Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. CB East/New Hope-Solebury photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Patriot Division
Bensalem 50, Neshaminy 47
Playing without its best player for the first time, Bensalem knew it would have to have a special effort on Friday against the top team in the SOL Patriot Division.
Sophomore Eric Gonzalez hit the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds remaining to give the Owls a crucial win over Neshaminy in a game played at Maple Point Middle School.
Gonzalez scored 16 points to lead Bensalem, which was minus standout guard James Ashford, who fractured his ankle in the team’s game against Wissahickon on Wednesday.
“Eric Gonzalez had a monster game,” said Bensalem coach Ron Morris. “He hit the shot of his life so far. We held the ball for the last shot and he hit the 3 at the buzzer for the win.”
Playing without Ashford, the team’s leading scorer and top rebounder, was a huge adjustment to say the least.
“James stepped on someone’s foot – he rolled it twice – and it ends up being a stress fracture in his ankle and he’ll be in a boot for six weeks,” Morris said. “It’s not any adversity that he hasn’t seen before. He’s such a great kid. I felt awful when I got the news, but he’s a strong-minded kid and is an extremely hard-worker.
“I think there’s enough film that (potential college coaches) can see what he brings to the table. He’s got a high motor, he’ll be back 100 percent. The future is bright for him.”
Ashford showed up at practice to support his teammates on Thursday, and the coaching staff’s message to the players was that no one player was going to replace him.
“We all needed to step up,” Morris said. “Coaches, players, everyone needs to step up and be there for each other.”
Neshaminy led Friday’s game 27-21 at the half.
“We made some defensive adjustments,” Morris said. “Allen Myers had a heck of a game going against (Neshaminy’s Mike) Murray, who is a really good player for them. We switched up guys on (point guard Matt) Drapkin to throw different looks at him. And offensively, guys stepped up for us.”
Bensalem junior point guard Aaron Sanders added 14 points, while Myers and Jeremy Rodriguez had four points each.
Neshaminy was led by Murray, who scored 13 points, while Jake McGinty added 10.
Bensalem (8-9, 7-3 SOL) finds itself in a must-win situation the rest of the way if it wants to make the playoffs as the Owls currently are at No. 27 in the District One Class 6A power rankings. They host William Tennent on Saturday.
Neshaminy (11-4, 8-1 SOL), the No. 7 team in the power rankings, plays at Council Rock North on Monday.
Bensalem 50, Neshaminy 47
Bensalem 15-6-13-16 50
Neshaminy 13-14-11-9 47
Bensalem (50) – Eric Gonzalez 6 1-2 16; Aaron Sanders 5 3-3 14; Jeremy Rodriguez 3 0-0 6; Jake DeLange 1 0-0 2; Allen Myers 2 2-8 6; Louis Rodriguez 0 0-1 0; Luke Zeidler 1 0-0 2; Jack Wineburg 1 1-2 4; Totals 19 7-16 50.
Neshaminy (47) – Jimmy MacDonald 3 0-0 6; Jake McGinty 4 2-2 10; Matt Drapkin 4 0-0 8; Evan Esposito 1 0-0 3; Mike Murray 6 1-2 13; Tom Mullin 1 2-2 4; Sean Curley 1 0-0 3; Totals 20 5-6 47.
3-point goals: Bensalem – Eric Gonzalez 3, Aaron Sanders, Jack Wineburg, Neshaminy – Evan Esposito, Sean Curley.
Nonleague
New Hope-Solebury 61, Central Bucks East 56
Some games look like mismatches on paper. But games aren’t played on paper, and New Hope-Solebury made the short trip to Central Bucks East on Friday looking to shock the top team in the Suburban One League.
And when the game was over, the Lions, playing their first year as a member of the SOL Freedom Division and with a first-year coach in Derek Brooks, pulled off the upset of the year with a 61-56 shocker over an East team that entered the game as the projected No. 1 seed for the upcoming District One playoffs.
On top of that, New Hope was coming off of an emotional loss 24 hours earlier against Hatboro-Horsham and former NHS coach Rick Fedele.
“(Thursday) was a super intense environment,” Brooks said. “The guys were pretty tired. We only play six guys. I just said, ‘Come on boys, you have a little more in the tank, keep grinding.’
“We only play six guys. They deserve a ton of credit. To pull off a win like that, on the road against the No. 1 team in the district – that’s the best win in District One this season – they just deserve a ton of credit.”
Because New Hope is a much smaller school and for years has played in the Bicentennial Athletic League, these two schools separated by just six miles, haven’t played often through the years. But in this COVID-affected season, New Hope has played a lot of teams throughout the SOL.
“We knew East was coming up, and we knew it was going to be a tough matchup,” Brooks said. “I just told them to go out and have fun, leave it all in the tank, and go get the win. Do everything we can to play as hard as we can.”
CB East even jumped ahead 9-2 early, but the Lions didn’t go away, and while the Patriots struggled offensively, that was not the case for Brooks’ squad.
Senior point guard Alex Walinski scored 25 points, while Bryan Dougherty added 16.
“Alex was the best player on the floor tonight,” Brooks said. “He was efficient playing point guard. That’s not his natural position, but he’s had to play there since our point guard (Kyle McLaughlin) went out with an injury in the third game of the season.
“Phil Weinseimer fouled out in the fourth quarter, but he dominated on the glass. Bryan Dougherty had his best game of the season, and Will Albano played great defense for us. The guys were absolutely jacked to get this win.”
New Hope (6-11 overall) is 6-6 in its last 12 games after a slow start and in good position to play in the District One Class 4A title game against Pope John Paul II. The Lions still have business to take care of in the regular season, including a home game Tuesday against Lower Moreland.
CB East (10-2), which was led by Joe Jackman’s 12 points on Friday, will look to bounce back at Central Bucks South on Saturday.
New Hope-Solebury 61, Central Bucks East 56
New Hope 14 13 18 16 – 61
CB East 16 9 12 19 – 56
New Hope (61) – Alex Walinski 25, Charlie Albano 5, Phil Weinsiemer 6, Bryan Dougherty 16, Will Albano 5, Chris Kolen 5
CB East (56) – Jacob Cummiskey 11, Brendan Harte 11, Aidan Weaver 5, Joe Jackman 12, Jack Hamilton 9, Brett Young 3, Jason Markowitz 5
3-point goals: NHS- Walinski 4, Albano, Dougherty 2, Kolen; CBE-
Weaver, Harte, Markowitz, Jackman 2
Pennsbury 56, Wissahickon 52
Pennsbury continues to play much improved basketball after a slow start to the season as the Falcons clipped Wissahickon in a tough nonleague game on Friday.
“We’ve had a lot of close games of late,” said Falcons coach Bill Coleman. “We’ve been through the ringer throughout the whole season, just like pretty much everyone else has. It caught us early, but we’ve had everyone back the last two weeks.
“Wissahickon tonight, we were playing against one of the best players we’ve faced all year, Matt Compas. He scored 32 points for them tonight. We made shots at the right time in the third quarter and then kind of hung on in the fourth quarter.”
Compas scored 19 of his points in the second half and 12 in the fourth quarter for Wissahickon.
Pennsbury (6-9 overall) shot 40 percent (21-for-52) from the field, and the Falcons were 8-for-9 from the free throw line.
“When we play well, we get contributions from everyone,” Coleman said. “Amir (Johnson), he’s our floor general, he runs everything and he gave us 10 points tonight. Kennan Taddei has had a rough stretch lately, but he scored 14 tonight. Evan Reichard had nine points and 12 rebounds, and one of our sophomores, Ty Kocak, had 10 points and he hit a big 3 in the fourth quarter.”
Johnson also had six assists, four rebounds and four steals. Aidan McCormack had six points, five rebounds and two assists. Evan McNeely had five points, five rebounds and one assist.
Wissahickon (10-7) is sitting at No. 22 in the District One power rankings. The Trojans hosts Lower Moreland on Saturday.
Pennsbury 56, Wissahickon 52
Pennsbury 11 12 22 11 – 56
Wissahickon 14 10 10 18 – 52
Pennsbury (56) – Amir Johnson 3 4-4 10; Aidan McCormack 3 0-1 6; Kennan Taddei 5 0-0 14; Evan Reichard 3 3-3 9; Evan McNeely 2 0-0 5; Ty Kocak 4 1-1 10; Chris Terry 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-9 56.
Wissahickon (52) – Matt Compas 13 5-8 32; Jackson Intrieri 1 3-4 5; Stefan Lowry 4 1-2 9; Earl Stout 1 2-2 2; Will Kunzier 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 11-17 52.
3-point goals: P-Taddei 4, McNeely 1, Kocak 1; W-Compas 1,
Upper Moreland 56, Hatboro-Horsham 24
This one didn’t need a lot of build up, as Upper Moreland-Hatboro-Horsham games never do, and the Golden Bears came out flying on defense, setting the tone early and limiting the Hatters to just 24 points for the game.
“It was a great team effort,” said UM coach Dan Heiland. “Almost everybody on the roster scored and it was a great team effort on defense. We put pressure on them early, and they struggled to beat the press, and when they got open shots, they missed and we did a good job on the boards to not allow them second chance opportunities.”
Defense has been the key for UM all season, led by guards Jahaire Johnson, Jourdan Gregg and Byron Hopkins.
“We got a lot of live turnovers,” Heiland said. “That led to quick fast-break opportunities. We ran our offense, made the extra pass and had guys cutting to the basket and we hit them in stride. Everything was clicking on all cylinders tonight.”
Gregg led the balanced scoring effort with nine points, while Johnson added eight.
Hatboro-Horsham was a bit short-handed, as leading scorer Zehier Cheeze left the game with an injury in the second quarter. Eric Butler led the Hatters with seven points.
“It’s that cross-town rivalry,” Heiland said. “I’ve been a part of it as a coach and as a players in different sports. It means a lot. A lot of emotions go into it, and (Hatboro-Horsham) has been playing very well lately. They’ve been giving some of our opponents trouble and have some big wins.
“It was nice to come out and set the tone and let them know that we’re a team to be reckoned with.”
Upper Moreland (11-3 overall) hosts Cheltenham on Saturday. It is currently in the No. 4 spot in the District One Class 5A power rankings Hatboro-Horsham (5-8 overall) plays Springfield on Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 56, Hatboro-Horsham 24
Upper Moreland 15 14 14 13 – 56
Hatboro-Horsham 2 6 10 6 – 24
Upper Moreland (56) – Sanders 7, Hopkins 6, Johnson 8, Gregg 9, Walker 5, J. Tiernan 6, Harmer 4, M. Tiernan 6, Garafalo 2, Schernecke 3
Hatboro-Horsham (24) – Butler 7, Fink 2, Smith 2, Gear 5, Sprull 5, Joyce 3
3-point goals: UM-Sanders, Gregg; HH-Gear, Joyce
Central Bucks South 30, Council Rock North 27
Both teams had their offensive struggles in this one as it came down to defense, and Central Bucks South was able to hold CR North to just eight points in the second half to pull out the nonleague win on the road Friday.
“It was a physical game,” said Titans coach Jason Campbell. “We didn’t shoot the ball well, but I felt we played very, very good defense. Offensively, we haven’t been in sync. We had a couple of snow days that messed with us. We were off Thursday and Friday, and then Monday we had early dismissal so we weren’t able to practice. Then, we played (CB) West on Tuesday and played awful offensively.
“We did have practice Wednesday and Thursday, but our starting point guard got hurt in the West game, and one of our key bench players was injured in practice on Wednesday, so we were kind of limping around tonight. But to get a win tonight is good for us. We had guys step up and give us good minutes off the bench who don’t normally play a lot.”
CR North went up 10-5 after one quarter and that lead was at 19-13 at halftime. Defensively, the game turned in the second half as South outscored North 8-2 in the third quarter, setting the stage for a dramatic finish in the fourth.
“We scored the last seven points in the quarter,” Campbell said. “Evan D’Orazio hit a 3-pointer, Nate Macalindong hit a 2 to give us a one-point lead and then Tyler Meinel hit two free throws to make it a three-point game. (North) got 3s off multiple times, they were tough, contested shots, but anytime the ball goes up in the air, you have to worry.”
Michael Farley led all scorers with 10 points to go along with four rebounds and three blocks. Also for the Titans, Owen Petrich had nine points and two steals and Joe Rooney pulled down five rebounds.
CB South (8-5) currently sits at No. 15 in the District One power rankings and will host CB East on Saturday morning.
Jack Blum had nine points on three 3-pointers to lead Council Rock North (7-5), which sits at No. 26 for one will be a 20-team district field.
Central Bucks South 30, Council Rock North 27
CB South 5 8 8 9 – 30
CR North 10 9 2 6 – 27
CB South (30) – Evan D’Orazio 2 0-0 6; Jesse Rotundo 1 0-0 2; Nate Macalindong 2 0-0 4; Owen Petrich 2 0-2 4; Bryan Delara 1 0-0 2; Tyler Meinel 0 2-2 2; Michael Farley 5 0-1 10. Totals 13 2-5 30.
CR North (27) – Garrett Gromlich 1 0-0 3; Bernie Parent 3 0-2 6; Mike Sylvester 0 1-2 1; Jack Blum 3 0-0 9; Connor Rushing 2 2-2 6. Totals 9 3-6 27.
3-point goals: CBS-D’Orazio 2; CRN-Gromlich 1, Blum 3
Pennridge 53, Harry S Truman 40
Starting with bus issues on a long trip for this nonleague game, Pennridge was up against it on Friday night, but thanks to a strong effort by senior Luke Yoder, who had 22 points, the Rams were able to survive against an improved Harry S. Truman team.
“From the game standpoint, (Truman coach) Tyrone Lewis is doing a good job,” said Rams coach Dean Behrens. “They’re getting better. They never went away tonight. We’d get up 14 or 15 and would think we’re going to extend it a little bit, and they’d come right back.
“In the fourth quarter, it was 47-40 with 3 ½ minutes left, a three-possession game. They hit 10 (3-pointers) on us and shot the ball well. I was more worried about their penetrations, but we made a little bit of an adjustment and that helped us shut them out the last 3 ½ minutes.”
Yoder finished with 22 points and double-digit rebounds as well, but Behrens said the team did a good job against Truman’s aggressive, trapping defense.
“Colin Post had four points for us, but he handled the ball and got the ball to Luke Yoder,” Behrens said. “They’d sell out and he’d have to give the ball up because they’re trapping. I thought he was very unselfish tonight. Justin Nichols as well, getting the ball to Luke on the baseline.”
Colin Monahan had 14 points for Pennridge as well.
The Rams (12-5) are currently No. 12 in District One and close the regular season Tuesday at home against Bensalem.
Truman was led by Keyshawn Clark, who scored 12 points, while Christian Culver added nine. The Tigers wrapped up their season with a 2-10 record.
Pennridge 53, Harry S. Truman 40
Pennridge 18 16 10 9 – 53
Truman 8 13 10 9 – 40
Pennridge (53) – Justin Nichols 2 2-3 6; Luke Yoder 9 4-5 22; Colin Post 2 0-0 4; Matt Campione 1 0-0 2; TJ Grenda 1 0-0 2; Greg Stumpo 1 0-0 3; Colin Monahan 4 2-2 14. Totals 20 8-10 53.
Truman (40) – Winton 1 0-0 2; Collins 1 0-0 2; K. Clark 4 0-0 12; Flail 2 0-0 5; Montgomery 2 0-0 4; T. Clark 2 0-0 6; Culver 3 0-0 9.
3-point goals: P-Monahan 2, Stumpo 1; T-K. Clark 4, Flail 1, T. Clark 2, Culver 3
Holy Ghost Prep 51, Quakertown 49
Despite a slow start, Quakertown had a chance for win No. 2 on the season but came up just short against visiting Class 5A nonleague power Holy Ghost Prep on Friday night.
The Firebirds jumped all over the Panthers in the first quarter 22-7, only to see Quakertown chip away. Jack Gordon led the way for Quakertown with 25 points, while Luke Bauer chipped in with nine.,
Holy Ghost (10-5), the No. 2 team in the District One Class 5A power rankings, was led by Dylan Shead with 14 points and Shane Reilly with 11.
Quakertown (1-15) plays at Central Bucks West on Monday.
Holy Ghost Prep 51, Quakertown 49
Holy Ghost Prep 22 6 7 16 – 51
Quakertown 7 12 11 19 – 49
Holy Ghost (51) – Dylan Shead 14, Shane Reilly 11, Jack McDermott 9; Tyler Schmidt 6, Chris Kada 5, Ryan O’Hara 4, Aidan Graham 2
Quakertown (49) – Jack Gordon 25, Luke Bauer 9, Ty Wilkin 7, Kayden Roley 5; Matt Catalano 3
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