Check out the recaps of SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. North Penn/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Non-league
NORTH PENN 44, BENSALEM 42
The Knights won a thriller over the National Conference-leading Owls, rallying from an eight-point second-half deficit to win it when sophomore Joe Larkins buried both ends of a one-and-one with four seconds remaining in regulation.
“He’s such a quiet kid – I was so happy for him,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “He’s only a sophomore, and he’s played pretty much 32 minutes in every game we’ve had this year, and he’s handled it great. He’s had some ups and downs. I’m just happy for him today. He played well and came up big at the big moment.
“(Bensalem coach) Ron (Morris) called timeout to try and ice him and he made the first, and he made the second. We called timeout to set up our defense and talk about what we were going to do. They ran a home run type play and we intercepted the inbounds pass.”
The game-winning foul shots were set up after the Knights – with the score deadlocked 42-42 – came up with the big defensive stop.
“We got a stop, we rebounded, we outlet the ball to Joey and their kid fouled him in transition,” Conrad said. “It was one-and-one with four seconds to go and he made them both.”
If the Knights needed a bounce-back win, this was it, coming on the heels of a disappointing 45-43 loss to Souderton on Thursday.
“This was huge, not only for the team but for me to tell you the truth,” Conrad said. “I thought we were playing better, and we just didn’t roll out a good effort on Thursday.
“One thing I said to the kids in the locker room – we were down 17 at Souderton and they’re resilient and they fought back. We got down eight in the third quarter today and it was the same thing. They’re just resilient, and they keep fighting. I’m just super proud of them.”
The Knights led 11-10 after one quarter and took a 23-19 lead into halftime. Rob Carangi and Matt Swanson carried the offensive load for the Knights. Both had 10 points in the opening half. James Ashford’s nine points led the Owls.
In the third quarter, the Owls found their stride, outscoring the Knights 14-4 to go into the final quarter with a 33-29 lead.
Larkins led the Knights’ fourth-quarter charge, scoring 10 of his team’s 13 points. Included was a 6-for-6 effort at the foul line.
“To be honest, from a coaching standpoint, I think I was holding him back today,” Conrad said of Larkins. “We were just trying to beat the press and run some clock. We got down eight and we had to attack the rim, and he did that and got fouled. He scored a lot from the line.”
Swanson led the Knights with 15 points, Larkins had 14, and Carangi finished with 12.
“Bensalem is really quick, which made it hard for Mike (Chaffee) and Kolby (Barrow) to get their shots, and they ran Josh (Jones) off the line,” Conrad said. “We talked about taking advantage of our size and pounding the ball inside.
“Matt and Rob did a really good job on the offensive glass and the defensive glass, and Matt was very efficient scoring when he got the ball in the post.”
For the Owls, Ashford’s 14 points led the way. Travis Robinson added nine, and Aaron Sanders had seven.
North Penn (5-10, 2-5 SOL) will host Pennsbury in a non-league game Tuesday, and Bensalem (13-2, 7-0) will host William Tennent on Tuesday.
North Penn 11-12-6-15 44
Bensalem 10-9-14-9 42
North Penn (44) – Josh Jones 1 0-0 3; Joey Larkins 4 6-614; Rob Carangi 4 3-4 12; Matt Swanson 5 5-7 15; Totals 14 14-17 44.
Bensalem (42) – Travis Robinson 3 2-4 9; Justin Johnson 1 1-1 3; Aaron Sanders 2 1-2 7; James Alexander 1 1-2 3; James Ashford 6 2-3 14; Blaise Unger 1 0-0 2; Trey Maddela 0 1-2 1; Luke Zeidler 0 3-4 3; Totals 14 11-18 42.
3-point field goals: NP – Josh Jones, Rob Carangi, Bensalem – Aaron Sanders 2, Travis Robinson.
UPPER DUBLIN 56, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 46
The Flying Cardinals outscored the visiting Indians 30-16 in the middle two quarters on their way to the non-league win.
“This was a good win for us,” UD coach Chris Monahan said. “CR North doesn’t have a great record this year, but they are in every game they play, they play hard, and they’re well coached. So we knew we would have to play well to win.”
The two teams were deadlocked 10-10 after one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals took a 26-22 edge into halftime. Amare Johnson had a pair of 3-pointers to spark the Flying Cardinals in the second quarter. Jason Williams also had a trey.
The Cardinals outscored their visitors 14-4 in the third quarter. Drew Stover ignited the Cards with nine points.
“They keyed in our bigs and we were able to get some 3s from Jason Williams and Amare Johnson in the first half to build a lead,” Monahan said. “We had a good defensive third quarter, holding them to four points and getting more established inside with Drew on offense.
“In the fourth, I think we lost our concentration defensively, and (Council Rock North) made a nice run. We were able to get enough stops though to seal the win.”
The Indians closed out the game with a 20-16 fourth quarter. Hunter Wan scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter to spearhead the Indians. Johnson led the Cardinals with nine points.
Stover led the Cardinals with 16 points. Johnson added 15 points. Bazel Brady (nine points), Williams (eight points) and Will Mead (six points) also contributed to the balanced attack.
Bernie Parent led the Indians with 15 points, which included three 3s. Mikey Sylvester added 11 points.
Upper Dublin (8-7, 3-5 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham Tuesday, and Council Rock North (3-12, 1-6) will host Harry S Truman Tuesday.
Council Rock North 10-12-4-20 46
Upper Dublin 10-16-14-16 56
Council Rock North (46) – Bernie Parent 6 0-0 15; Andrew Stewart 1 0-0 2; Hunter Wan 3 8-9 14; Mikey Syvester 4 3-4 11; Dan Egan 1 0-0 2; Jack Blum 1 0-0 2; Totals 16 11-13 46.
Upper Dublin (56) – Jason Williams 3 0-1 8; Bazel Brady 2 5-7 9; Drew Stover 7 2-4 16; Will Mead 2 2-2 6; Aidan Pullian 1 0-0 2; Amare Johnson 4 4-4 15; Totals 19 11-18 56.
3-point goals: CRN – Bernie Parent 3, UD – Amare Johnson, Jason Williams 2.
PENNSBURY 56, CHICHESTER 49
The Falcons outscored their visitors 19-11 in the fourth quarter to earn the come-from-behind non-league win.
“We were pretty much trailing the whole game,” Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman said. “This was our fifth game in eight days. We have a couple of people out sick, so a lot of minutes are being had with my first six and seven. I think tired legs crept in today.
“The effort that we were getting all week long wasn’t quite up to par, but the guys were able to finish in the fourth quarter.”
Defense, according to the Falcons’ coach, was the key.
“Josh Hankins is their leading scorer, and he had 12 in the first half and an easy 12 too,” Coleman said. “We really weren’t defending him well at all.
“I challenged the guys at halftime, and we held him to a bucket in the second half. That was really key.”
Shane Simmons led the Falcons with 21 points. Evan McNeely added 11, Kyrie Miller had seven, and Collin Connor contributed six.
“Shane stepped up – he had 21 with nine from the free throw line, so he contributed in a different way,” Coleman said. “His shot really wasn’t there, and again, that has to do with legs.
“The same thing with Collin. He only had six, but he contributed defensively. Evan McNeely came off the bench and had 11, which was a career high. He had two 3s and he was 5-for-6 from the free throw line.
“We’re getting contributions from everyone, which is what you want to see. If someone is not playing to their fullest potential, someone else steps up, and that’s a good sign for us.”
Pennsbury (7-7, 4-3 SOL) will travel to North Penn for a non-league game Tuesday.
Chichester 17-11-10-11 49
Pennsbury 20-6-11-19 56
Chichester (49) – Mazen Sayed 1 0-0 2; Josh Hankins 5 2-2 14; Ciyir Hancock 1 0-0 2; Ramir McDowell 5 1-1 12; Jasir Shaw 3 0-0 7; Ousmane Fofana 1 0-0 2; Paris Blackwell 2 0-0 5; Andrew Monroe 2 1-2 5; Totals 20 4-5 49.
Pennsbury (56) – Shane Simmons 5 9-10 21; Kyrie Miller 3 1-4 7; Collin Connor 2 0-0 6; Amir Johnson 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 2 5-6 11; BaShaun Glover 2 2-2 6; Evan Reichard 1 1-2 3; Totals 16 18-24 56.
3-point goals: Chichester – Josh Hankins 2, Ramir McDowell, Jasir Shaw, Paris Blackwell, Pennsbury – Shane Simmons 2, Collin Connor 2, Evan McNeely 2.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 51, NEWARK (Del.) 48
The Colonials rebounded from a disappointing loss to Wissahickon less than 24 hours earlier to notch a win in the Play by Play Classic at the 76ers Field House in Newark, Del.
“We are such an enigma wrapped in a riddle as Winston Churchhill would say,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “Coming off of last night where the preparation for the Wissahickon game was two really highly concentrated days and high energy going in – the team fascinates me sometimes with mental mistakes, brain cramps and unforced errors.
“Everything seems to be new to them every game. It’s amazing, and they’re the nicest guys. They are so respectful and they’re together. When you have a turnaround that quickly – that was a concern of mine today. I don’t know what their bounce-back is.
“It was a beautiful arena – the Sixers G League facility. It was nice that the game before ours got cancelled due to the weather, and it oddly gave the kids a chance to shoot for 45 minutes and have a little fun just relaxing in this professional arena. It was fun.”
The Colonials, who led by one after one quarter, took a 30-25 lead into halftime. Caelin Peters led the way with 12 points, and Luke DiCianno had eight.
“They have a quiet resilience about them,” Donofrio said. “We have been in so many of these games this year. There are five games probably within five points each.
“It was another one of those games where your six- or eight-point lead gets to 10 and looks like it’s going to 15, and then you find a way to self sabotage down to five and four.
“Kids new to this don’t understand that just as soon as you figure one thing out a team is going to throw something totally new at you. A two-three extended half court zone trap – when do you shoot and when do you hold? Fifty-seven percent from the foul line today – finding ways not to get it to 15 and 20.”
Peters led the Colonials with 17 points while DiCianno added 13. Ray Tomassetti had six points.
“Luke Dicianno had a really tough night last night with no points, and he bounced back today with 13, including a three inside of two minutes that got us a two-possession separation again,” Donofrio said. “This was a really important win. Despite our frustrations at the self-injury we’ve been doing, there’s a quiet resilience, which was nice to see against a pretty good high up-tempo team just like the ones we’ve been losing to. I can’t predict anything with these guys. The goal is to get it to .500 and above.
“We’re basically 3-1 this week in a four-game week. If you look at it that way, it’s great. We were looking at trying to go six in a row in the so-called third quarter of the season. We have to find a way to win a game that on paper we’re not supposed to win this year. That’s the goal.
“Trying to piece it all together, hopefully light bulbs go on completely, and with those light bulbs comes confidence, shooting confidence and team confidence and ‘we deserve to win’ type stuff. I’m not seeing the ‘we deserve to win this’ confidence. They have to stop worrying about me yelling at them and worry about winning basketball games.”
The players – according to Donofrio – may claim they’re still young.
“We’re not young anymore, and we’ve got to start figuring things out,” the PW coach said. “This was a terrific place today. It gave them a chance to maybe get a little of their cockiness back.
“I think the pressure we probably put on them inadvertently as coaches and I do as number one – ‘Here’s what that team did, here’s what that PW team did,’ and it can be overwhelming sometimes. I think they end up putting pressure on themselves thinking – oh my God, I can’t make a mistake. As long as they tell you to keep playing, you’ve got a chance, and that’s what we’re doing.
“I am happy for them. I’m happy that they bounced back. Hopefully that gives us much more mental toughness.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (7-9, 5-3 SOL) will host Springfield Township Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-15-11-10 51
Newark (Del.) 14-11-14-9 48
Plymouth Whitemarsh (51) – Caelin Peters 6 2-5 17; Luke DiCianno 5 1-2 13; Zuri Jerman 1 3-4 5; Zende Hubbard 2 1-2 5; Jaden Pryce 2 1-4 5; Ray Tomassetti 3 0-0 6; Totals 19 8-17 51.
Newark (Del.) (48) – Mekhi Brittingham 2 1-1 5; Mikey Dennis 4 0-1 9; Javon Brown 1 2-2 4; Luis Serrano-Gil 2 2-2 6; Artemus Flippin 2 0-0 5; Corey Howard 0 2-2 2; Lately Komou 1 0-3 2; Don Burton 4 5-5 12; Christopher Lazear 1 0-0 2; Totals 17 12-16 48.
3-point goals: PW – Caelin Peters 3, Luke Dicianno 2, Newark – Mikey Dennis, Artemus Flippin.
RADNOR 39, HATBORO-HORSHAM 25
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