Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Pennsbury/CR North photos courtesy of Darry Rule of J&D Photography. William Tennent/Lower Moreland photos provided courtesy of Greg Zesinger. Check back for galleries of both games. Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography.
SOL Liberty Division
Wissahickon 57, Plymouth Whitemarsh 54
Coming off a tough loss to rival Upper Dublin just two days earlier – its second loss of the season to the Cardinals, Wissahickon went into Thursday’s home game against unbeaten Plymouth Whitemarsh looking for the type of signature win needed late in the regular season.
And the Trojans did just that, jumping up 14-0 before the Colonials even scored, holding a team that usually scores in the 70s or 80s to just 16 points in the first half. Then, when PW made a run at them, Wissahickon had an answer late to hold on for the win.
“We took a tough loss to Upper Dublin the other day,” said Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson. “All credit to them. They outplayed us. They were the better team that night, but it’s been a long time since we were swept by Upper Dublin. We were left thinking, ‘Where are we as a team?’
“We knew we had some games on our schedule that were against teams that we’re not as strong. We’ve always played some tough teams. We lost to Cheltenham in double overtime last week and they’re the No. 2 team in District One. We always play a tough schedule. We just told them, ‘Know who you are. If you put four solid quarters together you can play with any team.’
“We took high percentage shots and just locked down on defense. They closed a couple of times to just three or four, but our guys just kept persevering. They try to speed it up, and our guys did a nice job of bending but not breaking.”
The key was that 14-0 start to the game.
“We had good, solid ball movement,” Wilson said. “Matt (Compas) always makes early buckets for us, Jackson Intrieri made an open shot, Josh Twersky had seven in the first quarter, Earl Stout hit a 3.”
Compas finished with a game-high 18 points to lead the Trojans, while Twersky, Intrieri and Stout scored 11 points each. Wilson also credited Stout’s defense on PW standout Jaden Colzie, holding him to three points, and Will Kunzier off the bench in the paint, where “he was a beast on the boards, with 12 or 13 rebounds.”
“There was a sense – our team always feels with a player like Matt on floor, if we can keep within striking distance, he can do special things for us,” Wilson said. “But when we went up 14-0, we were like, ‘Let’s keep driving and keep playing aggressive defense.’”
Marshall Baker led PW with 15 points, while Luke DiCianno added 13.
Wissahickon (9-6, 5-4 SOL) plays at Hatboro-Horsham on Friday night. PW (16-1, 9-1 SOL) looks to rebound with a nonleague game at Souderton on Tuesday.
Wissahickon 57, Plymouth Whitemarsh 54
Plymouth Whitemarsh 3 13 14 24-54
Wissahickon 16 6 20 16-57
Plymouth Whitemarsh (54) – Zende Hubbard 5 0-0 10; Jaden Colzie 0 3-6 3; Marshall Baker 3 6-8 15; Taji Hubbard 1 0-0 2; David Harris 2 0-0 6; Luke DiCianno 5 0-0 13; Qudire Bennett 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 10-18 54.
Wissahickon (57) – Matt Compas 7 3-6 18; Josh Twersky 5 0-2 11; Jackson Intrieiri 3 3-5 11; Earl Stout 4 0-0 11; Will Kunzier 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 6-13 57
3-point goals: PW-Baker 3, Harris 2, DiCianno 3; W-Compas 1, Twerskey 1, Intrieri 2, Stout 3
Upper Dublin 74, Hatboro-Horsham 30
Drew Stover scored the 1,000th point of his career in the second quarter and then scored 17 in the second half himself, as Upper Dublin avenged a previous loss to the Hatters with a 44-point blowout.
Stover, who has dominated opponents, no matter the opponent, all season, entered Thursday’s game needing 12 points to hit 1,000, a tremendous accomplishment considering he’s only played three varsity seasons. The bucket to put him over the top came with just over a minute to play in the second quarter.
“It was a shot around the rim, a shot he’s been making all year,” said Flying Cardinals coach Chris Monahan. “We had a nice moment. I called a timeout, he got to hug his dad (UD football coach Bret Stover), who’s the scorekeeper.”
The other subplot was the revenge factor, as on Jan. 26, Hatboro-Horsham won its first game of the season, 48-42. Right from the start, things looked a whole lot different this time around for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals – behind seven points from Stover – took an 11-4 lead after one quarter. DJ Cerisier buried a pair of 3s and scored eight points and Noah Lee had five in a 22-point second quarter that saw the Cardinals open up a commanding 33-13 halftime lead.
“It was a great game for us,” Monahan said. “We were really unhappy with the first time around. It was our worst played game of the year. We had that revenge angle, but the second thing is – Colin O’Sullivan and DJ Cerisier (both transfers from H-H) struggled that game. I think we were 0-for-15 from (3-point range.). DJ was 0-for-7 and Colin was 0-for-whatever. The Hatboro bench was letting them know about it. They were barking at them the whole game, so we had that revenge angle going as well.
“We wanted to avenge the loss, but we also wanted to stand up for Colin and DJ, so our guys were really fired up and really determined to play well, and I’m really happy for DJ and Colin. DJ made two 3s early in the game. He had a great all-around game and so did Colin. I’m glad they had the opportunity to bounce back tonight. It was mission accomplished on two revenge fronts.”
Stover led UD with 29 points, while Cerisier had 17 points. Seaton Kukla had 13, and Lee finished with nine points.
H-H was led by Eric Butler’s 10 points.
Upper Dublin (8-5, 5-4 SOL) will host Holy Ghost Prep in a nonleague game on Saturday.
The Hatters (3-6, 3-6 SOL) host Wissahickon Friday.
Upper Dublin 74, Hatboro-Horsham 30
Hatboro-Horsham 4 9 7 10 – 30
Upper Dublin 11 22 17 24 – 74
Hatboro-Horsham (30) – Eric Butler 4 0-0 10; Kyle Dittus 0 0-1 0; Sam Fink 1 0-0 2; Schlosser 2 0-1 5; Cheeze 2 1-2 5; Simpson 1 0-2 2; Sprall 1 1-2 3. Totals 11 2-8 30.
Upper Dublin (74) – Seaton Kukla 5 1-2 13;Anthony Fatiqua 0 0-3 0; Drew Stover 13 3-3 29; Pensabene 1 0-2 2; DJ Cerisier 5 3-3 17; Noah Lee 3 2-2 9; Chris Gress 1 2-2 4. Totals 28 11-17 74
3-point goals: HH-Butler 2; UD-Kukla 2, Cerisier 2, Lee 1
Quakertown 56, Abington 52
After 12 straight losses to start the season, Quakertown desperately needed and wanted a win. But it didn’t look like Abington was the right opponent to break through against heading into Thursday night.
So much for that theory.
Luke Bauer scored 21 points and after starting fast, Quakertown withstood a late charge to shock the visiting Galloping Ghosts in the upset of the season in the SOL Liberty. And that’s saying a lot considering Wissahickon knocked off undefeated Plymouth Whitemarsh earlier in the night.
“I’m so happy for them,” said first-year Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta, a veteran coach who previously had successful stints at Christopher Dock (now Dock Mennonite Academy) and Faith Christian. “The only problem we’ve been having – we’ve played good basketball, we just haven’t played 32 minutes. You have to do the little things all the way to the end. Even if you play perfect for 31 ½ minutes, you have to play well the other 30 seconds or you’ll lose. There’s very little margin for us.
“We executed our offense perfectly tonight, our defense was phenomenal and we boxed out and didn’t give them any second shots.”
Aside from Bauer’s 21 points, he also had five rebounds, while Jack Gordon scored 10 points and handled a lot of the ball-handling responsibilities.
“Other guys stepped up too,” DaCosta said. “One through 11, they all did a tremendous job helping us get this victory.
“(Abington) has a very good team. They always have good teams. Of all the teams we’ve played, Abington is not a team I would have thought we’d be able to get our first win against. I told them, this is something they will always cherish.”
As for what the win means for the program going forward, DaCosta said it further emphasizes what it will take to be successful in such a quality league.
“It goes back to playing 32 minutes,” he said. “We have very little margin for error. We have to do things really well – set screens, take charges, box out, make the extra pass. We have to do all of those things under pressure. To play in a good division like we play in, to meet that challenge, we have to play at a high level each night.
“Before the game, I told them to approach this game like a championship game. We have six games left. Let’s treat these games like championship games.”
Quakertown (1-12, 1-9 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Abington, which has now lost two straight after a five-game win streak, was led by Rob Bell’s 20 points – 15 in the second half. Oreck Frazier scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds. Antoine Ells had six points and five steals, while Caleb Baker finished with five rebounds and three steals.
Overall, the Ghosts shot 16-for-56 (28.5 percent) from the field and 2-for-25 (8 percent) from 3-point range (8 percent). They were whistled for 26 team fouls, and two technicals, and between the two teams, 62 foul shots were attempted.
The Ghosts’ first technical came with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Bauer hit 3-of-4 from the foul line, and the Panthers, who had possession, buried a 3 to go on top 38-31.
With just over over a minute remaining, the Ghosts pulled to within two after Karim Boyd connected on a pair at the foul line. They regained possession after Caleb Baker forced a jump ball, but a costly turnover all but took away any chance of a comeback.
Abington (5-4, 5-4 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Quakertown 56, Abington 52
Abington 13-9-9-21 52
Quakertown 8-15-15-18 56
Abington (52) – Rob Bell 7 6-8 20; Karim Boyd 0 3-4 3; Oreck Frazier 3 2-4 9; Antoine Ellis 1 3-5 6; Connor Fields 3 1-2 7; Sam McFarlane 1 2-4 4; Caleb Baker 1 1-1 3; Totals 16 18-30 52.
Quakertown (56) – Ty Wilkin 1 2-2 4; Luke Bauer 5 10-12 21; Jack Gordon 4 2-5 10; Kayden Roley 3 0-0 8; Matt Catalano 1 3-7 5; Ozzy Grimmage 0 1-2 1; Trey Perez 1 0-0 3; Zach Fondl 1 1-2 3; Brendon Ruzicka 0 1-2 1; Totals 16 20-32 56.
3-point goals: Abington – Oreck Frazier, Antoine Ellis, Quakertown – Kayden Roley 2, Luke Bauer, Trey Perez.
SOL Freedom Division
Cheltenham 79, Springfield 55
Saleem Payne finished with 22 points and 10 assists as Cheltenham started quickly and rolled past Springfield.
Rasheem Dearry had 11 points, five assists and five rebounds for the Panthers, while Elias Walker finished with 11 points, four assists and five rebounds.
Cheltenham led 25-12 after one quarter and 50-25 at halftime. Payne had eight points in the first quarter and then nine points in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers in the first half.
Also for the Panthers, Mike McClain had nine points and seven rebounds, Justin Savage eight points and eight rebounds, and Ife West-Ingram with six points, five rebounds and three assists. Brendan Hawkins also returned to the lineup and contributed two points and five rebounds.
For the game, the Panthers were 12-for-15 from the free throw line.
“I’m happy to get Brandon Hawkins back,” said Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury. “We look forward to getting back to jelling as a team with everybody on the roster.”
Springfield was led by Dylan McKenzie’s 16 points, while Austin Maggioncalda chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds. Ben Cooney had six points, four rebounds and five assists.
Cheltenham (7-0, 6-0 SOL) plays at William Tennent on Friday. Springfield (0-9, 0-8 SOL) next plays Wednesday, at Tennent.
Cheltenham 79, Springfield 55
Springfield Twp 12-13-15-15 55
Cheltenham 25-25-12-17 79
Springfield Twp (55) – Quadric Eberhardt 1, Finn Coll 3, Dylan McKenzie 16, Andrew Kennedy 6, Harry Rittenhouse 3, Brett Smith 2, Austin Maggioncalda 11, Micah Woods 4, Ben Cooney, Cawley 3.
Cheltenham (79) – Rasheem Dearry 11, Jack Klebanoff 2, Brandon Hawkins 2, Elias Walker 11, Keeon Healey 2, Saleem Payne 22, Joey Weimer 4, Justin Savage 8, Ife West-Ingram 6, Mike McClain 9, Chris Harmon-Belcher 2.
William Tennent 51, Lower Moreland 27
William Tennent clamped down on Lower Moreland to the tune of just 27 points allowed and no more than eight in
any one quarter. The Panthers broke open a close game in the second half and cruised to the 24-point win.
Derrik Cosenza led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Jay Stanfield had 11 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Mike Sheller finished with six points and five rebounds.
“I thought Jay Stanfield had an amazing third quarter, and that pushed our lead out to 20 points even though it was a pretty close game at half as we were only up seven,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “Jay actually ended the second quarter with a steal and a score to give us the seven-point lead, and then in the third quarter he consistently was able to make penetration into the lane and the end result was him dishing out six assists in the quarter and scoring seven points on his own.”
With the win, the Panthers (8-2, 6-2) remained within two games of the division lead heading into Friday’s home game against first place Cheltenham.
Lower Moreland (1-4, 1-4 SOL), coming off its first win on Tuesday, was led by John Kroll, who scored 11 points. The Lions are back at it Saturday at Upper Moreland.
William Tennent 51, Lower Moreland 27
William Tennent 9 11 21 10 – 51
Lower Moreland 7 6 8 6 -27
William Tennent (51) – Dom Sulpizio 2 0-0 4; Kellen Johnston 1 0-0 2; Jay Stanfield 4 3-3 11; Mike Carr 1 0-0 2; Mike Scheller 3 0-0 6; Derrik Cosenza 6 5-6 17; Ryan Emmerich 2 0-0 4; JP McAnulty 2 0-0 5.
Lower Moreland (27) – Ian Alicea 0 1-2 1; Justin Sandler 0 1-2 1; Matt Ernst 2 3-6 7; John Kroll 4 1-2 11; Jack Daneker 2 2-4 7.
3-point goals: WT-McAnulty 1; LM-Kroll 2, Daneker 1
Upper Moreland 47, New Hope-Solebury 37
Jahaire Johnson led a balanced scoring effort for Upper Moreland with 12 points, as the Golden Bears broke this game open on the way to the 10-point win.
The Golden Bears led 8-5 after one quarter and took a 23-15 lead into halftime. They added to that lead in the seconod half.
Also for UM, Jourdan Gregg and Matt Tiernan had 10 points each, Byron Hopkins had eight,and Jake Tiernan added seven.
The second-place Bears (7-2, 6-1 SOL) host Lower Moreland on Saturday.
New Hope (2-9, 2-6 SOL) was led by Alex Walinski’s 15 points, while Will Albano added seven. The Lions host Central Bucks West in a nonleague game on Saturday.
Upper Moreland 47, New Hope-Solebury 37
Upper Moreland 8 15 13 11 – 47
New Hope-Solebury 5 10 8 13 – 37
UM (47) – B. Hopkins 8, J. Johnson 12, J. Gregg 10, J. Tiernan 7, M. Tiernan 10
New Hope (37) – A. Walinski 15, W. Albano 7, B. Dougherty 6, P. Weinseimer 3, C. Albano 6
3-point goals: UM-Johnson, J. Tiernan; NHS-Walinski 3, W. Albano 1
SOL Patriot Division
Harry S. Truman 64, Council Rock South 58
All season, Harry S. Truman has tried to rely on its defense to stay in games and give it a chance to win games. Heading into Thursday, it hadn’t produced any wins. But that changed in a big way as the Tigers were able to hold off Council Rock South for its first win of the 2021 season.
“What we had to go through given the fact that we only had a week to practice before the season started, we knew we had athletes,” said Truman coach Tyrone Lewis. “Let’s focus on defense and hopefully the offense will catch up. We’ve played really good defense in a lot of games, but guys weren’t making shots. We’d start games 0-for-5 or 0-for-6. We just shot poorly.”
Thursday was a different story. The Tigers had nine 3-pointers as a team and overall, they showed tremendous balance offensively.
“We pulled it out,” Lewis said. “The defense held it down, and our guys made the shots we needed to make. Chris Culver was in double figures for the first time tonight. He had four 3s for us and was just huge. Makai Jackson hit a big 3 in the fourth quarter. We had three guys in double figures for the first time this season, and we made timely shots. We had a young kid, Wyatt Spinks, a JV player, usually only plays three minutes or so, he gave us big minutes tonight.”
The balance was there all night, especially a second half where Truman scored 38 points and seven difference players scored. In the fourth, Jackson had five points, Tarnue Collins had four, Treyshaun Clark had four, and Tyriq Montgomery had four.
“We had to make shots late,” Lewis said. “It was back-and-forth. South was shooting great too. We made some defensive stops and made some key buckets down the stretch to pull out the win.
“This has been a great group. I actually feel bad for them. This is not a 1-10 team. It’s a group that needed an offseason coming into it. That would have been huge for us. We were right on track in March, but my kids didn’t do anything for 10 months. That hurt, but I take my hat off to them. They show up to practice every day despite the record, they work hard every game and they believe they’re going to win when they step on the court. They just have to stay positive.”
Culver finished with 12 points to lead the way, while Jackson scored 11 points and Collins finished with 10.
CR South was led by Gavin Holloran’s 18 points. The Golden Hawks (4-8, 3-6 SOL) look to bounce back Wednesday at New Hope-Solebury in a nonleague game. Harry S Truman is scheduled to host Pennridge in a non-league game next Friday.
Harry S. Truman 64, Council Rock South 58
CR South 17 16 16 9 – 58
Harry S. Truman 11 15 21 17- 64
CR South (58) – Schwartz 2 2-2 6; Martin 2 2-2 7; Robinson 3 0-0 9; Venuto 4 2-3 10; Dawson 2 0-0 5; Holloran 8 2-5 18; Lynn 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 8-12 58.
Harry S. Truman (64) – Winton 2 0-0 5; Collins 5 0-0 10; K. Clark 3 0-0 7; Spinks 3 0-0 7; T. Clark 3 0-0 6; Jackson 4 0-0 11; Montgomery 3 1-2 7; Culver 4 0-0 12. Totals 27 1-2 64.
3-point goals: CRS-Martin 1, Robinson 3, Dawson 1, Lynn 1; HST-Winton 1, K. Clark 1, Jackson 3, Culver 4
Pennsbury 46, Council Rock North 33
Defense was the difference again for red-hot Pennsbury, which held visiting CR North to just 31 percent shooting from
the field in a convincing 13-point win on Thursday. It was the third straight win for the Falcons.
CR North managed just 13 points in the first half and 21 through three quarters, as Pennsbury’s pressure defense dominated play. The Indians, still without junior point guard Bernie Parent, were 11-for-35 from the field and 0-for-8 from 3-point range.
Offensively, Pennsbury point guard Amir Johnson led a balanced scoring effort with 12 points. He also had four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Aiden McCormack added nine and Kennan Taddei pitched in with eight.
CR North was led by nine from Connor Rushing while Mikey Sylvester finished with eight points.
Pennsbury (5-7, 4-6 SOL) is off until Wednesday when it plays at North Penn in a nonleague game. CR North (4-4, 4-3 SOL) hosts Bensalem on Saturday.
Pennsbury 46, CR North 33
Council Rock North 7 6 8 12 – 33
Pennsbury 19 8 7 12 – 46
CR North (33) – Gromlich 1 0-0 2; Sylvester 3 1-3 8; Mahtat 1 2-2 4; Blum 1 5-6 7; Saifer 2 0-0 4; Rushing 3 3-4 9. Totals 11 11-15 33
Pennsbury (46) – Johnson 5 2-2 12; McCormack 4 1-2 9; Taddei 4 0-0 8; Reichard 2 0-0 4; Hedges 2 0-0 5; McNeeley 2 0-2 5; Kocak 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 3-6 46.
3-point goals: P-Hedges 1, McNeely 1, Kocak 1
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