game for us. That put us up seven with 10 seconds left."
Hunter Wan was the only Indian in double figures as he netted a dozen points.
William Tennent (3-4, 2-0 SOL) is off until Thursday, Jan. 3, when the Panthers will host Pennsbury. Council Rock North (4-3, 1-2) will face South Hunterdon on Thursday at 11:45 a.m. in an opening round game of the Over the River Tournament at New Hope-Solebury.
Council Rock North 13-9-15-4 41
William Tennent 5-15-14-12 46
Council Rock North (41) – D.J. Mischak 7, Bernie Parent 5, Luke Vliet 9, Hunter Wan 12, James Duffy 6, Josh Fisher 2.
William Tennent (46) – Michael Mulville 2, Jay Stanfield 5, Josiah Johnson 2, Kip Mooney 11, Ryan Savage 1, Dave West 14, Derrik Cosenza 11.
Non-league
Council Rock South 67, Quakertown 54
Council Rock South erupted for 28 first-quarter points and was never threatened the rest of the way en route to a non-league win over Quakertown.
The Golden Hawks’ Michael Stewart scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the opening eight minutes. Twelve of his points came on 3-pointers.
“He was very good,” Council Rock South coach Chris Clark said of Stewart. “All the kids had great energy tonight right from the start. Making shots helps you keep the energy, and Michael got us off to a great start, but everybody was getting involved.
“Jack Rebholz, our point guard, got in foul trouble, and our bench players were really good tonight. Connor Lewis guarding the big and he got some points. Our two guards – Luca Baratta and Luke Meakim – gave a lot of good minutes in the first half.”
When Rebholz got in foul trouble, Shawn Blank – who scored 16 points – became the primary ball handler for the Hawks.
“Plus he’s guarding one of their better players, and he’s always under control,” Clark said. “He’s been just really good at both ends of the court. He was very important tonight.
“Our starting forwards too – Kevin McNamee had 13 points, and he was good on the defensive end – he was good at post defense, and he was in our defense on the press. Brian Schwartz gives us all-around game. He gives us interior defense, he gives us another ball handler on offense. It’s really everybody. All of our kids just really dug in on the defensive end, and we tried to push the ball and share the ball on offense, and it really worked out well.”
The win was all the more impressive considering the Golden Hawks were coming off a tough loss to Academy Park (61-57) on Thursday night.
“I was pleasantly surprised with our energy coming out because it’s not always easy to come back after a game like that,” Clark said. “We had a long bus ride, the holidays are coming, all those things. I’m really proud of this group. They’ve been ready to play every game."
Freshman Bobby Rosenberger paced the Panthers with 16 points.
Council Rock South (4-6, 3-0 SOL) is off until Friday, Jan. 4, when the Golden Hawks will travel to Bensalem.
Council Rock South 28-9-13-17 67
Quakertown 7-12-17-18 54
Council Rock South (67) – Jack Rebholz 5, Luke Meakim 6, Michael Stewart 18, Kevin McNamee 13, Brian Schwartz 4, Shawn Blank 16, Connor Lewis 3, LucaBaratta 2.
Quakertown (54) – Catalano 3, Merwarth 4, Harrison 3, Tuley 5, Casey 11, Rice 2, Rosenberger 16, Amandou 2, Ortiz 6.
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