Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. CR South/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Souderton/Upper Darby photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for galleries of both games.
#16 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 62, #17 ABINGTON 41
The Golden Hawks made history, earning their first home playoff win ever, and they did it in style. The Hawks scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to blow open a close game and put an exclamation point on a win that sent the three-time defending district champions home for the season.
“We thought we certainly had a chance to win, but we had to do certain things,” Rock South coach Chris Clark said. “We did all those things very well, and things worked out better than I expected.
“I told them – I thought we deserved to be home and now we had to go prove it, and we did that. It’s all about working hard, trying to be tough and trying to stay together. It’s always next play, and being tough at both ends of the court mentally and physically is really important to us.”
The Golden Hawks took a 37-31 lead into the final quarter, and the Ghosts trimmed that lead to four with an early basket. The Hawks closed out the game with a 25-8 tear that included nine points – including a three and a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line – from Jack Rebholz. Kevin McNamee added seven, and Michael Stewart connected on 5-of-7 at the charity stripe.
“It was really nice because in the third quarter they had taken the lead, and we took the lead back again and showed a lot of resiliency,” Clark said. “It just carried into the fourth quarter. We just believed that the fourth quarter was going to be our quarter.”
Rebholz led the Golden Hawks with a glittering 24-point effort that included four 3s. He scored 14 of those points in the second half. Stewart added 17, which included a pair of 3s. The duo jump started the Golden Hawks in the first quarter with Stewart contributing nine points and Rebholz burying a pair of 3s.
“Jack and Michael were unbelievable,” Clark said. “You’d be hard pressed to find two better guards on the same team than those two. They were just outstanding.
“We talked about trying to push the ball to score easy but, if not, run something, have good patience, have a good pace to the game, and we were able to do that. We pushed the ball when we had it and held it when we didn’t and played defense. Both of them really did a good job.”
Luca Baratta also finished in double figures with 11 points, seven in the third quarter. McNamee finished with seven.
“Luca Baratta made some big shots – he made a big three when we were losing as well as some foul shots,” Clark said. “Luke Meakim made a three when it was still close.
“Kevin McNamee’s presence inside – he finished inside and made some foul shots late. Joe Purcell was really good in the back of our zone, making sure that their number 12 (Joey Brusha) did not get a clear look. It was just everybody.”
The Golden Hawks led 17-9 after one quarter but scored just five points in the second quarter. The Ghosts trailed by just two at the intermission, 22-20. The Hawks outscored their visitors 40-21 in the second half to earn the historic win.
For the Ghosts, Oreck Frazier’s 13 points – 11 in the third quarter – led the way. Manir Waller added 11 – eight in the fourth quarter. Caleb Baker contributed eight points for the Ghosts, who never scored more than 11 points in any of the four quarters.
“I thought playing zone was important, no live ball turnovers was very important to us, making sure that they played in the half court and when we did miss a shot that we built a wall in transition to make sure they could not get easy baskets and make them shoot over us as much as possible,” Clark said. “All of our hard work is paying off and we’re playing together, we’re playing well. Now we just have to find a way to get better by Tuesday.”
Council Rock South (16-7, 8-4 SOL) will travel to top-seeded Methacton for a second round game Tuesday. Abington (10-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 12-11 record.
Abington 9-11-11-10 41
Council Rock South 17-5-15-25 62
Abington (41) – Manir Waller 4 2-7 11; Antoine Ellis 1 0-0 2; Oreck Frazier 6 1-1 13; Robert Bell 1 2-2 4; Joey Brusha 1 0-0 3; Caleb Baker 4 0-0 8; Totals 17 5-10 41.
Council Rock South (62) – Jack Rebholz 9 2-3 24; Luca Baratta 3 4-5 11; Luke Meakim 1 0-0 3; Michael Stewart 5 5-7 17; Kevin McNamee 2 3-7 7; Totals 20 14-22 62.
3-point goals: Abington – Manir Waller, Joey Brusha, CRS – Jack Rebholz 4, Michael Stewart 2, Luca Baratta, Luke Meakim.
#12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 50, WILLIAM TENNENT 49
The Patriots had a double-digit lead in the third quarter, and there was nothing to suggest the game would come down to the wire, but that’s exactly what happened after the Panthers took a one-point lead late.
“We had a couple of opportunities but didn’t score, so we had to foul,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “With about 10 seconds left, we fouled, and (Derrik) Cosenza hit one-of-two free throws to put them up two.”
The Panthers led 49-47 with time winding down. Henrysen elected not to use a timeout.
It proved to be a good call.
“We decided we were going to go right away – get the ball to Joe Jackman and let him try and create,” Henrysen said. “He took a drive down the left hand side toward our bench, pulled up for three, hit the three fully contested, but he was able to get the shot off and knock it down.”
The Panthers – after a timeout – took a shot from just inside half court that fell short. The dramatic win was in the books.
Earlier, the Patriots, who led 12-8 after one quarter, took a 24-16 lead into halftime.
“They hit us with a 1-3-1 zone,” Henrysen said. “We felt like we were going to get open looks at the basket, and we did. We hit the shots early, and then as the game got late, we missed a couple that earlier in the game we were hitting.”
The Panthers cut six points off East’s lead in the third quarter and trailed by just a 35-33 score heading into the final quarter.
“We felt really good about how the game was going,” Henrysen said. “Even into the third quarter we were up 11 and kind of controlling the game.
“They switched to a man-to-man defense, and we still got good shots. We missed a couple of layups, we missed a couple of wide open shots, and we didn’t get stops like we had been for the whole game, and they were able to get into the lane and really put pressure on our second level of defense.”
Jackman led the Patriots with 18 points, which included four 3s. Jack Hamilton, who had a pair of 3s, had 12 points and led the Patriots under the boards with nine rebounds. Jason Markowitz also had 12 points, which included three 3s. Chris Charlton had six points. Tyler Young had four assists and three steals. The Patriots, who buried 10 3-pointers, connected on 11-of-12 at the foul line.
For the Panthers, Cosenza led the way with 18 points. Josiah Johnson added 14 points, and Jay Stanfield had nine.
“Josiah Johnson was tough for us to guard, and Cosenza is just a handful – he’s so strong, and he can do multiple things,” Henrysen said. “We’re just happy we could pull it out at the end.
“I thought we shared the ball, we played for one another. We played our brand of basketball leading up to that final moment. Joe came through as he has all year.”
Central Bucks East (14-9, 7-5 SOL) will travel to #5 Lower Merion for Tuesday’s second round contest.
“We’re excited about going down to Lower Merion for the next round and giving them everything they can handle,” Henrysen said.
William Tennent 8-8-17-16 49
Central Bucks East 12-12-11-15 50
William Tennent (49) – Derrik Cosenza 18, Josiah Johnson 14, Jay Stanfield 9, Michael Scheller 2, Bryce Lockett 4, Brett Hanssens 2.
Central Bucks East (50) – Jack Hamilton 12, Joe Jackman 18, Jason Markowitz 12, Brett Young 2, Chris Charlton 6, Brendan Harte 3.
3-point goals: WT – Jay Stanfield, Josiah Johnson, Derrik Cosenza, CBE – Joe Jackman 4, Jason Markowitz 3, Jack Hamilton 2, Brendan Harte.
#24 NORTH PENN 57, #9 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 47
The Knights pulled off an opening round upset, notching their second win in two weeks over their conference rival. The two teams split the regular season series with the Knights winning on Jan. 31 48-43.
“The kids played really well tonight,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “We just didn’t play well early, they hit some big shots, and they were up 13-2 in the first quarter.
“At the end of the first quarter, Kolby Barrow hit a running one-hander to cut it to seven (16-9). Then we were down 25-22 going into halftime. We were able to make a little run in the second quarter to get it to a manageable three-point deficit.”
Mika Munari scored 10 points in the half to lead the Bucks, and Ted Spratt added six. Matt Swanson kept the Knights afloat with nine first-half points.
“Matt Swanson kept us in it early,” Conrad said. “We kept throwing it inside, and he made plays.
“Once we started playing better on the defensive end, we had a couple of guys hit shots on the perimeter, which got us going.”
The Knights outscored their hosts 16-6 in the third quarter to go on top 38-31.
“At the end of the third quarter, (Owen) Haney hit a huge 3 to make it 35-31, and we came down and Kolby (Barrow) hit one at the buzzer to answer, which was huge and put us up seven,” Conrad said. “The third quarter was good to us.”
Josh Jones had a big fourth quarter, burying a 3-pointer and connecting on 6-of-6 at the foul line. Joe Larkins added a pair of 3s.
“The kids really played well down the stretch,” Conrad said. “Josh is a multi-sport athlete. He’s obviously been in the fire, and he was really clutch for us tonight.
“I thought Joe Larkins really played well. (Mika) Munari is a really tough kid to go against, and I thought Joe did a great job at both ends.”
Swanson’s 15-point effort led the Knights. Jones added 13 points, which included a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line. Barrow, who had three 3s, finished with 11 points
“I talk about multi-sport athletes – Kolby is the quarterback, a pitcher and a basketball player, and he certainly didn’t shy away from the moment,” Conrad said.
Also for the Knights, Larkins had 10 points and Rob Carangi, six.
Neri and Munari led the Bucks with 13 points each. Munari scored nine of his points in the fourth quarter. Spratt added 11 points.
“Adam (Sherman) does a great job, and Munari and Neri are battle tested,” Conrad said. “They’ve been there before, so it was a good win for our program.”
The Knights are 4-1 in their last five games after a 6-12 start.
“We saw flashes here and there, but we lacked consistency,” Conrad said. “A lot of that has to do with the different guys – we’ve got guys that play fall sports, we had some illnesses in the beginning of the year, and I think it took us a while to get going, but the kids have worked hard. They believed in it, so they stayed the course. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”
North Penn (10-13, 5-7 SOL) will travel to #8 Pennridge on Tuesday. Interestingly, it took a Matt Swanson buzzer beater from near midcourt to propel the Knights to an overtime win over the Rams in the conference finale for both squads. It was a win that propelled the Knights into the district playoffs.
Central Bucks West (8-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 15-9 record.
North Penn 9-13-16-19 57
Central Bucks West 16-9-6-16 47
North Penn (57) – Kolby Barrow 4 0-1 11; Josh Jones 2 8-8 13; Joe Larkins 3 2-2 10; Mike Chaffee 1 0-0 2; Rob Carangi 3 0-0 6; Matt Swanson 6 3-4 15; Totals 19 13-15 57.
Central Bucks West (47) – Ted Spratt 3 5-9 11; Owen Haney 1 0-0 3; Mika Munari 4 3-4 13; Jack Neri 5 0-1 13; Dan Miller 1 2-2 5; Jack Slaymaker 1 0-0 2; Totals 15 10-16 57.
3-point goals: NP – Kolby Barrow 3, Joe Larkins 2, Josh Jones, CBW – Jack Neri 3, Mika Munari 2, Owen Haney, Dan Miller.
#22 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 59, #11 BOYERTOWN 53
The Colonials have apparently saved their best for last, winning their fourth in a row with an upset of the host Bears.
“Some teams have big names and accomplished big things, but for coaches, it’s whatever you start with – it’s no different than teaching a class,” Donofrio said. “How far can you take them in the time you have?
“All the other stuff is really good for discussion and creating competitiveness among teams and great for sports articles, but in all honesty, certainly we’ve had great runs of success, going to Temple and deep in the state tournament, but as a coach and as a player, whatever your challenge is – the great trick is to reach your potential one way or another.”
The Colonials – behind seven points from Luke DiCianno – led 9-7 after one quarter. David Harris had a hot hand in the second quarter, scoring eight points and stretching PW’s lead to 24-18 by halftime.
“David Harris continues to come in and be the most efficient 3-point and scoring guy,” Donofrio said. “We drive ourselves crazy with still making mistakes, but in the playoffs, talk about the details later. Just win and survive. It’s different.
“We had control of this game in so many ways. The defense was just clicking. We did not take advantage of all the defensive turnovers we created. You look up and you’re only up four or five at halftime, but that’s basketball.”
The Bears made a run in the third quarter, but the Colonials regrouped and led 36-29 heading into the final quarter.
“To the kids credit, they come out in the second half after a discussion – ‘Can we please stop with so many unforced turnovers?’ I think we held them scoreless for the first 5-6 minutes of the third quarter,” Donofrio said. “You take control of the game, you’re up 15 with the ball.
“It’s a playoff game, you’re on the road against a team that has a number of seniors who don’t want to go home, and that’s the beauty of basketball. Their number five (Aarick Salata) hits four threes late into the third and into the fourth with a hand in his face. That’s basketball. You can play great but have your heart broken.”
Caelin Peters sealed the Bears’ fate, connecting on a perfect 10-for-10 at the foul line in the final quarter.
“Led by Caelin Peters, we go 14-for-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter,” Donofrio said. “The defense was just relentless. The kids are defending in our up-tempo schemes as good as any team I’ve had. That’s quite a comment. They just aren’t quite experienced in understanding how to be smart with the ball once they get it back. They just didn’t shoot well. If we decide to shoot well, in all honestly, you can win any game you play.”
Peters led the Colonials with 16 points and DiCianno added 15. Qudire Bennett had eight points – five in the fourth quarter.
“Luke Dicianno when the regular season ended got ill and was out of commission for five days, so he was a little bit winded, so Quidire Bennett, this freshman who’s going to be quite a player, came in tonight,” Donofrio said. “He’s going to be a scoring force. He had eight points in about seven minutes. He chased down a layup attempt by Boyertown and knocks it off the board and comes down to the other end and knocks down a three.”
With the win, the Colonials are over the .500 mark for the first time this season.
“It might be one of those things where we put it all together at the right time,” Donofrio said. “We certainly have had our share of heartache, our share of frustration and our share of being really critical of ourselves and have every reason to accept it’s not supposed to be. These are the fun scenarios in sports. We haven’t been in a lot of them with this scenario. It’s always been these stellar, blue chip guys.
“These kids are learning on the fly. They keep making multiple mistakes and it drives you crazy, but they’re different than they were even two weeks ago. That’s the fun of it. Hang in there, hang in there – as long as someone keeps telling you to come back. That’s what makes sports so good because this is more realistic to what life is about for most of us. You’ve been challenged – are you going to give up? You’ve been challenged – are you going to accept what people say about you? 27-0 is nice, but that’s the one percenters in life. Most of us aren’t living that.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (12-11, 9-5 SOL) will travel to #6 Coatesville for Tuesday’s second round contest.
“We’re finally over .500,” Donofrio said. “You’re playing with house money. You were 3-8. It’s a unique position for us considering the last 5-7 years, but it’s okay. The kids are having some fun. I just hope we stay alive enough to see if we can make a little more noise.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9-15-11-23 59
Boyertown 7-11-11-24 53
Plymouth Whitemarsh (59) – Caelin Peters 3 10-10 16; Luke DiCianno 6 2-4 15; Zende Hubbard 1 3-4 5; Jaden Pryce 0 2-2 2; Jayden Glover 0 1-3 1; Ray Tomassetti 1 0-0 2; David Harris 3 2-3 10; Qudire Bennett 3 1-1 8; Totals 17 21-28 59.
Boyertown (53) – Aarick Salata 6 1-4 17; Griffin Hummel 1 0-0 2; Mason Marinello 3 2-3 9; Tre Diguglielmo 3 1-2 9; Alex Obarrow 6 2-4 14; Chris Kiefer 0 1-2 1; 19 8-15 53.
3-point goals: PW – David Harris 2, Luke DiCianno, Qudire Bennett, Boyertown – Aarick Salata 4, Griffin Hummel, Mason Marinello, Tre Diguglielmo.
#10 SPRING-FORD 58, #23 WISSAHICKON 56
The Trojans gave the favored Rams all they could handle and then some before falling in Friday’s opening round.
“They gave everything they had,” coach Kyle Wilson said. “We really played a solid game. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.
“Our goal was – ‘Keep it close and give yourself a chance to maybe win it coming down the stretch. You’re going to be in enemy territory,’ and the kids just did a phenomenal job of putting themselves in that spot.”
The Trojans trailed by eight with 26 seconds remaining, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Harrison Williams sandwiched around misses on the front end of a pair of one-and-ones by the Rams set the stage for a dramatic ending.
The Trojans had 4.5 seconds to go the length of the court and came oh-so-close to tying the game.
“We threw the ball to midcourt to Carmen (Ostroski), and he handed off quickly to Harrison Williams,” Wilson said. “Harrison drove to the left side of the court, put up a three that came up short. Stefan Lowry caught it and put it in, but it was after the buzzer. That would have tied it and sent it to overtime.
“It was almost surreal – one more second and we’re going into overtime and have a chance to win it. Momentum was on our side at that point, but it just didn’t happen. I’m proud of the kids. There was even a point down the stretch where a couple of the underclassmen were hanging their heads a little bit, but our seniors were like, ‘Come on, this is our last chance. We have nothing to lose. Keep working hard.’ Harrison hit two 3s late to bring us within two. We just couldn’t get that last shot to fall.”
The Trojans, who led 20-18 after one quarter, trailed 33-30 at the intermission. Matt Compas had a big first half, scoring 14 points – 10 in the first quarter. Jackson Intrieri had eight points in the half.
“We had the lead for a good bit of the first half,” Wilson said. “They made a run to close out the half and took the lead.”
The Rams took a 46-43 lead into the final quarter, and the Trojans’ bid for the upset fell just short.
Compas led the Trojans with 17 points. Harrison added 15 on five 3s, and Intrieri had 10. Ostroski finished with six.
“Spring-Ford was able to get some comfortable shots down the stretch in the fourth quarter to hold their lead and to work it into a victory,” Wilson said. “Sometimes you need a little luck, you need a couple of things to break your way. We didn’t get a couple of those things, but my hats are off to a tremendous group of seniors that played their hearts out, our juniors as well with Matt Compas and Stefan Lowery and sophomore Josh Twersky.
“Only one team wins the district, only one team wins the state. There’s still great things you can take away from a game like that. I thought our kids from their effort, their preparation – they went into this week giving everything they could to give themselves a shot to win. To go in there and fight to a two-point loss, I’m really proud of the effort these kids gave.”
Spring-Ford’s Tre Medearis led all scorers with 23 points.
“Their kid number two got a lot of easy looks that really hurt us,” Wilson said of Medearis. “One of the things when you’re playing a tough opponent on the road, you can’t give up easy baskets, you’ve got to put them in uncomfortable situations.
I was very pleased with their effort and their ability to overcome adversity. We sent a message to our younger guys – ‘Starting 0-5, which we’d never done in over 20 years, imagine if that same game was Spring-Ford on our court at Wissahickon, maybe it’s a different outcome.’ There are things to be learned and taken away. Where we were last year to what this team grew to this year – those things we are very happy about and very pleased that this team was able to accomplish.”
Wissahickon (10-4 SOL) closed out its season with a 12-11 record.
Wissahickon 20-10-13-13 56
Spring-Ford 18-15-13-12 58
Wissahickon (56) – Andrew Bucks 1 0-0 3; Harrison Williams 5 0-0 15; Jackson Intrieri 4 0-0 10; Stefan Lowry 1 3-4 5; Matt Compas 6 3-6 17; Carmen Ostroski 2 2-2 6; Totals 19 8-12 56.
Spring-Ford (58) – Tre Medearis 10 3-4 23; Pat Kovaleski 3 0-3 6; Michael Fitzgerald 0 2-3 2; Zack Serocki 6 1-2 15; Caleb Little 1 0-0 3; Nate Santiago 1 0-0 3; Jake Kressley 2 2-3 6; Totals 23 8-15 58.
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Harrison Williams 5, Jackson Intrieri 2, Matt Compas 2, Andrew Buck, SF – Zack Serocki 2, Caleb Little, Nate Santiago.
#19 UPPER DARBY 52, #14 SOUDERTON 40
The Indians have survived their share of adversity, but they couldn’t overcome a tough shooting night in Friday’s opening round game. They rallied from an early 9-2 hole to trail by just one two minutes into the second quarter, 15-14. The Indians were outscored 13-1 over the final six minutes of the opening half and trailed 28-15 at the intermission.
Down but not out, the Indians staged a rally. A Dom Natale basket pulled Souderton to within five, and it was a 33-31 game after Jack Towsen scored. Brian Reiner buried a 3-pointer from the top of the circle, and the Indians still trailed by just two heading into the final quarter, 36-34.
That’s as close as they would get as Upper Darby outscored their hosts 16-6 to earn the win.
Natale, Jack Towsen and Jason Price each scored nine points to lead the Indians. Both Natale and Andrew Vince returned from injuries to play in Friday’s contest.
Souderton (7-5 SOL) closed out its season with a 13-10 record.
Upper Darby 13-15-8-16 52
Souderton 12-3-19-6 40
Upper Darby (52) – AJ Tucker 3 5-8 11, CJ Dabbs 0 4-8 4, Mo Kante 2 5-5 9, Iyan Joshuasville 3 2-3 9, Kachi Nzeh 4 3-4 11, Jamere Kosh 1 1-1 3, Jack Cavanaugh 1 2-2 5; Totals: 14 22-31 52
Souderton (40) – Dylan Hollick 0 2-2 2, Jason Price 4 1-1 9, Evan Kutzler 1 1-2 3, Matt Uhrich 1 0-0 2, Brian Reiner 1 0-0 3, Jack Towsen 3 0-0 9, Andrew Vince 0 0-2 0, Dom Natale 3 2-3 9, Tommy Doughty 1 0-0 3; Totals: 14 6-10 40
3-pointers: UD – Joshuasville, Cavanaugh; Souderton – Towsen 3, Natale, Reiner, Doughty.
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