Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. Upper Dublin/Spring-Ford photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
Non-league
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 64, UPPER MORELAND 60 (OT)
In a classic non-league battle, it was the Titans burying 9 of 10 free throws in overtime to eke out the hard-earned win.
“It really was a good game, closely contested all game – two good teams battling,” South coach Louie Ditri said. “They’re obviously having a good season, and truly, I think our teams are very similar in style and nature, and it showed going to overtime.”
The two teams combined for 47 foul shots with UM taking 31 of those, and both teams battled foul problems with the Titans losing Brett Barrett, who led all scorers, to fouls in overtime.
The Titans, who led 20-16 after one quarter, managed just six points in the second quarter and trailed UM 29-26 at halftime. For UM in the half, Nate Best scored seven while Colson Campbell and Larry Hughes each had six points. Barrett’s eight points led the Titans in the half.
South rallied to take a 38-36 lead heading into the final quarter and then outscored UM 14-10 in overtime. Barrett’s five points in OT included a 3 and a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line. South’s Ben Harrison was 4-for-4 from the line, scoring four of his nine points in OT.
Key players: Brett Barrett led the Titans with 23 points, which included four 3-pointers.
For Upper Moreland, Colson Campbell led the way with 17 points, and Nate Best added 13 points.
Central Bucks South coach Louis Ditri on the game: “It was back and forth. No one pulled away. The biggest lead – they jumped out 7-0, but then we clawed back. From that point on, it just went back and forth.”
–Overtime: “The clutch foul shooting in the fourth quarter and overtime was really key. We were 3-for-3 in the fourth quarter (and 9-for-10 in OT).”
–Props: “Brett Barrett had an awesome game for us with 23 points until he fouled out in overtime. A couple of bench guys had a strong game. We went 11 deep today. With the foul trouble, we leaned on some other guys, and it worked out well.
“Shane Farrell, our back-up point guard, had a nice game. He played very well. It was an entire bench group effort.”
Next up: Central Bucks South (12-3, 5-0 SOL) will host New Hope-Solebury in a non-league game Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (11-4, 4-1) will travel to Souderton Tuesday for a non-league game.
Upper Moreland 16-13-7-14-10 60
Central Bucks South 20-6-12-12-14 64
Upper Moreland (60) – Nate Best 4 5-5 13; Colson Campbell 6 5-7 17; Anthony Carson 2 2-2 6; Larry Hughes 2 4-5 8; Luke Roussel 0 1-2 1; Jose Hernandez 1 2-4 4; Jadon Cybok 1 0-0 3; Cannon Campbell 2 4-4 8; TOTALS 18 23-31 60.
Central Bucks South (64) – Cole DiEmidio 2 1-2 6; Alex Shahin 1 0-0 2; Brett Barrett 8 3-3 23; Nicholas Zakrzewski 1 0-0 3; Dan Gies 1 2-2 4; Shane Farrell 3 1-2 7; Ben Harrison 2 5-5 9; Kayoda Adebayo 1 2-2 4; Leo Medwid 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 22 14-16 64.
3-point goals: UM – Jadon Cybok; CBS – Brett Barrett 4, Nicholas Zakrzewski, Cole DiEmidio.
UPPER DUBLIN 59, SPRING-FORD 56 (OT)
Senior Idris Rines scored with five seconds remaining in overtime, propelling the Flying Cardinals to the hard-fought win in Saturday’s non-league thriller.
“It a good game – intense, back and forth through, lots of lead changes,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “Spring-Ford is a good team. Joe Dempsey does a great job over there.
“We were happy to just come away with the with the win. There were plenty of times we could have put the game away. There were plenty of times they could have put the game away. We were just happy we were the ones ending up with the higher score when the clock had zeroes on it.”
Saturday’s win capped a perfect 3-0 week for the Cardinals, who began the week winning a key divisional game over Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“It was a pretty intense week,” Brooks said. “The PW environment was super intense, and we had Noah Cohen go down with an injury during that game. It actually stopped the game. He ended up breaking both bones in his forearm.
“That big game on Tuesday with three games this week and a late Saturday afternoon game – I was a little worried going into this one because Spring-Ford is a good team, so I’m just happy we were able to pull out the win. Sometimes you have games like this where you don’t play your best – I didn’t think we played our best, but we at least showed a lot of grit in adversity, fighting through it and being able to pull out the win. Sometimes you just have to be able to pull out a win.”
Saturday’s win represented UD’s 14th in a row, one win shy of the school record of 15 which last year’s team achieved to tie the 1985 UD squad.
Key players: Idris Rines (15 points), Ryan Mulroy (13 points), Brandon Altman (12 points – 4 3-pointers)
Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks on the game: “There were some big plays throughout the game. We were actually down eight heading into the fourth quarter, and we were up five with a minute left, and they ended up coming back and tying it. It was up and down. We were on a seesaw all day.
At the end of regulation, we had the ball with about 15-20 seconds left. We ran a play, and we got called for an offensive foul. I can’t say a lot of us agreed with the call. Spring-Ford came down and missed a shot, so it went to OT.
“It was back and forth in OT. We traded a
couple of baskets. They were trying to hold the ball with about 45 seconds left, and we decided to go to some trapping to get the ball back, and they turned it over.
“With about 10 seconds left, we ran a play, and Idris Rines faked a dribble handoff to Ryan Mulroy and finished a layup with probably about five seconds left. Spring-Ford tried to quickly get the ball in, and they ended up dribbling out of bounds with about a second left, and that was it.”
–Props: “Brandon Altman was huge for us off the bench. He had four big 3s. Idris Rines had a great second half and had a couple of big baskets.
“In overtime, Kobe Bazemore had a nice pass to Reilly McLaughlin and had another nice pass to Ryan Mulroy. Those were our two big baskets, and Dris (Idris Rines) had the big finish at the end.”
Up next: Upper Dublin (14-1, 5-0 SOL) will be on the road at Bensalem for a non-league contest Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 9-14-12-17-7 59
Spring-Ford 13-10-20-9-4 56
Upper Dublin (59) – Kobe Bazemore 1 2-4 4; Ryan Mulroy 5 2-3 13; Idris Rines 5 4-5 15; Justin Ragsdale 1 0-0 2; Reilly McLaughlin 3 0-0 6; James Castronuovo 1 0-0 2; Brandon Altman 4 0-0 12; Horace Jackson 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 22 8-12 59
Spring-Ford (56) – Tommy Kelly 8 0-1 16; Jacob Nguyen 8 0-0 21; Jack Kennedy 4 0-0 10; Bryce Robinson 1 0-0 3; Sy Barnes 2 0-0 4; Luke Pufko 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 24 0-1 56.
3-point goals: UD – Brandon Altman 4, Ryan Mulroy, Idris Rines, Horace Jackson; SF – Jacob Nguyen 5, Jack Kennedy 2, Bryce Robinson.
WISSAHICKON 57, BENSALEM 38
The Trojans notched their fourth straight win, and this one over a Bensalem squad that shares the top spot in the SOL Patriot Division was the biggest.
“It was probably one of the most complete games our kids have played,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “We played PW, Upper Dublin, Methacton, and we were in so many of those games. We just felt like – we’re not a bad team, we can win games, but when you look at your record, and you’re sitting there at 2-6, it’s tough sometimes to get kids to continue to believe in themselves.
“Before the game, I showed them the District 1 rankings, and I said, ‘We’re on the outside looking in. We have a chance to get back to .500, and we’re stacking some wins. We have to build some momentum if we want a serious chance at getting to the playoffs because we have to go back and play PW and Upper Dublin, so we’ve got to take advantage of playing some of these teams that aren’t at the very top but still in contention.’ They took it to heart. Our kids finally just realized – ‘Coach is right. We’ve got to pay attention to the little things.’ They found a way to do the little things.”
The Trojans, who led by two after one quarter, took just a 22-19 lead into halftime. The second half belonged to the Trojans, who outscored their visitors 35-22. Nico Vacchiano scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half, and Mason Stelzer had seven of his eight points after the break.
Key players: Nicol Vacchiano’s 19 points led the Trojans, Ben Schwartz added nine points and Mason Stelzer, eight points.
Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson on the game: “Everybody that played today scored, and that’s huge for us. A lot of teams try to focus on Nico Vacchiano, and when they focus on Nico, we need other guys to make plays.
“I said to our guys – one of the things I was most pleased about in this win was that everybody is starting to recognize each player’s strengths and working towards it. If Ben Schwartz is good in the pick-and-roll, let’s hit Ben in the pick-and-roll. If Nico is good getting downhill, let’s give him room to go downhill. Let’s work with our strengths, and they’re finally starting to do those things instead of playing outside their comfort zone.”
–Props: “Michael Maltin only had five points, but he ended up with 11 rebounds. He had a couple of blocked shots, and we needed contributions in other ways from other guys, so it was really nice to get some of those contributions.
“Owen Haughey is a freshman, and we inserted him into the starting lineup a few games ago. He just makes good decisions with the basketball. We’re trying get guys to build a little more chemistry. Even the guy he replaced in the starting lineup, Chris Lee, came in and played really well off the bench, played really good defense on their best player, (Amir) Drummond, so it was just nice to see the guys play a complete game.
–Stelzer finding his role: “Mason Stelzer is gone a lot of time during summer – he works camp, he attends camp. It’s great, but you don’t get the same reps as playing in games, so it’s going to take time to get comfortable playing at that speed and being consistent. Last night (in a win over Lower Moreland), his shot was falling. Today he was making nice plays around the basket. He’s a very heady basketball player – he’s another coach on the floor because he’s always thinking a play or two ahead. It’s really nice to see him playing well.”
Bensalem coach Ron Morris: “Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done today. It starts with me and having our guys prepared to play back-to-back. Kyle does a great job at Wissahickon. He’s been running a great program for many years. He’s someone I’ve learned a lot from over the years. We have similar teams that are undersized, good guards and playing tough. Nico (Vacchiano) is a really good basketball player that is strong and fast that had a good game today.
“We seemed to be a step slow in the second half, and Wissahickon was getting extra opportunities that we can’t afford to give up. Having two emotional finishes the way we did on Tuesday and last night caught up to us. They capitalized on any extra chances they had. Credit to them for taking advantage. As always, we learn from it and get ready for our next war on Tuesday vs Upper Dublin.”
Next up: Wissahickon (6-6, 2-3 SOL) will be on the road at Council Rock South for a non-league game Tuesday, and Bensalem (8-5, 4-1) will host Upper Dublin in a non-league game Tuesday.
Bensalem 12-7-8-11 38
Wissahickon 14-8-15-20 57
Bensalem (38) – Jahmir Chatman 1 0-2 2; Aidan Mayfield 1 2-4 5; Christian Lee 2 0-0 6; Amir Drummond 3 5-6 12; Dymaire Johnson 0 2-2 2; Kobe King 2 0-1 4; Trevor Morris 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 12 9-15 38.
Wissahickon (57) – Mason Stelzer 3 1-2 8; Michael Maltin 2 1-2 5; Chris Lee 3 0-1 7; Owen Haughey 3 1-2 7; Nico Vacchiano 7 4-5 19; Ben Schwartz 3 3-3 9; Delmar Taliafaro 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 10-15-57
3-point goals: B – Christian Lee 2, Aidan Mayfield, Amir Drummond, Trevor Morris; W – Mason Stelzer, Chris Lee, Nico Vacchiano.
MUHLENBERG 56, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 49
The Indians were without their leading scorer – Grady Burt – for Saturday’s road trip to Reading, but they fought gamely until the final horn.
“It was a hard-fought battle until the buzzer as Muhlenberg got out to a 20-point lead in the third quarter,” Rock North assistant coach Brandon Knotts said. “North battled hard but came up short today.”
The Indians, who trailed by just five after one quarter, found themselves on the short end of a 34-21 halftime score. It was still a 13-point game heading into the final quarter when the Indians outscored their host 21-13. Zach Vigrass, Billy McBride and Dylan Kiefer each had five points in the final quarter.
Owen Crowne led the Indians with 12 points, and Jack Curry added nine on three 3-pointers.
Council Rock North (3-9, 2-3 SOL) will host Quakertown in a non-league game Tuesday.
Council Rock North 12-9-7-21 49
Muhlenberg 17-17-9-13 56
Council Rock North (49) – Jack Curry 3 0-0 9; Josh Erman 1 0-0 2; Owen Crowne 5 1-2 12; Brandon Holmes 2 0-0 5; Grant Capozzoli 1 0-0 2; Zach Vigrass 2 0-0 5; Dylan Kiefer 2 1-2 5; Andrew O’Keefe 2 0-0 4; Billy McBride 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 20 2-4 49.
Muhlenberg (56) – Justin Armstrong 2 2-2 4; Jaylen Kanter 0 2-2 2; Jaden Perez 2 0-0 6; Amari Allen 1 1-2 4; Mike Miller 4 0-0 11; Shermar Killen 6 5-7 17; Eli Hemmings 3 0-0 8; Jeff Collado 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 19 10-13 56.
3-point goals: CRN – Jack Curry 3, Owen Crowne, Brandon Holmes, Zach Vigrass, Billy McBride; Muhlenberg – Mike Miller 3, Jaden Perez 2, Eli Hemmings 2, Amari Allen.
PERKIOMEN VALLEY 45, PENNRIDGE 31
Jakob Harken served early notice it could be a long afternoon for the Rams, torching the visitors for 14 first-quarter points and leading the Vikings to an 18-9 lead.
To the Rams’ credit, they battled back, pulling to within four at halftime, 24-20. It was a two-point game heading into the final quarter when the Vikings – sparked by the perfect 6-for-6 effort by Harken at the foul line – outscored the Rams 13-8 in the final quarter to hold on for the win.
Xavier Peters led the Rams with 11 points. Marley Steward added eight points.
Harken led all scorers with a brilliant 30-point effort.
Up next: Pennridge (7-6, 2-3 SOL) will host Springfield Twp in a non-league game on Tuesday.
Pennridge 9-11-10-8 38
Perk Valley 18-6-8-13 45
Pennridge (38) – Rownan Smith 2 3-4 7; Marley Steward 2 4-5 8; Xavier Peters 3 4-5 11; Jake Bolger 0 2-2 2; Ryan Schwind 2 0-0 5; Conner Murray 1 0-0 3; Sam Crognale 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 11 13-16 38.
Perk Valley (45) – Jakob Harken 8 13-13 30; Anthony Rodriguez 1 2-2 4; Chase Kelly 3 0-1 7; Colin Hollingsworth 1 2-2 4; TOTALS 13 17-18 45.
3-point goals: P – Xavier Peters , Ryan Schwind, Conner Murray; PV – Jakob Harken, Chase Kelly.
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