Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. Souderton/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Upper Dublin/New Hope-Solebury photos courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for galleries of both games. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
Souderton 71, Bensalem 66
In easily its biggest win of the season, Souderton rode the scoring of Jay Bonnet and Shaun Purvy and rallied with a 28-point fourth quarter to knock off SOL Patriot-leading Bensalem on Tuesday night.
“The kids are talented, and they’ve been working their tails off, and it showed,” said first-year Souderton coach Okoteh Sackitey. “They’ve been working so hard, they deserve to have all the
confidence in the world, and they went out and played with confidence, shared the ball, made shots, made plays and made stops. I’m really proud of the guys. They did a great job.”
Bonnet scored 28 points, including four 3-pointers. Purvy – back in action after suffering an injury in September playing football – added 19 points.
“Oh man, Jay went off,” Sackitey said. “He’s capable of doing that. Since I met him in June, he’s come so far and has just been working, so I’m really proud to see that hard work pay off for him.
“Shaun Purvy has been working so hard coming back from an injury. I’m really happy to see him back on the court and his hard work paying off. His first game back was on the road at CB West, and he had a big fourth quarter for us in that game. After that, he was struggling a little bit to find his groove.
“I read an article about the Souderton girls basketball team and the head coach (Lynn Carroll) had a line where she said one of her players had a breakout game, and I thought that’s Shaun Purvy. He’s going to have a breakout game. He’s not someone I was worried about. I know what he’s capable of, and it was just a matter of time. Shaun Purvy had his breakout game, and tonight was it.”
Bensalem, which was led by Aaron Sanders’ 28 points, led 50-43 going into the fourth quarter, but that’s when the Indians took over. In the quarter, Bonnet scored eight points, including a three. Purvy added six points and Paul Vince also had six, burying a pair of 3-
pointers. Chris Towsen also had a three in the frame.
“Carson Grant gave us massive minutes,” Sackitey said. “I think it was a turning point when we put him in the game and went small. We took out Aleks Smith at five and subbed in Carson Grant and played small ball. Carson was huge for us in his first game back from a fracture in his face.
“Paul Vince hit two cold-blooded threes in the fourth quarter in the biggest moment. He’s always composed. He was out for a while, and I subbed him in, and he was ready to go when he got back in. It was a really good night. I’m really happy for the kids.”
Souderton (11-5, 6-5 SOL) hosts first-place CB South in a key Colonial Division game on Friday. Bensalem (12-3, 9-2 SOL) has a big one of its own on Thursday, when it hosts Pennsbury in a Patriot Division showdown.
Souderton (71)
Jay Bonnet 9 6-10 28; Shaun Purvy 8 2-3 19; Chris Towsen 4 0-0 11; Aleks Smith 1 0-0 2; Paul Vince 2 0-0 6; Levi John 1 3-4 5. Totals 25 11-17 71.
Bensalem (66)
Jeremy Rodriguez 4 0-0 8; Tra Edwards 2 0-0 5; Eric Gonzalez 3 2-2 9; Aaron Sanders 10 4-6 28; Antonio Morris 1 3-4 5; Jack Wineburg 4 0-0 11. Totals 24 9-12 66.
Souderton 10 17 16 28 – 71
Bensalem 15 13 22 16 – 66
3-point goals: S-Jay Bonnet 4, Chris Towsen 3, Paul Vince 2, Shaun Purvy; Bensalem-Aaron Sanders 4, Jack Wineburg 3, Tra Edwards.
Neshaminy 65, Central Bucks East 60 (OT)
A late 3-pointer for CB East sent the game into overtime, but there, Neshaminy wasn’t about to let Tuesday’s cross-division game slip away.
“We had a little cushion,” said Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle. “We were up 3, 4, 5 towards the end, and (CB East) hit some big-time ‘3s’ over our hands to send the game into overtime. In overtime, we had a lead and didn’t give it up.”
Nate Townsend got Neshaminy started in overtime, while Emeer Coombs and Joey Zack all had buckets in overtime.
Sean Curley had 23 points and five rebounds to lead the team for the game, while Nate Townsend added 15 points and six assists. Kade Benjamin had nine points and six rebounds.
“Sean Curley had a monster night for us,” Tingle said. “He’s been doing it for us all year, scoring, handling the point. He and Emeer Coombs handled the ball well for us and got the ball where it needed to go.”
CB East ended up with 10 3-pointers on the night, including Liam Cummiskey’s ‘3’ that sent the game into overtime, but overall, Tingle was happy with his team’s defensive effort.
“We tried to hold them to one shot the best we could,” he said. “(CB East) did a really good job of making shots. They had five ‘3s’ in the fourth quarter and we had hands in their face.”
CB East was led by Liam Cummiskey’s 17, while Kyle Berndt had 12 and Jacob Cummiskey added 10.
Neshaminy (11-5, 8-3 SOL) has won eight of its last nine games heading into Friday’s game at Council Rock South. CB East (10-7, 6-5 SOL) plays at Pennridge on Friday.
Neshaminy (65)
Sean Curley 23, Kade Benjamin 9, Evan Esposito 9, Emeer Coombs 7, Nate Townsend 14, Nunzio Zydzik 4, Joey Zack 6
CB East (60)
Tyriq Toney-Bailey 5, Jacob Cummiskey 10, Liam Cummiskey 17, Nick Rivera 6, Brett Young 3, Aidan Weaver 2, Ryan Lenahan 2, Kyle Berndt 12, Joshua Lyzinski 3.
Neshaminy 14 9 20 7 15 – 65
CB East 6 17 11 16 10 – 60
3-point goals: N-Curley 3; CBE-L. Cummiskey 3, Berndt 4, Toney-Bailey, Young, Lyzinski
Central Bucks South 54, Council Rock South 52 (OT)
Tyler Meinel scored a game-high 19 points, including huge buckets at the end of regulation and then in overtime, and CB South escaped at home in a wild one on Tuesday night.
“We came up big defensively when we needed it the most,” said Titans coach Jason Campbell. “We played man early, then went zone, and then we played full-court man-to-man. We had a lot of subs from offense to defense. Guys came off the bench and played great defense. Sean Rieber played great defense. Jesse Rotunno played great defense. Flynn Carroll played great defense. They did a great job with deflections and steals.”
The Titans trailed this one 47-42 with under a minute to play in regulation. Meinel went the length of the court for a three-point play to cut it two, and then after CR South missed three front ends of one-and-one free throw attempts, Meinel scored again to tie it up.
In overtime, Rotunno came up with a big steal defensively and made one of two from the line to tie the game. Another forced turnover gave CB South the ball back again and a wild sequence saw the ball end up in Meinel’s hands for the game-winner with six seconds left.
“With six seconds left, we get a turnover on an in-bounds play,” Campbell said. “Meinel misses, Jay Macalindong grabs the rebound, a Rock South kid knocks it out of his hands, it goes rights to Meinel, who grabs it and scores.
“We defend right away, force them to lose the handle. One of their kids caught it and bobbled it and never got a shot off.”
“Things went our way. Rock South was well-coached. Their kids played hard. It was a great game. You talk about a battle. Two tough teams. I give a lot of credit to Rock South. They’re way more physical than what I thought. It’s tough to tell on film, but they made our players know it.”
Michael Farley scored 11 for CB South, while Joe Rooney added eight. The first-place Titans (11-5, 8-3 SOL) have a big one Friday night at Souderton.
CR South (7-9, 3-8 SOL) was led by Gavin Holloran, Anthony Burns and Zach Schwartz with 13 points each. The Golden Hawks host Neshaminy on Friday.
Council Rock South (52)
Zach Schwartz 13, Anthony Burns 13, Gavin Stock 2, Shane Dawson 11, Gavin Holloran 13
Central Bucks South (54)
Jesse Rotunno 6, Jay Macalindong 4, Joe Rooney 8, Chris Granito 2, Flynn Carroll 2, Tyler Meinel 19, Michael Farley 11, Sean Rieber 2
CR South 12 12 19 4 5 – 52
CB South 10 18 9 10 7 – 54
Pennsbury 54, Central Bucks West 38
On the road, establishing its trademark pressure defense was a priority for Pennsbury Tuesday night, and that it did in the first half against CB West, limiting the Bucks to 12 points in the first two quarters on the way to the 16-point win.
“We got up early,” said Falcons coach Bill Coleman. “It was a very, very good defensive effort in the first half. We kind of took our foot off the gas in the second half, but I was very proud of our effort on the defensive side of the court.”
Still very much in the mix for a division title, the Falcons didn’t overlook the Bucks.
“We prepare the guys the best that we can in film and scouting,” Coleman said. “We’re looking at offensive tendencies, and the guys are expecting certain things. They read the CB West game plan pretty well and we were able to defend it. I’m happy our guys paid attention to our scouts for CB West.”
Offensively, Pennsbury was led by Ty Kocak with 15 points and 13 each for Aidan McCormack and Evan McNeely. Chris Terry had six rebounds to lead the Falcons. McCormack added five.
“The scoring for us has been pretty consistent throughout with Aidan, Evan and Ty leading the way,” Coleman said. “We’re looking at spreading it out a little bit more. Throughout the season, we’ve had other guys step up in other games. Connor Taddei had a couple big ‘3s’ in the previous game. Justin Hedges had six tonight.
“We want to be consistent with our offensive game plan. That’s what we want as we go into the final stretch run of the league.”
John Lee had 11 points for CB West, while Bowen Gugger had eight.
Pennsbury (9-3, 6-3 SOL) has a big one Thursday night when it plays at first-place Bensalem in a key SOL Patriot Division game. CB West (3-13, 2-9 SOL) plays Friday night at North Penn.
Pennsbury (54)
Justin Hedges 3 0-0 6; Aidan McCormack 3 7-8 13; Chris Terry 1 0-0 2; Connor Taddei 2 0-0 4; Evan McNeely 6 0-0 13; Teddy Mangan 0 1-2 1; Ty Kocaz 6 3-4 15. Totals 21 11-14 54.
CB West (38)
Matt Engle 1 2-2 4; Owen Duffy 1 0-0 2; Charlie Cashman 0 0-1 0; Nick Tanaglia 1 0-0 2; Donte Mancini 2 2-2 6; Bowen Gugger 3 2-3 8; John Lee 4 2-2 11; Mike Fountain 2 1-1 5. Totals 14 9-11 38.
3-point goals: CBW-Lee 1; P-McNeely 1
Council Rock North 44, Pennridge 41
CR North bounced back from difficult losses to North Penn and Central Bucks West with a solid defensive effort and then had clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to edge visiting Pennridge on Tuesday night.
The Indians were 12-for-14 from the line for the game, 9-for-11 in the fourth quarter. Jack Blum was 5-for-7 in the fourth.
“Last week was rough but I am proud of how our kids responded tonight,” said CR North coach Jesse Krasna. “We played with great defensive intensity and that was huge for us to get back to playing the ‘North Way.’
“Our defense kept us in the game when we weren’t at our best offensively, although a lot of our offensive issues had to do with Pennridge. They are well coached, they play really hard and they cut a 20-point second half deficit to three because they didn’t give up.”
Logan Saifer had three points offensively for the Indians, but on the defensive end he had a huge night, guarding Pennridge leading scorer Matt Campione.
“I was so impressed by Logan Saifer and Bernie Parent,” Krasna said. “Logan held their leading scorer to two points, and he was really disruptive. Bernie made it really tough on Pennridge’s second leading scorer and defended inside and outside of the arc well. They both set the tone for us tonight.”
Parent again led the Indians in scoring with 16 points, while Blum added nine.
“Adam Mahtat and Jack Blum were banged up, but they fought through some pain and helped us get a win at less than 100 percent,” Krasna said. “Tyler Rodowicz played his most minutes on the year. He valued the basketball and played good defense. Shane Anhalt made great decisions, took what the defense gave him and made winning plays for us throughout the game. Ryan Burkett got us going early and he is really tough to stop when playing in attack mode.”
Freshman Xavier Peters scored 14 points to lead Pennridge, while Ryan Hass added eight.
CR North (10-5, 6-4 SOL) hosts Harry S. Truman on Friday. Pennridge (4-13, 2-9 SOL) hosts CB East on Friday.
Pennridge (41)
Justin McCormack 3 0-1 6; Matt Campione 0 2-2 2; Xavier Peters 5 1-2 14; Tommy Cramer 1 2-4 4; Ryan Hass 3 0-0 8; Jude D’Agostino 3 0-0 6; Justin Nichols 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 5-9 41.
CR North (44)
Shane Anhalt 2 0-0 4; Bernie Parent 7 2-2 16; Adam Mahtat 1 4-4 6; Jack Blum 2 5-7 9; Ryan Burkett 3 0-0 6; Logan Saifer 1 1-1 3. Totals 16 12-14 44.
Pennridge 9 2 7 24 – 41
CR North 12 9 12 11 – 44
3-point goals: P-Peters 3, Hass 2
North Penn 83, Harry S Truman 49
A 24-8 first quarter jump-started North Penn’s finest offensive effort of the season as the Knights led this one from start-to-finish.
“We got off to a good start and were able to sustain it,” said Knights coach John Conrad. “I thought the guys locked in defensively and were very unselfish on the offensive end.
“Ryan Deininger was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc tonight and he had four ‘3s’ in the first quarter and that got us going. A lot of that came from really unselfish play from Ryan Zeltt and Joey Larkins.”
Deininger finished with 20 points, while Milind Pulugura added 19 and Terhan Wright 12.
Truman was led by Makai Jackson, who scored 15, while Ethan Flail added 10 and Mike Burns eight.
North Penn (9-8, 6-5 SOL) hosts CB West on Friday. Truman (4-10, 2-8 SOL) plays at Council Rock North on Friday.
Truman (49)
Ethan Flail 3 4-5 10; Shanbul Lewis 3 0-2 6; Anthony Masterson 2 0-0 4; Gavin Burns 1 0-0 2; Mike Burns 4 0-0 8; Franz Fabian 2 0-0 5; Makai Jackson 7 1-2 15. Totals 22 5-9 49.
North Penn (83)
Mario Sgro 1 0-1 2; Terhan Wright 6 0-0 12; Nick Hoffman 1 0-0 2; Norm Gee 4 0-0 4; Ryan Zeltt 4 0-0 9; Joe Larkins 1 0-0 2; Ryan Deininger 7 1-3 20; Teddy McAllister 2 0-1 5; Luke Cody 1 0-0 2; Milind Pulugura 7 2-2 19. Totlas 34 3-7 83.
Truman 8 11 20 10 – 49
North Penn 24 13 26 20 – 83
3-point goals: NP-Deininger 5, Pulugura 3, Gee 2, Zeltt 1, McAllister
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
Abington 42, Upper Moreland 24
A dominant defensive effort set the tone for the Galloping Ghosts who allowed no more than eight points in any quarter and held Upper Moreland to just 10 field goals on the night on the way to the victory.
UM went scoreless for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
“I thought we played great defense,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “To hold a team like Upper Moreland – that’s well coached, very unselfish and likes to make the right plays – to hold them to 24 was really good to see. I told the guys that part of the game was impressive, and hopefully, we can build off of it.
“Connor (Fields) was all over the court. Derrius (Lucas) was all over the court. Jimmy Marino played really well for us defensively. He talked for us a little more tonight, helped out. He was guarding one of their shooters, so he couldn’t help off of him too much, but he was all over the court as well.”
Lucas led all scorers with 14 points to go with six rebounds and two blocks. Fields had eight points, seven rebounds, five steals and a block. Fhenyx Scutt had eight points and two steals. As a team, the Ghosts shot 19-for-47 from the field.
Abington (8-6, 7-3 SOL) is back in action Thursday night at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Matt Tiernan scored 12 points for Upper Moreland. The Bears (9-6, 4-6 SOL) host Lower Moreland on Friday.
Upper Moreland (24)
Byron Hopkins 1 3-3 5; Bo Meakim 1 0-0 3; Rashim Lancit 1 0-0 2; Matt Tiernan 6 0-0 12; Colson Campbell 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 3-3 24.
Abington (42)
Connor Fields 4 0-1 8; Fhenyx Scutt 3 0-0 8; Derrius Lucas 6 2-2 14; Jeremiah Lee 4 0-1 8; Liam Rardin 1 0-0 2; Chris Dorman 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 2-4 42.
Upper Moreland 8 4 8 4 – 24
Abington 9 13 6 14 – 42
3-point goals: UM-Bo Meakim; A-Fhenyx Scutt 2.
Cheltenham 52, Quakertown 25
A 20-4 second quarter broke this one wide open as undefeated Cheltenham won big on Tuesday.
“Elias Walker was our engine,” said Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury. “His energy is infectious. The team responded. It was not a great first quarter. These back-to-backs – I think they have an appreciation for the players in the older ranks who have to do this and travel because it’s not easy at all.
“Quakertown is a young team, but you could definitely see that they’re building, so it was good for our guys to put forth the effort.”
Walker had 11 points, four assists, three steals and five rebounds. Rasheem Deary had 10 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and one block. Nasir Edens added nine points and three steals, while Justin Savage had seven points and eight rebounds.
Cheltenham (15-0, 10-0 SOL) next plays at William Tennent on Friday.
“We have two days of practice, which is amazing,” Fleury said. “We have to shift our attention to William Tennent on Friday, so that is our next challenge. We understand they’re a good team, and we need to be prepared. Coach (Robert) Mulville always has them prepared to play, so we definitely want to put our best foot forward when we go there and just work towards continuing to play for one another, play together and represent the community well.
“We had a good showing of people tonight, so we want to continue to represent them well and give them our all so they’re proud of us.”
Quakertown (5-12, 3-8 SOL) is at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Quakertown (25)
Sam Wilkin 7, Ethan Tomlinson 3, Vince Micucci 2, Jahshua Thomas 3, Ty Wilkin 6.
Cheltenham (52)
Rasheem Dearry 10, Josiah Hutson 6, Elias Walker 11, Nasir Edens 9, Brandon Bush 6, Justin Savage 7, Jalen Lucas 1, Johnathan Fevrier 2.
Quakertown 6 4 10 5 – 25
Cheltenham 8 20 21 3 – 52
William Tennent 46, Hatboro-Horsham 43
After falling behind in the third quarter, William Tennent was able to keep it close and then pulled it out down the stretch thanks to clutch free throw shooting.
“It was a tight game,” said Panthers coach Robert Mulville. “It was tied at the half, and then (Hatboro-Horsham) jumped out in the third and had the lead for the entire second half up to the final three minutes.
Kirby Mooney gave Tennent the lead with a steal and a layup to make it 39-38, and then after H-H came back and tied it, George Marion knocked down a pair of free throws to put Panthers back up two. Jeremy Henry scored off a steal, and then Timmy Stanfield went 3-for-4 from the line to put the game away.
Mooney led the Panthers with 16 points, while Henry added nine.
Noah Schlosser was H-H’s top scorer with 18 points.
“I think a lot of it is them trying to play more together as a team,” Mulville said. “They picked each other up. We had four guys stepping up in the last three minutes.
“Hatboro did a real nice job in the third quarter, attacking our zone. Schlosser killed us in third quarter, getting in the lane, but our guys hung together.”
Tennent (5-9, 5-5 SOL) hosts Cheltenham in a Freedom Division game on Friday. The Hatters (1-14, 1-9 SOL) host Wissahickon.
Hatboro-Horsham (43)
Jake Grier 1 1-2 3; Noah Schlosser 7 3-4 18; Kyle Dittus 2 2-4 8; Nick Wingen 1 1-4 3; Chrishon Avery 1 0-0 2; Anthony Pumilia 3 0-1 8.
William Tennent (46)
Jeremy Henry 3 3-4 9; George Marion 1 4-4 6; Kirby Mooney 6 4-6 16; Isaiah Dawson 1 1-2 3; Connor Fithian 3 0-0 7; Timmy Stanfield 0 3-4 3; Brandon Beluch 1 0-0 2.
Hatboro-Horsham 8 10 16 9 – 43
William Tennent 9 9 10 18 – 46
3-point goals: HH-Schloser 1, Dittus 2, Pymilia 2; WT-Fithian
Plymouth Whitemarsh 65, Lower Moreland 53
Qudire Bennett scored 27 points, his fourth straight 20-point game, as PW jumped up big in the first half and cruised to the 18-point win against Lower Moreland on Tuesday.
Bennett had 19 points in the first half.
“(He’s a) three-year varsity player,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said about Bennett. “The light bulbs are starting to turn on, along with the self-confidence. He’s in the process of making himself a major player.”
The win was the seventh in a row for the Colonials.
Marshall Baker had 14 points, Zende Hubbard 11 and Jaden Colzie nine.
Lower Moreland was led by Jon Kroll with 13 and eight each for Tom Przybylinski and Ian Alicea.
PW (11-5, 8-2 SOL) hosts Abington on Thursday night.
LM (5-11, 4-7 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland.
Lower Moreland (43)
Braden Alicea 2 0-0 5; Brian Grant 3 0-0 8; Mike Pennisi 2 0-0 4; Gabe Krutsinger 1 0-0 3; Tom Przybylinski 2 3-4 8; John Kroll 4 3-6 13; Hegedus 2 0-0 4; Ian Alicea 4 0-0 8. Totals 20 6-10 53.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (65)
Zende Hubbard 5 1-1 11; Jaden Colzie 4 0-1 9; Marshall Baker 6 0-0 14; Jah Sayles 1 0-1 2; Trey Jones 1 0-0 2. Qudire Bennett 9 5-7 27. Totals 26 6-10 65.
Lower Moreland 11 10 14 18 – 53
Plymouth Whitemarsh 18 19 19 9 – 65
3-point goals: LM-Grant 2, Kroll 2, B. Alicea 1, Krutsinger 1, Przybylinski 1; PW-Bennett 4, Baker 2, Colzie 1
Upper Dublin 58, New Hope-Solebury 32
Sophomore Ellis Johnson scored 13 points to lead the way, as Upper Dublin pushed a close game to double figures in the second quarter and never looked back in this one.
“It was a nice win,” said UD coach Chris Monahan. “It’s always tough going out to New Hope. You’re not sure how guys are going to show up, but I thought we showed up really well. We were up 10- or 12-0 to start the game, but the two kids we worried about – (Dylan) Hildebrandt and (Miles) Demby – got them right back in it. Both of them had ‘3s’, and it’s 15-12 at the end of the first after we had a huge run to start the game. All of a sudden, it’s a game.”
D.J. Cerisier, Griffin Pensabene and Seaton Kukla each added nine points for the Flying Cardinals.
New Hope was led by Miles Demby, who had 13 points.
“The second quarter we struggled offensively and made some poor decisions with the ball, but the third quarter, we cranked up the pressure,” Monahan said. “The group that was out there – DJ (Cerisier), Chris Kohlbrenner and Colin (O’Sullivan) – were making plays.
“The last guy that was really flying around that made everything work was Ellis Johnson who is a kid that we love. He can do a 
lot of things on the court. He brought a ton of energy today, a lot of deflections. He had drives to the basket. When he faces up and gets his feet set, he’s a very good shooter. He can score around the rim, and he showed all of that today. The third quarter was really the knockout punch, and he was a huge part of it.”
Miles Demby’s 13 points led the Lions.
Upper Dublin (12-4, 8-2 SOL) plays at Abington on Friday night. New Hope (2-14, 1-9 SOL) plays at Springfield on Friday.
New Hope-Solebury (32)
Jon Wilson 3 0-0 7; Justin Lehman 1 2-2 4; Dylan Hildebrandt 3 0-0 8; Brian Demby 0 0-0 0; Miles Demby 4 3-3 13. Totals 11 5-5 32.
Upper Dublin (58)
DJ Cerisier 4 1-1 9; Chris Kohlbrenner 3 0-0 6; Colin O’Sullivan 1 1-1 3; Ryan Mulroy 2 1-2 5; Fogle 1 0-0 2; Griffin Pensabene 4 0-0 9; Zamborsky 1 0-0 2; Elliot Johnson 5 3-4 13; Seaton Kukla 3 2-2 9. Totals 24 8-10 58.
New Hope 12 5 5 10 – 32
Upper Dublin 15 13 21 9 – 58
3-point goals: NH-Hildebrand 2, M. Demby 2, Wilson 1; UD-Pensabene 1, Kukla 1
Wissahickon 45, Springfield Twp 32
(Check back for a complete box score)
The Trojans went into Tuesday having lost three of their last four games and came up with a strong defensive effort to shut down a Springfield team that entered playing its best basketball of the season.
It was a close game at the half, as Wissahickon struggled to defend Springfield’s Dylan McKenzie.
“He got off in the first half,” said Trojans coach Kyle Wilson. “He was attacking the basket, pretty much getting whatever he wanted. We had a unique talk in the locker room at halftime about why we’re letting this person attack us like he was. We made sure we did a better job in the second half against McKenzie.”
Jaylon Williams and Earl Stout had 13 points each to lead Wissahickon, which led throughout the second half and was able to pull out the win.
“The close games, even when (Springfield) cut the score close, to 10, there’s no panic,” Wilson said. “These guys have been in games with Methacton, Bensalem, Cheltenham and PW. I feel our guys are tested. We know how we do, how we play. It’s not as much about the other team, it’s about us, if we can lock in mentally.”
McKenzie had 16 points and five rebounds to lead Springfield, while Ben Cooney had eight points and 11 rebounds and Harry Rittenhouse five points and nine rebounds.
Wissahickon (10-6, 6-3 SOL) plays at Hatboro-Horsham on Friday.
Springfield (8-7, 4-7 SOL) looks to bounce back at home Friday against New Hope-Solebury.
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