SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 62, PENNSBURY 51
Tyler Meinel erupted for 25 points – 19 in a torrid shooting display in the second half – to lead the Titans, but according to coach Louie Ditri, it was the defense that set the tone for Thursday’s important win.
“That’s a tough place to play – I never look forward to going there,” the Titans’ coach said. “They have a great fan base, nice small gym. I was worried about playing there – they’re a good team, and they’ve been playing well.
“I’m really proud of my kids tonight. They came to play. We’ve been preaching defense, and they brought their defense tonight. I have a couple of coaches on my staff – I call one the defensive coordinator and the other the offensive coordinator. Coach Mike D’Onofrio, who I consider our defensive coordinator, has really got the kids playing well defensively, teaching them to grind down, help defense and defensive stance. It really proved well tonight.”
The Titans – behind six points from Meinel – led 14-6 after one quarter, and they took an eight-point lead into halftime, 22-14. They added to that lead in the third quarter, outscoring their hosts 19-15 to go into the final quarter with a 41-29 lead. Meinel’s 13 points led the Titans in the third quarter.
Both teams found their offensive stride in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons could not make up the ground they lost.
“We had a certain game plan to try to keep 15 (Ty Kocak) in check because he’s a heck of a player,” Ditri said. “For three quarters, we did for the most part. He had a nice second half, but he only had six points at halftime. He had 16 in the second half, but he had to work for them. Between Sean Rieber, Owen Wheeler and Dylan Valentine – we were trying to keep guys fresh guarding him, and the three of them did a superb job making him work for his points. That was key.
“I’ve been telling our kids when we play strong defense – it actually leads to better offense for us. Because we’re grinding down so hard on defense and really, really busting it to play good defense that when we get on the offensive side, we almost slow ourselves down and make sure we get a quality shot because we worked so hard on defense, and we want to reward ourselves with a good offensive set. We had 40 points after three, but we scored 21 and they scored 22 in the fourth quarter. It opened up a little bit.”
In addition to Meinel’s 25 points, Chris Granito had 14 points, Dalton VanZanten added 10, and Flynn Carroll had seven.
“For us, it was Tyler – Tyler dropped 25 for us, and he had a strong offensive game,” Ditri said. “Chris Granito hit four 3s for us, and even Dalton VanZanten, who pretty much played almost the whole game because they have a big kid number 25 (6-5 Ryan Zuckerman), and Dalton did a really, really nice job on him. Twenty-five is a strong, athletic kid, and he only had three points. Dalton finished with 10, and he worked hard on both ends of the court.”
For the Falcons, Kocak led the way with 22 points, Eric David had eight, and Mike Roccograndi finished with six.
Central Bucks South (8-9, 8-3 SOL) will host Souderton on Tuesday, and Pennsbury (10-5, 7-4) will travel to Holy Ghost Prep for a non-league game Saturday at 5 p.m.
Central Bucks South 14-8-19-21 62
Pennsbury 6-8-15-22 51
Central Bucks South (62) –Dylan Valentine 1 0-0 2; Flynn Carroll 2 3-4 7; Dalton VanZanten 5 0-0 10; Chris Granito 4 2-4 14; Owen Wheeler 1 2-2 4; Tyler Meinel 10 4-8 25; TOTALS 23 11-18 62.
Pennsbury (51) – Teddy Mangan 2 1-1 5; Mike Roccograndi 2 0-0 6; Danny Cohen 2 0-2 5; Sam Callahan 1 0-0 2; Eric David 3 0-0 8; Ty Kocak 8 6-12 22; Colin Kelliher 1 0-2 3; TOTALS 19 7-17 51.
3-point goals: CBS – Chris Granito 4, Tyler Meinel; Pennsbury – Mike Roccograndi 2, Eric David 2, Danny Cohen, Colin Keliher.
NORTH PENN 82, HARRY S TRUMAN 45
Eleven players contributed scoring for the visiting Knights, who opened up a 17-6 lead after one quarter and took a commanding 37-19 lead into halftime on their way to the decisive win.
Teddy McAllister led the Knights with 22 points – 14 in a 25-point third quarter. Ahmaar Godhania and Norman Gee both added nine points on three 3-pointers. Ryan Zeltt had eight points, Robbie Sukaly contributed seven while Mario Sgro and Ryan Deininger both had six points.
The Knights buried 12 shots from beyond the arc with McAllister’s four leading the way.
For the Tigers, Tre Winton scored 21 points. No other player had more than five.
North Penn (12-4, 8-3 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham for a non-league game Saturday (7 p.m.). Harry S Truman (1-14, 0-11) will host Council Rock North Tuesday.
North Penn 17-20-25-20 82
Harry S Truman 6-13-11-15 45
North Penn (82) – Ahmaar Godhania 3 0-0 9; Cole Legates 1 0-0 3; Mario Sgro 2 2-2 6; Norman Gee 3 0-0 9; Teddy McAllister 5 8-8 22; Ryan Zeltt 4 0-0 8; Lee Hammond 2 0-0 4; Ryan Deininger 2 2-3 6; Corey Meade 2 0-0 4; Robbie Sukaly 3 0-0 7; Tre Simpson 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 29 12-13 82.
Harry S Truman (45) – Khavier Adams 2 0-0 5; Erik Nieves 2 1-1 5; Aaron Nathan 2 0-0 4; Shawn Monroe 1 0-0 2; Tre Winton 9 1-3 21; Davae Vaghn 1 0-0 2; Randolph Cox 1 0-0 2; Brandon Armond 1 0-0 2; Rodgers 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 19 4-7 45.
3-point goals: NP – Teddy McAllister 4, Ahmaar Godhania 3, Norman Gee 3, Cole Legates, Robbie Sukaly; HST – Tre Winton 2,Khavier Adams.
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