Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National
BENSALEM 60, PENNSBURY 57
The Owls put their names in the history books, clinching at least a share of their first conference title since 2003. A win on Tuesday over Council Rock South will give Bensalem its first outright championship since 1991.
“Going into the season, you have goals, but we truly take it one game at a time,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “As a first-year coach, you would hope that those goals would come true, but now that we’re sitting here and we’re so close and we share at least a piece of the title – it’s surreal, it really is.
“I’m a real emotional person, so it means a lot. Growing up and playing at Bensalem, living in Bensalem, teaching in Bensalem and knowing in my
first year we share at least a piece of the title – it’s truly amazing and super special. I couldn’t ask for a better group of kids to share it with. This group of kids is awesome. They truly have bought into the team concept. In the era we live in, the team game is not always something that happens. They’re truly a special, special group all the way through.”
Once again, the Owls needed some late-game heroics to notch the win and didn’t take their first lead until the closing minutes.
“We know we’re getting everyone’s best shot right now,” Morris said. “We’re one of the top teams, we have the record and we’re worth a lot of points for playoffs when teams are lobbying for position.
“A credit to them – Pennsbury came out, and Shane (Simmons) and Collin (Connor) both hit 3s. I think it was 9-0. We’re a resilient group. We bend, but we don’t break. We’ve been in that position before, and we just grind away, grind away, grind away.”
The Falcons, who led 19-10 after one quarter, a 33-27 advantage at halftime. Pennsbury took a 49-44 lead into the final quarter when the Owls came roaring back yet again.
“We knew if we kept up our defensive pressure they would get tired in the second half,” Morris said. “But every time we would cut it to two or three, they would hit a three, and it was a five-point game.”
James Ashford was the catalyst for the Owls, scoring 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half.
“James just had an unbelievable second half,” Morris said. “He just kept going to the rim, going to the rim. They couldn’t stop him.
“He goes to the rim, gets fouled, the kid gets called for a technical foul, so we get four foul shots down five. James takes the two foul shots. We put Aaron (Sanders) at the line for the technical, and he makes both, so now we’re down one.”
The Owls, who maintained possession, didn’t score but then held the Falcons.
“We come down and score and go up one, they scored and go up one,” Morris said. “At one point, we went up one, we got fouled and missed both. Justin Johnson gets a monster rebound, but they called a jump ball, and it’s possession Pennsbury. On that possession, Justin Johnson got a huge steal.
“We called a timeout. At that point, we were up one. We inbound the ball, Aaron (Sanders) gets fouled. Here he is again – a sophomore at the foul line, loud crowd and hits both. We go up three.”
The Falcons came up short on several shots but went to the foul line with two seconds left.
“He misses the first, so we called a timeout,” Morris said. “They tried to miss the second on purpose, the ball went up and the game was over. It was a blur.
“We were just resilient. They shot the ball really well. (Bill) Coleman does a good job over there. Shane (Simmons) and Collin (Connor) had an awesome game. It’s a league game on the road, which is tough to get a win. Our team just stayed calm through it all. They did the right things at the end, and they came out on top.”
In addition to Ashford, who connected on 8-of-9 at the line, Sanders added 12 points and was 7-of-8 at the foul line. Travis Robinson had nine points, and Jeremiah Alexander added eight points and was a force in the paint, pulling down a game-high seven rebounds. He also had three blocked shots.
“Jeremiah was awesome underneath, blocking shots, altering shots,” Morris said. “It was just a great defensive effort. James Ashford, offensively in the second half, was amazing.”
For the Falcons, Connor led the way with 20 points, which included a pair of 3s and a 6-for-8 effort at the foul line. Simmons added 17, including two 3s, and also had six rebounds. Evan McNeely added eight points while Evan Reichard had six points and five rebounds.
Bensalem (15-2, 9-0 SOL) will host Abington in a non-league game Saturday at 2 p.m., and Pennsbury (7-9, 4-4) will take on Kipp Charter as part of the And 1 Classic at Simon Gratz at 12:30 p.m.
Bensalem 10-17-17-16 60
Pennsbury 19-14-16-8 57
Bensalem (60) – Travis Robinson 3 3-7 9; Justin Johnson 0 0-2 0; Aaron Sanders 2 7-8 12; Jeremiah Alexander 3 2-2 8; James Ashford 9 8-9 26; Luke Zeidler 2 1-2 5; Totals 19 21-29 60.
Pennsbury (57) – Shane Simmons 7 1-1 17; Kyrie Miller 2 0-0 4; Collin Connor 6 6-8 20; Amir Johnson 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 3 0-2 8; Evan Reichard 2 2-4 6; Totals 21 9-15 57
3-point goals: Bensalem – Aaron Sanders, Pennsbury – Shane Simmons 2, Collin Connor 2, Evan McNeely 2.
NESHAMINY 58, HARRY S TRUMAN 47
The visiting Redskins trailed by one heading into the fourth quarter but closed out the game with an impressive 23-11 tear to earn the win.
“It was a good team win,” Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle said. “We did a great job in the second half moving the ball to get great looks and went 16-of-19 in the paint.
“We had some great looks in the first half but only went 5-for-14 in the paint.”
The Redskins, who trailed 11-9 after one quarter, took a 24-22 lead into halftime. The Tigers – behind seven points from Mekai Jackson – outscored their visitors 14-11 in the third quarter, but the Redskins finished strong. Jimmy McDonald led the fourth-quarter charge with nine points. Matt Drapkin and Damon McGovern both had six.
MacDonald led the Redskins with 19 points- 15 in the second half. He also had five rebounds. Kyle Saglimben also had a big game, finishing with 15 points, five assists and five rebounds. He buried his team’s only two 3-pointers and also had three big dunks. Drapkin added 10 points and McGovern, eight points.
For the Tigers, Kayshawn Clark led the way with 10 points, and Jackson added nine. Tariq Montgomery had eight points, including a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line, and TJ Rogers had seven. Fernando Vargas chipped in with six points.
Neshaminy (7-9, 4-5 SOL) will be on the road at Council Rock North Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (4-12, 2-7) will travel to Chichester for a non-league game Monday.
Neshaminy 9-15-11 23 58
Harry S Truman 11-11-14-11 47
Neshaminy (58) – Jimmy MacDonald 9 1-3 19; Kyle Saglimben 5 3-5 15; Matt Drapkin 5 0-0 10; Damon McGovern 4 0-0 8; Jon Desir 1 0-0 2; Sean Curley 1 0-0 2; Jake McGinty 1 0-2 3; Totals 26, 4-10 58.
Harry S Truman (47) – RJ Winton 1 0-0 2; Kayshawn Clark 4 0-0 10; Fernando Vargas 1 4-5 6; TJ Rogers 3 0-0 7; Trey Clark 1 0-0 2; Mekai Jackson 3 2-4 9; Tariq Montgomery 2 4-4 8; Evan Profy 1 0-0 2; 16 10-13 47.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Kyle Saglimben 2, HST – Kay Clark, TJ Rogers, Mekai Jackson.
Non-league
QUAKERTOWN 46, HATBORO-HORSHAM 44
Kayden Rolley came up with a steal just over midcourt, and Tim Kratz took it in for an uncontested layup, giving the Panthers a lead they would not lose with 15 seconds remaining.
“I give both kids a lot of credit,” Quakertown coach Mike DeCarolis said. “Kayden missed the front end of a one-and-one for us and actually comes up with the steal on defense.
“Timmy Kratz has been giving us spot minutes here and there. I had actually just put him in to play defense for us. He picks up the loose ball, goes in and makes the game-winning basket for us. I was so happy for him. He works so hard, and he’s the nicest kid. For him to have that opportunity and get us our second win, I thought it was so neat to see that.
“We still had to get a shot on defense, and Jack Marvin, who was their leading scorer – we forced him into a tough turnaround shot in the lane. It went off the rim, and one of my seniors, Matt Tuley, did the really smart thing, and instead of grabbing the rebound, he just hit the ball as hard as he could towards half court. While the basketball was in the air, the time expired and we won the game.”
The final minutes not without drama, and DeCarolis recapped the sequence leading up to Kratz’s game-winner.
“Right before that happened – we had just been fouled in a one-and-one situation,” the Panthers’ coach said. “We missed the front end, the Hatters got the ball, they missed their first shot, and on the second shot, they kicked it out and hit a three to tie the game with one minute left on the clock.
“We were debating if we wanted to take the last shot or not. Hatboro-Horsham really started pressuring us towards the end of the game, so I was kind of nervous. The Hatters caused a jump ball, and the jump ball goes to them. Now there’s about 30 seconds left in the game.”
The visiting Panthers – behind a pair of Matt Catalano 3s and five points from Jack Gordon – led 14-10 after one quarter. They took a 23-21 lead into halftime. Zehier Cheeze had eight points to lead the Hatters, and Jack Martin had seven.
The Panthers took a 33-30 lead into the final quarter, and the stage was set for the dramatic win.
Gordon’s 10 points led the Panthers. Jake Hallowell added nine, and Catalano had eight. Roley and Tuley both had six points.
“It was really a team win,” DeCarolis said. “I played eight guys, and every single player I put in scored.”
The Panthers’ coach acknowledged the strong play of his three guards.
“Jack Gordon shot the ball really well at the beginning of the game and hit a couple of big threes,” DeCarolis said. “Kayden Roley is our point guard, and he’s a warrior. He’s always being guarded by the other team’s best player. Matt Catalano is a captain for us, and he’s as steady as they come. He hit big shots for us in the first half. It was really just a team effort, a real team win.”
The win came on the heels of a lopsided loss to Pennridge.
“It was tough,” DeCarolis said. “If you look at our record, it’s not the greatest in the world, but we had been playing really solid basketball going into that Pennridge game. We had a close game versus West, a close game against Souderton, and we beat William Tennent. We lose to CB South by four, and they had beaten us by more than 20 the first time.
“We were really fired up to go into that (Pennridge) game, and we shot 11-for-48 that night. We could not put the ball in the basket, and against a team as good as Pennridge, if you’re not going to shoot the ball well, it’s going to be an uphill battle. We were disappointed, but I have to give my guys a lot of credit. We were kind of down a little bit at practice Wednesday, it’s a long bus ride for them, but our jayvee got us started with a big win. We came up and got a big win. I’m just happy for the kids. They earned that win.”
Thursday’s win was especially significant to DeCarolis, a graduate of Hatboro-Horsham.
“I played at Hatboro-Horsham, and my first coaching job in high school was at Hatboro-Horsham when I was 20 years old,” the Panthers’ coach said. “This whole week has been circled on my calendar because we played Pennridge on Tuesday at Pennridge, and I coached with Dean (Behrens) there for nine years.
“To come back and to not only coach at Hatboro-Horsham but to get a win there where I got to play and got my start, it was surreal. It was an awesome moment.”
For the Hatters, Marvin led the way with 14 points, and Cheeze added 12.
Quakertown (2-14, 1-8 SOL) will host North Penn on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-16, 0-10) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Quakertown 14-9-10-13 46
Hatboro-Horsham 10-11-9-14 44
Quakertown (46) – Matt Catalano 3 0-0 8; Kayden Roley 1 4-6 6; Tim Kratz 1 0-0 2; Jack Gordon 4 0-0 10; Jake Hallowell 4 0-0 9; Matt Tuley 3 0-0 6; Ty Wilkin 1 0-0 2; Luke Bauer 1 1-2 3; Totals 18 5-12 46.
Hatboro-Horsham (44) – N’Gianni Cerisier 1 2-2 4; DJ Cerisier 1 0-0 3; Zehier Cheeze 5 2-6 12; Jack Marvin 5 1-2 14; N.Schlosser 1 0-0 3; Colin O’Sullivan 2 2-2 8; Totals 15 7-12 44.
3-point goals: Quakertown – Matt Catalano 2, Jack Gordon 2, Jake Hallowell, HH – Jack Marvin 3, Colin O’Sullivan 2, DJ Cerisier, N.Schlosser.
About the Author
