Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday.
Non-league
Plymouth Whitemarsh 50, Haverford School 49
The Colonials hadn’t played since Dec.18, a loss to Methacton, but they shook off the rust and edged Haverford Tuesday.
“It’s unfortunately feeling like last year again where your games are getting cancelled,” said PW coach Jim Donofrio. “This is in some ways more frustrating than last year because last year the kids knew going in it might be shaky. This year it’s kind of like a bait and switch. If you can play the games, play the games.
“One of the hard tricks for this, for the coaches especially, is the coaches get in a position – in a normal year, you put all you can into strategizing to win a game, and then all of a sudden, you’re in a position where you’re thinking it’s a victory if we just book a game. So that kind of gets weird, because you almost give yourself a victim-like mentality. ‘Okay, we’re lucky we’re even playing, so how do I get my guys up for this?’ It’s just so frustrating.”
Tuesday’s game was originally scheduled to be played at Chestnut Hill College, a neutral site game.
“Luckily, we were able to get it done at our place, and Haverford School said they definitely wanted to play it,” Donofrio said. “But you don’t know what your kids are going to play like because you can tell they are much less patient with – ‘let’s practice for six straight days in the middle of the season’ than they were last year.”
PW started slowly, hitting just one field goal and scoring four points in the first quarter. Down 17-4, the Colonials then responded and got back into it in the second quarter.
“We are a streaky team,” Donofrio said. “We are streak shooters right now. We are not what I think we can be, which is consistently good shooters. We will put up four points in a quarter and then 28. You just have to wait for that to evolve. We played 11 guys in the first half because down the road it’s a seriously deep team, but right now it’s a lot of moving parts for such a short high school game for us, and that’s tricky.
“When you put the starters in and I believe in them and they’re the right five right now, but if after five minutes, you have four points – that’s twice that they’ve started off really slow, and against these types of teams you can’t. Haverford School is struggling a bit, but you have to realize Haverford’s schedule is Roman Catholic, Academy New Church, Devon Prep. They’re not exactly booking Wawa. They saw Roman, so they’re not going to be stunned by our speed, and our kids have to understand that.”
The Colonials – behind 11 second-quarter points from Marshall Baker – trailed by just four at halftime (24-20).
“Basically, we’ve been struggling early on to consistently score,” Donofrio said. “I think if those green lights go on – Qudire Bennett had a great third quarter, but I expect him to be able to do it all the time. There’s a disconnect between my confidence in them and their confidence in themselves.”
“This is two games in a row – even in the Methacton game, you’re down 34-14 at halftime. You can’t yell much when you have 14 points. Give me something to yell about. Try making a shot, that would help.
“Of course, you come out (of halftime) and it ends up being 56-50, but you have this Jekyll and Hyde, tale of two cities thing going on. But hey, you’d rather win ugly. We had a six or eight-point lead and just relaxed. They’re really nice killers. They apologize for trying to kill you.”
Baker finished with 21 points, while Bennett had 13 of his 16 points in the second half.
“We took an eight-point lead in the middle of the fourth and decided to give it all away,” Donofrio said. “With 49 seconds, we got the ball down one. I watched to see what we would do, and when it was down to 26 seconds, all right, that’s enough, timeout. It’s another team playing a matchup zone, which can be tricky to the kids.
“We go out and you just have to let it flow. With seven seconds left, Marshall splits the lane and hits a floater and we’re up 50-49. Now, they inbound the ball at seven seconds, and we just swarm after them. We’re chasing them down at half court, tipped the ball away, grabbed it and the game’s over.”
PW (4-1) will play West Catholic as part of the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic at Widener University on Thursday.
Haverford School (49)
Carson Mastin 3 4-7 10; Dave Kearney 9 6-11 24; Dan Springman 1 0-0 2; Matt Krarney 2 1-2 5; Ryan Robers 1 0-0 2; Miles Balachnadan 1 0-1 3; Connor Scanlan 1 0-0 3.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (50)
Zende Hubbard 2 0-0 5; Jaden Colzie 2 2-3 6; Marshall Baker 8 3-3 21; Jahseir Sayles 1 0-0 2; Q. Qudire Bennett 6 4-5 16. Totals 18 9-11 50.
Haverford School 17 7 10 15 – 49
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4 16 18 12 – 50
3-point goals: PW-Baker 2, Hubbard 1
Wissahickon 60, Perkiomen Valley 59
Jaylon Williams and Earl Stout hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth, which gave Wissahickon a lead it wouldn’t surrender in an exciting one-point win against host Perkiomen Valley as part of Perk Valley’s Holiday Tournament
“For a high school kid, it was a very fun game to be part of,” said Trojans’ coach Kyle Wilson. “It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth. Fun for the fans, but stressful for the coaches.”
Stout also assisted on what would be a three-point play for Morgan Wilson, and Williams was clutch from the line down the stretch.
Stout had a team-high 19 points for the Trojans (5-2), including 13 in the second half, while Williams had 13. Dom Vacchiano added 12.
“It was a big game for us,” Kyle Wilson said. “We play tomorrow against Methacton, who I believe is undefeated and one of the top teams in the district. Coming out of break we’ve got (Plymouth Whitemarsh). This one of the three games we had to make sure we got. This was one where we matched up well with them.”
Wissahickon (60)
Gabe Lassiter 1 0-0 2; Rondale Stewart 1 0-1 3; Josh Twersky 2 1-2 5; Jaylon Williams 4 3-3 13; Morgan Wilson 2 2-2 6; Dom Vacchiano 5 0-0 12; Earl Stout 7 2-3 19. Totals 22 8-11 60.
Perkiomen Valley (59)
Vance Sadler 5 1-3 14; Luke Hanson 1 0-0 2; Ethan Kohler 1 0-2 4; Dawson Debebe 3 1-2 8; Josh Pelzer 5 1-2 15; Shane Nelson 1 0-0 2; Julien Sadler 5 1-4 14. Totals 21 4-13 59.
Wissahickon 7 15 21 17 – 60
Perk Valley 9 15 18 17 – 59
Upper Dublin 54, Bayard Rustin 34
D.J. Cerisier scored 13 points, nine in the first half, while Seaton Kukla had nine in the second half and 11 for the game as UD rolled in this one and knocked off host Bayard Rustin as part of Rustin’s Holiday Tournament.
It was the first game in 10 days for the Flying Cardinals after a COVID-forced shutdown, and they came out ready to play in this one.
“It was definitely good to be back playing,” coach Chris Monahan said. “We were excited to be back, and we played that way, but we were definitely not sharp. It was a bit of a slow start to the game for us. It was sloppy. There were early turnovers, there were early bad shots, so it took us a little while to settle into the game.
“What I was pleased with was the defense. Offense, the skill stuff, can take a little more time to come back, and we haven’t been playing, so that showed.”
UD held Strath Haven to 10 total points in the second and third quarters.
“Playing defense, working hard and communicating, that’s something you can jump right into, and we were able to do that,” Monahan said. “Specifically, in the second quarter when we really took control of the game. We turned them over, we played with energy, we were able to get out in transition, and that kind of got us back.
“We went into halftime and we talked about that, and we were able to recreate that same thing in the third quarter with a nice third-quarter run. We were flying around, we were making plays defensively, and that really led to our offense.
“It was everybody, but specifically, I think Chris Kohlbrenner got us going, pressuring the ball. He’s done a great job with that this year. DJ Cerisier, the same thing. Mason Pensabene when he comes in the game, he’s a pest defensively.
“Then, we were able to rebound missed shots, forced them to take challenged shots. Seaton (Kukla) did a good job rebounding, Ellis Johnson is back in the lineup from injury, and he did a good job rebounding the ball as well as the other guys that were in there.”
Upper Dublin plays Souderton in the tournament championship game on Wednesday. The two teams met in a scrimmage and then in a tournament to open the season that saw the Indians edge the Cardinals in the title game.
Upper Dublin (54)
D.J. Cerisier 5 2-5 13; Chris Kohlbrenner 3 0-0 7; Mason Penabene 1 0-0 3; Ryan Mulroy 1 0-0 2; Brady Fogle 1 0-0 2; Griffin Pensabene 1 2-4 4; EllisJohnson 3 1-3 7; Seaton Kukla 5 0-0 11. Totals 20 5-12 54.
Bayard Rustin (34)
McCray 1 2-2 4; Giunta 2 0-0 5; Nochumson 1 2-4 4; Seelaus 2 0-0 4; Spraull 3 4-4 10; Schlesinger 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 8-10 34.
Upper Dublin 8 14 15 12 – 54
Rustin 10 7 3 12 -34
3-point goals: UD-Cerisier 1, Kohlbrenner, M. Pensabene 1, Kukla 1
Souderton 57, Strath Haven 49
Center Aleks Smith scored 23 points as Souderton knocked off Strath Haven in an opening round game of the Bayard Rustin Holiday Tournament on Tuesday.
Also for the Indians, Jay Bonnet added 11 points and Chris Towsen had 10.
Souderton (6-2) will take on Upper Dublin in Wednesday’s finals, a rematch of a Souderton win in the title game of the Jim Church Classic earlier this month.
Methacton 66, North Penn 52
A slow start doomed the Knights in the opening round of the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Tournament on Tuesday night, as powerhouse Methacton built a 37-18 lead by halftime and went on to the double-figure win.
North Penn battled back in the third quarter, getting as close as eight points early in the fourth but ran out of steam against the undefeated Warriors.
Norm Gee scored a team-high 15 points for North Penn, while Joey Larkins had 11 and Milind Pulugura added 10.
The Knights (4-3) play host Perk Valley on Wednesday.
North Penn (52)
Norm Gee 5 3-4 15; Mario Sgro 3 2-2 8; Ryan Zeltt 2 0-0 5; Joey Larkins 4 0-0 11; Ryan Deininger 1 0-0 3; Milind Pulugura 3 2-2 10. Totals 17 7-8 52.
Methacton (66)
Blakemore 1 0-0 3; Lagana 1 0-0 2; Meyer 2 0-0 4; Byrne 10 0-0 21; Hargrove 10 1-2 21; Chilson 2 2-2 7; Christian 2 2-2 8. Totals 28 5-6 66.
North Penn 5 13 23 11 – 52
Methacton 18 19 12 17 – 66
3-point goals: NP-Larkins 3, Gee 2, Pulugura 2, Zeltt 1, Deininger 1; M-Christian 2, Blakemore 1, Byrne 1, Chilson 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 50, Haverford School 49
Norristown 54, Lower Moreland 52
A back-and-forth game throughout came down to a buzzer beater, but in the end Lower Moreland ended up on the short end of a close one as part of the Dick Dougherty Memorial Tournament at Bensalem.
“It was a great game,” said LM coach Seth Barron. “It really was a great game. The kids fought hard; both teams fought hard. It went back-and-forth. We hit a 2, they hit a 2. They hit a 3, we tied it with an and-one.”
Barron said his team knew what it was up against going against a Class 6A school with a great basketball tradition.
“We knew we were going against a bigger school, with bigger numbers,” he said. “They’re very athletic, a fast, strong team on the floor. We expected that. We don’t think anything different.”
Barron credited point guard John Kroll.
“All of my guards handled the pressure well,” he said. “But Norristown came at us with a lot of pressure and John was able to beat it. He got in the paint a lot and created some havoc.”
Guards Braden Alecia, Gabe Krutsinger, Ian Alecia and Matt Ernst all played well for LM, as did big men Brian Grant and Mike Pennisi.
The Lions (2-3) are back at it Wednesday night against host Bensalem.
Delaware Military Academy 50, Hatboro-Horsham 47 (OT)
Kyle Schlosser scored 19 points and earned all-tournament team honors, but the Hatters came up a little bit short against Delaware Military Arcademy in the consolation game of the Great Valley Holiday Tournament.
Schlosser had a big second half for H-H, with 10 points to help force overtime. Then in overtime, Schlosser, who was 2-for-8 from the free throw line up to that point, went 4-for-4.
But after rallying to force OT, the Hatters didn’t have a field goal in the extra session.
Kyle Dittus also had a big night for H-H, with four 3-pointers and 16 points.
H-H (1-7) now has a week off before returning to league play when it plays at Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham (47)
Jake Grier 2 0-0 4; Noah Schlosser 6 6-12-19; Kyle Dittus 5 2-3 16; Matt Wingen 1 1-2 3; Chrishon Avery 0 3-4 3; Anthony Pumilla 1 0-1 2. Totals 15 12-22 47.
Delaware Military Academy (50)
Kyaire Hines 3 3-4 9; Cordes Mackall 4 3-6 15; Joran Green 6 5-9 22; Ethan Adiesioc 1 0-0 2; Cameron Wynn 2 2-2 6; Gabe Swift 2 0-0 5. Totals 18 13-21 50.
Hatboro-Horsham 10 5 12 15 5 – 47
Delaware Military Academy 10 13 13 6 8 – 50
3-point goals: HH-Dittus 4, Schlosser 1; DMA-Mackall 1, Green 1
Governor Mifflin 73, Pennridge 64
Matt Campione scored 19 points, but Governor Mifflin took over the game in the third quarter and edged Pennridge in an opening round game of the Boyertown Bears Holiday Tournament on Tuesday.
Also for the Rams, who trailed 41-40 at the half, Jude D’Agostino scored 15 points, and Xavier Peters added 12.
Pennridge (1-6) plays Avon Grove in the tournament’s third place game on Wednesday.
Governor Mifflin (73)
Matt Harley 10 3-3 28; Deslin McNeil 3 3-4 9; Xavier Price 5 1-3 11; Gerrell McNeil 1 2-2 4; Minick 2 0-0 4; Woolwine 2 0-0 4; Ziolkowski 4 5-9 13. Totals 27 14-21 73.
Pennridge (64)
Matt Campione 7 3-4 19; Xavier Peters 5 0-0 12; Gannon Perlini 3 0-0 7; Tommy Cramer 2 1-1 5; Tyler Johnson 3 0-0 6; Jude D’Agostino 7 0-0 15. Totals 27 4-5 64
Governor Mifflin 20 21 14 18 – 73
Pennridge 15 25 9 15 – 64
3-point goals: P-Campione 2, Peters 2, Perlini 1, D’Agostino 1
Francis Scott Key (Md.) 62, Central Bucks West 57
Dock Mennonite 60, New Hope-Solebury 40
Northampton 52, Quakertown 35
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