Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. Truman/CB West photos provided by Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Tennent/Abington provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for galleries of both games. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
William Tennent 57, Abington 43
One of the hottest teams in the SOL was taking on one desperately needing a win to stop the bleeding on a five-game losing streak. Needless to say, this final score was a shocker, as Tennent
grabbed the lead in the first half and never looked back, pulling away in the fourth for the double-digit victory.
“We were up 13 at the half,” said Panthers coach Robert Mulville. “They came out, knocked down two ‘3s’ right away, but we answered back and ended up winning that quarter by a few points. We stretched the lead into the fourth, kept it in double digits and I don’t think it got into single digits in the fourth quarter. We got some timely baskets. They tried to up the tempo and press, but we were able to go over the top and get a few easy layups.”
Kirby Mooney scored a game-high 24 points to lead Tennent, 22 of those points in the first three quarters, while Tim Stanfield hit five 3-pointers, four in the first half, and ended up with 16 points.
“I think the thing that helped us tonight – what we’ve been trying to stress for a couple weeks now – is we’re getting touches with certain guys,” Mulville said. “We’re getting more passes, trying to share the ball, open up some lanes, open up some outside shots. Mooney and Stanfield took advantage of that tonight. Mooney to the rim and Stanfield knocked down five ‘3s.’
“They were sharing the ball and finding their teammates. We’ve been working on it in practice. It was nice to see them put that together for four quarters.”
Abington, which saw a four-game winning streak snapped, was led by Jeremiah Lee, who had 13 points and eight rebounds. Connor Fields had 
eight rebounds and three steals and Fhenyx Scutt finished with three steals as well. Kayjel Morris scored nine points off the bench.
The Ghosts shot 37.7 percent (17-for-45) from the field – they were 12-for-18 from inside the arc (66.7 percent) and 5-for-27 from beyond the arc (18.5 percent). They committed 21 turnovers.
Tennent (4-9, 4-5 SOL) is back in action Tuesday at Hatboro-Horsham. Abington (7-5, 6-3 SOL) plays at unbeaten Methacton on Saturday.
Abington (43)
Connor Fields 1 1-4 3; Fhenyx Scutt 1 0-1 3; Jeremiah Lee 6 0-2 13; Eli Benjamin 0 1-2 1; Jimmy Marino 2 0-0 6; Derrius Lucas 3 0-0 6; Kellen Ingram 1 0-0 2; Kahjel Morris 3 2-2 9.
William Tennent (57)
Jeremy Henry 2 0-0 4; George Marion 2 1-3 5; Kirby Mooney 9 5-5 24; Isiah Dawson 1 2-3 4; Connor Fithian 1 0-0 2; Tim Stanfield 5 1-2 16; Brandon Beluch 1 0-0 2.
Abington 9 6 11 17 – 43
William Tennent 15 13 14 15 – 57
3-point goals: A-Marino 2, Lee 1, Morris 1; WT-Stanfield 5, Mooney 1.
Cheltenham 72, New Hope-Solebury 32
Rasheem Dearry scored 21 points, as Cheltenham blew this one wide open with 45 points in the first half and a dominant 18-3 second quarter.
“It was a very good defensive effort,” said Panthers coach Patrick Fleury. “I just love how the kids celebrated one another and got the job done as a unit. It’s a good step forward, not just the game part but as a unit to see everybody getting stronger relationship-wise as the year goes on.
“We’ve had success, but this group is focusing on being together. They’re taking that challenge on and working with it. I was very pleased to see, as a whole, with the coaches, the managers and everybody that’s part of it is well vested this year, and it’s a pleasure to see.”
Dearry hit five 3-pointers and also dished out three assists.
Josiah Hutson added 12 points, while Justin Savage added nine points and seven rebounds. Nasir Edens had eight points and four rebounds. Elias Walker contributed six points and five assists, and Brandon Bush had four points and seven rebounds.
Cheltenham (13-0, 9-0 SOL) – second in the latest District One 6A power rankings – remained undefeated with the win and is off until Monday when it hosts Olney Charter in a nonleague game.
New Hope (2-13, 1-8 SOL) was led by Miles Demby with 10 points and Dylan Hildebrandt with nine. The Lions host Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
New Hope-Solebury (32)
Jon Wilson 2, Charlie Albano 5, Justin Lehman 2, Dylan Hildebrandt 9, Miles Demby 10, Brian Demby 1, Leo Dupont 3.
Cheltenham (72)
Rasheem Dearry 21, Josiah Hutson 12, Elias Walker 6, Kamani Healey 2, Nasir Edens 8, Brandon Bush 4, Joey Weimer 4, Justin Savage 9, Kevin Addison-Anderson 6
New Hope-Solebury 15 3 7 7 – 32
Cheltenham 27 18 13 14 – 72
Springfield Twp 53, Hatboro-Horsham 40
Dylan McKenzie scored 17 points and also had four rebounds and three steals, while Ben Cooney had 16 points, six rebounds and three steals, as Springfield pulled away in the fourth quarter for this 13-point win against the Hatters.
The Spartans took a 36-32 lead into the final quarter when they outscored the visiting Hatters 17-8.
“We played a really tough game,” said Spartans coach Rob Fusaro. “It was a tough game in the first half – very close, back and forth. We made some good runs and then we withstood some of their runs.
“They did a really good job of offensive rebounding, especially No. 21 (Chrishon Avery). He got a ton of offensive rebounds, but down the stretch, we boxed him out. We finished the game, managed to score and got the win.”
Brett Smith added nine points for Springfield, which improved to 7-6 on the season and 3-6 in league play.
“Dylan McKenzie played really well; facilitated and got to the rim,” Fusaro said. “Ben Cooney played a great game. We played him on the wing, we played him inside. He managed the game, scored when he had to and did a nice job. Brett Smith got in foul trouble but controlled the ball, got to the rim, did a good job of distributing when he had to, and we finished out the game and did well.”
Kyle Smythe’s four assists led the Spartans.
The Spartans host Lower Moreland on Monday. Hatboro-Horsham (1-13, 1-8 SOL) hosts William Tennent on Tuesday.
Springfield Twp (53)
Dylan McKenzie 5 7-9 17; Ben Cooney 5 6-6 16; Harry Rittenhouse 2 1-2 5; Brett Smith 3 3-7 9; Kyle Smythe 1 2-2 4; Tommy Coppol 2 0-1 4; TOTALS 18 16-20 53.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-14-11-8 40
Springfield Twp 12-9-15-17 53
3-point goals: S – Ben Cooney.
Quakertown 63, Lower Moreland 48
The Panthers have been playing better basketball of late and that continued Friday night, as they stymied visiting Lower Moreland on defense and got things going offensively too on the way to the impressive 15-point win.
“We played really well against Upper Moreland the other day, but missed 12 layups in the first half,” said Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta. “We’ve been playing pretty good defense and, defensively, that effort carried over.
“Lower Moreland has been a pretty dangerous team. They’re feisty and play competitive basketball. They shoot the ‘3’ and you can’t be on your heels against them. Our guys were up to the challenge.”
Freshman Sam Wilkin had a team-high 18 points for Quakertown, while sophomore Miles Longacre added 16. Ty Wilkin added nine and Ethan Tomlinson had eight points.
“They’re maturing,” DaCosta said about his young team. “We take each game as a learning experience. We want to compete, we want to win, but with that, learn lessons along the way. We continue to play tough teams, and we’re learning things that we can’t do if we want to compete. We have to play the full 32 minutes of basketball. We can’t take possessions off. We don’t have that margin for error.”
Lower Moreland was led by Ian Alicea and Matt Ernst with 13 points each, while Brian Grant had 12.
Quakertown (5-10, 3-7 SOL) plays at Holy Ghost Prep in a nonleague game on Saturday. Lower Moreland (5-9, 4-5 SOL) plays at rival Springfield on Monday.
Lower Moreland (48)
Braden Alicea 1 0-0 2; Matt Ernst 5 1-1 13; Brian Grant 5 0-0 12; Mike Pennisi 1 0-0 2; Gabe Krutsinger 1 0-0 2; Thomas Przybylinski 0 1-2 1; John Kroll 1 0-0 3; Ian Alicea 6 0-0 13. Totlas 20 2-3 48.
Quakertown (63)
Sam Wilkin 7 3-4 18; Kyle Rosenberger 1 1-1 3; Ethan Tomlinson 4 0-0 8; Ty Wilkin 3 3-4 9; Brendan Ruzicka 2 2-2 6; Miles Longacre 7 2-4 16; Vince Miccuci 1 0-0 3. Totals 25 11-15 63.
Lower Moreland 11 10 10 17 – 48
Quakertown 18 16 11 19 – 63
3-point goals: LM-Ernst 2, Grant 2, Kroll 1, I. Alicea 1; Q-S. Wilkin 1, Miccuci 1
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
Bensalem 65, Pennridge 47
At halftime, Bensalem knew its biggest advantage was inside with Allen Meyers, and in the second half, that size advantage paid off as the Owls broke away for the 18-point victory.
“This game was close for three quarters,” said Bensalem coach Ron Morris. “In the first half, they made some good shots. They played a nice zone, and our shots weren’t falling. We were trying to go inside. It was just a back and forth kind of game. Credit to them for being well prepared.
“We came out at halftime, and we really wanted to get the ball inside because we knew Allen (Myers) had a size advantage, so we were going inside-out, and it really opened up the game. Allen was very patient. He did a good job posting up down low, and he did a really good job controlling the boards tonight. He had 15 rebounds.”
Jeremy Rodriguez had three 3-pointers and a team-high 20 points, while Aaron Sanderson had 14 and Myers 12. Jack Wineburg also hit a pair of 3-pointers.Tra Edwards added seven points.
“It was a complete team victory,” Morris said. “We had four different kids hit from beyond the arc, and we really got after it defensively in the second half. We try to play with a lot of intensity, so we know we can wear teams down. We can sub in and keep our defensive intensity up, and that really helped in the second half.”
“We were trying to defend (Matt) Campione. He had a big game the other night. Hats off to him. Forty-two points is an awesome mark. We were making sure we paid a lot of attention to him, and we did a decent job defending him.”
Tommy Cramer was the top scorer for the Rams, who had won two games in a row. Justin McCormick added nine, while Campione, Xavier Peters and Jude D’Agostino scored eight points each.
Bensalem (11-2, 9-1 SOL) hosts Wissahickon in a nonleague game on Saturday as part of the Bensalem High School Sports Hall of Fame Induction. Pennridge (4-12, 2-8 SOL) plays at Council Rock North on Tuesday.
Bensalem (65)
Jeremy Rodriguez 8 1-1 20; Tra Edwards 3 0-0 7; Allen Myers 5 2-5 12; Eric Gonzalez 1 0-0 2; Aaron Sanders 5 2-2 14; Antonio Morris 1 1-2 3; Jack Wineburg 2 0-0 6; Jalen Soberal 0 1-2 1; Totals 25 7-12 65
Pennridge (47)
Justin McCormick 4 0-0 9; Justin Nichols 0 1-2 1; Matt Champione 2 4-4 8; Xavier Peters 2 3-4 8; Gannon Perlini 1 0-0 2; Tommy Cramer 5 1-2 11; Jude D’Agostino 4 0-0 8; Totals 18 9-12 47.
Bensalem 15 14 18 18 – 65
Pennridge 14 12 12 9 – 47
3-point goals: B-Jeremy Rodriguez 3, Aaron Sanders 2, Jack Wineburg 2, Tra Edwards; P-Justin McCormick, Xavier Peters.
Central Bucks South 59, Neshaminy 56 (OT)
Chris Granito knocked down a pair of free throws late in regulation and then the Titans pulled it out in overtime for the key cross-division road win on Friday night.
“It’s tough going on the road and playing games like that at Neshaminy,” said CB South coach Jason Campbell. “Part of it is the (bus) ride, plus you’re losing your fan base as we don’t have a student section traveling with us. It’s that adrenaline rush that you don’t get on the road. When you go to Neshaminy or Truman, you’ve got to figure out how to generate energy. I liked that our bench guys were up tonight, clapping, giving energy. That helps.”
Down two late in the game, South’s Granito was fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining.
“I said, ‘Chris, do you want me to call timeout or just go up there and knock them down?’” Campbell said. “He said to call timeout. I know a lot of people say you don’t do that, you don’t ice your own guy, but Chris wanted to regroup. He showed poise and buried both and sent it to overtime.”
After Neshaminy went up early in overtime, CB South was able to pull it out, as Michael Farley had a three-point play, and Granito hit a big 3-pointer.
Farley led the Titans with 22 points, while Tyler Meinel had 15, Jay Macalindong 10 points and Granito eight points.
Neshaminy was led by Sean Curley, who had 21, while Emeer Coombs added 11.
CB South (10-5, 7-3 SOL) remained in first in the SOL Colonial standings and will play Council Rock South on Tuesday. Neshaminy (8-5, 6-3 SOL) hosts Central Bucks West on Saturday
CB South (59)
Michael Farley 7 7-13 22; Tyler Meinel 6 3-5 15; Jay Macalindong 3 3-4 10; Joe Rooney 1 0-0 2; Chris Granito 2 3-4 8; Bryan Delara 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 16-26 59.
Neshaminy (56)
Joey Zack 0 0-0 ; Evan Esposito 2 0-3 5; Emeer Coombs 3 3-5 11; Kade Benjamin 3 1-2 7; Nunzio Zydzik 2 1-1 5; Sean Curley 7 5-5 21; Nate Townsend 3 0-0 7. Totals 20 10-16 56.
CB South 18 5 11 10 14 – 59
Neshaminy 6 10 22 7 11 – 56
3-point goals: CBS-Macalindong 1, Granito 1, Farley 1; N-Curley 2, Coombs 2, Esposito 1, Townsend 1
Harry S. Truman 68, Central Bucks West 60
Ethan Flail and Makai Jackson scored 22 points each for the Tigers, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
“It really came down to my two stars, Ethan and Makai, combining for 44 points and the role players playing their part and making timely shots,” said Tigers coach Tyrone Lewis. “Defense was on
point, (taking) three major charges in the fourth quarter. We played a complete game tonight.”
The Tigers, who trailed 15-12 after one quarter, found themselves on the short end of a 30-27 score at halftime. The Bucks were led by Donte Manncini’s 13-point effort – which included four 3s. Mike Fountain added six points. For Truman, Flail (13 points) and Jackson (seven points) contributed the bulk of the scoring.
The tide began to turn in the third quarter, and the two teams were deadlock 45-45 heading into the final frame as the Tigers held an 18-15 advantage in the frame.
“Ethan (Flail) started off hot, so it looked like (West coach Adam Sherman) went faceguard on Ethan, and the adjustment we made was we had Ethan set a ball screen for Makai,” Lewis said. “Makai had eight points in the third quarter.”
The Tigers – behind seven points from Jackson, six from Flail and five from Franz Fabian – outscored the Bucks 23-15 in the final quarter to earn the win.
“It was a good game – back and forth from the beginning, and we kind of ran away with it in the (second half),” Lewis said. “This (win) was good for us because we had a great win at home over CB South, and we go on the road, played two teams that 
were struggling before we got to them, and we kind of laid an egg on both games.
“You kind of take two steps forward and then take 10 steps backwards, so for them to come out against a pretty solid CB West team – we’re pretty even teams and both teams are looking to get a momentum game before we go back into our league play, so for them to come out the way they did, it was good. We were losing in the first quarter, we were down at half, and we came out with a big third quarter, and we finished it in the fourth with 23 points.”
Also for the Tigers, Khavier Adams had six points on a pair of 3-pointers.
“Khavier Adams played very well – he had some big 3s for us in the third quarter,” Lewis said.
Listening to the Tigers’ coach tell it, there was plenty of credit to go around for this win
“Wyatt Spinks only scored three, but that three was huge for us in the third quarter,” Lewis said. “Michael Burns played huge for us. He did everything. He’s our center, and he was the straw that stirred the drink.
“He doesn’t score a lot points, but he does a lot of the little stuff for us. He was huge with key passes, and he did other stuff to make sure we got what we needed.”
Truman (4-9, 2-7 SOL) next plays at North Penn on Tuesday. CB West (3-11, 2-7 SOL) plays at Neshaminy on Saturday.
Central Bucks West (60)
Matt Engle 0 2-2 2; Kyle Kubit 1 3-7 6; Luke Birkhead 1 0-0 2; Joey Gallagher 1 0-0 3; Donte Mancini 7 5-6 24; Colin McKenna 3 0-1 6; Bowen Gugger 1 0-0 2; John Lee 3 1-1 7; Mike Fountain 3 2-2 8. Totals 20 13-19 60.
Harry S Truman (68)
Ethan Flail 8 3-5 22; Shanbul Lewis 0 4-6 4; Michael Burns 1 0-0 2; Franz Fabian 2 0-0 5; Wyatt Spinks 1 0-0 3; Khavier Adams 2 0-0 6; Blake Alvarez 2 0-0 4; Makai Jackson 9 2-4 22. Totals 25 9-15 68.
3-point goals: CBW – Donte Mancini 5, Joey Gallagher 1, Kyle Kubit 1; HST – Ethan Flail 3, Makai Jackson 2, Khavier Adams 2, Wyatt Spinks 1, Franz Fabian 1.
North Penn 53, Council Rock North 48
With five losses in its last six games and the possibility of playoff contention slipping away, North Penn needed a win over a good team to stop the bleeding and point things in a different direction and that’s exactly what they got.
A quick start got things going and the Knights later finished the game off on the free throw line to knock off the visiting Indians.
“We’ve been really close in all of these games,” said Knights coach John Conrad. “Pennsbury, Bensalem, Neshaminy we were down one possession late in the fourth quarter in each game. Rebounding and a bad possession has done us in.
“I thought our kids played well down the stretch and that was the difference tonight. We limited them to one shot on the defensive end, and offensively, our guys showed good patience and shared the ball well.”
North Penn had balanced scoring Friday, led by Ryan Zeltt with 11 and Joe Larkins and Milind Pulugura with 10 points each.Norman Gee added eight points.
“We had (three) guys in double figures,” Conrad said. “Ryan Zeltt played really well. Joey Larkins played well tonight too.
“Ryan is a varsity quarterback (in football) and has had a tremendous amount of success. On the basketball court, I think it just depends on the matchup. Tonight, he did a really good job finding spots. Early in the game, he hit a couple of ‘3s’. Late in the game, he got an and-one on a pump fake and drive to the basket.”
North Penn (7-8, 5-5 SOL) – 24th in the latest District One 6A power rankings – finds itself right on the bubble for the upcoming 24-team PIAA Class 6A Tournament. It plays a nonleague game Saturday at Dock Mennonite. CR North (9-5, 5-4 SOL) hosts Pennridge in its final cross-division game on Tuesday. The Indians are 16th in the latest power rankings.
CR North (48)
Shane Anhalt 0 0-0 0; Bernie Parent 9 1-1 21; Adam Mahtat 4 2-2 11; Jack Blum 4 0-0 9; Ryan Burkett 2 1-2 5; Logan Saifer 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 4-5 48.
North Penn (53)
Mario Sgro 2 1-2 6; Tehran Wright 1 0-0 2; Norm Gee 3 2-2 8; Ryan Zeltt 4 1-1 11; Joe Larkins 3 1-2 10; Ryan Deininger 3 0-2 6; Milind Pulugura 3 2-3 10. Totals 19 7-12 53.
CR North 13 5 15 15 – 48
North Penn 17 8 15 13 – 53
3-point goals: CRN-Parent 2, Mahtat 1, Blum 1;NP-Larkins 3, Pulugura 3, Zeltt 2, Sgro 1
Souderton 60, Council Rock South 54 (2 OT)
(Stats provided by Zak Wolfe/City of Basketball Love. To read Wolfe’s complete story, click on the following link: https://www.cityofbasketballlove.com/news_article/show/1204766
Jay Bonnet scored 24 points and had a big three-point play late in regulation to help force overtime for the Indians, who pulled away in the second OT for the cross-division victory.
“It was a great game,” Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey said. “The kids were resilient, and they were poised. We had a lead in the fourth quarter, and we lost it. We turned the ball over a little bit. They had an offensive rebound and a putback, but we never gave up.
“We grinded every second of the game until the clock hit zero. I was really proud of the way they continued to fight when we could have given up.”
The Indians, who led by as many as nine in the third quarter, trailed by four in the fourth, but back-to-back and-ones by Aleks Smith and Bonnet put the Indians back on top.
The Golden Hawks knotted the score when Shane Dawson buried one-of-two at the foul line, setting the stage for overtime.
“We could have given up when we were down four late in the fourth, but we got a bucket, called a timeout,” Sackitey said. “We regrouped and pressed, got a turnover and just kept playing hard all the way through. We were fortunate to get it to overtime.”
In the first, the Indians – trailing by three – needed a clutch 3-pointer by Levi John to knot the score and send the game into a second OT. In the second overtime period, John had another clutch three, and a Bonnet dunk put the finishing touches on the win for the Indians.
“In overtime, we shared the ball well,” Sackitey said. “In the first overtime, Aleks Smith hit Levi (John) for a big three. He was able to step up.
“Jay Bonnet had huge performance late game. Chris Towsen did what Chris Towsen always does and facilitated extremely well for us. I didn’t count the assists, but he must have had at least 10. He did a phenomenal job.
“Paul Vince played his role extremely well and gave us great defense and really performed well. The bench was extremely live, the fans showed out, and I think that gave us a little bit of an edge and was definitely helpful to have them behind us supporting us.
“It was a great atmosphere and just a resilient poised performance to make those passes and those reads and to knock down the shots when you can see the seconds ticking down. I was so proud of the squad. It was just a great game.”
In addition to Bonnet, Smith scored 12 points, while John added 10. Towsen contributed seven points.
For the Golden Hawks, Gavin Holloran led the way with 19 points, and Dawson had 12. Matt Robinson finished with nine points.
Souderton (10-5, 5-5 SOL) went into the game having won just one of his previous four games. It plays at Bensalem on Tuesday. CR South (7-8, 3-7 SOL) plays at Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Souderton (60)
Jay Bonnet 24, Aleks Smith 12, Levi John 10, Chris Towsen 7, James Blair 3, Paul Vince 3, Shaun Purvy 1.
Council Rock South (54)
Gavin Holloran 19, Shane Dawson 12, Matt Robinson 9, Zach Schwartz 6, Gavin Stock 6, Anthony Burns 2.
Souderton 9 14 14 8 4 11 – 60
Council Rock South 9 8 13 15 4 5 – 54
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