Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. Springfield Twp/Quakertown photos courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
Bensalem 66, Central Bucks East 38
With a fantastic defensive effort in the first half, Bensalem jumped up early and was able to win this showdown between first-place squads easily on Tuesday.
It was the Owls’ sixth straight win.
“We’re playing well right now,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “It was another good team victory. The guys are just buying in, they’re buying in to the team concept. On any given night, we have a lot of people that can score.
“Defensively, it was good to get after it. Erik (Henrysen) does a great job. CB East is a really good program, and to hold them under 40 points is a good accomplishment.”
East scored just three points in the first quarter and had 11 by halftime, as Bensalem was up 27-11 at the break.
Jeremy Rodriguez and Aaron Sanders had 21 points each for the Owls, while Allen Myers added 11.
“Jeremy Rodriguez played really well offensively,” Morris said. “He was able to get to the rim and have some really tough finishes. He had a couple of and-ones in the second half, I think he had 13 points. He has a nice pull-up, he hit a ‘3’ to start the half. They came out and hit a ‘3’ and he came back and hit a ‘3’, which was big.
“Allen (Myers) played awesome defensively. He ended up with 11 points, but his defensive presence – we worked on our rotations the last few days because we knew (Jacob) Cummiskey could get to the rim, so we wanted to make sure we paid attention to him, and Allen did a really good job helping. When their players got into the paint, his presence alone helped defend them.
“Aaron Sanders had another good floor game. Eric Gonzalez’s energy all over the floor offensively, defensively, getting rebounds, getting loose balls. We just feed off each other’s energy, which was really good. We had a really good defensive game. We didn’t shoot the ball that well, but we were able to score a lot of points. Jack Wineburg just does a lot of little stuff. He got a key steal – after they get a rebound, he gets a steal and passes to the open guy for a layup.”
Tyriq Toney-Bailey and Liam Cummiskey had 12 points each for CB East (8-3, 4-3 SOL), which hosts Council Rock North on Friday. Bensalem (8-2, 6-1 SOL) plays at CB West.
Central Bucks East (38)
Tyriq Toney-Bailey 5 2-5 12; Jacob Cummiskey 2 0-0 4; Liam Cummiskey 4 0-0 12; Nick Condo 1 0-0 2; Nick Rivera 1 0-0 2; Brett Young 1 0-0 2; Ryan Lenahan 1 0-0 2; Joey Giordano 1 0-0 2; Totals 16 2-5 66.
Bensalem (66)
Jeremy Rodriguez 9 2-3 21; Tra Edwards 1 0-2 2; Allen Myers 5 1-4 11; Eric Gonzalez 1 1-2 4; Aaron Sanders 8 5-6 21; Matt Ebner 0 1-2 1; Antonio Morris 1 0-1 2; Jack Wineburg 1 0-0 3; Nikita Schafer 0 1-2 1; Totals 26 11-22 66.
Central Bucks East 3 8 15 12 – 38
Bensalem 9 18 21 18 – 66
3-point goals: CBE – Liam Cummiskey 4; B- Jeremy Rodriguez, Eric Gonzalez, Jack Wineburg.
Central Bucks South 53, Council Rock North 52
Trailing by three, CB South scored the final four points of the game and then held on as a late 3-point attempt fell off the rim for CR North and the Titans pulled out a thriller on a cross-division game on Tuesday night.
“It was a great game all game long,” said Titans coach Jason Campbell. “I don’t think it got any higher than five or six points. We were down in the fourth quarter. It was back-and-forth, back-and-forth. It was a heck of a game, just the way I thought it was going to be.
“Council Rock (North) always plays a physical game. They’re well-disciplined and well-coached, and their guys do a good job of creating and finishing.”
CR North led 52-49 late before Michael Farley scored in the lane, was fouled and converted the free throw for the three-point play that tied it up.
“Tyler Meinel feeds Michael Farley, he was double-teamed high – almost triple-teamed – made a spin move and went to the basket and is fouled. He knocked down the free throw to tie it up,” Campbell said.
“We get a stop down the other end – an illegal screen – and got ball back with 50 seconds left. We held it for one shot. I went with that approach, especially being on the road, I wanted to get one shot. I called another timeout with 18 seconds left.
“Jay Macalindong goes by a guy, gets bumped and is fouled. He made the first and missed the second.”
After trading turnovers, the Indians had one last chance, but a three-point attempt bounced off the rim.
Farley had 15 points to lead CB South, while Meinel had 11. Campbell credited Meinel for his defense in the second half.
“(CR North point guard) Bernie Parent had a great game, scored 20 points,” Campbell said. “Tyler Meinel played him more often than not, and Bernie had a good third quarter, but Tyler was on him the entire time in fourth quarter and the only opportunity he had were two free throws. He did a good job moving his feet.”
Campbell also credited the play of Aiden Van Zantan, who was 6-for-6 from the foul line in the second quarter, Macalindong and Chris Granito.
Ryan Burkett scored 13 points for CR North, while Jack Blum added nine.
The Indians (8-3, 4-2 SOL) are at CB East on Friday. CB South, now in first place in the SOL Colonial at 5-2 (7-4 overall) plays Harry S. Truman on Friday.
Council Rock North (52)
Shane Anhalt 0 0-0 0; Bernie Parent 7 5-8 20; Julian Matara 1 0-0 2; Adam Mahtat 1 1-2 4; Jack Blum 4 0-0 9; Ryan Burkett 6 1-4 13; Logan Saifer 2 0-3 4. Totals 24 8-16 52.
CB South (53)
Jay Macalindong 2 2-4 7; Aidan VanZanten 1 6-6 8; Joe Rooney 2 0-0 4; Chris Granito 2 2-2 6; Tyler Meinel 1 7-9 11; Michael Farley 4 6-9 15; Sean Rieber 0 2-2 2. Totals 12 25-32 53
Council Rock North 14 15 16 7 – 52
CB South 14 16 11 12 – 53
3-point goals: CRN-Parent 1, Mahtat 1, Blum 1; CBS-Farley 1, Macalindong 1
Council Rock South 55, Central Bucks West 54 (OT)
CR South came up with big stops defensively in the fourth quarter and overtime, and Shane Dawson scored all four of the Golden Hawks points in the extra period as they went on the road and edged CB West in a cross-division game on Tuesday.
“I thought we had a pretty good start and actually were up eight at the half,” said CR South coach Andrew Rogers. “Give CB West credit, they battled back and it went back-and-forth. They had a lead in the fourth quarter, but we were able to tie it 51-51 going into overtime.
“The biggest thing for us was that we made stops down the stretch. Matt Robinson fouled out, but Chase Littig came in and gave us really good minutes off the bench. He was (defending CB West’s leading scorer, John Lee), and he made some key stops and had a couple of key deflections.”
Gavin Holloran led the offensive effort for CR South with 20 points, while Dawson added 19 points.
Rogers also credited Tim Rahill for quality minutes off the bench in the second quarter.
“I think we’re really battling right now,” Rogers said. “We’re still getting better and better each week. Look at tonight and look at the Holy Ghost win, we had to gut and grind through tough spots. That shows growth and mental toughness.”
CB West was led by Lee’s 18 points, while Charlie Cashman added 14. The Bucks (1-9, 1-5 SOL) host Bensalem on Friday. CR South (7-5, 3-4 SOL) hosts North Penn on Thursday.
Council Rock South (55)
Gavin Holloran 8 2-4 20; Anthony Burns 1 2-2 4; Shane Dawson 9 1-1 19; Zach Schwartz 0 0-0 0; Matt Robinson 4 1-1 10; Chase Littig 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 6-8 55.
CB West (54)
John Lee 7 1-2 18; Mike Fountain 3 0-0 7; Colin McKenna 3 2-2 8; Donte Mancini 1 3-5 5; Charlie Cashman 4 1-3 14; Bowen Gugger 0 1-2 1; Matt Engle 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 8-14 54.
CR South 17 14 15 5 4 – 55
CB West 15 8 19 9 3 – 54
3-point goals: CRS-Holloran 2, Robinson 1; CBW-Cashman 4, Lee 3, Fountain 1
Souderton 55, Harry S. Truman 41
After a close first half, visiting Souderton turned it on in the second half and cruised to the win over Harry S. Truman on Tuesday.
“We were down after the first quarter, 11-9, I believe,” said Indians coach Okoteh Sackitey. “We were up six at halftime, and then we had a strong third quarter and turned the lead from six to 12. We took care of the ball in the fourth quarter.
“It was a fun one. I’m proud of the guys. I thought they did a good job of staying the course and keeping their emotions in check.”
Jay Bonnet led the Indians with 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Chris Towsen had eight points and 10 assists. Aleks Smith had 11 points, Levi John eight points and Shaun Purvy seven points. Chase Scheuren gave Souderton solid minutes off the bench as well.
“Everyone is happy to see the team win,” Sackitey said. “It’s a special group because they’re happy for each otter. Whether it’s their night or not, as long as the team is successful, everyone is happy.”
Souderton (9-3, 4-3 SOL) plays at Pennsbury on Thursday.
Truman was led by Ethan Flail with 16 points. The Tigers (2-6, 0-5 SOL) hosts CB South on Friday.
Souderton (55)
Jay Bonnet 6 2-2 17; Shaun Purvy 3 1-2 7; Chris Towsen 4 0-0 8; Hensing 0 1-2 1; Bhandori 0 1-2 1; Aleks Smith 4 3-5 11; Levi John 4 0-0 8; Chase Scheuren 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 7-11 55.
Truman (41)
Ethan Flail 5 1-2 16; Anthony Masterson 0 1-3 1; Michael Burns 2 0-0 4; Franz Fabian 3 0-0 7; Khavier Adams 2 0-0 4; Makai Jackson 3 2-2 9. Totals 15 4-7 41.
Souderton 9 13 17 16 – 55
Truman 11 5 11 13 – 41
3-point goals: S-Bonnet 3; T-Flail 4, Fabian 1, Jackson 1
Neshaminy 55, North Penn 47
A balanced fourth quarter was the difference as Neshaminy went on the road and pulled away from North Penn for the eight-point win in a cross-division game on Tuesday.
“It was back-and-forth,” said Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle. “They were up by two at the half, we were up two in the third quarter and wound up winning by eight.
“It was a good game. They came out on fire shooting the ball, but I thought we calmed down a little bit and played a lot better defense. They went up 11-3 to start, but we kind of relaxed and brought it back.
“On offense, we started attacking against their man(-to-man defense) and they played zone the entire second half.”
Sean Curley had a team-high 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while Evan Esposito had 13 points and eight rebounds and Kade Benjamin 12 points and eight rebounds.
Neshaminy (5-4, 4-2 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Thursday. North Penn (5-6, 3-4 SOL) plays at Council Rock South on Thursday.
Neshaminy (55)
Joey Zack 1 0-0 2; Evan Esposito 5 2-2 13; Emeer Coombs 3 1-1 7; Kade Benjamin 6 0-0 12; Sean Curley 7 0-0 17; Nate Townsend 2 0-0 4. Totald 24 3-3 55.
North Penn (47)
Mario Sgro 1 0-0 3; Tehran Wright 1 0-0 2; Ryan Zeltt 3 1-1 7; Joe Larkins 6 0-0 15; Ryan Deininger 5 1-3 13; Milind Pulugura 2 2-2 7. Totals 18 4-6 47.
Neshaminy 19 9 13 14 – 55
North Penn 19 11 9 8 – 47
3-point goals: N-Curley 3, Esposito 1; NP-Larkins 3, Deininger 2, Sgro 1, Pulugura 1
Pennsbury 57, Pennridge 36
After opening with a disappointing defensive first quarter, visiting Pennsbury turned it on defensively the rest of the way and pulled away from Pennridge in a cross-division game on Tuesday.
“We gave up 20 points in the first quarter and we were down until 10 seconds left in the second quarter,” said Falcons coach Bill Coleman. “Then, we just really continued to tighten up our defense in the third and fourth quarters. We gave up just 11 points in the third and fourth quarters total. It’s a credit to our guys, watching game film and staying true to ourselves.”
Pennridge shot just 30 percent (16-for-52) from the field and 2-for-16 from three-point range. Jude D’Agostino finished with 10 points to lead the Rams.
Offensively, the Falcons shot just 42 percent (21-for-49) from the field. Evan McNeely finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Aidan McCormack had 18 points and nine rebounds.
“We’re just happy to be playing honestly,” Coleman said. “Everyone knows we were shut down at the end of the year (because of COVID-19). Any games we’re playing right now, we’re ecstatic to be playing.”
Pennsbury (5-1, 4-1 SOL) hosts Souderton on Thursday. Pennridge (2-9, 0-6 SOL) plays at Neshaminy on Thursday.
Pennsbury (57)
Justin Hedges 2 4-4 8; Aidan McCormack 5 7-9 18; Chris Terry 1 0-0 2; Keliher 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 9 2-3 20; Ty Kocaz 3 1-2 7. Totals 21 14-18 57.
Pennridge (36)
Justin McCormick 4 0-0 9; Justin Nichols 1 0-0 2; Matt Campione 3 1-1 7; Xavier Peters 1 1-1 3; Gannon Perlini 1 0-0 2; Tommy Cramer 1 0-0 3; Jude D’Agostino 5 0-1 10. Totlas 16 2-3 36.
Pennsbury 14 12 14 17 – 57
Pennridge 20 5 3 8 – 36
3-point goals: Pns-McCormack 1; Pnr-McCormick 1, Cramer 1
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
Plymouth Whitemarsh 69, New Hope-Solebury 34
Sophomore Jaden Colzie hit four 3-pointers in the first half and ended with a game-high 20 points, as Plymouth Whitemarsh jumped up early and put this one away easily to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Colonials led 17-5 after one quarter and 32-10 at halftime.
Qudire Bennett added 13 points and Zende Hubbard had nine.
For NH-S, Charlie Albano scored 12 points and Miles Demby had 10.
PW (5-5, 3-2 SOL) hosts Springfield on Friday. New Hope (1-10, 0-5 SOL) hosts Abington on Friday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (69)
Zende Hubbard 4 1-2 9; Jaden Colzie 8 0-0 20; Marshall Baker 3 0-0 7; Jahseir Sayles 2 0-0 5; Evan Ring 1 1-3 4; Taji Hubbard 2 1-4 5; Qudire Bennett 6 1-2 13; Pat Flynn 0 1-2 1; Rodney Willis 1 1-2 3. Totals 27 6-15 69.
New Hope-Solebury (34)
Jon Wilson 0 0-0 0; Charlie Albano 4 1-2 12; Justin Lehman 1 0-0 2; Miles Demby 3 3-4 10; Liam Ross 2 0-0 4; Dylan Hildebrandt 0 3-3 3; Wil Keddie 1 1-2 3. Totals 11 8-15 34.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 17 15 15 22 – 69
New Hope-Solebury 5 5 17 7 – 34
3-point goals: PW-Colzie 4, Sayles 1, Ring 1; NHS-Albano 3, M. Demby 1
Springfield Twp 50, Quakertown 37
Coming off of a win over MaST Charter on Monday, Springfield made it two in a row with the win over visiting Quakertown on Tuesday.
“They’re a tough, gritty team,” said coach Rob Fusaro. “They play hard, and they’ll go after you, so that was a good one to hold the lead and finish it out. We played well.”
Dylan McKenzie led the way with 18 points and four steals for the Spartans, while Brett Smith had 12 points and Ben Cooney had nine points, six assists and four rebounds.
“It was a collective group effort to withstand their runs, tough it out and just play through any adversity,” Fusaro said. “Dylan McKenzie and Brett Smith got to the rim whenever they wanted. They played out of their minds. They just attacked and finished. They played really well.
“Another guy that really did a nice job was Harry Rittenhouse. He came off the bench and stepped up and played a great game. He had deflections, he was all over the floor, he was super aggressive. He did a really, really nice job too.”
Springfield (5-4, 2-4 SOL) plays at Plymouth Whitemarsh in another cross-division game on Friday.
Quakertown (2-9, 0-6 SOL) hosts New Hope-Solebury on Thursday.
Upper Dublin 71, William Tennent 60
Upper Dublin jumped up early and then put the game away on the free throw line in the fourth quarter for the cross-divisional game on Tuesday night.
On the night, the Flying Cardinals finished 21-for-28 from the line, including 14-for-17 in the fourth, led by DJ Cerisier who was 7-for-8 on the final quarter and scored 10 of his game-high 21 points.
“It was a tight game, and really the story was the fourth quarter and making foul shots,” said UD coach Chris Monahan. “DJ Cerisier was 7-for-8, Griffin Pensabene was 2-for-2, Seaton (Kukla) 5-for-6. Making foul shots down the stretch really sealed the game.”
Seaton Kukla and Colin O’Sullivan scored 12 points for Upper Dublin, while Griffin Pensabene added 11.
“It was definitely an offensive game,” Monahan said. “For us, good on the offensive end, not so much on the defensive end. We’ve done a really good job this year on the defensive end, and I thought we did that in the first quarter, and I thought our offense was really clicking in the first quarter, and after that, we couldn’t stop them.
“We probably led close to wire to wire, but they would not go away. Their three guards – in (Jeremy) Henry, (George) Marion, and (Kirby) Mooney – are tough, and we had difficulty stopping them.
“We scored 19 points in the second, third and fourth quarters, and it’s a good thing because they scored 18, 18 and 16.
““I sound like a broken record, but we’re balanced as far as scoring goes. Colin O’Sullivan ended up with 12, and he had nine of those in the first half. Griffin Pensabene was in double figures tonight with 11, and Seaton (Kukla) had 12. Noah Lee came off the bench in the second quarter and made two big threes for us. It was probably his best game all around so far this year, and DJ Cerisier led the way with 21 but only four in the first half.”
Tennent was led by Mooney’s 23 points, while Marion and Connor Fithian scored 11 points each.
The Panthers (3-5, 3-2 SOL) play at Upper Moreland on Thursday. Upper Dublin (8-2, 5-0 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland in another crossover game on Friday.
William Tennent (60)
Jeremy Henry 2 1-2 5; George Marion 4 2-4 11; Kirby Mooney 8 6-9 23; Connor Fithian 5 0-0 11; Brandon Beluch 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 9-15 60.
Upper Dublin (71)
DJ Cerisier 5 9-10 21; Noah Lee 2 0-0 6; Chris Kohlbrenner 2 0-1 5; Colin O’Sullivan 5 1-3 12; Griffin Pensabene 4 3-4 11; Ellis Johnson 1 2-2 4; Seaton Kukla 3 6-8 12. Totals 22 21-28 71.
William Tennent 8 18 16 18 – 60
Upper Dublin 14 18 19 19 – 71
3-point goals: WT-Marion 1, Mooney 1, Fithian 1; UD-Cerisier 2, Lee 2, Kohlbrenner 1, O’Sullivan 1
Wissahickon 53, Upper Moreland 45
Junior Jaylon Williams had a big offensive night with 26 points, as Wissahickon won its third straight game in knocking off the Golden Bears.
“Jaylon Williams caught fire,” said Trojans coach Kyle Wilson. “He had four 3-pointers in the first half, five for the game. He put us on his back.
“He’s had games where he’s scored 12 here or 11 there. He always has had the ability. We told him, ‘When you’re ready to turn it on you can.’ Tonight was one of those games for him.”
Dom Vacchiano had 15 points for Wissahickon.
“It was a good win,” Wilson said. “Against Upper Moreland, it’s going to be a grind it out type of game. We played Central last week and the (Plymouth Whitemarsh) game was before that, and both of those games were up and down the court. Tonight, the first quarter was that type of tempo, but then they dropped into a 2-3 zone.”
Upper Moreland (6-3, 2-3 SOL) was led by Byron Hopkins, who had 17 points, while Matt Tiernan added 12 points. The Bears host William Tennent on Wednesday. Wissahickon (8-3, 4-1 SOL) host Lower Moreland on Friday.
Upper Moreland (43)
Sean Dallahan 6, Byron Hopkins 17, Bo Meakim 3, Matt Tiernan 12, Stefano Garofalo 3, Colson Campbell 4
Wissahickon (55)
Josh Twersky 3, Jaylon Williams 26, Morgan Wilson 5, Dom Vacchiano 15, Earl Stout 4
Upper Moreland 5 12 16 12 – 45
Wissahickon 9 13 12 19 – 53
3-point goals: UM-Hopkins 2, Dallahan 2, Meakim 1; W-Williams 5, Vacchiano 1
Lower Moreland 53, Hatboro-Horsham 22
Solid defense throughout and hot early shooting was the difference in this one for the Lions.
“We had a good defensive plan I felt,” said LM coach Seth Barron. “We were also hitting our ‘3s’. We had seven ‘3s’ by six different players, so we were knocking down our shots.”
Matt Ernst led Lower Moreland with 14 points for the game. Ernst, John Kroll, Gabe Krutsinger, Braden Alicea and Ian Alicea all had 3-pointers.
Lower Moreland (4-5, 3-1 SOL) hosts Abington on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham (1-9, 1-5 SOL) plays at Cheltenham on Friday.
Non-league
Abington 50, Academy at Palumbo 41
Playing a nonleague game on Tuesday, Abington found itself trailing early but rallied all the way back to take the lead by halftime and then put it away in the second half to beat Academy at Palumbo by nine points.
Abington trailed 20-5 at one point in the first quarter. Sophomore Jeremiah Lee hit a 3-pointer at the end of the first and that sparked a 23-4 run for the Ghosts, who led 28-24 at halftime.
Lee finished with a game-high 16 points for Abington, including nine in the second quarter, to go with four blocked shots and five rebounds.
Jimmy Marino finished with seven points and eight assists, Liam Rardin gave the Ghosts a huge lift off the bench, finishing with a career-best nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Paul Glants had eight points and six rebounds. Fhenyx Scutt had four steals and Connor Fields six rebounds.
Abington shot just 40.9 percent (18-for-44) from the field and 3-for-18 from three-point land, to go with 16 turnovers.
The Ghosts (4-4, 3-2 SOL) play at Lower Moreland on Thursday.
Palumbo (41)
Terrell Tilghman 0 0-2 0; Ayyub Noble 4 1-3 9; Andrew Fagans 5 1-1 11; TJ Gilliam 3 3-6 9; Mekhi Jones 4 0-0 8; Jaleel Drummond 0 2-2 2; Mohamed Diallo 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-14 41.
Abington (50)
Connor Fields 1 4-7 6; Fhenyx Scutt 1 0-0 2; Paul Glants 4 0-0 8; Jimmy Marino 1 4-6 7; Jeremiah Lee 7 0-0 16; Kayjel Morris 1 0-0 2; Liam Rardin 4 1-3 9; Totals 19 9-16 50.
Palumbo 20 4 7 10 – 41
Abington 8 20 11 11 – 50
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