Bensalem and PW earned berths to the PIAA 6A state tournament with wins in Friday’s playback games. CB East lost in a quarterfinal game and CB West saw its season come to an end. PW/Cheltenham photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
Class 6A Quarterfinals
#2 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 68, # 7 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 63
The Patriots came out of the gate on fire, torching the Warriors for 24 points and taking a 10-point lead after one quarter.
East took a 35-27 lead into halftime but saw that lead disappear in a third quarter when the Warriors outscored their visitors 23-9. Henderson took a 50-44 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Patriots didn’t go down quietly and trailed by just two late. The Warriors iced the win at the foul line.
“We are obviously disappointed not to move on and play in the district final four,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “But I’m proud of the boys. They played their hearts out. We came ready to play and executed. We controlled the first half.
“Henderson has an awesome backcourt duo, and they had a stretch of four minutes that really flipped the momentum. We compounded that with some out of character possessions, but our guys didn’t quit, and we were right there at the end.”
Justin DiRoberto’s 15 points on five 3-pointers led the Patriots. Jacob Cummiskey added 11 points, and Dhruv Mukund had 10. Tyler Dandrea added nine, Nolan Behm had eight, and Bryce Lolas finished with six points. The Patriots connected on 11 3-pointers.
The two teams combined for 43 foul shots – the Patriots were 14-for-19 while the Warriors were 19-for-24.
“We now need to focus on states and playback seeding games,” Henrysen said. “There are a whole lot of teams wishing they were still playing.”
The Warriors’ guard duo of Nyle Ralph-Beyer and Connor Fleet combined for 50 points with Fleet accounting for 26 of those points.
Central Bucks East (19-7, 12-4 SOL) will travel to #6 Methacton for a playback game for state seeding purposes on Tuesday.
Central Bucks East 24-11-9-19 63
West Chester Henderson 14-13-23-18 68
Central Bucks West (63) – Jacob Cummiskey 11, Dhruv Mukund 10, Bryce Lolas 6, Tyler Dandrea 9, Justin DiRoberto 15, Nolan Behm 8, Miles Demby 2, Caleb Lyzinski 2.
West Chester Henderson (68) – Nyle Ralph-Beyer 24, Connor Fleet 26, Dylan DeLucia 2, Aaron Nelson 9, Jesse Smith 2, Ryan Ranalli 5.
3-poing goals: CBE – Justin DiRoberto 5, Tyler Dandrea 2, Bryce Lolas 2, Jacob Cummiskey, Dhruv Mukund 10.
Class 6A playbacks
#13 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 69, #12 CHELTENHAM 45
The stakes couldn’t have been higher – win and advance to the state tournament or lose and go home.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd, the visiting Colonials got it done on both ends of the court, avenging a 61-51 regular season loss to the Panthers and punching their ticket
to the state tournament.
“This means the world,” PW senior Jaden Colzie said. “We had an up and down season all year. We coughed up a lot of games – West Chester Henderson, Sanford, Methacton and Upper Dublin. Just a ton of games we just coughed up at the end.”
Three days earlier, PW watched a seven-point fourth quarter lead disappear in a heartbreaking loss to fourth-seeded Chester. Memories of those disappointing losses were all but erased after Friday’s impressive win.
“We’re going to states,” said Colzie, whose 17 points led PW. “It means something. I’m glad our young guys get to experience stuff like this.”
Mention the name of one of those ‘young guys’ – sophomore guard Jack Hayes – to the senior point guard, and he cannot hide his enthusiasm.
“Oh my god – all year, all year – coach D calls him our center,” Colzie said. “Jack Hayes is one of one. I have never played with a guy like him ever.
“He’s a beast – two offensive rebounds on one play, kicks it back and I got a 3. This is the whole season. I’m just so glad we have a Jack Hayes on our team.”
Friday’s box score will show that Hayes had just two points, but if ever a box score didn’t tell the story, this was it. The sophomore guard was a difference maker.
“He’s 5-8 or 5-9 maybe, but he’s in the trenches fighting,” senior Ben Marsico said.
In the third quarter, it was Hayes’ offensive rebound after a missed foul shot and kickout to Marsico for a corner 3 that upped the Colonials lead to 16 after the Panthers had trimmed it to 12.
Hayes finished with five rebounds and five assists
“We have an inside joke on the team that he’s our center – he’s a phenomenal rebounder,” Marsico said. “He does all the little things that might not get in the paper or on a stat sheet, but he’s really big for our team.”
Marsico also came up big for the Colonials, finishing with 13 points. His 3-pointer to close out the first half – his second of three 3s – sent the Colonials into halftime with a 29-12 lead.
“Cheltenham is a very good team, and we know they’re not going to give up,” Marsico said. “We had that mentality coming off the Chester loss, and we knew we had to keep our foot down.
“Just getting that momentum and that 3 at the half was big for us because they were battling back.”
Marsico’s 13-point effort came on the heels of a 12-point game on four 3s in the loss to Chester.
“Ben is shooting with confidence,” Colzie said. “I feel like he’s one of the best shooters in the district. I know he’s ready. I want him to be confident when he catches and shoots. That’s his key. I’m glad he’s finally getting his confidence. He’s helping us in major ways.”
There’s no mistaking – it was a major transition for Marsico and his teammates with many finding themselves in new roles this season.
“The whole first two thirds of the season has been everybody trying to figure what their role is,” Donofrio said. “Jaden has to trust them while he also has to score a bit.
“Now all the gloves are off. Jaden is special. I’m happy for him to have more games. All year long, we’ve been banging heads – find Ben Marsico. That is your insurance guy, and he has gotten more and more confident as the year has gone on, and he’s improved his defense. It’s a whole season’s worth of having to grow up.”
Marsico acknowledged it was a whole new world this year.
“For me kind of being a bench guy last year – I kind of soaked it all in and got to know what this was all about,” Marsico said. “Starting the season, I was unsure what all of this entailed. I’ve kind of eased into my role throughout the season.
“One thing me and coach (Chuck) Moore talk about is doing those little things. I’ve kind of adopted that mentality and just doing anything it takes to win. On top of that, it’s helped me feel more comfortable. There might be games where I might be off from 3, but I know I can contribute and do other things to help us win because at the end of the day, that’s really all that matters.”
Marsico scored all 13 of his points in the second and third quarters when the game was ultimately decided.
“This is a special feeling because last year we made it to states, but we got knocked out the first round,” Marsico said. “Everyone’s hungry, and we want to get back to that state tournament because we feel we have something to prove.”
Sophomore Mani Sajid – who had five first-quarter points – helped to keep the Colonials close when Cheltenham took 8-7 lead after one quarter. The Colonials owned the second quarter, seizing control of the game with a 22-4 quarter to go into halftime with a 17-point lead.
Colzie was all but impossible to guard in the second quarter, connecting on a pair of 3s and scoring 11 of his team’s points.
“J (Colzie) did a really good job moving the ball,” Marsico said. “We played together as a unit. Everybody got their looks. I would credit my wide open looks to him and Mani (Sajid) and Jack (Hayes) controlling the game, pulling the defense away and getting me good looks.”
The Colonials had a 35-16 lead three minutes into the third quarter after back-to-back Marsico buckets. They took a 47-29 lead into the fourth quarter after Hayes took it coast to coast for a layup at the buzzer.
PW upped its lead to 20 when – on its opening possession of the fourth quarter – Hayes pulled down an offensive board and kicked it out to Sajid for a 3 that all but sealed the Panthers’ fate.
“Jack Hayes is one unique basketball player,” Donofrio said. “He has the right name – he’s a Jack of all trades, he’s the Swiss Army Knife. He has a feel for the game – that at his age – is uncanny and a toughness that has been missing from a lot of us, so he provides that.
“He can play point, and against Abington at home, he played center. He is the alpha dog, you hope the
other kids feed off it as well and they grow from it.”
Sajid finished with 16 points – 11 in the second half. Another of PW’s young players, Michael Pereira – a 6-7 sophomore – was a force in the paint. He earned 12 trips to the foul line and finished with 15 points.
“Michael has really changed the whole look,” Donofrio said. “Teams that are in a rebuild evolve during the season, and we really have. I just hope they’re happy to keep playing basketball.”
The Colonials displayed their resiliency with Friday’s bounce-back win.
“My hope was that they’d get angry at themselves for not believing in themselves,” Donofrio said. “We haven’t been a pushback team. We play really well, and then teams push to win, and we just stare at it and give games away.
“Chester was the latest of those, and tonight really the whole message was – not a ton of game planning other than – are you going to let them make this run when you’re up 22 and you’re up 19? How do you take this to 25-30. You don’t be immature, and you don’t relax.
“I’m just happy that we made the state tournament, so we get nine more practices, three more games, and what an example for the kids to keep plugging. Just keep plugging away.”
For the Panthers, Osei Johnson had nine points while Nile Tinsley and Josiah Hutson both had eight. Kevin Addison and Kamal Mason each added six points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (16-10, 12-4 SOL) will travel to #9 Bensalem for a playback game for state seeding purposes on Tuesday. Cheltenham closed out its season with an 18-8 record overall. The Panthers were 14-2 in league play and captured the SOL Freedom Division title.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7-22-17-23 69
Cheltenham 8-4-17-16 45
Plymouth Whitemarsh (69) – Jaden Colzie 6 3-4 17; Ben Marsico 5 0-0 13; Terron Davis 1 0-0 2; Jack Hayes 1 0-0 2; Mani Sajid 5 3-6 16; Michael Pereira 4 7-15 15; Ehab Ahmed 0 2-2 2; Eddie Patruno 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 15-24 69
Cheltenham (45) – Kamal Mason 2 1-4 6; Josiah Hutson 3 1-2 8; Mark Hill 2 0-1 4; Aidan Wilson-Worley 1 2-2 4; Kevin Addison 3 0-0 6; Osei Johnson 3 2-2 9; Nile Tinsley 3 2-2 8; TOTALS 17 8-13 45.
3-point goals: PW – Ben Marsico 3, Mani Sajid 3, Jaden Colzie 2; Cheltenham – Kamal Mason, Josiah Hutson, Osei Johnson.
#8 BENSALEM 69, #16 CONESTOGA 51
The Owls had just three days to recuperate from Tuesday’s second round upset at the hands of 24th-seeded Springfield-Delco. They survived a slow start in Friday’s playback game – falling behind 16-9 after one quarter –and outscored the Pioneers 60-35 over the final three frames to earn the win and a coveted berth in the PIAA 6A state tournament.
“I think just flushing what happened Tuesday allowed us to persevere through that and get the win tonight,” Bensalem senior Antonio Morris said. “You can only sulk about it for so long because you have another game to play.
“It was definitely tough for me because thinking the whole day – ‘This could be my last time playing.’ I tried to keep that out of my mind and just play my game, try and get the win, and that’s what we were able to do.”
Conestoga did not evoke especially fond memories for a Bensalem squad that saw the Pioneers vault over them for the 24th and final spot in last year’s District 1 6A Tournament. The Owls, meanwhile, were on the outside looking in from the 26th spot, just outside the 24-team field.
The players came into this season determined there would be no reruns of last year’s heartbreak, and there wasn’t.
“This means a lot,” Antonio Morris said. “Especially after last year – we didn’t even make the playoffs last year to qualifying for states this year. It really means a lot.
“I know we had a bigger goal to go further in districts. It’s really and truly a blessing to still qualify for states even though we lost in the playoffs.”
Jaidyn Moffitt and Antonio Morris combined for 39 points to lead the Owls to the convincing win.
“I’m really proud of this team – the way this team has really come together and really have bought in to just maximizing what their role is on any given night,” coach Ron Morris said. “It’s just fun to watch. They’ve earned this – especially last year the way we didn’t make the playoffs. Then, ironically, we’re playing against Conestoga, who jumped us last year. It gave us an opportunity to knock them out of the tournament.
“It gave us a little extra motivation, but overall, it’s a great win for our team, our school, our community. To get to the state tournament is really, really hard. Coming into the season, we had many goals. One of them was win the league title – we can check that box. Another one was qualify for the state tournament, and we can now check that box, so that’s just huge.”
Antonio Morris stuffed a stat sheet with 17 points (three 3s), eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“Antonio had a monster game,” coach Morris said.
It was Antonio’s hot hand in the third quarter that turned the tide in the Owls’ favor. Bensalem rebounded from its early hole to take a 25-22 lead into halftime. Jaidyn Moffitt’s 11 second quarter points led the Owls.
“Jaidyn Moffitt was sick the last two days, and he didn’t even play the first quarter,” coach Morris said. “We got big minutes from Idris Savadago and Jahmir Chatman.”
In the third quarter, Antonio Morris erupted for 10 points, which included a pair of 3s.
“In the third quarter, Antonio just came out and took over the game, offensively and defensively,” coach Morris said. “The rebounds he had were all crucial rebounds, so he really got after it.”
The Owls outscored their visitors 22-18 in the third quarter and took a 47-40 lead into the final frame where they outscored their visitors 22-11 to put an exclamation point on the win.
“I think the key was just playing together,” Antonio said. “There were points where they went on runs and got up maybe five at one point. We stayed buckled down on defense, got some crucial rebounds. We didn’t point fingers when people made mistakes.
“We stayed within ourselves and just played together, and that’s when we’re at our best – just playing together and having fun. There was a different energy coming into this game than any other game because we knew the stakes of it.”
Moffitt – despite not playing in the opening quarter – led the Owls with 22 points, which included a 10-for-14 effort at the foul line.
“Jaidyn had an awesome game,” coach Morris said. “He was able to fight through sickness, he’s still battling his knee injury. He was force. He came out and played with lots of energy which is all that we ever ask for.
“We control effort and attitude. He was a good teammate, and he played really hard. He had some big buckets.”
There was plenty of praise to go around after a win that keeps the Owls season alive for at least two more weeks.
“Noah did a phenomenal job on (Ben) Robinson, who’s one of their best players,” coach Morris said. “He can score on multiple levels, and Noah held him to two points, so that’s a big deal.
“Nate Cooper had a great game offensively in the third quarter – he was moving without the ball, cutting backdoor and making layups. Amir Drummond had some big foul shots in the fourth quarter.”
Cooper had six of his 12 points in the third quarter. Amir Drummond finished with six points, including a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“It was just a fun game,” coach Morris said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, it was going to be a war. Any time you’re trying to stamp your name in that tournament – it’s hard to do.
“I told them – you’d rather live with sacrifice than live with regret, so you had to leave everything on the line. Everybody’s sore this time of year, everyone has to step up in some capacity and everyone did.
“We have a great staff – our staff is awesome. They do a lot of scouting, they feed me a lot of information throughout the game, and it’s just a true total team effort. It’s fun when you get to play at this time of year. Thirty-two teams are left in the state tournament in PIAA 6A, and we’re one of them, and that’s a credit to our guys who worked extremely hard all offseason.
“This grind started last February because we were done so early, so we started right away. We kept reminding them – this time of year is why you put in all that extra time. These are the moments you prepared for because of all the hard work you did when nobody was watching.”
Bensalem (19-6, 14-2 SOL) will host #13 Plymouth Whitemarsh in a playback game Tuesday.
“We enjoy this tonight, and tomorrow we start getting prepared for a really good Plymouth Whitemarsh team on Tuesday and try to keep this thing rolling, but it does take off some pressure now that we know we qualified for that state tournament,” coach Morris said. “I’m a very, very proud coach and a very, very proud dad.”
Conestoga 16-6-18-11 51
Bensalem 9-16-22-22 69
Conestoga (51) – Ben Robinson 1 0-0 2; Shane O’Brien 0 3-3 3; Brendan Styer 0 2-4 2; Sam Gibbs 6 0-4 16; Cory Hogan 2 1-1 5; Landon Ross 1 0-0 2; Scott Lecomte 1 0-0 3; Westin Fryberger 6 3-6 18; TOTALS 17 9-14 51.
Bensalem (69) -Antonio Morris 7 0-2 17; Noah Morris 1 2-4 5; Micah White 2 0-1 4; Amir Drummond 1 4-4 6; Nate Cooper 6 0-0 12; Angelo Semon 1 0-0 3; Jaidyn Moffitt 6 10-14 22; TOTALS 24 16-25 69.
3-point goals: Conestoga –Sam Gibbs 4, Westin Fryberger 3, Scott Lecomte; Bensalem – Antonio Morris 3, Noah Morris, Angelo Semon.
#3 SPRING-FORD 51, #11 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 43
The Bucks battled the host Rams to a 22-22 halftime tie and trailed by just three heading into the final quarter when the Rams put some distance between themselves and their visitors.
Matt Engle’s 14 points led the Bucks and included a pair of 3s. Sam Jankowski added eight and Dan Gallagher had seven.
While the Bucks were 5-for-8 at the foul line, the Rams were a near perfect 14-for-15.
Central Bucks West closed out its season with a 19-9 record overall, 10-6 in SOL play.
Central Bucks West 13-9-8-13 43
Spring-Ford 11-11-11-18 51
Central Bucks West (43) – Matt Engle 6 0-0 14; Bowen Gugger 1 0-2 2; Roman Kulesa 2 0-0 5; Sam Jankowski 3 2-2 8; Aidan Kimberly 1 0-0 2; Julian Phillips 2 1-2 5; Dan Gallagher 2 2-2 7; TOTALS 17 5-8 43
Spring-ford (51) – Tommy Kelly 4 2-2 10; Jacob Nguyen 3 2-2 10; Matt Zollers 4 8-9 16; EJ Campbell 3 1-1 8; Jordan Marsillio 3 1-1 7; TOTALS 17 14-15 51.
3-point goals: CBW – Matt Engle 2, Roman Kulesa, Dan Gallagher; SF – Jacob Nguyen 2, EJ Campbell.
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