Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. CB South/Quakertown photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of game photos.
SOL American Conference
Upper Dublin 46, Hatboro-Horsham 28
Possess the ball and play good defense and good things will usually happen.
That was the case for Upper Dublin on Friday as the Cardinals clamped down on Hatboro-Horsham en route to a convincing victory.
“The past couple of games the defense has been good, but I think it’s also a function of tempo,” Upper Dublin coach Chris Monahan said. “Both Springfield (a 43-37 win) and the game tonight were a little slower paced, longer possessions. I do think we did a good job defensively, but it was a slower paced game, and our offense was kind of stagnant for a while.
“In the second quarter, we were able to open it up a little bit, get out in transition. Jason Williams hit two threes, which kind of gave us a nice cushion, and in the third quarter, we were able to do a little bit of the same.”
The Cardinals led 21-9 at halftime and were up by 18 points after three quarters as they continued to improve upon last year’s mark. Upper Dublin is now 10-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference. Last season, they managed just six total wins.
“It’s good for the kids because they work hard,” Monahan said. “Everybody does, but we work hard in practice every day. We did the same last year, and we’re getting rewarded much more this year than we were last year, and it just shows. We practice, we try to do the right things, we try to play the right way, and we’re getting results lately.”
Corby Watkins led the Cardinals with a dozen points and Williams finished with 10. Mike Slivka was next with nine.
“I thought Jason (Williams) was very good,” Monahan said. “He hit the two threes, he managed the game very well. They got down in the second half, and they had to pressure, and Jason did a great job. We only had five turnovers the entire game, which was very good for us.
“Mike Slivka did a very good job in the second half. When they were getting out and pressuring, he was patient, he got a couple of drives to the basket, made some layups and got some and-ones. We went into halftime up 12, and we’ve been here the past few games – we get up and we give the lead back. We get up at Upper Merion, we gave the lead back. We get up at Springfield, we give it back, so we talked about that at halftime. Those two guys really helped to make sure that didn’t happen again tonight."
Khalid Johnson led the Hatters with 13 points and Solomon McNair had 11.
Upper Dublin (10-5, 4-4 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (3-12, 0-8) will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 8-13-18-7 46
Hatboro-Horsham 6-3-12-7 28
Upper Dublin (46) – Drew Stover 6, Corby Watkins 12, Jason Williams 10, Brian Klammer 5, Mike Slivka 9, Micah Bootman 4.
Hatboro-Horsham (28) – Khalid Johnson 13, Solomon McNair 11, N’Gianni Cerisier 2, Fink 2.
Cheltenham 67, Upper Moreland 63
Upper Moreland gave Cheltenham all it could handle before the Panthers were able to eke out a win over the visiting Golden Bears.
“(Upper Moreland) played very hard,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “We didn’t play well, and I take full responsibility for that. I have to get them better."
The Panthers led 27-23 at halftime before Upper Moreland trimmed things to just a basket at 45-43 after three quarters.
Zahree Harrison led the way for Cheltenham, which improved to 7-1 in the conference and in second place behind Abington, with a game-high 21 points. Jaelen McGlonne added a dozen points as did Kyin Healey. Tim Myarick was next for the Panthers with 11 points.
Byron Hopkins paced Upper Moreland with 20 points and Beau Woolens contributed 15. Jahire Johnson finished with 11 points in the loss. Jake Tiernan also was in double figures with 10 points. The Golden Bears were once again without senior Christian O’Donnell.
Cheltenham (10-5, 7-1 SOL) will host George Washington in a non-league game on Monday. Upper Moreland (8-6, 3-5) is scheduled to host Harry S Truman Saturday in a non-league game.
Upper Moreland 12-11-20-20 63
Cheltenham 15-12-18-22 67
Upper Moreland (63) – Byron Hopkins 20, Beau Woolens 15, Jahire Johnson 11, Jake Tiernan 10, Tyler Ibbotson 7.
Cheltenham (67) – Zahree Harrison 21, Jalen Pickens 7, Tim Myarick 11, Justin Moore 2, Elijah Harvey 2, Jaelen McGlonne 12, Kyin Healey 12.
SOL Continental Conference
Central Bucks West 59, Central Bucks East 49
Central Bucks West took control of the game early and didn’t let up on the way to a win Friday night over archrival Central Bucks East.
The victory for the Bucks avenged an earlier 61-58 defeat at the hands of the Patriots.
West led 14-7 after one quarter, and the Bucks were up by six at the half before they were able to pull away in the third quarter (where they built a 40-28 cushion).
“We’ve been struggling a little bit offensively,” Central Bucks West coach Adam Sherman said. “We haven’t been starting games well. This is game number 15, and of all 15 games, this is the second one we started well offensively, so we’ve been playing from behind for 13 of the 15 games.
“It was nice to get a good start. That’s been important for us, but we’ve been really struggling at the start of games. We’re digging ourselves in a hole, and that’s a tough way to play.”
The Bucks’ Jack Mulhearn led all scorers with 18 points (and also collected eight rebounds) and Mika Munari was next with 17. Jack Neri chipped in seven points. Reed Zerweck and Danny Miller combined for eight points and seven rebounds.
“Offensively, Jack Neri (seven points) started off really well, hit a big three to get us going,” Sherman said. “I thought Mika Munari and Jack Mulhearn had really solid games offensively.”
The Patriots were led by Leo Masterson’s 14 points while Jack Hamilton was next with 13 points. Joe Jackman (nine points) and Nick Roggio (seven points) also contributed for the Patriots, who scored just 28 points through three quarters.
“Our guys played great defensively,” Sherman said. “A couple of guys in particular really did a good job. The last time we played them (Ben) Markowitz hit a couple of big threes that hurt us. I thought Reed Zerweck did a really good job defensively. They have a couple of dangerous players. It was really important we didn’t let them go off like they did the last time."
Central Bucks West (7-8, 3-4 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Tuesday, and Central Bucks East (9-5, 3-4) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Central Bucks West 14-8-18-19 59
Central Bucks East 7-9-12-21 49
Central Bucks West (59) – Connor Briece 6, Jack Mulhearn 18, Mika Munari 17, Jack Neri 7, Reed Zerweck 4, John Murnen 3, Danny Miller 4.
Central Bucks East (49) – Ben Markowitz 3, Jacob Rotondo 1, Brendan Harte 2, Leo Masterson 14, Jack Hamilton 13, Joe Jackman 9, Nick Roggio 7.
Central Bucks South 60, Quakertown 57
Quakertown battled first-place Central Bucks South from start to finish before the host Titans used some late-game heroics to pull this one out.
“I’ll take a win – it doesn’t matter what the score is,” coach Jason Campbell said. “With how quickly things turned on us, I liked how we were able to come back and be poised.”
The game came down to the Titans’ final possession.
“There was 35 seconds, left and my assistant coach said, ‘Hold it for one,’” Campbell said. “My gut was telling me no. I wanted to stay aggressive, didn’t want a chance to turn the ball over. We ran one of our sets, it didn’t get us much. Quakertown did a good job defending it.
“There was about 15 seconds left, so I pulled it out for one. We ran a play with about nine seconds left. Quakertown did a good job defending the first option to it. Alex Dietz passed it to Cole Prezelski on the same side, ball-side corner. Cole drives left towards the middle of the lane elbow area. Cole gets into the lane, draws three guys and kicks it out to Dietz for a wide open three-pointer, and he hits nothing but net, and the place erupted. Just the heads up play by Cole Prezelski to get into the lane and find Alex and kick it out. Alex was tremendous tonight."
The Panthers called an immediate timeout and had six-tenths of a second to get a shot off. An inbounds to Bobby Rosenberger netted only a half-court shot that fell short.
The win kept the Titans, who also beat Quakertown by three points the first time they met this season, in a tie atop the conference with idle Pennridge. Both teams are 6-1 in conference play.
The loss dropped the Panthers, who handed the Rams their only conference loss earlier in the season, to 2-6 in conference action.
“Every time we play Quakertown, it’s a thriller,” Campbell said. “At their place, it was a thriller. Not so much as this game, but we went down 10-0 at their place and were down 10 at half. It was a battle.
“The team is relentless. They’re young for the most part, they have a few seniors, but they play with a lot of energy. They score in bunches, they can be physical, and their coach (Mike DeCarolis) is high energy, and they feed off of him.You can’t take any team lightly, and they’re dangerous. (Freshman Bobby) Rosenberger is a nice player, and he’s only going to get better with time.”
Quakertown led by three (at 11-8) after the opening quarter before the Titans put up 24 points in the second frame to lead 32-26 at the break. The Panthers narrowed the score to 42-40 after three quarters, setting up a frantic final eight minutes.
Alex Dietz, who secured the win with a last-second 3-pointer, powered the Titans with a season-high 25 points while Tommy Kuypers had 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals and Mark Kannengieszer netted 10 points. Cole Prezelski snared eight rebounds and Brady Prezelski had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Rosenberger and sophomore Jimmy Casey each had 15 points for Quakertown. Eli Ortiz added 10, and Tyler Merwarth had nine.
Central Bucks South (12-3, 6-1 SOL) is scheduled to travel to William Tennent for a non-league game on Saturday. Quakertown (4-10, 2-6) will host Pennridge on Tuesday.
Quakertown 11-15-14-17 57
Central Bucks South 8-24-10-18 60
Quakertown (57) – Tyler Merwarth 9, Matt Tuley 2, Jimmy Casey 15, Bobby Rosenberger 15, Matt Lucas 6, Eli Ortiz 10.
Central Bucks South (60) – Cole Prezelski 4, Brady Prezelski 5, Alex Dietz 25, Mark Kannengieszer 10, Tommy Kuypers 11, Ian McCaw 5.
Non-league
Plymouth Whitemarsh 59, Erie Cathedral Prep 47
Plymouth Whitemarsh started off strong and led from wire to wire in posting a win over Erie Cathedral Prep, the host team, in the opening round of the Burger King Classic on Friday.
For the third straight game since entering the lineup, Anthony Straface – out with an ankle sprain since Nov. 6 – was a difference maker, this time contributing a game-high 19 points. He connected on 5-of-9 shots from the floor – three-of-four from beyond the arc – and 6-of-6 at the foul line. He also had five assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action.
“When you start off a little slow like we did and you start mentioning a certain player you don’t have, people say, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re just crying sour (grapes),” coach Jim Donofrio said. “It’s kind of like OKC losing (Russell) Westbrook.
“He’s nowhere near 100 percent, but he’s probably 90 percent. It’s been an 11-week wait on an ankle, but we need him and we need to figure it out. The better problem to have is now him and Naheem (McLeod) have to coexist, and that’s a nice problem to have.”
In three games since his return, Straface has scored 22, 19 and 19 points – impressive production from the Roman transfer.
“Anthony can score – he’s ridiculously confident and thinks he should score 30 a night,” Donofrio said. “It’s a huge addition for us because it takes great pressure off of Caelin Peters having to be a scorer and a point guard. Everybody else can bump down a level in what they’re required to do, and all of a sudden you have a shot.
“I’m happy for him because he came to us last year from Roman and sat the whole year – we had Ahmin and Ahmad (Williams), and it was just too experienced of a team. He just didn’t understand everything, and I wasn’t sure he really was going to come around. He came in at 195 pounds, and he’s now 168. He can really play, and the way he’s putting them up, he’ll get attention very fast.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh came out flying in Friday’s win as it led by seven after a quarter (15-8) and 11 by halftime (25-14) before putting the game away by outscoring Erie Cathedral Prep 16-7 in the third quarter to go up by 20. The host team outscored PW 26-18 in the final quarter.
“Again, as a team, we blinked and struggled for about six minutes and let them come back in it,” Donofrio said. “We have to get over that environment, and that’s one reason we went out there because I don’t know where we’re going to end up this year in seeding, but I know it could be one of those real hard second or third round district games where you’re on the road against a team that has a huge home crowd.
“That’s what this was tonight, and to be able to practice that and watch the team make a big run all because of a whole lot of nervousness that was unnecessary, that was a huge teaching moment.”
As a team, the Colonials shot a sizzling 51 percent from the floor.
Naheem McLeod, the 7-foot-3 inch Florida State University-commit, had 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Jason Cherry added 11 points and six rebounds while Caelin Peters had seven points, five assists and two steals.
The victory moved the Colonials (9-4, 5-2 SOL) into Saturday’s title game of the four-team event where they’ll face Kennedy Catholic (7:30 p.m.). Kennedy Catholic (District 10) defeated St. Edward’s (Ohio) 73-64 in the other first-round game.
“This is a really fun tournament,” Donofrio said. “It’s been around for almost 40 years, sold-out crowds, a gym that’s only five years old, a great arena. I like to go places now if we get invited that have a passion about it. This tournament has passion. To play the home team on their home court – they’re young and they’re in a little bit of a rebuild but so are we.
“(Saturday) night we get a Kennedy Catholic team that is just loaded. We have not gone lightly with the schedule, and I knew we might take some hits. We absolutely have to bounce back from our fourth quarter tonight. We absolutely have to compete. It’s a street fight. These guys lost to Imotep by a few points at Weidner. If we decide we want to stop being nice people and improve our focus – that’s why this weekend is really important for this team. It’s time now. It’s time to show it can win big games, and I don’t know if they can.
“They love playing together, they like the game of basketball, but I don’t know how much edginess they have. They’re a very relaxed bunch, and it’s time to stop being relaxed. If we choose to come tomorrow and not believe in ourselves and not feel like fighting on every possession and not believing we can win, we could lose by 50. That’s how good they are. They have three, four D-Is on the floor at a time.”
Donofrio had a stern message to his players.
“I’m tired of people calling it a rebuilding year, and I’m tired of our team not wanting to grab the bull by the horns and say, ‘We deserve respect at the highest level,’” the Colonials’ coach said. “Whether they’re young, it really doesn’t matter. Some light bulbs have to start going off. We’ve got to get tougher, we’ve got to compete.
“(Our game against) Bonner was tied with two minutes to go, Abington was a really good defensive performance and a huge opportunity. No one cares you almost won a game. So what? That’s what a losing mentality is.
“This is an invite only trip. They pick one team from the East Coast to join them in what is a sold-out, two-night affair. It’s what you want. It’s not like going to Florida and Disney and playing at 11 o’clock in the morning, playing in front of 30 people, half of which is your team, and then going to Magic Kingdom. This was a very respected invitation, and I’m glad we took it. It’s a top-level tournament.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-10-16-18 59
Cathedral Prep 8-6-7-26 47
Plymouth Whitemarsh (59) – Naheem McLeod 15, Anthony Straface 19, Caelin Peters 7, Kyree Pendleton 3, Mark Kalala 4, Jason Cherry 11.
Cathedral Prep (47) – Mike Lucarotti 18, Liam Galla 5, Alfonso Pickens 4, Quentin Santillan 10, Caden Elwell 8, Joseph Corsale 2.
New Foundations Charter 56, William Tennent 51
The Panthers dropped a non-league decision to New Foundations Charter on Friday night.
Senior David West led the Panthers with 11 points while sophomore Derrik Cosenza contributed 10.
William Tennent (3-10, 2-4 SOL) will host Central Bucks South in a non-league game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
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