Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. Souderton/Council Rock South photos courtesy of John Gleeson, CB West/Bensalem photos courtesy of Tracy Valko, and PW/West Catholic photos courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for galleries of all three games.
Non-league
SOUDERTON 56, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 51
In a back-and-forth battle, the Indians trailed by two after one quarter but outscored their hosts 14-10 in the second to go into halftime with a 26-24 lead.
The Golden Hawks regained the lead with a 16-point third quarter and took a 40-37 advantage into the final quarter when the Indians outscored Rock South 19-11.
Key players: Nate Rusike’s 22 points led the Indians, who also received double-digit performances from Koby Rollerson (11 points) and Chanse Salone (10 points).
Rock South was led by Ryan Delp’s 13 points while Ray Haglund had 10.
Souderton coach Brendan Stanton:
“I was proud of the team’s ability to bounce back after Monday’s loss (to Lansdale Catholic). CR South is a disciplined and well-coached team. They have a couple of guys that can get hot and score in a hurry. They are a tough team to prepare for but even more so on a back to back.
I was proud of how we stayed connected and resilient. I thought our seniors did a great job leading us, especially in the fourth quarter.
“Overall, I thought it was a very mature game for us in how we handled the ups and downs of the game. I’m happy for the guys to get back in the win column heading into the break. They’ve had a strong start to the season, and this one helps us turn the page a bit after Monday night.”
Up next: Souderton will participate in the Tim Ehst Holiday Tournament at Dock Mennonite Academy on Monday, and Council Rock South will face West Chester Rustin Saturday in the Garnet Valley Holiday Tournament.
Souderton 12-14-11-19 56
Council Rock South 14-10-16-11 51
Souderton (56) – Nate Rusike 22, Koby Rollerson 11, Chanse Salone 10, Marques Brown 5, Will Lockwood 3, Dylan Quinn 3, Levi Epps 2.
Counicl Rock South (51) – Ryan Delp 13, Ray Haglund 10, Joey Madara 8, Brendon Balmer 7, McCaw 6, Lucian Mirc 5, Patrick Malone 2.
UPPER DUBLIN 62 LA SALLE 56
They packed the house at Upper Dublin for Tuesday’s non-league contest against La Salle, and the two teams did not disappoint.
The Cards led 18-16 after a high octane first quarter. UD benefitted from four 3-pointers – two by Noah Cohen and one 3 and five points from both Horace Jackson and Justin Ragsdale.
The scoring slowed down considerably in the second quarter, and the Cardinals took a 24-23 lead into halftime. Max Okebata’s 13 points kept the Explorers close.
A 22-point third quarter by the Cardinals included six points from both Jackson and Kobe Bazemore and five each from Cohen and Luke Caron. The Cards were able to maintain their lead in the fourth for the win in the spirited contest.
“It was an awesome atmosphere, which we thought it might be,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “La Salle is obviously a private school, but it’s so close to Upper Dublin, and there’s a ton of people who know one another. A lot of kids played with or against the kids on the other team growing up.
“It’s two days before Christmas and at home. We honored the state championship baseball team at halftime, so we had extra fans for that. The kids have no school the next day, so it was a really good atmosphere, and it was a fun back-and-forth game.”
Tuesday’s win was UD’s third in as many games against Philadelphia Catholic League opponents. The win upped the Cardinals’ record to 8-1.
“It’s a good start for us,” Brooks said. “We’re pretty happy heading into the holiday tournament.”
Key players: Justin Ragsdale’s 15 points – which included seven points in the fourth quarter – led four UD players in double figures. Kobe Bazemore added 14 points – 12 in the second half. Horace Jackson had 12 points, and Noah Cohen added 11, which included three 3-pointers.
For the Explorers, Max Okebata’s 19 points led the way. Tyler Branson added 11 and Jaxson Carroll had eight.
Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks:
–The game: “It really was a game of runs. We jumped out to an 18-9 lead, and they came storming back and got it within one. Then we jumped out to a 15-point lead in the third quarter, and they were slowly chipping away. They hit a buzzer-beater at the end of the third to cut it to eight. I don’t think they ever got closer to six, which was the final difference.”
–Keys to the win: “I think it was two things – handling their physicality and playing composed in that environment. It really felt like a playoff game. Our gym is big, and it was packed. All four sides were packed. For a non-league game in December, that doesn’t happen too much. It was a great experience for our boys.
“La Salle is young, but they got some size and physicality on their team, and at times, it took us out of what we needed to do, but when we handled it well and played composed, we did a really good job of executing and sharing the ball and playing good defense. When we shared hit ball, we were doing great offensively. When we stopped sharing the ball and taking bad shots, we struggled. Fortunately, in the third, we started sharing it again. It was just a great playoff-type environment to prepare us for later in the year, and a good job from our boys.”
–Props: “It was a balanced night. Our starters were great, in my opinion, across the board. I thought Kobe Bazemore had a really good night defensively and just staying composed. Sometimes he scores for us, sometimes he doesn’t score as much, but tonight he was able to have some big finishes around the rim.
“Noah Cohen chipped in 11 points and also had some great assists, especially in the second half – just getting us some layups which was huge.
“Horace (Jackson) always chips in with some buckets, and he had some big-time finishes in the second half.
“Justin Ragsdale was probably start to finish the most consistent scorer for us. He got us off to a really good start and then had a really good fourth quarter.
“Brandon Altman had a really good second half. He didn’t score as much as he normally does, but he had a really good second half of defensive plays and hustle plays.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will face Neshaminy Saturday (1pm) in the opening game of its own holiday tournament.
La Salle 16-7-15-18 56
Upper Dublin 18-6-22-16 62
La Salle (56) – Tyler Branson 4 2-4 11; Max Okebata 6 4-6 19; Ryan Damon 2 0-0 4; Ryan Reing 2 0-0 5; Nick Neri 2 3-6 7; Jaxson Carroll 3 0-0 8; Pryce Alston 0 2-4 2; TOTALS 19 11-20 56
Upper Dublin (62) – Kobe Bazemore 5 4-7 14; Brandon Altman 0 2-2 2; Noah Cohen 4 0-0 11; Horace Jackson 4 3-4 12; Justin Ragsdale 6 2-4 15; Jake Scherzer 1 0-0 3; Luke Caron 2 1-2 5; Benji Ravitz 0 0-2 0; TOTALS 22 12-21 62
3-point goals; L – Okebata 3, Carroll 2, Branson, Reing; UD – Cohen 3 Jackson, Ragsdale, Scherzer.
NORTH PENN 62, DOCK MENNONITE ACADEMY 61
The Knights survived a rare afternoon game Tuesday, but it was not without its share of drama. Chris Kingkiner buried a pair of foul shots with six seconds remaining to give the Knights a four-point lead before Dock buried a three at the buzzer.
“Dock had no more timeouts, and the rule we have if we go up four and it’s under 10 seconds, we want to make them take a shot with under five seconds left,” North Penn coach Cordell Lord said. “If it goes in, it doesn’t matter what it is. We let them be, we do not foul them, we do not take the ball out of bounds because we want the clock to continue to run out.”
Dock led 15-10 after one quarter and took a five-point lead into halftime (32-27). The Knights erupted for 22 points in the third quarter to go on top 49-45 heading into the final quarter.
Key players: North Penn had three players in double figures. J.C. Wood led the way with 11 points – nine in the second half, including a pair of 3s in the 22-point third quarter. Bryson Foust and Chris Kingkiner both added 10 points. Nolen Foust had eight points.
For Dock, Akoi Deng (21 points) and Tim Weir (20 points) led the way.
North Penn coach Cordell Lord;
–Afternoon games: “I think today was really a reminder for me that we are coaching high schoolers. When they’re set in certain times and ways – they normally play at 7 o’clock, and playing at 3:30 threw them off a little bit. Being around the holidays threw them off a little bit. We are coaching high schoolers, and we always have to make sure that we find the best way to make sure that they’re ready.”
–The game: “We were actually down the majority of the game. We did a decent job of just staying the course in terms of what we wanted to do, and in the fourth quarter specifically, I think we made them turn the ball over seven times. We did a really good job of making them pay for those turnovers and executing out of them. We did not shoot well from the free throw line. We were 16 for 29. We left a lot of points on the table, and we have to be better at that.
“One of the things I told the kids – ‘We can be mad about how we played, and we could be thinking about all these different things, but at the end of the day, whether it’s pretty, whether it’s ugly, a win is a win, and we just have to be happy about that, be proud of that and start getting ready for the next games, which are very quick.’”
–A team effort: “Today, we actually were very spread out in terms of scoring. Multiple guys really stepped up and helped in the scoring column, and that’s something that going into the preseason we felt was on our side and something we could potentially hang our hat on is that we have multiple guys that could provide points on any given night. I think guys have to continue buy into that and continue to try to focus on trying to find ways to make an impact, and it doesn’t always have to be scoring.”
Up next: North Penn will face Methacton in the opening round of the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Tournament Friday (1pm).
Dock Mennonite 15-17-13-16 61
North Penn 10-17-22-13 62
Dock Mennonite (61) – Myles Johnson 0 2-4 2; Tim Weir 7 2-2 20; Akoi Deng 9 3-7 21; Xavier Mitchell 7 1-4 15; Luke Wilkinson 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 24 8-17 61.
North Penn (62) – Luke Hall 2 0-0 4; Chris Kingkiner 3 4-5 10; Shane Ward 2 2-3 6; Nolen Foust 3 2-3 8; Brycen Foust 4 0-2 10; J.C.Wood 3 3-4 11; Wyatt Martin 1 3-6 5; Sean Vagie 1 0-0 2; Aiden Thomas 0 1-2 1; Marco Vera 2 1-4 5; TOTALS 21 16-29 62
3-point goals: DMA – Weir 4, Wilkinson; NP.- B.Faust 2, JC Wood 2.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 51, BENSALEM 45
Sparked by a pair of Melo Aylmer 3-pointers, the Bucks opened up a 9-5 lead in a low-scoring first quarter. They took that four-point lead into halftime (23-19). West edged Bensalem by one in both the third and fourth quarters to earn the hard-
fought win.
West buried nine 3-pointers – three each by Aylmer and Max Milillo.
Key players: Dan Pelligrini’s 20 points led the Bucks. He scored nine of his team’s 14 points in the second quarter and had eight in the pivotal fourth quarter. Mas Milillo and Melo Aylmer both added nine points.
For the Owls, Jacob Eberhardt’s 13 points led a balanced attack while Michael Ellzy and Alex Per both had 12 points.
Up next: Central Bucks West will face Conestoga Saturday (3pm) at the Huddleston Holiday Tournament at Upper Dublin, and Bensalem will face Bristol in the opening round of its own Dick Dougherty Holiday Tournament on Monday (7:30pm).
Bensalem 5-14-12-14 45
Central Bucks West 9-14-13-15 51
Bensalem (45) – Jason Bourelly 3 0-0 6; Emiliano Carrasqillo 0 1-2 1; Naman Parmer 0 1-2 1; Alex Per 4 0-0 12; Michael Ellzy 3 6-6 12; Jacob Eberhardt 6 1-2 13; TOTALS 16 9-12 45.
Central Bucks West (51) – Max Milillo 3 2-2 9; Melo Aylmer 3 0-0 9; Dan Pellegrini 8 1-1 20; Isaiah Rubenstein 1 1-2 3; Gavin Reichner 1 4-6 7; Ben Kondyra 1 0-3 3; TOTALS 17 8-14 51.
3-point goals: B – Per 4; CBW – Pellegrini 3, Aylmer 3, Milillo, Reichner, Kondyra.
WEST CATHOLIC 63, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 60
The Colonials, who led 40-30 at halftime, took a 58-44 lead into the final quarter and appeared poised to pick up a big win over a PCL opponent.
But that didn’t happen.
After averaging close to 20 points a quarter for three quarters, the Colonials scored just two points in the fourth as West Catholic rallied for the come-from-behind win.
Michael Pereira led the Colonials with 21 points and had PW’s only basket in the fourth quarter. Mani Sajid added 12 points – 11 of those in the first half. Buddy Denard had 10 points – all in the first quarter. Jack Hayes chipped in seven.
West Catholic was led by the 16-point efforts of Kingston Wheatley and Nyeire Farlow with Wheatley scoring eight of those points in the fourth quarter. Jayden Ortiz-Muhamad added 15 points, including a four-point play in the fourth.
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will be travelling to San Diego over the Christmas break.
West Catholic 9-21-14-19 63
Plymouth Whitemarsh 20-20-18-2 60
West Catholic (63) – Xavier Fauntroy 2 1-2 6; Yasai Rozler 5 0-0 10; Jayden Ortiz-Muhamad 6 2-2 15; Kingston Wheatley 5 5-9 16; Nyeire Farlow 6 1-1 16; TOTALS 24 9-14 63.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (60) – Jack Hayes 3 0-0 7; Luca Taormina 1 0-0 3; Terron Davis 0 3-5 3; Mani Sajid 5 1-2 12; Michael Pereira 8 5-10 21; Buddy Denard 3 2-2 10; Micah Thompson 2 0-2 4; TOTALS 22 11-21 60.
3-point goals: WC – Farlow 3, Wheatley, Ortiz-Muhamad, Fauntroy; PW – Denard 2, Hayes, Taormina, Sajid.
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