PW, Souderton, Abington & Cheltenham were winners in District 1 6A Tournament action Tuesday. Abington/CR South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson, Cheltenham/CR South photos courtesy of Jon Sklut/Greg Lindsay, PW/CB EAst photos courtesy of Larry Small & Pennsbury/Garnet Valley photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for galleries; CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
District One – Class 6A – Second Round
#1 Plymouth Whitemarsh 59, #17 Central Bucks East 33
Playing a team three times is never ideal, but Plymouth Whitemarsh knew the formula against CB East Tuesday began with a quick start, as it did in both of its previous wins against the Patriots.
An 11-2 first quarter and a lead that would balloon to 26-9 at halftime, and once again the Colonials were off and running on the way to a 26-point second-round district playoff win.
CB East got to as close as 10 in the second half, but in the fourth, PW pulled away for the lopsided victory.
PW’s win came on the heels of a loss to Upper Dublin in the SOL Tournament, a loss that snapped a 15-game winning streak.
“We put two really good days of practice together, studying and analyzing how we looked the last couple of games because,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “You could feel it slipping away slightly as far as the 15-game winning streak. It’s human nature, and nothing that a good film session can’t fix.
“We pulled out some games from our great teams of the past – the 2017 playoff game in the old gym where we held a really good opponent that was averaging 60 points a game to 28 points in a playoff game and then compared it to how we looked against CB 
East and Upper Dublin the last two games. It was a nice reality check – it was night and day. So much of what we do is how hard we play. Sometimes when you win, your ears get smaller, you’re not listening as much.”
Key Players: Michael Pereira scored a team-high 21 points to lead PW, while Terron Davis was also in double figures with 13 points.
CB East was led by Quinn Slack, who finished with 10 points.
PW coach Jim Donofrio:
–Props: “Big Michael (Pereira) was really good tonight. His energy was through the roof. I think he proved to himself just how hard he can play on defense and how much range he can cover, which is something that once he falls in love with that idea – that was one of the key factors going into a playoff run.”
–Multiple-look team: “We’ve got guys on our bench who can really play. We have a multiple-look team that, unfortunately, I haven’t been able to show off the basketball world because with basketball you take what your ultimate best style is, and you work with that first, and that ultimate best style is Michael (Periera) and Mani (Sajid) as the centerpiece of the offense, but when you add Micah Thompson to that and Jack (Hayes) and Buddy (Dennard), you’ve got a really powerful bunch of the senior class guys who are poised and run a beautiful offense and just are really physical in the halfcourt defense, but all teams look at you over the course of two months and figure out a hole somewhere.
“Most of my career, I’ve been a pace guy, which is 90 feet of pace. CB East’s style opens up the door, and if our bigs don’t realize they can cover a lot of ground and deny the passing lanes – in the playoffs, team are giving you every concentration they have, and CB East is a move-the-ball, multiple-pass offensive style, trying to get you to fall asleep, and that’s what happened last time we played them, so there are certain ways to play that style that we did not do the second time around
“Tonight opened the door to make sure we started out with our pace – you’re not going to slow us up. Our pace means Terron Davis went on the floor a lot more with Zhaiden Gray, and we showed a style we haven’t really shown a lot of in the last two months, and that disrupts things. That was fun to see that we could pull that off.”
“There was a unique style to the game tonight where we actually spaced the ball late in the third and throughout the whole fourth where we were very poised on offense and picked our spots to attack the basket, so I liked how the kids made that adjustment as well.
“We’re still evolving, which is fun to see. We get another home game on Friday night. The crowds are great, and I hope the kids are enjoying these memories they are creating. Of course, the goal is you set yourself up as a number one seed, and the goal is obviously to take care of business at home and get another drive down to St. Joe’s and then you reinvent it from there.”
CB East coach Erik Henrysen:
“PW is the top team in District One for a reason. They have height and quickness that few other teams can match up with.
“We’ve now visited PW three times this year. After our last SOL Tournament game, we felt like we saw some success that we could repeat and expand on. Unfortunately, we didn’t convert a few opportunities early and fell behind.
“We were too tight early, but the guys responded in the third. We had a good stretch, but to beat PW, you need to put together 32 minutes.
“We still have an opportunity to get to states. Playbacks can be tricky. We need to get the guys to bounce back quick for Friday.”
Next up: PW is back in action at home Friday night in the quarterfinal round against #8 Garnet Valley. Also on Friday, CB East looks to bounce back as it hosts #24 Pennsbury in a playback-round game to keep its season alive.
CB East 2 7 18 6 – 33
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11 15 15 18 – 59
CB East (33)
Connor Mekanik 2 3-4 7; Henry Bartchak 1 0-0 3; Quinn Slack 3 2-3 10; Brady Colbert 10-0 3; Ryan Dailey 1 0-0 2; Keegan Marascio 3 2-2 8. Totals 11 7-9 33.
PW (59)
Jack Hayes 2 0-0 4; Luca Taormina 1 0-0 2; Terron Davis 5 3-5 13; Mani Sajid 4 0-0 9; Michael Pereira 7 7-12 21; Austin Edwards 1 0-0 2; Zhaiden Gray 1 3-4 6; Micah Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 13-21 59.
3-point goals: CB East-Slack 2, Barchak, Colbert; PW-Sajid, Gray
#5 Souderton 58, #21 Neshaminy 56
It’s been a while since Souderton won a district playoff game, a dozen years, going back to the 2014 season.
Tuesday was not without a ton of dramatic moments late, but the Indians prevailed against #21 Neshaminy by a 58-56 final score for that elusive win, and advanced to the District One Class 6A quarterfinals, as well as securing the team a berth in the state tournament for the first time since 2012.
“It just means I get to enjoy the game with my brothers,” senior Chanse Salone said. “I love this team, honestly. We do everything together. It’s so fun being with them. I’m happy that the season is going on.
“This was frustrating because I felt we could have put (Neshaminy) out real early, but that’s the game. It’s a game of runs.”
Tuesday’s game was the first in 11 days for the Indians.
“I thought we had a good week of practice,” said coach Brendan Stanton, whose team is without Koby Rollerson for the playoffs (transfer ineligible). “We started prepping for Neshaminy and PV last week. We didn’t do a scrimmage, which a lot of people did, but we had a pretty sick team, and obviously, we don’t play a ton of guys off the bench. We didn’t really want to play an extra game, but we did a really good job with the scout. I thought our guys really executed.”
Up three with 23 seconds left, Souderton’s Will Lockwood took a charging foul, and Chanse Salone then converted 1 of 2 free throws to push the lead to four. Neshaminy came back with an Eriq Gold 3-pointer with four seconds remaining, and had a chance late, but a three-quarters court heave was off the mark.
Key Players: Marques Brown scored 20 to lead Souderton. Chanse Salone added 14, including eight in the fourth quarter and 8-for-10 from the free throw line. Nate Rusike scored nine of his 12 points in the second half, as well.
Logan Gale had a team-high 16 for Neshaminy, while Luke Amrhein added 14.
Souderton coach Brendan Stanton:
–The game: “Late in the game, we made some mental mistakes, but for the most part, we did enough. We said, ‘Whatever it takes.’ We did the exact amount we had to do to win the game.
“I have found that it’s a group that you just kind of have to trust even when things aren’t going well, because they tend to play themselves out of it, and all it really takes is one big play, and we can swing it back.”
–Props: “Will Lockwood made a ton of plays for us tonight that were just emotionally charged plays when things weren’t going well. Everyone gets fired up because everybody loves Will. He went through a period where I don’t even think he got in for two or three games, but he stayed ready. I think he was the X factor of the game.
“He’s a guy that might have been one sentence on their scouting report and had a page full of impact today – rebounds, defending the other team’s best player for stretches, making a 3, setting screens. He did a ton of glue guy stuff that he always does, but him hitting that 3 (in the third quarter to give the Indians a four-point lead) was exactly what we needed. His charge at the end sort of felt like the play of the game. I think everyone in our program is not surprised by that, but I’m sure to other people around the area, it’s probably very surprising. He had the biggest plays of the night.”
–Marques Brown steps to the fore: “We didn’t know much about him from Dock (Mennonite). We knew that he was a really good defender. He’s really athletic and he could shoot a little bit, but now he’s shooting 40 percent for the season, and that’s rare in high school basketball, especially since he probably shoots five or six 3s a game.
“He’s a great athlete, and he’s been able to now use that to attack closeouts. He’s great in transition. We got lucky he decided to come to Souderton. He’s shown he’s ready for this type of stage. He’s a senior, he’s ready to go.”
Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle:
“We had a really good game against a really tough team. It was a well-matched (game) – guards (against) guards. There weren’t any tall guys in this game.
“We had guys that really played well tonight. They have really good guards that I thought we did a really good job on. If we play hard, I can live with it. We played hard. It was a good game.
“Obviously, I’ll look at the film and move on to the next game. It’s going to sting a little bit tonight, but we’ve got to play CB South Friday to stay alive.”
Next up: Souderton will host #13 Cheltenham in a district quarterfinal game on Friday night.
Neshaminy will try to keep its season alive Friday at #4 CB South in the playback round.
Neshaminy 14-12-13-17 56
Souderton 16-11-16-15 58
Neshaminy (56)
Luke Amrhein 6 1-2 14; Logan Gale 7 1-5 16; Eriq Gold 2 3-3 8; Cadenn Amati 4 1-2 9; Marlon Yon 2 5-6 9; TOTALS 21 11-18-56.
Souderton (58)
Will Lockwood 2 0-2 5; Chanse Salone 3 8-10 14; Levi Epps 3 0-0 7; Nate Rusike 5 1-2 12; Marques Brown 8 3-4 20; TOTALS 21 12-18 58.
3-point goals: N – Amrhein, Gale, Gold; S – Lockwood, Epps, Rusike, Brown.
#6 Abington 60, #22 Council Rock South 46
There would be no Cinderella-type playoff story for visiting Council Rock South Tuesday night, as sixth-seeded Abington took care of business in the second half and pulled away for the 14-point victory in the fourth quarter.
The win earns the Galloping Ghosts a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal round and a berth in the state tournament.
It also erases some of the sting left over from last season’s early playoff exit – an opening round 62-58 loss to 21st-seeded Neshaminy.
“This is just huge,” said coach Dan Marsh. “We’ve been talking about this for quite some time, and if I am being completely transparent and open, I know I’m hard on myself and all that kind of stuff, but I really felt like I lost the game for them last year. Losing in that first round. Even at practice yesterday, I was super anxious. My assistant, Gary Massey, was like, ‘Dude, just calm down, we’re fine.’
“I came into tonight with a more relaxed attitude and just trusted that we’ve done the work, and the kids responded. I was really proud of them.”
Key Players: The backcourt of Xavier Grasty (15) and Faison Garland (14) combined for 29 points for Abington. Malcom Lucas was also in double figures with 10.
CR South was led by Lucian Mirc’s 15 points, while Ryan Delp was also in double figures with 11.
Abington coach Dan Marsh:
“Taking this boys’ job with the amount of pressure and the crowd and all that stuff, it was important for us to let everybody know that Abington basketball is back, and we’re here to compete for districts and states, and that’s what we wanted to do.
“We’ve worked really hard. That’s what the kids said before the game, ‘We’ve worked too hard all season to not go out and win this game tonight,’ so I’m really, really proud of them, but I also told them, ‘We’re not done. I’m happy we qualified for states, but we’re not done.’”
–The game: “I think Council Rock South had a good game plan, and I knew what they were wanting to do. They had 10 3s and only (four) two-point goals.
“I think what really turned the game around for us was the end of the first half. It was 20-20, and we ran off six straight points in like 20 seconds, and it gave us momentum going into halftime. Then we kind of went from there.
“At first, Rock South was doing a phenomenal job of dictating pace, and I was getting a little worried, but we kept our composure.
“My word on the board today was patience, and our team had patience. I think they were expecting us to come at them more aggressively, but our game plan was to contain them and make them take contested shots. They were making them, but eventually, it went our way, so I am very proud of our kids. I’m very proud of the program.”
–Props: “Malcom Lucas was phenomenal tonight. He scored double digits. We knew they were going to come out in a zone and try to compact it and prevent our penetration, so we told our bigs, ‘Listen, the middle and the dunker spot is going to be open, and you’re going to have an opportunity to get offensive rebounds, and we really need you to do that.’ Malcom had 10 points, and Amare (Stone) had nine.
“Our scout team did a phenomenal job of running what they run and how they do it. I’ve always said you can’t win a championship unless one through 15 is contributing. They might not contribute game night, but they certainly contributed at practice. This is what it’s all about. I am very happy, but we’re not done yet.”
–Moving on: “We’re obviously playing a great team (Coatesville) with a great player, but we think we have a great team and a great player too.”
CR South coach Jim Cassidy:
“Obviously, a tough one for us, against an immensely talented team. We got it to within one point at the end of the third quarter, and they scored at the buzzer to go up three. I think that if we had found a way to regain the lead there, we had a chance for it to be a different outcome.
“(Abington) made almost all of the 20 free throws they attempted, which again says a lot about them and their ability to close out games.”
Next up: Abington will head on the road for Friday’s quarterfinal game at #3 Coatesville.
CR South still has a lot to play for – namely a state playoff berth – in the playback round, starting with Friday at #14 Chester.
CR South 10 10 16 10 – 46
Abington 8 18 13 21 – 60
CR South (46)
Ray Haglund 1 0-0 3; Ryan Delp 4 0-0 11; Lucian Mirc 4 4-4 15; Brendon Balmer 1 2-2 5; Joey Madara 1 0-0 2; Pat Malone 1 0-0 2; Aidan Lydon 1 0-0 3; Brian Bondiskey 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 15 6-6 46.
Abington (60)
Kyler Pickron 1 7-8 9; Amare Stone 3 3-3 9; Malcom Lucas 5 0-0 10; Xavier Grasty 6 2-2 15; Faison Garland 4 5-6 14; Ayden Turner 1 0-2 2; Declan Doyle 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 20 18-24 60.
3-point goals: CRS- Mirc 3, Delp 3, Haglund, Balmer, Lydon, Bondiskey; A-Grasty, Garland
#13 Cheltenham 54, #4 Central Bucks South 42
Seeds are just numbers sometimes, and Tuesday night, Cheltenham went to CB South knowing that less than two weeks ago in the SOL Tournament, the Panthers beat the Titans by two.
Districts are a different ballgame, however, but after some shaky moments in the first half, Cheltenham took over in the second half on the way to the 12-point win.
It not only secured a state playoff berth for the Panthers, but a date at Souderton Friday in the district quarterfinals.
CB South led this game 17-9 after one and 26-24 at halftime. Cheltenham dominated the second half by a 28-16 margin.
Key Players: Senior Chris Harmon had a monster game for Cheltenham with 22 points, including 15 in the first half. Jaedn Mosely was also in double figures with 10 while Tyree Martin had eight.
Leo Medwid led all CB South scorers with 14 points.
Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury:
–The game: “We’re happy to be advancing to states. It started
with Jaedn Mosely, Isa Vargas, Chris Harmon and Isaiah Dill and their willingness to get others involved and just set the table. I thought defensively our seniors from Micah Millis to Tyree Martin to Mark Hill were able at times
to have defensive stops and make multiple efforts.
“It was just good to see them – against a very, very good team – down in the second quarter and fight their way back just possession by possession. That was outstanding especially against a team and a coach like that, which are always well prepared and just very good at what they do.
“I was grateful, whatever the outcome was, that we played together and stayed together, win or lose. The beautiful thing was tonight highlighted the brotherhood of a class that from elementary school to high school, in a tough spot, just came together.
“Credit also to my coaches for seeing matchups and making calls that aligned with the game plan – that reassured the team and was crucial for the game adjustments.”
CB South coach Louie Ditri:
“We came out and had a good first quarter on both ends of the court. But as the game went on, we had too many turnovers that led to fastbreak points for Cheltenham and then we had good looks but couldn’t make them. Credit to Cheltenham, they played good defense the last three quarters.”
Next up: Cheltenham will play at #5 Souderton in the district quarterfinals Friday.
CB South will join the playback bracket and will host #21 Neshaminy in a win or go home game on Friday.
Cheltenham 9 17 15 13 – 54
CB South 17 9 10 6 – 42
Cheltenham (54)
Isa Vargas 2; Chris Harmon 22; Mark Hill 6, Isaiah Dill 5; Jaedn Mosley 10; Micah Millis 1, Tyree Martin 8
CB South (43)
Kayode Adebayo 7; Shane Farrell 4, Brayden Barrett 8, Davis Van Zanten 9, Leo Medwid 14
3-point goals: C-Harmon 2, Dill, Mosley; CBS-Barrett 2, Medwid, Van Zanten
#8 Garnet Valley 52, #24 Pennsbury 41
It was a battle from the start, but Pennsbury’s second road trip to the Central League in four days didn’t produce the same results as the first, as host and #8 Garnet Valley pulled away in the fourth quarter for the 52-41 victory Tuesday.
“We really shot the ball poorly – 1-for-16 from 3,” said coach Wes Emme. “I could give other statistics that would tell you the measurement of the game, but ultimately, we got a lot of wide open shots that, to their credit, they got us off of our spot a lot, when we were looking to shoot the basketball on the perimeter. And then the ones we did take were a little out of rhythm, and there were some that were just wide open that we missed.
The loss sends the Falcons to the playback bracket, as they will now need to win two straight to earn one of District One’s state playoff berths.
Key Players: Brayden Clark was Pennsbury’s lone player in double figures with 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme:
–Turning Point: “At the end of the third quarter, we have the ball on a side out of bounds down four. And Mason Koperna for them, who’s their guard, makes a play in the backcourt, steals the ball, and then they get a bucket at the end of the quarter to go up six. And that, kind of, deflated us a little bit.
“We tried to come back early in the fourth, and they stretch the lead to nine. And, unfortunately, from there, it was just like a scramble game.
“It was a really well-played game for the most part. Honestly, I thought we either outplayed them or played them to par for most of three quarters, but once that play happened, I think that was kind of a turning point.”
“Our theme all year has been balance – balance, balance, balance. When one guy doesn’t score, other guys pick up that scoring. And I thought Brayden Clark was exceptional tonight, off the bounce, getting to the rim, but we really didn’t have that second guy putting the ball in the basket to complement him. And if we get that, the game’s completely different.”
Next up: While Garnet Valley earned a date with top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in the quarterfinals Friday, Pennsbury is on the road at #17 CB East in its first playback game.
Pennsbury 6 10 8 17 – 41
Garnet Valley 10 6 12 24 – 52
Pennsbury (41)
Brayden Clark 6 5-6 17; Brady Kent 3 0-0 6; Sean Breslin 2 0-0 5; Pat Jajua 2 2-2 6; Max Manga 2 3-4 7. Totals 15 10-12 41.
Garnet Valley (52)
Facenda 2 2-3 6; Koperna 3 5-6 12; Quinn 1 3-4 6; McAndrew 3 3-4 9; Golek 6 3-4 16; Small 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 17-23 52.
3-point goals: P-Breslin; GV-Koperna, Quinn, Golek
Class 4A – Semifinals
#1 Pope John Paul II 71, #4 Lower Moreland 44
Top-seeded Pope John Paul II used a 22-point third quarter to blow open a close game and pull away from Lower Moreland 71-44 on Tuesday.
LM hung tough for a half, trailing 13-11 after one and 25-19 at halftime.
Luke Wheeler scored 14 to lead the Lions, who finished the season with a 6-17 record.
Lower Moreland 11 8 11 14 – 44
Pope John Paul II 13 12 22 19 – 71
Lower Moreland (44)
Wheeler 6 0-0 14; Udal 2 0-0 4; John 2 0-0 5; Carrol 1 0-0 3; Fellah 3 2-2 8; Maloney 2 3-5 7; Silverman 0 1-2 1.
PJP (71)
Schuberth 2 3-3 7; Wise 5 0-0 11; Brady 1 1-2 3; Edwards-Boor 1 0-0 2; Green 7 5-7 24; Moeller 2 0-0 5; Claffey 1 0-0 2; Pelcofsky 4 0-0 8; Kessler 2 0-0 6.
3-point goals: LM-Wheeler 2, John, Carrol; PJP-Green 4, Kessler 2, Wise, Moeller
Class 3A – Semifinals
#2 Bristol 56, #3 New Hope-Solebury 45
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