Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. To view photos of CB East/Upper Moreland, Cheltenham/CR North, Neshaminy/Springfield(M), and CB West/Truman, please visit our photo gallery by clicking HERE.
By Scott Huff
The Runnin’ Rams were running at breakneck speed once again as Pennridge (14-1) sprinted to its 14th straight victory with a 67-37 rout of Wissahickon (8-6) as part of the Suburban One League Challenge.
“One of the things we wanted to accomplish today is to show people that we can play with good teams out of our league,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “We have won 14 games in a row – haven’t lost a game in 43 days – and people still don’t seem to respect Pennridge basketball.
“We wanted to make a statement today, and I think we did that,” added Behrens. “This is a tight group of kids and they have bought into what we want to do.”
Pennridge had sensational outings from a pair of seniors – Zach Muredda and Joey Molettiere. Muredda buried four 3-pointers from NBA range and led the Rams with 23 points, while Molettiere dominated the inside that featured a pair of monster dunks and collected 16 points.
“I think we are beginning to gain some respect,” said Molettiere. “Coach (Behrens) gives us a system that we have been successful with, and it is a fun way to play basketball. It’s all about passing the basketball and giving your best every minute you are on the floor.”
Pennridge was at its very best in the 25-point second quarter, transforming a competitive 14-9 lead into a commanding 39-18 margin by intermission.
“Pennridge is a very good basketball team,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson. “It is going to be interesting to see them play against the better teams in the district at the end of the year. They have great ball movement, and Dean has proven to be able to coach teams that have talent.
“The second quarter was difficult for us to handle – Zach (Muredda) gave us a taste of our own medicine by scoring on those long shots,” added Wilson as Muredda scored 11 points in the period. “Zach played with my son Chase on some AAU teams – and what he did surely didn’t surprise me.”
Lost in the lopsided loss was the fine play of Wissahickon senior Ron Brundage. Brundage scored on a variety of twisting moves to the rim and finished with a team-high 15 points.
“Brundage played a good game – and it was good for him to see how Molettiere played the game,” said Wilson. “That kid is only 6-3, but he plays above the rim and also has an outside game. His motor just never stops running.”
And neither do the Runnin’ Rams.
Pennridge Rams 14 25 13 15 – 67
Wissahickon 9 9 12 7 – 37
Pennridge (67) – Zach Muredda 23, Joe Molettiere 16, Joe Unangst 9, Dan Long 7, James White 4, Steve Lowry 2, Ryan Kinky 2, Luke Nuneviller 2, Kyle Yoder 2.
Wissahickon (37) – Ron Brundage 16, Zach Reiner 6, Stephen Driscoll 5, Brandon Pace 4, Tre Holcomb 2, Anthony Wright 2, Michael Howard 2.
Cheltenham 66, Council Rock North 57 (OT)
A win over previously undefeated Plymouth Whitemarsh would be many team’s best win of the year. For the Panthers, it certainly was.
Until this weekend.
After Saturday, Cheltenham coach John Timms believes that his team has an even more impressive victory.
Down by seven with 40 seconds reamaining against a very talented Council Rock North team, the Panthers fought back, forced overtime and then controlled the game in the extra period, coming out with a win over the Indians on their home floor.
Khalil White nailed a three-pointer from the left corner in the final seconds of regulation to force overtime. In the extra period, an early three from Anthony White would put Cheltenham (8-7) up for good.
“It was a great win, and I feel like this team is taking progressive steps towards becoming a good team,” Timms said. “We fought hard and showed a lot of character and built a lot of character. Today was probably our best win to date this season, and it’s the game that I’m the most proud of because the kids really fought back to be in a position to win in OT.”
Cheltenham led by six after one quarter (15-9), but the two teams would eventually enter the fourth tied at 31-31. CR North (9-6) took control of the game late in the fourth and went on top by as many as seven points, but the Panthers just wouldn’t be denied.
Cheltenham’s Fatiir Al-Ahead led all scorers with 21 points while Khalil White finished with 18. Anthony White added 10.
Will Desautelle led the Indians with 17, Matt Margolis added 12 and Tyler Nowmos finished with nine.
Following a tough lost to Wissahickon, Cheltenham has battled back with two wins in the last three days, five of six overall.
“We hope that we can continue to ride this,” Timms said. “We have a little momentum going. As long as we communicate on defense and continue to help each other out on defense, we should continue to be OK.”
Cheltenham 15 8 8 21 14—66
Council Rock North 9 10 12 21 5—57
Cheltenham (66) – Fatir Al-Ahad 21, Khalil White 18, Anthony White 10, Brandon Mack 6, Justin Sutton 6, Vaughn Jenkins 3.
Council Rock North (57) – Tyler Nowmos 9, Riley Thompson 6, Drew Glenn 3, Matt Margolis 12, Steve Nowmos 7, Noah Ehlin 1, Will Desautelle 17, Matt Baniewicz 2.
Hatboro-Horsham 59, Upper Dublin 42
What a second half it was for a Hatboro-Horsham that appeared to be down for the count at halftime.
The Hatters, trailing by eight at the half, came out playing like they had something to prove in the second half, outscoring the Cardinals 36-11 in the final two quarters to come away with a double-digit point victory over host Upper Dublin.
Hatboro-Horsham, now 6-8 overall, played two of its best quarters of the season in the second half. Not only did the offense do its job, the defense stepped up as much as Coach Ed Enoch could ask.
“We needed a win,” the Hatters’ coach said. “I was really proud of the kids. We didn’t have the best first half, but we came out and played a very, very good second half.
“It was a very important win for us. To be at a team that’s as well-coached and talented as Upper Dublin – it’s a really good win. More importantly, our program needed a win.”
The Hatters came into the game with a seven-game losing streak. The team’s last win was on Dec. 23 against Quakertown.
“We lost a lot of close games and we were battling and paying hard, but we just hadn’t been able to close out some games,” Enoch said. “Today, we really knuckled down in the fourth quarter and finished it out.”
Trailing 31-23 at the intermission, the Hatters took a commanding lead, thanks to a 24-7 run in the game’s next 11-plus minutes.
“Walter Kimble’s pressure on defense was very important in the second half,” Enoch said, “but it was a team effort. We had a couple blocked shots and I think our team defense was very good.
“We just challenged the guys at half. I didn’t think we played with a lot of passion and intensity in the first half, and I just asked them to take a look inside and do a better job, which the kids did in the second half.”
The Hatters got an extremely balanced scoring effort, with three different players – Kimble, Clifton Moore and Kyle Katz – leading the way with 11 points apiece. Joe Russell added eight, while Zeke Sloan and David Robinson each tallied seven.
John Barrett scored eight points in the first quarter and finished with 13 to lead Upper Dublin. Gary Fields came off the bench in the second quarter and finished with 10, while Simeon Fryer finished with eight.
Hatboro-Horsham 7 16 17 19—59
Upper Dublin 15 16 6 5—42
Hatboro-Horsham (59) – Zeke Sloan 7, Walter Kimble 11, Brian McEachern 4, Joe Russell 8, Kyle Katz 11, David Robinson 7, Clifton Moore 11.
Upper Dublin (42) – John Barrett 13, Matt Thompson 2, Simeon Fryer 8, Ryan Stover 2, Gary Fields 10, Luke Teesdale 5, Ben Abel 2.
Quakertown 61, Bensalem 48
Although they are approaching the .500 mark, the Panthers had not won back-to-back games this. After Saturday afternoon’s matchup with host Bensalem, the Panthers can finally say they’ve won two in a row this season, defeating the Owls less than 24 hours after their big win over Central Bucks West.
Griffin Schmidt led the way for Quakertown (7-8) with 21 points and seven assists, while Kevin Norvaisas had a big game, scoring 18 points.
“We want to go on a roll here, and hopefully we can get double digit wins at the end of the year and do something with it,” Quakertown coach Kevin Keeler said. “We had a good win last night against CB West and we had a long bus ride to Bensalem today. It’s good stuff.
“Griffin (Schmidt) played a good floor game and he made his foul shots in the second half. Jake (Perrine) played really great defense for us and (Kevin) Norvaisas was a beast on the boards and inside scoring.”
Perrine finished with 14 points, knocking out down four three-pointers in the process.
The two teams were close after the first quarter with the Panthers holding an 18-16 edge, but Quakertown had a big second and took a nine-point lead into the half (31-22). In the fourth, with the game again a bit closer, the Panthers stepped up defensively.
“In the first quarter, we couldn’t get into a defensive mindset,” Keeler said. “We had to change things up and we changed our defense and got a little more aggressive and that helped us in the second and fourth quarters.”
Keith Howard and Nick Mulvey each scored 11 points to lead Bensalem, which fell to 6-9 overall.
Quakertown hopes to ride its momentum into Tuesday’s home game with Souderton.
“We’re feeling good about ourselves,” Keeler said. “We have a big game against Souderton and they embarrassed us at their place the last time we faced them, so we have to play some ball and get back in it.”
Quakertown 18 13 13 17—61
Bensalem 16 6 18 8—48
Central Bucks East 50, Upper Moreland 26
Thanks to four dominant quarters, the Patriots were able to roll past Upper Moreland, nearly doubling up the Golden Bears at Central Bucks West High School.
“We’ve dealt with a ton of adversity this year, so just getting a win regardless of who we’re playing feels good,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. .
Justin O’Neil led CB East (5-11) with 15 points, while Tommy Strasburger added 13.
“This year, we were looking to rely on Justin and Tommy, and we know that when they play well and score, we perform well,” Henrysen said. “They both had very good games today and they’ve done a really good job of stepping up when we needed them.”
The Patriots led by nine after one quarter and took a 14-point lead into the half. In each quarter, CB East’s defense allowed just single digits and no more than seven points in any stanza.
Matt Pattyson finished with five points and five assists for CB East, while Strasburger also added four steals and four assists. O’Neil pulled down seven rebounds.
The Patriots’ struggles this season have been due in part to injuries. With big man Blake Peterson on the shelf for the season, as well as a few other guys injured, CB East, which just recently got Strasburger back from injury, has had to play with a number of different lineups and players with less varsity experience.
Still, the Patriots have been hanging tough, and the players who are on the court have started to play better of late.
“We miss the inside presence of Peterson and we have players still dealing with ankle sprains and a couple others out with various injuries, so we’ve definitely had our fair share of injuries – this year more than the last five years,” Henrysen said. “Having Tommy back, our team takes on a whole new identity. We’ve felt like we’ve been growing in the last three games and we’ve definitely been much more competitive. We were on the cusp of putting together a complete game, and today, we played a full 32 minutes and were able to get a full game in.”
Upper Moreland’s James Martin led the Bears (6-10) with 13 points.
Upper Moreland 6 6 7 7—26
Central Bucks East 15 11 15 9—50
Upper Moreland (26) – Xavier Mulligan 2, Brendan O’Donnell 4, Raekwon Smith 2, James Martin 13, Brett Brossman 3.
Central Bucks East (50) – Justin O’Neil 15, Matt Pattyson 5, Tommy Strasburger 13, Ryan Plack 2, Sean Dann 5, Travis Ives 5, Jeff Circuit 4.
Neshaminy 51, Springfield (Montco) 34
The Redskins recuperated from a disappointing loss to Bensalem on Friday to down the Spartans in an SOL Challenge Coaches vs. Cancer contest at Wissahickon. Coach Jerry Devine has liked some of the things he’s seen from his team.
“We’ve been playing really well defensively,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We’re holding teams in the low 40’s, but we’re just having a problem putting the ball in the basket.
“I told our kids – usually you would be frustrated at this point, but they’re doing everything we’re asking them to do. They’re playing great defense, they’re sharing the ball, they’re unselfish.
“I just equate it to that .400 hitter that goes through that slump. You know he can hit, but it becomes mental. I think we’ve become mental not making shots, and rather than shooting with confidence, they’re thinking about it. It’s hard.”
Sparked by seven points from Zach Tredway, the Redskins led 14-8 after one quarter. The Spartans (2-13) trimmed that lead to 24-21 by halftime.
The Redskins (4-9) followed a 13-8 third quarter with a 14-5 final frame to earn the double-digit win.
“This was a good game for us,” Devine said. “I thought coming in we should win. I was a little disappointed in the first half.
“In the second half, we were a lot more solid and played our game and systematically pulled away from them. I’m happy we got the win. It was good for the kids, and it’s good going into Abington with a win.”
Jenkins Kimber’s 11 points led a balanced Redskins’ offense. Shammond Thomas and Cole Housel both added seven points while Matt McGinty and Tredway each had seven points.
Ryan Daley and Sean Stovall led the Spartans with 10 points each.
Springfield (Montco) 8 13 8 5—34
Neshaminy 14 10 13 14—51
Springfield (34) – Brendan Dugan 4, Christian Yoast 3, Ryan Daley 10, Sean Stovall 10, Johnson 6, Franzik 1.
Neshaminy (51) – Cole Housel 8, Matt McGinty 7, Jenkins Kimber 11, Anthony Papeo 3, Zach Tredway 7, Shammond Thomas 8, Jack Spingler 4, Chris Arcidiacono 3.
Central Bucks South 58, William Tennent 32
Not one Central Bucks South player finished with double digits in scoring, but it didn’t matter, as an extremely balanced scoring attack helped the Bucks to get past William Tennent in a one-sided affair at Council Rock North High School.
In a Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament game, CB South went up big after one quarter (16-5) and took a commanding 28-11 lead into the half. The Panthers never threatened.
Tim Waddington and Chris Hones each finished with nine points for the Titans (9-6), while David Drea scored eight. Sean Gallagher chipped in with seven, while Alex Karras and Ian Vogt scored six and five, respectively.
John Ryan led all scorers with 20 points for the Panthers, who didn’t get more than four points out of any other scorer.
William Tennent 5 6 9 12—32
Central Bucks South16 12 11 19—58
North Penn 56, Norristown 48
North Penn took another step towards its goal of reaching the district playoffs, defeating visiting Norristown in a non-conference meeting.
With the Knights trailing by three points going into the fourth, Cordell Lord stepped up in a big way, knocking down 7-of-8 free throws while scoring 11 of his 14 points in the final quarter.
Derek Heiserman had a big day for the Knights (9-7), scoring 17 points to go along with his team-high 10 rebounds. JJ Melchior added eight and Joey Richards scored seven, all of which came in the first half.
North Penn took a 27-24 lead into halftime before allowing the Eagles (5-8) to regain the lead with a 16-10 third quarter. The Knights – sparked by Lord’s 11 points – outscored Norristown 19-8 in the fourth to come out on top.
Norristown’s Roy Green led all scorers with 24 points, while teammate Darryl Carr finished with 10.
Norristown 15 9 16 8—48
North Penn 14 13 10 19—56
Norristown (48) – Darryl Carr 10, Khalif Sinclair 2, Roy Green 24, Amir Carter 4, Kyle Simpson 4, Darius McGowan 4.
North Penn (56) – Matt Pickford 5, Joey Richards 7, Kyle Hulmes 2, Cesar Martinez 3, Cordell Lord 14, JJ Melchior 8, Derek Heiserman 8.
Abington 74, Souderton 41
Offense came rather easy for Abington in its big win over Souderton at Upper Merion High School.
Senior Amir Hinton led all scorers with 23 points, recording nine in both the second and third quarters while helping the Ghosts to take command of the game early, which allowed Abington coach Charles Grasty give his younger players plenty of playing time.
The Ghosts, who improved to 12-3 overall, received points from 11 different players. Robbie Heath had a big afternoon, scoring 15 points – 11 in the first half – while Matt Penecale, four days removed from his 1,000-point career milestone, added 11.
Tim Markow and Tracy Simsick led Souderton with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Abington led by 10 after one quarter and by 22 at the half, up 38-16 over Souderton, which fell to 10-6 overall.
Abington 18 20 18 18—74
Souderton 8 8 10 15—41
Central Bucks West 68, Harry S. Truman 36
Showing no ill effects from its upset at the hands of Quakertown less than 24 hours earlier, the Bucks exploded out of the gate to a 23-3 lead after one quarter and took a 48-12 advantage into halftime.
Leading the way for CB West (12-4) was Nico Munari, who finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Seamus Fox recorded 11 points and four steals, while Erich Hohlenleitner finished with nine points, five rebounds and three steals. Cal Reichwein added seven points, five assists and four steals, while Jim McCusker tallied nine points. Bill Power dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds.
Truman fell to 5-10. The Tigers were led by Jaier Brown’s 10 points.
Harry S. Truman 3 9 14 10—36
Central Bucks West 23 25 12 8—68
Harry S Truman (36) – Justin Fant 2, Mark Lopez 3, Jaier Brown 10, Tyquan Law 3, Satchel Simpson 2, Kahlil Tramel 2, James Clowney 6, Kelechi Ogbanna 2, Danell Snelling 6.
Central Bucks West (68) – Luke Irons 2, Owen Cooney 7, Cal Reichwein 7, Erich Hohlenleitner 9, Nico Munari 14, Connor Lynch 4, Jim McCusker 9, Seamus Fox 11, Bill Power 3, Jake Reichwein 2.
Council Rock South 47, Upper Merion 33
A 20-point afternoon from Austin Thomas helped lead Council Rock South to a convincing victory over host Upper Merion in a Coaches vs. Cancer game for the Vikings.
Alex Nordenholt had a solid game, scoring 13 points while bringing down a team-high eight rebounds for the Golden Hawks, who improved to 6-10 overall with the win.
Kevin Newbert handed out six assists for the Golden Hawks while Mike Stock played very well defensively, taking three charges on the day.
Matt Faw led Upper Merion (2-13) with 15 points.
CR South led by just one point after the first quarter (8-7), but opened things up in the second, outscoring the Vikings 15-7 to take a 23-14 lead into the half. The Hawks outscored the Vikings 24-19 in the second half to earn the double-digit victory.
Council Rock South 8 15 9 15—47
Upper Merion 7 7 7 12—33
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