Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. Pennsbury/Upper Dublin photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Liberty Division
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 64, HATBORO-HORSHAM 39
Luke DiCianno (18 points) and Zende Hubbard (17 points) combined for 35 points to lead the Colonials to the division victory. The win was the fifth without a loss for the Colonials, who put 11 players in the scoring column.
The Colonials, who led 14-9 after one quarter, all but put the game out of reach with a 26-point second quarter to go into halftime with a 40-21 advantage. DiCianno accounted for 12 of those points while Hubbard had 11.
The Colonials threw some defense at the Hatters out of halftime, allowing just four points in the third quarter as they opened up a 58-25 advantage on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win.
For the Hatters, Eric Butler led the way with nine points while Kyle Dittus added seven. Sam Smith and Joshua Spruill both chipped in six points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-0, 4-0 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-1) will host Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham 9-12-4-14 39
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-26-18-6 64
Hatboro-Horsham (39) – Noah Schlosser 1 1-4 3; Sam Smith 3 0-1 6; Sam Fink 1 0-1 2; Kyle Dittus 3 0-2 7; Zehier Cheeze 2 0-0 4; Eric Butler 4 1-2 9; Joshua Spruill 3 0-0 6; Joshua Wingen 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 18 2-10 39.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (64) – Zende Hubbard 6 5-6 17 Jaden Colzie 1 0-0 2 Marshall Baker 1 0-0 2 Jake West 1 0-0 2; Taji Hubbard 1 2-2 4; David Harris 2 0-0 5; Luke DiCianno 6 6-8 18; Stephen Forchielli 0 2-2 2; Qudire Bennett 1 1-2 4; Jalen Harris 1 2-3 4; Zuri Jerman 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 22 18-22 64.
3-point goals: HH – Kyle Dittus, PW – Davis Harris, Qudire Bennett.
Non-league
NORTH PENN 70, BENSALEM 58
The Knights and Owls were deadlocked at halftime, and the score was still knotted 45-45 heading into the fourth quarter. But a game that appeared destined to come down to the wire instead turned into a double-digit win for the Knights, who took the lead and then spent the rest of the final quarter taking trips to the foul line. They connected on 13-of-15 in the frame to seal the Owls’ fate.
“It really was a game of runs throughout,” NP coach John Conrad said. “They’re a good team, they’re explosive, and we were just fortunate to have the last run.
“It was close the whole way, and we were able to extend it late, and they had to foul. It was a one-possession game through most of the fourth quarter, and maybe we got it to five, and they were in a position where they had to foul us.”
Josh Jones – who had a game high 30 points – was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and had 10 points. Billy Coley was 4-for-4 at the line and had eight points in the quarter.
“They sealed it from the foul line at the end,” Conrad said. “To be honest, we got a couple of good (defensive) stops. I think we had five straight stops late in the fourth, and really, that was probably the biggest thing because then they had to come get us.”
Milind Pulugura buried a pair of 3-pointers in the final quarter that saw the Knights outscore their visitors 25-13.
Coley finished with 21 points – 16 after the intermission. Pulugura added 11, and while the trio combined for 62 points, they weren’t the only ones to make important contributions.
“I thought it was a nice team win, and I thought everybody contributed,” Conrad said.
Saturday’s win was the third in a row for the Knights after a 1-2 start.
“I think everybody is still trying to feel their way through it a little bit,” Conrad said of the season. “Whether it be rotations, whether it be how your travel. We were even spending time trying to figure out how we were going to do timeouts. You don’t think of that stuff until you’re in the middle of it.
“But I think everybody is in the same boat – we’re now finally all at the point where we can do a little more focusing on the game itself.”
For the Owls, Saturday’s loss was their third in what was a tough week. James Ashford had a big game for the Owls with 22 points – 13 in the second half. Aaron Sanders added 15 points, which included three 3-pointers, and Eric Gonzalez had eight points.
North Penn (4-2, 3-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday, and Bensalem (2-4, 2-1) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday.
Bensalem 13-14-18-13 58
North Penn 9-18-18-25 70
Bensalem (58) – Eric Gonzalez 3 1-1 8; Aaron Sanders 6 0-2 15; James Ashford 8 5-6 22; Rahul Kohli 1 0-0 3; Allen Myers 0 0-2 0; Luis Rodriguez 1 0-0 3; Nikita Schaffer 2 1-2 5; Luke Zeidler 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 7-13 58.
North Penn (70) – Mario Sgro 0 2-4 2; Joe Larkins 0 2-2 2; Billy Coley 7 4-4 21; Milind Pulugura 4 0-0 11; Josh Jones 8 14-16 30; Ryan Zeltt 1 0-0 2; Terhan Wright 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 21 22-26 70.
3-point goals: Bensalem – Aaron Sanders 3, Eric Gonzalez, James Ashford, Rahul Kohli, Luis Rodriguez, NP – Billy Coley 3, Milind Pulugura 3.
UPPER DUBLIN 55, PENNSBURY 49
Drew Stover has spent the season putting up one big performance after another. The Upper Dublin senior turned in another gem on Saturday, finishing with an eye-popping double-double – 30 points and 19 rebounds.
“We said in the locker room after the game that we wouldn’t be surprised if he had 30 and 20,” UD coach Chris Monahan said.
Stover had 16 points in the first half, but the Flying Cardinals still found themselves trailing by one at the intermission, 31-30. Evan Reichard led a balanced Falcon attack with eight points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Amir Johnson and Evan McNeely both had seven points while Aidan McCormack had six.
“It was their Senior Day – they got off to a great start and had five three’s in the first half,” Monahan said. “They had us reeling a little bit. They played really aggressive, they trapped all over the place, and they made shots.”
In the third quarter, the Flying Cardinals outscored the Falcons 15-11, taking a 40-38 lead on a Stover putback at the buzzer. Stover had 10 points in the frame.
“We regrouped a little bit at halftime,” Monahan said. “We talked about how we wanted to stay connected to their shooters more – we were giving them too much space, we talked about how we wanted to handle their press better because we had a lot of turnovers in the first half and only two or three in the second.
“They had two three’s in the second half, so we did a much better job with that, and we were able to get Drew established throughout the game.”
A pair of clutch 3-pointers by Noah Lee keyed a 15-point fourth quarter for the Cards.
“In the fourth quarter, it was back and forth, nobody scoring,” Monahan said. “Drew wasn’t scoring as much, and Noah got two looks and knocked them both down to stretch our lead to six or seven, and that was the difference in the game.
“They would come back, cut it to five, cut it to three. We’d nail a three. His three’s were gigantic.“
Lee finished with nine points – all in the second half. Seaton Kukla added seven.
For the Falcons, McCormack’s 10-point effort led the way. Johnson and McNeely both had nine while Reichard had eight points and Kennan Taddei, seven points. Craig Stargell chipped in six. McNeely led the Falcons with nine rebounds. Reichard added five and McCormack had four.
Upper Dublin (5-1, 2-1 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and Pennsbury (2-4, 1-3) will be on the road at Council Rock North.
Upper Dublin 11-14-15-15 55
Pennsbury 15-16-7-11 49
Upper Dublin (49) – Noah Lee 3 0-0 9; Colin O’Sullivan 1 1-2 3; DJ Cerisier 1 0-0 2; Seaton Kukla 3 1-2 7; Tim Boutilier 2 0-0 4; Drew Stover 14 2-4 30 TOTALS 24 4-8 55.
Pennsbury (55) – Amir Johnson 3 2-2 9; Aidan McCormack 4 1-1 10; Kennan Taddei 3 0-0 7; Evan Reichard 3 0-0 8; Craig Stargell 2 0-0 6; Evan McNeely 3 3-6 9; TOTALS 18 6-9 49.
3-point goals: UD – Noah Lee 3, Pennsbury – Evan Reichard 2, Craig Stargell 2, Aidan McCormack, Kennan Taddei, Amir Johnson.
NESHAMINY 49, UPPER MORELAND 42
Mike Murray and Matt Drapkin combined for 29 second-half points, allowing the Redskins to erase a five-point halftime deficit and seize control of a tightly contested non-league contest.
“It was a back and forth game from the start – within 1-3 points basically the whole game until the fourth when we went up and pulled it out with free throws towards the end,” Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle said. “It was a good game.
“Both teams matched up perfectly as far as guards-guards, bigs-bigs. Both teams have a ton of experience back. I know they had a nice season last year. It was definitely a battle.”
Murray had a huge game under the basket, leading the Redskins with 23 points and nine rebounds. He scored 17 of those after the intermission. Drapkin, the Redskins’ point guard, had 12 of his 14 points in the second half and was 6-of-7 at the foul line.
“Mike Murray and Matt Drapkin kind of took over the second half where basically we were feeding them the ball and they made very really good plays and made free throws at the end,” Tingle said.
The Redskins outscored the Golden Bears 32-20 in the second half.
“The whole year we’ve been playing really good defense, so holding an experienced team to 42 points was really good for us,” Tingle said. “We’ve been basically holding teams under 40 on average, and that’s really big for us.
“The nice thing is – one night it might be one guy (with a big game), the next night it might be someone else. This team doesn’t really care who gets the credit, so it’s really fun to coach.”
The Redskins’ coach pointed to the team’s defense and unselfish approach as keys to its 5-0 start.
“Honestly, that’s the reason we are where we are – we’re playing defense and sharing the ball,” Tingle said. “Today it was Mike and Matt. The first game was Tom Mullin. It’s just all over the place, it’s great.
“If you can play defense and share the ball, usually decent things happen. It’s a good start right now.”
Also for the Redskins, Jake McGinty pulled down a team high 10 rebounds. Tom Mullin had four assists and, according to Tingle, was a key on defenseå.
For the Golden Bears, Jahaire Johnson led the way with 15 points, and it was the senior scoring 12 first-half points and propelling UM to a 22-17 lead. Matt Tiernan also finished in double figures with 10 points while Byron Hopkins had six.
Neshaminy (5-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Bensalem on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (1-2, 1-1) will host New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 9-8-18-14 49
Upper Moreland 8-14-10-10 42
Neshaminy (49) – Jimmy MacDonald 0 2-4 2; Jake McGinty 2 0-0 4; Matt Drapkin 4 6-7 14; Mike Murray 9 5-9 23; Hammed Fofana 1 0-0 3; Sean Curley 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 17 13-20 49.
Upper Moreland (42) – Jahaire Johnson 7 0-0 15; Byron Hopkins 2 1-2 6; Jourdan Gregg 2 1-1 5; McKie Walker 1 0-0 2; Jake Tiernan 2 0-2 4; Matt Tiernan 4 2-5 10; TOTALS 18 4-10 42.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Hammed Fofana, Sean Curley, UM – Byron Hopkins, Jahaire Johnson.
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