Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Wednesday. Pennridge/Truman photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
PENNRIDGE 80, HARRY S TRUMAN 59
It hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for the Rams, but on Wednesday night, they gave their fans plenty to cheer about. Not only did they notch their second win in as many nights, but Matt Campione put his name in the record books.
The Rams’ junior captain scored a school record 42 points in a dazzling offensive performance, breaking the previous record of 39 set by Tim Abruzzo in 2012.
“Obviously, Matt Campione had it going on tonight,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “From 3s, his pull-up, his mid-range game and attacking the rim – he just had it all going on tonight. We kept him in. The
coaches wouldn’t let me take him out.”
In truth, Campione and the Rams couldn’t have scripted it better.
“Ironically, which was kind of neat, Tyrone Lewis is the coach of Truman, and he scored his 2,000th point when he was in high school against us at Pennridge,” Behrens said. “There was about a minute left, and I walked over and said, ‘Hey, this is why I kept the kid in,’ and he said, ‘I understand. I deserve this for when I scored my 2,000th point here.’
“So it was pretty cool that he remembered that he scored his 2,000th point in our gym. He was able to – which was really kind of him – speak to Matt after the game. Especially a guy that played at such a high level in college and was probably one of the best players in the Suburban One that I ever coached against in my 24 years. When I think of Truman, I think of Tyrone Lewis.
“I thought that was neat. Tyrone handled it well. He was very gracious. Winning the game was the most important thing, and then having Matt break the record was icing on the cake.”
Campione scored nine points in an opening quarter that saw the Rams take a 19-11 lead over their visitors. In the second quarter, he buried three 3-pointers and had 11 points to cap a 20-point first half that saw the Rams finish on top 45-26. Campione had 25 points heading into the final quarter when he put 17 points on the board.
“You’re never thinking of that,” Behrens said of breaking the school record. “In the third quarter, he had 23 points. I said, ‘It would be cool if he scored 30,’ but then he hit two 3s in a row. When he got to 37, there was about three minutes left.
“The kids knew, the kids were getting him the ball, and that was really cool that the kids wanted to see it happen. They gave up their opportunities for Matt. That was what was really neat. As much as we’ve struggled this year, we really have a close-knit group, and it shows in practices. We practice hard, we compete. We’ve just been a little snake-bit this year. We’ve had some COVID issues and just add that we’ve played some games poorly, and it snowballed, and it seems like we’re playing better basketball.
“We’re taking it one day at a time. I tell the boys, ‘We’ve played 15 games. Not everyone is going to play 22. We have to be in the mindset – hey, we get to play, we get to practice. Let’s enjoy being around each other and enjoy the opportunity.”
Campione’s 42-point effort included seven 3-pointers and a 5-for-6 effort at the foul line. Justin McCormick added nine points, and Gannon Perlini contributed seven – all in the second quarter. Justin Nichols had six points.
Wednesday’s win came on the heels of a 55-49 win at Council Rock South.
“We’ve been struggling,” Behrens said. “We had lost (five) in a row, and we broke that last night. We basically had a goal to win two games in 27 hours, and we had that opportunity.
“I knew that Truman had a tough one against East, and they had to drive all the way up to Pennridge, which is not an easy ride. To their credit, they play hard. We really came alive offensively.”
Ethan Flail had a big night for the Tigers, connecting on three 3-pointers and scoring a team high 23 points. Makai Jackson added 12 points, including a pair of 3s. Wyatt Spinks had nine points on three 3-pointers.
Pannridge (4-11, 2-7 SOL) will host Bensalem on Friday, and Harry S Truman (1-9, 1-7) will host Central Bucks West on Friday.
Harry S Truman 11-15-15-18 59
Pennridge 19-26-15-20 80
Harry S. Truman (59) – Ethan Flail 8 4-6 23; Shanbul Lewis 1 13 3; Michael Burns 2 1-1 5; Franz Fabian 1 0-0 3; Wyatt Spinks 3 0-0 9; Khavier Adams 1 0-0 3; Makai Jackson 5 0-0 12; Antonio Carr 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 21 7-12 59.
Pennridge – Justin McCormick 4 1-2 9; Justin Nichols 3 0-1 6; Matt Campione 15 5-6 42; Xavier Peters 2 0-1 4; Gannon Perlini 2 2-2 7; Tommy Cramer 1 2-2 4; Tyler Johnson 1 0-0 2; Ryan Hass 0 2-2 2; Jude D’Agostino 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 30 12-16 80.
3-point goals: HST – Wyatt Spinks 3, Ethan Flail 3, Makai Jackson 2, Franz Fabian, Khavier Adams; Pennridge – Matt Campione 7, Gannon Perlini.
Non-league
NESHAMINY 65, NEW FOUNDATIONS 36
The Redskins opened up an early lead and never looked back on their way to the convincing win in Wednesday’s non-league contest. They led 16-11 after one quarter and then put some distance between themselves and their visitors with a 13-5 second quarter to go into halftime with a 29-16 lead. Not a whole lot changed in the second half.
Evan Esposito’s 15 points led the Redskins. He scored 11 of those points in the second half. Kade Benjamin added 14 points – 10 in the second half. Emeer Coombs had 10 points – nine in the first half. He also had seven rebounds. Nate Townsend stuffed a stat sheet with nine points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Nunzio Zydzik contributed eight points.
Neshaminy (8-4, 6-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Friday.
New Foundations 11-5-14-6 36
Neshaminy 16-13-17-19 65
New Foundations (36) – Jamir Jackson 4 6-8 14; Michael Nugent 1 2-4 4; Jean Phanor 3 0-0 6; TJ Donahue 3 1-2 7; Xavier Sebazco 2 0-1 5; TOTALS 13 9-15 36.
Neshaminy (65) – Joey Zack 1 0-0 2; Evan Esposito 7 0-0 15; Emeer Coombs 3 3-4 10; Lucas Maher 1 0-0 2; Kade Benjamin 7 0-0 14; Nunzio Zydzik 2 4-4 8; Sean Curley 2 0-0 5; Nate Townsend 2 5-8 9; TOTALS 25 12-16 65.
3-point goals: New Foundations – Xavier Sebazco; Neshaminy – Sean Curley, Evan Esposito, Emeer Coombs.
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