Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Pennsbury/CR North photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography, and Bensalem/Neshaminy photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games.
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SOL National
BENSALEM 46, NESHAMINY 42
The Redskins gave the conference leaders all they could handle, but the never-say-die Owls, who trailed 23-14 at halftime, rallied for the win to remain undefeated in conference play.
The Owls took their first lead of the game with 3:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“It was definitely a close one tonight,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “The boys – like I said before – are a resilient group. They never quit.
“Neshaminy did a great job coming out – they handled our pressure tonight, which was an adjustment from the last time we played. They had their full team. They played well in their zone and they’re long. Their back is against the wall, and we knew they were going to come out with a great effort. Neshaminy did that. They made shots, and they played well.”
After trailing by nine at the intermission, the Owls came out of halftime and outscored the Redskins 14-8 to pull to within 31-28 heading into the final quarter. Sparked by seven points from Jeremiah Alexander and six from James Ashford, the Owls closed out the game with an 18-11 quarter to earn the win.
“We willed our way to victory,” Morris said. “We couldn’t make foul shots, we couldn’t make layups. We kept getting offensive rebounds off of missed foul shots.
“Once we got the lead – we knew if they had to go man-to-man, we would be able to get to the rim.”
Ashford led the Owls in scoring with 14 points, and Aaron Sanders added 13. Alexander had nine points, and Travis Robinson had six.
“Aaron Sanders just keeps getting better and better,” Morris said. “His calmness on the court tonight helped us out tremendously.
“James (Ashford) got a big steal at the end. We might have been up two, we were pressing, and he got a big steal and got a layup. We just willed our way. Winning teams find a way to win, and we got a win.”
The Redskins were led by the 13-point effort of Jimmy MacDonald. Matt Drapkin added nine, and Mike Murray had eight points.
Bensalem (13-1, 7-0 SOL) will host North Penn in a non-league game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Neshaminy (5-9, 2-5) will be on the road at Council Rock South on Tuesday.
Bensalem 8-6-14-18 46
Neshaminy 12-11-8-11 42
Bensalem (46) – Travis Robinson 2 2-3 6; Justin Johnson 1 0-0 2; Aaron Sanders 5 0-2 13; Jeremiah Alexander 2 5-10 9; James Ashford 4 6-11 14; Luke Zeidler 0 2-4 2; Totals 14 15-30 46.
Neshaminy (42) – Jimmy MacDonald 5 3-3 13; Kyle Saglimben 1 1-2 3; Matt Drapkin 3 2-2 9; Damon McGovern 1 1-2 3; Mike Murray 3 2-2 8; Jake McGinty 3 0-1 6; Totals 16 9-12 42.
PENNSBURY 65, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 48
Evan Reichard had a career night, scoring a game-high 26 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for the impressive double-double.
“Evan Reichard just played his best game of the year,” said Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman, crediting the standout performance to effort..jpg)
Reichard took 10 trips to the foul line, burying nine shots. He shot a dazzling 61 percent from the field (8-for-13) and connected on a 3-pointer.
Collin Connor also had a big night, burying 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc and finishing with 17 points. Shane Simmons also finished in double figures with 11 points.
The Falcons had a 16-8 lead after one quarter and took a 33-23 advantage into halftime. They put the game out of reach with a 20-point third quarter.
For the Indians, Bernie Parent had 12 points, which included three 3-pointers, and Hunter Wan had a pair of threes and 11 points. Luke Vliet and Connor Rushing both had eight points.
Pennsbury (5-6, 3-3 SOL) will host Chichester in a non-league game Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Council Rock North (3-11, 1-6) will travel to Upper Dublin on Saturday for a non-league game at 7 p.m.
Council Rock North 8-15-12-13 48
Pennsbury 16-17-20-12 65
Council Rock North (48) – Bernie Parent 5 0-0 12; Luke Vliet 3 1-2 8; Sean Mealey 2 0-1 5; Hunter Wan 4 1-2 11; Mikey Sylvester 1 0-0 2; Connor Rushing 4 0-0 8; Sean Clancy 1 0-0 2; Totals 20 2-5 48.
Pennsbury (65) – Shane Simmons 4 1-2 11; Kyrie Miller 1 0-0 2; Collin Connor 6 0-0 17; Amir Johnson 2 0-1 5; Evan McNealy 1 2-4 4; Evan Reichard 8 9-10 26; Totals 22 12-17 65.
3-point goals: CRN – Bernie Parent 2, Hunter Wan 2, Sean Mealey, Luke Vliet, Pennsbury – Collin Connor 5, Shane Simmons 2, Amir Johnson, Evan Reichard.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 53, HARRY S TRUMAN 29
The Tigers won three in a row heading into Thursday’s contest, but the visiting Golden Hawks brought a halt to that winning streak with a decisive win, outscoring their hosts in all four quarters.
“Them winning three in a row was obviously something we talked about and how last year the second time we played them they just smashed us,” Rock South coach Chris Clark said of his team’s 80-57 loss to Truman last January. “We said we have to be ready for that. Plus they’ve become a zone team.
“The first time we played them it was basically all man-to-man, and now it became all zone, so we had to focus on zone offense. We struggled in the first five minutes or so. Their zone was good, and we turned the ball over. At our end, we didn’t rebound very well, and they got a lot of second shots. We were able to weather that.”
The Golden Hawks led 23-15 at the intermission and then outscored the Tigers 14-8 in the third quarter to go on top 37-23. Luke Meakim scored six points in the quarter. Rock South added to its lead in the final frame.
“We had a little surge in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter,” Clark said. “Again, I think our defense was good the whole game – our first-shot defense was good. We struggled rebounding-wise in the first half. We were much better rebounding in the second half.
“I’m happy with where we are, but we can still get better, and that’s what we have to focus on tomorrow because we have Neshaminy coming up on Tuesday.”
Michael Stewart led a balanced Rock South attack with 12 points – six in the final quarter. Meakim and Kevin McNamee both added 11 points while Jack Rebholz had nine. Luca Baratta added six.
“Luke Meakim got fouled two times in a row after we had missed on four or five straight possessions and we hadn’t scored,” Clark said. “He made 3-of-4 free throws, he also made a 3-pointer in there, and I think that stabilized us combined with our defense – Kevin McNamee inside playing the big kid and defensive rebounding.”
“Michael Stewart just does everything – score, pass, defend, rebound. Jack Rebholz was really good in terms of handling the ball and playing point defense. Luca Baratta has been solid at both ends lately – defensive rebounding, making his foul shots. We had good shot distribution tonight too. I was happy about that. We are definitely playing well. We just have to keep it going.”
Council Rock South (11-5, 5-2 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (3-10, 1-5) will host Pennsbury on Friday.
Council Rock South 8-15-14-16 53
Harry S Truman 5-10-8-6 29
Council Rock South (53) – Jack Rebholz 3 3-4 9; Luca Barretta 2 2-2 7; Luke Meakim 3 3-4 11; Michael Stewart 3 5-8 12; Kevin McNamee 5 1-2 11; Alec Borofsky 1 0-0 2; Totals 17 14-20 53.
Harry S Truman (29) – Robert Winton 1 2-2 4; Kayshawn Clark 1 0-0 3; Kashun Holden 2 1-2 5; Fernando Vargas 1 0-0 2; Terrence Rogers 1 2-2 4; Treyshawn Clark 1 0-0 2; Montgomery 3 0-0 6; Ethan Flail 1 0-2 3; Totals 11 5-8 29.
3-point goals: CRS – Luke Meakim 2, Michael Stewart 2, Luca Baratta, HST – Kayshawn Clark, Ethan Flail.
SOL Continental
SOUDERTON 45, NORTH PENN 43
The Indians took a 17-point lead into the final quarter and looked as though they would coast to the win. The visiting Knights had other ideas, exploding for 22 points to make things interesting down the stretch.
Still, there was no mistaking the significance of the win for an Indian squad that is minus a pair of key players in Andrew Vince and Dom Natale due to injuries.
“It was a great win,” Souderton coach Tim Brown said. “North Penn is playing good basketball now, and we’re still trying to figure everything out, so it was good to see the guys getting comfortable.
“We’re a young team, and it’s different than what we expected because we expected to have a senior-laden team, but it’s kind of flip flopped. We’re learning, it’s stressful while we’re learning, but we got out of there with a win.”
As for the finish, Brown admitted it had its share of tense moments.
“They just pressured us, and we didn’t handle the pressure well at all,” the Indians’ coach said. “We were just continuously turning it over and making poor decisions.
“They had a chance to take the lead, and Sami Chouiraf took a huge charge to bring it the other way because it would have been a dump-down layup if he didn’t take that charge, and they would have taken the lead.”
The Indians, who trailed by two after one quarter, took a 23-15 lead into halftime and added to that with a 15-point third quarter.
“We played by far the best we’ve played since everything has happened for three quarters,” Brown said. “The fourth one got rough, but I’m proud of them. They’re coming along, and they’re starting to play with each other and understand the lineup and understand their roles. If we can keep practicing like we did yesterday and playing like we did the first three quarters, we’ll be in good shape.”
Jason Price’s 15 points led the Indians. Ben Murawski added 10, Brian Reimer had seven, and Evan Kutzler had six points.
“Jason Price was awesome,” Brown said. “He’s setting the tone for us as far as playing with great pace, being aggressive when the time calls for him to be aggressive, keeping it moving when he didn’t have things.
“Ben Murawski was also great. It was the second game in a row he’s played with great energy and been a force down low. He played great defense and was great for us rebounding the basketball. Obviously, they have a decent amount of big guys, so he did a great job down low banging with those guys.”
Rob Carangi led all scorers with 20 points. Josh Jones added 14, and Joey Larkins had seven in a contest that saw just four North Penn players put their names in the scoring column.
Souderton (10-6, 4-3 SOL) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Tuesday, and North Penn (4-10, 2-5) will travel to Bensalem Saturday for a non-league game at 1:30 p.m.
North Penn 11-4-6-22 43
Souderton 9-14-15-7 45
North Penn (43) – Rob Carangi 20, Josh Jones 14, Joey Larkins 7, Matt Swanson 2.
Souderton (45) – Jason Price 15, Ben Murawski 10, Brian Reiner 7, Evan Kutzler 6, Jack Towsen 5, Sami Chouiraf 2.
SOL American
CHELTENHAM 58, UPPER MORELAND 43
The Panthers closed out a grueling stretch of five games in seven days with a win over the visiting Golden Bears.
“I’m elated that we actually get to practice again,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “They’re definitely tired, and I can’t lie – I am too.”
The Panthers raced out to a 17-9 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Jaelen McGlone’s double-double – 14 points and 10 rebounds – led a balanced attack. He also had five steals. Justin Moore had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal, and Sean Emfinger had nine points, three steals, three rebounds and two blocked shots. Travis Coleman (two steals) and Rasheem Dearry both had six points. Mike McClain had six rebounds, and Saleem Payne had four points and three assists.
The Golden Bears – who are without point guard Beau Woollens (injury) – were led by the 16-point efforts of Byron Hopkins and Jordan Gregg.
“They fought,” Fleury said of the Golden Bears. “I saw Beau was at the game, and we feel for him. We know exactly how they feel.
“Our guys fought. They were clearly fatigued, but they stuck together, and that’s a beautiful thing. They stick together, they fight together, and that’s a great thing.”
Cheltenham (14-2, 8-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (8-5, 3-5) will host Sun Valley in a non-league game Saturday at 6 p.m.
Cheltenham 17-11-13-17 58
Upper Moreland 9-8-9-17 43
Cheltenham (58) –
Upper Moreland (43) – Byron Hopkins 16, Jordan Gregg 16, Jahaire Johnson 2, Matt Tiernan 4, Justin Sanders 5.
Cheltenham (58) – Rasheem Dearry 6, Travis Coleman 6, Justin Moore 9, Saleem Payne 4, David Pope 6, Jaelen McGlone 14, Mike McClain 4, Sean Emfinger 9.
Non-league
QUAKERTOWN 45, WILLIAM TENNENT 43
It was a long time coming, but after 12 straight losses to open the season, the host Panthers could celebrate at last.
“I can’t explain how happy I am for the guys,” coach Mike DeCarolis said. “We’ve had a really tough season, but if anybody was to come to a practice or come to a game and watch how hard my kids play and fight until the last minute – they really deserve this win tonight.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them. We’ve just been fighting and fighting and fighting, and we’ve been getting closer and closer. Tonight we finally took that next step and got a win. It’s a great feeling. For me – obviously, I want to win as many games as I can, but to watch my guys in the locker room celebrate that win, there’s no better feeling than that. I’m so happy for the kids.”
Tennent – sparked by seven points from Josiah Johnson – opened up a 15-9 lead after one quarter, but Quakertown answered with a 13-3 second quarter tear to go into halftime with a 22-18 lead. Matt Tuley scored seven points in the second to lead the home team.
Quakertown – which led by as many as 10 – added to its lead in the third quarter and took a 35-27 lead into the final frame. The host Panthers needed every bit of that lead as Tennent closed it out with a 16-10 quarter. Johnson scored 11 points in the quarter.
“We really struggled from the foul line,” said DeCarolis, whose team connected on just 9-of-20 foul shots. “That’s what kept William Tennent in the game.
“One of my senior captains, Matt Tuley, made two big foul shots to push the lead to five, and we held on at the end.”
Tuley led the home team with 16 points, which included a pair of threes and a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line.
“He played awesome,” DeCarolis said. “He had a great game as far as point-wise, but I think more important for us and for him, he shot great from the line and he really rebounded like an animal tonight, and that’s what we needed.
“He was just huge for us on the defensive end and a really big calming presence for us on offense. He’s been having a nice second half of the season for us. He played a great game. We don’t win that game if he doesn’t play like that.”
Matt Catalano added seven points while Jack Gordon and Luke Bauer both had six points.
“Everybody that got in the game for us scored a point or did something positive,” DeCarolis said. “It was really a full team effort from us tonight. It was probably one of our most complete games that we’ve had this season.
“I’m really happy for the guys. This is my second year at Quakertown, and between when I got hired and this offseason, we’ve had four kids transfer, kids that started and played a ton of minutes for us last year. For our guys to stick with it and not give up – they deserve all the credit in the world. I’m so happy for them.”
The Panthers’ second-year coach pointed to his team’s defensive play as a key to the win.
“We’ve been struggling on the defensive end,” DeCarolis said. “Defense has been our bugaboo in the latest stretch of the season.
“In our last two games, I thought we played really well against Souderton and CB West. It was just a situation where we were giving up too many points. Tonight was probably our best defensive effort we’ve had all year. That was the key for us.
“We rebounded the ball well. We made William Tennent work for every point they had. We’re averaging 43 points, and our goal was to keep them under 43. We hit 43 right on the nose. If we can do that, we’ll be a lot more competitive.”
The visiting Panthers – who were without Derrik Cosenza – were led by the 21-point performance of Johnson, who connected on 11-of-13 at the foul line. Sean Haus had eight points, including a pair of threes, and Bryce Lockett added six.
Quakertown (1-12, 1-6 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Friday, and William Tennent (9-5, 4-3) will host Central Bucks South in a non-league game Saturday at 1 p.m.
William Tennent 15-3-9-16 43
Quakertown 9-13-13-10 45
William Tennent (43) – Dominic Sulpzio 1 0-0 3; Jay Stanfield 1 0-0 3; Josiah Johnson 5 11-13 21; Sean Haus 3 0-0 8; Walter Young 0 2-2 2; Bryce Lockett 3 0-0 6; Totals 13 13-15 43.
Quakertown (45) – Matt Catalano 3 0-0 7; Kayden Roley 0 2-4 2; Jack Gordon 2 1-5 6; Jake Hallowell 2 0-3 4; Matt Tuley 5 4-4 16; Ty Wilkin 2 0-2 4; Luke Bauer 2 2-2 6; Totals 16 9-20 45.
3-point goals: WT – Sean Haus 2, Jay Stanfield, Dominic Sulpizio, Quakertown – Matt Tuley 2, Matt Catalano, Jack Gordon.
ACADEMY PARK 70, ABINGTON 64
The visiting Ghosts opened up a 19-16 lead after one quarter but watched that lead evaporate in a second quarter that saw them score just 10 points. The Knights took a 33-29 lead into halftime, and it was still a four-point game heading into the final quarter.
Manir Waller led the Ghosts with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Oreck Frazier and Caleb Baker both added 13 points. Rob Bell also was in double figures with 10 points to go along with six assists and three steals. Joey Brusha added eight points.
The Ghosts, who committed just eight turnovers, connected on 25-of-51 shots from the field (49 percent). They made 8-of-17 from beyond the arc (47 percent).
Abington (6-7, 5-2 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Friday.
Abington 19-10-18-17 64
Academy Park 16-17-18-19 70
Abington (64) – Rob Bell 4 0-1 10; Oreck Frazier 5 2-2 13; Manir Waller 6 1-2 15; Joey Brusha 2 2-2 8; Caleb Baker 6 0-1 13; Karim Boyd 1 0-0 2 Connor Fields 1 1-2 3; Totals 25 6-10 64.
Academy Park (70) – Jalen Cassidy 0 2-4 2; Brown 0 4-5 4; Derrick Northern 10 5-6 27; Tahriq Marrero 7 8-8 24; K.Wright 4 3-5 13; Totals 21 22-28 70.
3-point goals: Abington – Rob Bell 2, Manir Waller 2, Joey Brusha 2, Oreck Frazier, Caleb Baker, Academy Park – Derrick Northern 2, Tahriq Marrero 2, K.Wright 2.
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