Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. CB East/Dobbins photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. CR North/South Hunterdon photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos.
North Penn 57, Methacton 55
North Penn fought off a late Methacton rally to post a win over the Warriors in the opening round of the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shoot-Out on Thursday.
“We tried like crazy to give the game away,” said North Penn coach John Conrad. “We were up by four with a minute-something left, and we turned it over for a layup. Then we came down, we were running the delay, we got a good look, and we just missed the layup. They came down and (Jeff) Woodward got fouled and made two free throws.”
With the score tied at 55 with 30 seconds left, the Knights held the ball for the last shot and A.J. Mitchell was fouled going to the basket with 2.3 seconds left and made both free throws to secure the win.
For the Knights, close games are becoming the norm. Four of their eight games have been decided by three points or less. Thursday’s win was their third in four games decided by two points or less. They have won three of the four tightly-contested games.
“AJ Mitchell has been around for a long time, and when we get down towards the end, the guys look to him and rally around him, so he’s a big part of it,” Conrad said. “That’s a very good basketball team, and (coach) Jeff (Derstine) does a great job.
“We’re really happy. Unfortunately, it’s short-lived because we have Perk Valley, who is obviously a very good basketball team. We’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”
Mitchell finished with a game-high 22 points and Solomon Robinson had nine.
“We’ve gotten good contributions from different guys throughout the year,” Conrad said.
“I thought (Chris) Caputo played well, and I thought Mike Chaffee played well, played great defense.
“Tali McIver covered (6-3 senior point guard David) Duda most of the night and held him to 10 points. I think defensively our guards did a nice job.”
Woodward – the Warriors’ 6-9 junior center – led Methacton with 21 points.
North Penn (5-3, 1-1 SOL) will play Perkiomen Valley in the title game Friday at 6:30
Methacton 12-14-14-15 55
North Penn 10-16-16-15 57
Methacton (55) – Eberly 9, Girardo 7, Doak 10, Timko 8, Woodward 21.
North Penn (57) – Tali McIver 8, AJ Mitchell 22, Chris Caputo 4, Joe Larkins 6, Mike Chaffee 6, Solomon Robinson 9, Matthew Swanson 2.
Souderton 38, Upper Darby 34
A balanced effort from start to finish propelled Souderton past Upper Darby in the opening round of the West Chester Rustin Winter Classic on Thursday.
“Overall, the guys had a great three days of practice and it translated to the game,” Souderton coach Tim Brown said.“They focused and were locked in every possession defensively and they made Upper Darby work for absolutely everything they got.
“Our goal is to allow 11 or less a quarter and this was our first game where we were able to accomplish that. I was happy to see that the guys were able to see that building habits with tough, competitive practices will translate to the games.”
Junior Andrew Vince led the Indians with 13 points (13 rebounds) and Mekhi Williams added 11 points (eight rebounds). Brian Reiner was next for Souderton with six points.
Souderton (3-5, 0-3 SOL) will take on host West Chester Rustin in a second-round game on Friday (7 p.m.).
Souderton 9-10-12-7 38
Upper Darby 8-9-10 7 34
Souderton (38) – Andrew Vince 13, Mekhi Williams 11, Brian Reiner 6, Jack Towsen 4, Zachary Thatcher 3, Dominic Natale 1.
Upper Darby (34) – Roper 16, Jones 6, Keita 5, Rihler 3, Wedderburn 2, Toure 2.
Bensalem 53, Bristol 39
A strong second-half defensive effort enabled host Bensalem to top Bristol in the opening round of its own Dick Dougherty Memorial Holiday Tournament on Friday.
“It was a little ugly in the first half even though we were up nine,” said Bensalem coach Mike McCabe, whose team led 23-14 at the intermission. “We came out the second half, and I thought we played better defensively and we started being more aggressive offensively taking it to the basket.
“Shane Simmons carried us in the first half. He had a couple of beautiful takes to the basket."
Lamont Hasker took the lead for the Owls after halftime as he finished with a game-high 17 points, all of which came over the final two quarters.
“Lamont had zero points, and he came out and had 13 in the third quarter and ended up with 17 for the game,” McCabe said. “I thought overall we played pretty well as a team. Once we got a little more aggressive offensively, good things began to happen for us."
Bensalem (4-4, 1-2 SOL) will face Executive Education Academy in Friday’s title game (7:30 p.m.). Executive Academy is 6-1 with its only loss to La Salle.
“Let’s hope we can bring our championship back to our place,” McCabe said.
Bristol 9-5-11-14 39
Bensalem 12-11-17-13 53
Bristol (39) – Carter Kelly 11, Anthony McClinton 9, Aaron Clark 1, Jaylon Hammond 8, Jordyn Garrison 7, Brian Doyle 3.
Bensalem (53) – Nasir Williams 7, Jeremiah Alexander 6, Shane Simmons 12, TJ Igielski 2, Lamont Hasker 17, DeShawn Hicks 2, Aaron Sanders 7.
Upper Dublin 70, Pottstown 59
Drew Stover poured in a game-high 38 points, including 20 in the decisive third quarter, to help power Upper Dublin past Pottstown in the opening round of the Great Valley Tournament on Thursday.
The Cardinals, who led 14-12 after one quarter, took a six-point lead (34-28) into halftime before utilizing a 22-point third quarter to pull away. Stover, the Cardinals' 6-5 center, had 20 of the 22 in the third stanza.
"The first quarter was back and forth," coach Chris Monahan said. "Pottstown did a good job attacking the basket and offensive rebounding.
"In the second quarter, we were able to get out in transition a little and built a 12-point lead. Pottstown fought back to cut our lead to (six) at halftime. We wanted to attack inside, and Drew Stover came up with 20 of his career-high 38 points in the third quarter. We handled their pressure well and ultimately built a 19-point lead before holding on in the end to win by 11."
Corby Watkins and Bazel Brody each netted eight points in the victory.
Upper Dublin (5-3, 1-2 SOL) will play in Friday’s title game at 7 p.m.
Upper Dublin 14-20-22-14 70
Pottstown 12-16-14-17 59
Upper Dublin (70) – Stover 38, Watkins 8, Brody 8, Williams 5, Klammer 9, Slivka 2.
Pottstown (59) – Towson 10, Jones 10, Dashnell 10, Bass 6, Cottman 6, Smallwood 3, Duncan 2, Burress 3, Seward 9.
Central Bucks West 62, Parkville (Md.) 49
Central Bucks West led by only two points after three quarters (44-42), but that all changed over the final eight minutes as the Bucks raced to a victory over a strong Parkville (Md.) in the opening round of the Oakland Mills Holiday Tournament in Columbia, Md. on Thursday. Parkville brought a 6-1 record into the tournament.The Bucks won going away by outscoring Parkville 18-7 in the fourth quarter.
All told, West connected on 10 3-pointers with six of them coming from Jack Mulhearn, who finished with a game-high 26 points.
Mika Munari was next for the Bucks with nine points and Jack Neri finished with eight points. Reed Zerweck added seven points.
The Bucks will take on host Oakland Mills in Friday’s championship game (7 p.m.).
Central Bucks West 15-14-15-18 62
Parkville 13-14-15-7 49
Central Bucks West (62) – Connor Briece 5, Jack Mulhearn 26, Mika Munari 9, Jack Neri 8, Reed Zerweck 7, John Murnen 6, Danny Miller 1.
Parkville (49) – Awahi 6, Godinez 15, Kalu 4, Libenus 2, Owens 2, Strickland 17, Ward 3.
Central Bucks East 65, Dobbins 48
Central Bucks East combined stingy defense with an explosive offense in the first half and rode that effort to a win over Dobbins in the opening round of the Dock Mennonite Holiday Basketball Tournament on Thursday.
While the Patriots put up 19 first-quarter points, they only allowed seven to build a big lead after eight minutes. They would take a 37-24 lead to halftime and were not threatened after intermission.
“Dobbins was a quick, athletic group,” Central Bucks East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We were happy to see our guys take on the challenge on the glass. We knew that Dobbins could really impact a game on the offensive boards.”
Leo Masterson (who had eight points) led the Patriots with 10 rebounds and Nick Roggio (game-high 29 points) collected seven boards. Ben Markowitz added eight points and five rebounds.
“That was great to see out of our three senior leaders,” Henrysen said. “We struggled shooting the ball from 3-point range (2-of-15) but we didn’t allow that to shake our focus.”
The Patriots will face the host Pioneers in Friday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m.
Central Bucks East 19-18-11-17 65
Dobbins 7-17-11-13 48
Central Bucks East (65) – Nick Roggio 29, Ben Markowitz 8, Leo Masterson 18, Joe Jackman 3, Jacob Rotondo 2, Jason Markowitz 2, Christian Rivera 1, Jack Hamilton 2.
Dobbins (48) – Donaldson 10, Thompson 14, Bailey 18, Thomas 6.
Quakertown 82, Salisbury 57
Quakertown had little trouble in dispatching Salisbury in the opening round of the Allentown Holiday Tournament on Thursday. Eleven players contributed points in the decisive win.
The Panthers all but put things away with a 25-point second quarter that gave them a 45-29 lead at halftime en route to the victory. Freshman Bobby Rosenberger led the charge, scoring 12 of his game-high 20 points in the frame.
Jimmy Casey added 16 points – eight in a 19-point third quarter, and Eli Ortiz chipped in with 15 points, including three 3-pointers.
Quakertown 20-25-19-18 82
Salisbury 15-14-13-15 57
Quakertown (82) – Matt Catalano 6, Tyler Merwarth 4, Sean Harrison 1, Jake Hallowell 4, Matt Tuley 2, Jimmy Casey 16, Nick Mestayer 2, Sam Rice 4, Bobby Rosenberger 20, Matt Lucas 8, Eli Ortiz 15.
Salisbury (57) – Weber 10, Cornish 8, Sylvester 3, Stephens 12, Franklin 2, Panarello 16, Snyder 6.
Council Rock North 61, South Hunterdon (N.J.) 22
Ten players scored points for Council Rock North in a romp over South Hunterdon (N.J.) in the opening round of the Over The River Tournament at New Hope-Solebury High School on Thursday.
The Indians jumped out to a 20-4 lead after one quarter and were never threatened the rest of the way.
James Duffy led the Indians with 10 points while sophomore Mikey Sylvester was next with nine. Luke Vliet and Hunter Wan each contributed eight points in the victory.
Council Rock North (5-3, 1-2 SOL) will face New Hope-Solebury in Friday’s title game at 3:30 p.m.
South Hunterdon 4-3-5-10 22
Council Rock North 20-17-14-10 61
South Hunterdon (22) – Smith 3, Ludwig 1, McCaffrey 3, Connor 4, Zalek 10, Jesse 1.
Council Rock North (61) – Mischak 3, Thompson 4, Parent 4, Stewart 4, Vliet 8, Wan 8, Sylvester 9, Duffy 10, Fisher 5, Saifer 5.
New Hope-Solebury 39, Springfield Township 38
A late rally wasn’t enough for Springfield Township as the Spartans dropped a one-point heartbreaker to host New Hope-Solebury in the opening round of the Over The River Tournament on Thursday. The Lions won it when Topher Taylor hit the game-winner with 4.3 seconds remaining.
The Spartans trailed by 10 at halftime (23-13) before slicing their deficit to seven after three quarters and nearly pulling out the win with a strong final eight minutes.
"It was a really good game," Chris Cole said. "It was a good defensive effort, but we just got off to a slow start."
Jordan Pauls led the way for Springfield Township with a team-high 15 points and Wilson Krewson chipped in with a dozen points.
Springfield Township (3-5, 0-3 SOL) will face South Hunterdon in Friday’s consolation game at 11:45 a.m.
Springfield Township 7-6-13-12 38
New Hope-Solebury 15-8-10-6 39
Springfield Townswilson hip (38) – Jordan Pauls 15, DeJaun Waters 3, Zach Edmonds 1, James Joseph 1, Krewson 12, Ethan Hamilton 6.
New Hope-Solebury (39) – Wallace 10, Borys 7, Weinseimer 2, Taylor 19, Waterman 1.
Perkiomen Valley 60, Wissahickon 33
Wissahickon never could find its offensive stride in a loss to Perkiomen Valley in the opening round of the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Shoot-Out on Thursday.
The Trojans trailed 24-15 at halftime but could only muster 18 total points after intermission in the loss.
Tyler Caso led Wissahickon with eight points while Ed Fortescue had seven and Harrision Williams added six points.
Wissahickon (4-4, 2-1 SOL) will take on Methacton in the consolation game on Friday at 5 p.m.
Wissahickon 5-10-9-9 33
Perkiomen Valley 12-12-14-21 60
Wissahickon (33) – Fortescue 7, Williams 6, Caso 8, Richman 1, Compas 5, Ostroski 6.
Perkiomen Valley (60) – Quinn 2, Parks 3, Hanson 9, Streeper 4, Strechay 18, Krause 24.
West Chester Rustin 72, Neshaminy 40
Host West Chester Rustin topped Neshaminy in the opening round of the West Chester Rustin Winter Classic on Thursday.
Up next for Neshaminy will be a second-round game against Upper Darby on Friday (5:30 p.m.).
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