CB East was the lone SOL winner in Tuesday’s second round District 1 action. Check the recaps. CB East/PV photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
It was a night of tightly contested games with four of the five SOL games decided by five points or less. Three of the four losses were by a combined total of 10 points, and all three of those games came down to the final minute of play.
Only one SOL team – Central Bucks East – punched its ticket to the state tournament. The remaining four squads remain alive. They are four of eight teams battling for four PIAA 6A berths.
Class 6A
#7 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49, #10 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 44
Athletes routinely talk about having each other’s backs.
It wasn’t just lip service when Tyler Dandrea pointed to teammate Miles Demby for doing just that after the senior captain missed a shot for the lead with time winding
down in Tuesday’s District 1 6A second round contest.
“He had my back,” Dandrea said. “I missed a shot. We were talking about making a play next possession.
“We were running a trap, and he got a steal and dunked it. That was just huge.”
Demby’s dunk gave the Patriots the lead for good with 38 seconds remaining, swinging momentum permanently in East’s favor.
“We got down one, and Miles Demby had a huge steal in the open court and finished with a dunk,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We got a stop, and then (Justin) DiRoberto hit two big free throws to put us up three. Jake Cummiskey iced the game to put us up five.
“When it came down to it, we got the stop that we needed.”
With the win, the Patriots ensured themselves a coveted berth in the state tournament for the second time in as many years.
“I think it’s big,” Henrysen said of going in back-to-back years. “You keep the momentum, and the expectation is playing deep into the postseason. It’s one of those things with lasting ramifications just in terms of culture and guys expecting that we should be playing deep into February and March and we should expect to raise that level of expectation.”
“This means a lot,” Dandrea said of the return trip to states. “Before the season, our goal was to go even further than last year, and this is the first step.”
Early on, it looked as though the Patriots might be in for an easy night when they jumped out to a 26-16 halftime lead over the Vikings.
“Honestly, I think it was just how connected we played in the first half,” Dandrea said. “We came out firing, we
definitely got an early lead. We gave it away in the second half – we didn’t play our best basketball, but we did enough.
“We moved the ball very well, we got a lot of open looks. We played together, and I think that was the key.”
The Patriots also played some impressive defense.
“We were in a really good place at halftime Henrysen said. “Up 10 and we held them to 16 points.
“We came out of halftime, and we let our foot off the gas a little bit. We missed some open shots, turned the ball over a few times, and they have a kid that’s dynamite in (Julian) Sadler. He came through for them in a big way. Then it was just a battle to the end.”
PV outscored East 17-10 in the third quarter and trailed by just three, 36-33, heading into the final quarter.
“Shots didn’t fall,” Dandrea said. “We didn’t purposely start getting less aggressive, but I could feel our offense wasn’t flowing as it was in the first half.”
It was a game that could have slipped away, but the Patriots didn’t let that happen.
The key, according to Henrysen, was the players keeping their composure down the stretch.
“We didn’t panic even though they were making a run at us, and things weren’t going well for us,” the East coach said. “We got three or four shots down the stretch from guys making the extra pass. They didn’t all go
in, but it’s just a brand of basketball that we really want to play.”
Dandrea and Cummiskey led a balanced Patriot attack with 13 points each. Cummiskey was 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Included in Dandrea’s 13 points were three 3-pointers. DiRoberto added nine points, including a pair at the foul line to seal the Vikings’ fate. Dhruv Mukund led the Patriots with six rebounds, including a huge loose ball in the game’s final moments.
The Patriots were near perfect at the foul line, burying 9 of 10. The Vikings were 4-for-6 at the line.
Julian Sadler led PV with 24 points.
Central Bucks East (19-6, 12-4 SOL) will travel to #2 West Chester Henderson for a quarterfinal game Friday. Henderson rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat #15 Downingtown West 67-66. Nyle Ralph-Beyer’s 28 points led Henderson.
Perkiomen Valley 7-9-17-11 44
Central Bucks East 13-13-10-13 49
Perkiomen Valley (44) – Jakob Harken 1, Anthony Rodriguez 1, Julian Sadler 24, Ryan Murphy 3, Kyle Shawaluk 6, Joshua Tagert 9.
Central Bucks East (49) – Jacob Cummiskey 13, Dhruv Mukund 4, Bryce Lolas 5, Tyler Dandrea 13, Justin DiRoberto 9, Miles Demby 4, Caleb Lyzinski 2.
3-point goals: PV – Julian Sadler 4, Ryan Murphy, Joshua Tagert; CBE – Tyler Dandrea 3, Justin DiRoberto, Bryce Lolas, Jacob Cummiskey.
#4 CHESTER 59, #13 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 54
The scenario was all too familiar.
The Colonials had the lead in the fourth quarter but could not hold it and fell just short of pulling off an upset of the favored Clippers in their house.
“We’re up 47-40 with the ball with five minutes to go in the game,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “We’re defending brilliantly. Chester has to go to their press, and they do.
“To beat Chester in Chester – if you’re up 22 in the fourth quarter, that’s about what you need. Remember, we do this to teams for a living ourselves. When I took over as a head coach years ago, PW was a team that did multiple defenses and looked very, very intriguing, and then we’d play Chester and lose by 20. I just said – we’re going to become that.
“One of the things is not many people press us. We ramped it up over the weekend, but you can’t replicate it perfectly, you just can’t. It wasn’t total disaster or a collapse. One of the rules playing them – you have two types of layups you’re allowed to make against Chester. One is to go right at them with your shoulder and hit them in the chest to draw a foul. The other is to jump stop and pump fake. The third one is to avoid contact. Up by seven, three times our guards decided to do the third layup, and you can’t. I love the kids for what they did, but they’re young, and they don’t understand that you literally have to do it the same way every possession. Three times we have a 7-8-point lead in the fourth and Chester comes away with the ball.”
Chester’s tradition of excellence is unmatched, and although it has not been the unbeatable powerhouse of their glory years, it’s still Chester.
“The pride in that place is through the roof,” Donofrio said. “You have to get a confidence boost out of going down there even though we gave the game away with a giant red bow – that’s the growing up factor.
“I tried to explain to the kids – we talk a lot about our successes and tradition carrying over. We certainly have our levels of accomplishment with district and state titles and all that stuff. Chester is three times anyone else in District 1. Chester has 10-11 state titles and 23 district titles, so when you walk into that house, you have to make timely shots to keep it at 10-12. That’s what I want the players to be annoyed with themselves about. Close is only good in horseshoes. I’m just so concerned they wanted it so badly tonight that we can turn them around.
“We were very positive after the game, but when are you going to reward yourself? Mani (Sajid) is going downhill, Jaden (Colzie) is starting to think like a college point guard. From the CB East game until now – it’s like a lightbulb went on. Unfortunately, because we’ve had so many close losses – you want to see Chester at Temple, not at their place in the second round. That’s the problem.”
Sajid buried three 3s in the opening quarter, and the Colonials led 15-10. They scored just nine points in the second quarter and trailed 27-24 at halftime.
“Our defense tonight – with three minutes to go in the first half, they had 16 points,” Donofrio said.
Sajid torched the Clippers for nine third-quarter points, and Ben Marsico buried a pair of 3s, giving the Colonials a 42-38 lead heading into the final quarter.
PW had the lead late, but Clippers rallied for the win.
“The kids did a terrific job of just handling a weekend of game planning,” Donofrio said. “It’s been a frustrating year for the kids, it’s been a frustrating year for the coaches. There’s something about the team in almost all the losses except for two – we’re winning the game with five minutes to go.
“It’s so frustrating because the kids followed so many of the things well. Mani had 27, and Jaden was just a terrific point guard running everything, and yet, for some reason, the kids have not made the dagger shot or the timely shot when you need it all year. We get point blank looks and open 3s, and you need to hit one of those dagger shots.”
In addition to Sajid’s 27 points, Marsico had 12 on four 3-pointers. Jah Pendergrass-Sayles added seven.
“I’m trying to be very positive because we did so many good things,” Donofrio said. “I’ve seen a lot of districts, and I think this one is wide open. We’ve underachieved so many times this year, and in the last week, since losing to CB East in a lack of focus effort, they turned everything around. We played our best game against Council Rock South in terms of constant energy, and then brought a great focus to this weekend.
“Whatever is missing, whether it’s confidence as a team, whether it’s inexperience, we may end up losing Friday night and just call it a rebuilding year, and the sophomores and juniors are going to have to live with that taste in their mouth and see if they can fix it. The other side of the coin is – at some point, you’ve got to decide to reward yourself and realize you deserve victory. We had the look in our eyes tonight.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-10, 12-4 SOL) will travel to #12 Cheltenham for a playback game on Friday.
“Of all the games to play – we’re going to their place, we know each other well, it’s a rivalry situation, so that’s no cakewalk,” Donofrio said. “We have no choice but to take tonight, and instead of dropping our chins, just totally put it in an annoyance state of mind for what we’re doing, and we have to realize – we can figure this out in 48 hours. We have no choice.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-9-18-12 54
Chester 10-17-11-21 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh (54) – Jaden Colzie 2 0-0 5; Ben Marsico 4 0-0 12; Mani Sajid 8 7-7 27; Michael Pereira 1 1-4 3; Jah Pendergrass-Sayles 3 1-2 7; TOTALS 18 9-13 54.
Chester (59) – Andre Brown 1 1-1 3; Jaseir Thompson 4 1-2 11; Dominic Toy 6 1-3 13; Dante Atkinson 2 4-4 8; Vincent Coleman 1 2-4 4; Calvin Williams 4 1-1 10; Daron Harris 4 0-0 8; Jalen Harris 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 10-15 59.
3-point goals: PW – Ben Marsico 4, Mani Sajid 4, Jaden Colzie; Chester – Jaseir Thompson 2, Calvin Williams.
#5 COATESVILLE 77, #12 CHELTENHAM 60
Cheltenham looked anything but the part of underdog early on in Tuesday’s game.
Sparked by six points from Josiah Hutson, the Panthers raced out of the gate to a 19-13 lead after one quarter and led by as many as 11 in the first half only to watch Coatesville come roaring back to trim that lead to just three at halftime, 36-33.
A 28-point third quarter put the Raiders on top 61-48 heading into the final quarter on their way to the win.
Hutson’s 14 points led the Panthers. Kevin Addison added 11 while Jabril Blackledge had seven.
Cheltenham (18-7, 4-2 SOL) will host #13 Plymouth Whitemarsh in an All-SOL playback on Friday.
Cheltenham 19-17-12-12 60
Coatesville 13-20-28-16 77
Cheltenham (60) – Kamal Mason 2 1-2 5; Josiah Hutson 7 0-0 14; Aiden Worley 1 0-0 2; Kevin Addison 5 1-1 11; Chris Harmon 1 3-4 5; Osei Johnson 3 0-0 8; Asante Johnson 1 0-0 3; Jabril Blackledge 3 0-0 7; Nile Tinsley 2 0-4 4; Peyton McClendon 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 25 6-13 60.
Coatesville (77) – Zuri Harris 4 8-9 17; Dior Kennedy 6 1-2 13; Marcus Peoples 3 4-6 11; Larry Brown 1 0-2 2; Armon Shockley 2 0-0 4; PJ Miles 2 0-0 4; Will Fowlkes 2 0-0 4; Amon Fowlkes 7 4-5 22; TOTALS 27 17-24 77.
3-point goals: Cheltenham – Osei Johnson 2, Asante Johnson, Jabril Blackledge; Coatesville – Amon Fowlkes 4, Zuri Harris, Marcus Peoples.
#6 METHACTON 54, #11 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 51
The visiting Bucks found themselves in a position to pull off the road upset, but the Warriors prevailed, earning a berth in the state tournament after a tightly-contested win.
“We didn’t capitalize on opportunities down the stretch,” West coach Adam Sherman said.
The Bucks found themselves staring at a 12-point deficit early in the second quarter but rallied to even the score by halftime, closing out the half with a 17-2 run. Julian Phillips was the offensive catalyst for the Bucks in the opening half, scoring 14 points.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair. The Warriors led 38-35 after three quarters, but the Bucks regrouped to take a 43-39 lead early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by one, the Bucks had the ball with less than 30 seconds remaining, but the Warriors came up with a steal and opened up a 54-51 lead. The Bucks had no answer.
“Number 13 (Christian Matos) hit some huge shots,” Sherman said.
Matos scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with five 3-pointers, two in the final frame.
For the Bucks Phillips led the way with a game-high 22 points, which included six 3-pointers. Engle added 15 points with four 3s in a contest that saw the Bucks bury 11 shots from beyond the arc. Bowen Gugger added six points.
Central Bucks West (19-8, 10-6 SOL) will travel to #3 Spring-Ford for a playback game Friday with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
Central Bucks West 8-17-10-16 51
Methacton 15-10-13-16 54
Central Bucks West (51) – Matt Engle 5 1-1 15; Bowen Gugger 2 1-2 6; Roman Kulesa 2 0-0 4; Sam Jankowski 1 0-0 2; Julian Phillips 8 0-0 22; Dan Gallagher 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 19 2-3 51
Methacton (54) – Anthony Daddazio 2 0-0 5; Mason Conrad 1 0-0 2; Sal Iemello 4 1-4 10; Christian Matos 7 0-0 19; Alex Hermann 3 4-9 10; Manny Rodriguez 2 0-0 6; Wes Robinson 1 0-2 2; TOTALS 20 5-15 54.
3-point goals: CBW – Julian Phillips 6, Matt Engle 4, Bowen Gugger; Methacton – Christian Matos 5, Manny Rodriguez 2, Anthony Daddazio, Sal Iemello.
#24 SPRINGFIELD-DELCO 47, #8 BENSALEM 42
The Cougars are thriving in the role of underdog.
Four days after stunning #9 Abington and sending the Ghosts home for the season, the Cougars pulled off yet another upset, this time sending the SOL Patriot champion Owls to Friday’s playback round.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “Two good teams in a great battle. Springfield is a well-coached team that is very disciplined.
“I’m proud of the team the way we battled till the end. We will learn from this and get ready for a win-or-go-home game versus Conestoga on Friday.”
In a contest that was close from the outset, the Owls – behind six points from Amir Drummond – led 13-12 after one quarter, but the Cougars outscored their hosts by two in the second to go into halftime with a 26-25 advantage.
The Owls regained the lead and took a 37-35 lead into the final quarter. It was still anybody’s game coming down the stretch, but the Owls scored just five points in the fourth quarter and fell just short.
Drummond and Jaidyn Moffitt led the Owls with 13 points each. Noah Morris added six on a pair of 3s.
Bensalem (18-6, 14-2 SOL) will host #16 Conestoga in a playback game Friday. A berth for states is at stake for the winner while the team that loses will go home for the season.
Springfield-Delco 12-14-9-12 47
Bensalem 13-12-12-5 42
Springfield-Delco (47) – Patrick Flaherty 4 0-0 8; Chris Dolan 2 1-1 6; Jake Adams 2 3-6 7; Colin Treude 7 0-1 15; Ryan Johnson 1 0-4 2; TJ Valletti 4 1-2 9; TOTALS 20 5-14 47.
Bemsalem (42) – Antonio Morris 0 1-2 1; Noah Morris 2 0-0 6; Micah White 2 0-0 4; Amir Drummond 5 3-3 13; Nate Cooper 2 0-0 5; Jaidyn Moffitt 4 4-6 13; TOTALS 15 8-11 42.
3-point goals: Springfield – Chris Dolan, Colin Treude, ; Bensalem – Noah Morris 2, Nate Cooper, Jaidyn Moffitt.
Class 4A
#1 BISHOP SHANAHAN 78, #4 SPRINGFIELD TWP 41
For one half, the visiting Spartans stayed within striking distance of the top-seeded Eagles, trailing 29-22 at halftime.
Then came a second half that was dominated by the Eagles, who outscored the Spartans 25-11 in the third quarter and put 49 points on the board after the break.
The young Spartans will add this game to their learning experiences for next year when they return their entire roster.
Aiden Hood’s 13 points led the Spartans. Will Cooney added 11, which included three 3-pointers in the first quarter and all 11 points in the first half to keep the Spartans close. Bob Hartman had eight points.
Springfield Twp closed out its season with a 7-16 record overall.
Springfield Twp 9-13-11-8 41
Bishop Shanahan 12-17-25-24 78
Springfield Twp (41) – Bob Hartman 1 5-8 8; Aiden Hood 5 2-2 13; Will McLaughlin 2 0-0 4; Will Cooney 3 2-2 11; Julian Ciasullo 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 13 9-12 41.
Bishop Shanahan (78) – Danny Keenan 5 2-2 14; David Maddrey-Rylander 5 7-8 19; Sean Griffin 3 0-0 6; Kevin Scaggs 1 1-2 3; Ryan Ambrose 7 2-2 17; Matt Seifried 1 0-0 2; Chase Boyle 2 1-2 5; Andrew Corcoran 1 0-0 2; Sam Gorman 1 0-0 3; Sam O’Donnell 1 0-0 3; Chase Nestor 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 29 13-16 78.
3-point goals: Springfield – Will Cooney 3, Bob Hartman, Aiden Hood, Julian Ciasullo; Shanahan – Danny Keenan 2, David Maddrey-Rylander 2, Ryan Ambrose, Sam Gorman, Sam O’Donnell.
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