Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. North Penn/CR South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. ALL SOS GALLERIES FOR BOY’S BASKETBALL CAN BE VIEWED BY CLICKING HERE!
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
NORTH PENN 51, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 50
Ryan Deininger scored with 2.7 seconds remaining, propelling the visiting Knights to the win in a crossover thriller. For Deininger, it capped a strong second-half performance.
“He had a really tough first half,” NP coach John Conrad said. “He was 0-for-2 at the line and maybe 0-for-5 from the field. He didn’t have any points, but he ended up with 12 points for the game. Mentally, he was tough and stayed with it.
“This was a big win for us. We were coming off two tough losses to Pennsbury and Neshaminy. That crossover conference is getting the better of us, so it was really good for us. We needed to come out on the right side tonight.”
Prior to Deininger’s last-second heroics, the Knights took a 49-48 lead with less than a minute remaining when Ryan Zeltt connected on 1-of-2 from the foul line. With 14 seconds on the scoreboard clock, the Golden Hawks took a 50-49 lead after a basket by Zach Schwartz.
“We did not call a timeout,” Conrad said. “We just inbounded, we ran our secondary break, and Ryan Deininger was able to get to the rim with 2.7 seconds left. He was defended pretty well – it was a tough shot, but fortunately, he got it to go in.
“Coach (Andrew) Rogers has them playing really well. They just beat CB East, and they beat Holy Ghost Prep. That’s a basketball team moving in the right direction. They do a nice job over there.”
For the Knights, Zeltt and Terhan Wright both had 13 points. Deininger added 12 and Milind Pulugura had 10 points – eight in the first half that saw the Knights trail the Golden Hawks 25-23 at the intermission.
“It was a good team win,” Conrad said. “Joey Larkins had to guard (Gavin) Holloran all night, and he held him to four free throws. Joey didn’t score a heck of a lot, but he did a great job on the defensive end.
“Deininger just stayed with it – he was tough mentally, and he finished the game strong.”
Shane Dawson’s 14 points led the Golden Hawks, who also got 12 points from Anthony Burns. Matt Robinson contributed nine points, and Schwartz finished with eight.
North Penn (6-6, 4-4 SOL) will host Cheltenham in a non-league game on Saturday, and Council Rock South (7-6, 3-5) will host Pennridge on Tuesday.
North Penn 15-8-16-12 51
Council Rock South 7-18-15-10 50
North Penn (51) – Terhan Wright 6 1-3 13; Ryan Zeltt 5 3-4 13; Ryan Deininger 5 1-3 12; Milind Pulugura 5 0-2 10; Joey Larkins 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 22 5-12 51.
Council Rock South (50) – Zach Schwartz 3 2-4 8; Anthony Burns 6 0-2 12; Matt Robinson 3 2-2 9; Gavin Stock 1 0-0 3; Shane Dawson 6 1-2 14; Gavin Holloran 0 4-6 4; TOTALS 19 9-16 50.
3-point goals: NP – Ryan Deininger, Joey Larkins; CRS – Matt Robinson, Shane Dawson, Gavin Stock.
PENNSBURY 61, SOUDERTON 44
The Falcons – who were led by Evan McNeely’s 18 points – put four players double figures. They actually trailed by three at halftime but then blew the game wide open with a 40-point second half.
“I was pleased with the 40-20 second half,” Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman said. “I’ve been happy all year with the way our guys have stayed true to what we have been teaching them.
“We got away from that in the first half of this game. We lost number zero (Jay Bonnet) and number 23 (Levi John). Bonnet had three 3s in the first half and John had two. It was really just from a lack of focus on the defensive side of the floor. We just lost them for a minute, and they had the lead in the first half because of it.
“Once we were able to tighten up the defensive side of the floor, everything started clicking for us. I’ve said this all year long – if we defend, our offense becomes easier, and that shows in the results.”
The Falcons outscored their visitors 17-6 in the third quarter to go on top 38-30 and then sealed the Indians’ fate with a 23-point fourth quarter.
In addition to McNeely, who also had three assists, Ty Kocak had 15 points, which included an impressive 7-for-8 effort at the foul line. Aidan McCormack, who was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe, added 12 points and a team high seven rebounds. He also had three assists, two steals and one block. Connor Taddei had 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Chris Terry had six rebounds. The Falcons connected on 21-of-43 shots from the field (48 percent).
“Tyler (Kocak) was very good at the free throw line,” Coleman said. “Connor Taddei came in and had two big 3s for us at one point in the second half.
“Aidan McCormack and Evan McNeely were their consistent selves. I liked that we were able to get contributions from other people on the team.”
For the Indians, Bonnet’s 14 points led the way. Shaun Purvy added nine points. Aleks Smith finished with seven points and eight rebounds, and John had six points.
Pennsbury (6-1, 5-1 SOL) will host Holy Ghost in a non-league game on Saturday (1 p.m.). Souderton (9-4, 4-4) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday.
Souderton 10-14-6-14 44
Pennsbury 14-7-17-23 61
Souderton (44) – Jay Bonnet 5 0-0 14; Shaun Purvy 3 3-4 9; James Blair 1 0-0 2; Aleks Smith 2 3-9 7; Paul Vince 2 0-0 4; Levi John 2 0-0 6; Bill Sackor 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 15 8-15 44.
Pennsbury (61) – Justin Hedges 1 0-0 2; Aidan McCormack 3 6-6 12; Chris Terry 0 1-3 1; Connor Taddei 4 0-0 11; Evan McNeely 8 1-3 18; Ty Kocak 4 7-8 15; TOTALS 21 15-20 61.
3-point goals: Souderton – Jay Bonnet 4, Levin John 2; Pennsbury – Connor Taddei 3, Evan McNeely.
NESHAMINY 57, PENNRIDGE 44
The Redskins found themselves on the short end of a 25-21 score at halftime but rallied in the second half to earn the win.
Coach Mark Tingle didn’t have to look far to figure out what changed after the intermission.
“In the first half, we shot 36 percent (9 of 25) to their 55 percent (11 of 20), but in the second half, we shot 71 percent to their 31 percent,” the Redskins’ coach said. “In the first half, we couldn’t buy a bucket. Our first quarter we were 4-of-17, and we had really good looks. We just couldn’t make shots early, and they were making tough shots.”
For the Rams in the first half, Justin McCormick had seven points and Matt Campione added six. Nate Townsend’s eight first-half points kept the Redskins close. Neshaminy still trailed by one heading into the fourth quarter (38-37), but the Redskins closed out the game with a 20-6 fourth quarter burst, connecting on 8 of 9 shots. Kade Benjamin led the charge, scoring 11 of his team high 13 in the frame.
“He does a really nice job of being in the right place, and our guards find him,” Tingle said. “Nate Townsend had nine assists himself. He’s a sophomore, and we have two sophomores that start, and they’re playing really well for us.
“In the second half, we shot 15 of 21, and it was all in the paint. Once we got up, they had to foul. It was one of the nights where we were putting it in the hole – they were early but then it flipped.”
In addition to scoring 13 points, Benjamin also had seven rebounds. Three other Redskins finished the game in double figures. Townsend added 12 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, Sean Curley had 11 points and four rebounds, and Evan Esposito had 10 points, which included two 3-pointers, to go along with a team high nine rebounds.
“It was just a solid game,” Tingle said. “We held them to 44 points, but we just couldn’t put anything in the hole to start but we got on a roll later.”
For the Rams, Campione and Jude D’Agostino both had 10 points. McCormick added nine.
Neshaminy (6-4, 5-2 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Tuesday, and Pennridge (2-10, 0-7) will be on the road at Haverford High School for a non-league game on Saturday (2 p.m.).
Pennridge 13-12-13-6 44
Neshaminy 10-11-16-20 57
Pennridge (44) – Justin McCormick 4 0-0 9; Justin Nichols 1 1-2 3; Matt Campione 5 0-0 10; Xavier Peters 1 1-1 3; Tommy Cramer 1 3-4 5; Tyler Johnson 2 0-0 4; Jude D’Agostino 5 0-0 10; TOTALS 19 5-7 44.
Neshaminy (57) – Joey Zack 1 0-0 2; Evan Esposito 4 0-1 10; Emeer Coombs 2 0-0 5; Kade Benjamin 6 1-1 13; Nunzio Zydzik 2 0-0 4; Sean Curley 3 4-6 11; Nate Townsend 6 0-4 12; TOTALS 24 5-12 57.
3-point goals: Pennridge – Justin McCormick; Neshaminy – Evan Esposito 2, Emeer Coombs, Sean Curley.
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
QUAKERTOWN 54, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 43
The Wilkin brothers stole the spotlight.
The Panthers’ brother act combined for 31 points with Sam Wilkin scoring a game high 20 points while Ty added 11 to lead the Panthers to the crossover win.
“We’ve been having a problem playing a full 32 minutes of good basketball,” Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta said. “We’ll play a good 16 minutes, but the game is 32 minutes, and that’s been our biggest struggle.
“At times we can look really good and compete, and at times, we just kind of fall off the face of the earth. Tonight was really good because for the most part we were able to sustain ourselves, particularly throughout some runs that New Hope had, and we were still able to pull out the victory, so that was really encouraging that we had to fight through a little adversity and still pulled out the win. I was really happy about that.”
The Panthers – sparked by eight points from Sam Wilkin – took a 22-18 lead into halftime. They put some distance between themselves and their visitors with a 19-7 third quarter that saw Ty Wilkin score six points while Sam Wilkin and Kyle Rosenberger each had five. Quakertown took a 41-25 lead into the final quarter.
“The biggest thing was we shot 20-for-25 from the free throw line,” DaCosta said. “Things that have plagued us have been turnovers, offensive rebounds and free throws, and it seems like all season we’ve been playing Whack-a-Mole.
“When you go to the shore, you play Whack-a-Mole, and you knock one thing down and another thing pops up. That’s kind of how our season has gone with some of the things that have plagued us and have been issues why we haven’t won games, but tonight, for the most part, we didn’t really allow any offensive rebounds, we made our free throws, and we tried to minimize the turnover piece. Tonight was one of the situations where we kind of won Whack-a-Mole.”
In addition to the Wilkin brothers, Rosenberger and Brendon Ruzicka both had six points. Sam Wilkin’s 6-for-6 effort at the foul line led the Panthers.
Dylan Hildebrandt’s 15-points – which included three 3s – led the Lions. Charlie Albano had a pair of 3s and finished with 10 points.
Quakertown (3-9, 1-6 SOL) will host William Tennent on Friday, and New Hope-Solebury (1-11, 0-6) will host Abington on Friday.
New Hope-Solebury 3-15-7-18 43
Quakertown 14-8-19-13 54
New Hope-Solebury (43) – Jon Wilson 2 0-0 5; Charlie Albano 4 0-3 10; Justin Lehman 1 0-0 2; Miles Demby 3 0-0 8; Dylan Hildebrandt 5 2-5 15; Brian Demby 1 1-3 3; TOTALS 16 3-11 43.
Quakertown (54) – Sam Wilkin 7 6-6 20; Kyle Rosenberger 2 2-3 6; Ethan Tomlinson 1 2-2 4; Ty Wilkin 4 3-4 11; Brendon Ruzicka 1 4-6 6; Miles Longacre 2 1-2 5; Anthony Callan 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 17 20-25 54.
3-point goals: Dylan Hildebrandt 3, Miles Demby 2, Charlie Albano 2, Jon Wilson.
ABINGTON 76, LOWER MORELAND 65
Derrius Lucas came off the bench to turn in a monster offensive performance. The 6-6 junior connected on 12-of-14 shots from the field and scored a game high 25 points in a stellar outing.
“Derrius Lucas used his size, and he got some baskets for us down low,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said.
Behind the hot hand of Lucas, the visiting Ghosts raced out of the gate to a 23-12 lead after one quarter. They took a 36-30 lead into halftime and then outscored the Lions 16-7 in the third quarter to go on top 52-37 on their way to the win.
In addition to Lucas, who also had six rebounds, Jeremiah Lee had 15 points, including a pair of 3s. He also had three rebounds. Liam Rardin added six points, connecting on all three shots he took. He also had three rebounds and one blocked shot. Connor Fields contributed 13 points, four rebounds and a block. Fhenyx Scutt led the defense with four steals.
“Kayjel Morris played well,” Grasty said. “He came in and gave us a nice little spark. He played really good defense, got his hand on some balls and got us out in transition.
“Jeremiah Lee is a sophomore, and he’s starting to really come along for us.”
For the game, the Ghosts shot a torrid 59.1 percent from the field, connecting on 29-of-49 shots. They were 15-for-23 from the foul line and 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Abington (5-4, 4-2 SOL) will be on the road at New Hope-Solebury on Friday, and Lower Moreland (4-6, 3-2) will travel to Wissahickon on Friday.
Abington 23-13-16-24 76
Lower Moreland 12-18-7-28 65
Abington (76) – Connor Fields 5 3-4 13; Fhenyx Scutt 1 2-3 4; Paul Glants 2 0-0 5; Jimmy Marino 0 2-4 2; Jeremiah Lee 4 5-8 15; Josh Young 0 2-2 2; Kayjel Morris 2 0-0 4; Liam Rardin 3 0-0 6; Kellen Ingram 0 0-1 0; Derrius Lucas 12 1-1 25; TOTALS 29 15-23 76.
Lower Moreland (65) – Ian Alecia 2 0-0 4; Thomas Przybylinski 1 0-0 3; Brian Grant 3 6-6 13; Matt Ernst 5 0-1 11; Braden Alecia 4 2-2 11; John Kroll 7 3-3 19; Gabe Krutzginer 1 0-0 2; Michael Pennisi 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 24 11-12 65.
3-point goals: Abington – Jeremiah Lee 2, Paul Glants; LM – John Kroll 2, Thomas Przybylinski, Brian Grant, Matt Ernst, Braden Alecia.
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