Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Saturday, including a recap of Abington’s win it its final game in the prestigious Mantverde Academy Invitational Tournament.
Non-league
ABINGTON 81, THE VILLAGES CHARTER ACADEMY 72
The prestigious Mantverde Academy Invitational Tournament – which came to an end on Saturday – included eight nationally and state ranked squads. Abington proved that it belonged, coming within a missed 3-pointer of finishing the tournament 2-1 with its only loss by eight points to nationally ranked Findlay Prep (Nev.).
As it was, the Ghosts were 1-2 with an impressive win over The Villages on Saturday to close out the tournament. It is the third straight game the Ghosts scored more than 80 points.
“It seems like that’s what teams like to do down here – they like to get up and down the floor,” coach Charles Grasty said. “You have to make shots to score in the 80s.
“This is another team that wanted to run. They press a little bit, try and turn you over and get easy baskets. On offense, they run their offense, but they’re looking to attack, attack, attack. They don’t make many passes on their offensive end.”
The Ghosts led 21-16 at the end of one quarter and took a 36-28 lead into halftime.
“Although it didn’t seem like we got any stops, I still thought we got out in transition,” Grasty said. “We weren’t afraid to attack after a made basket. I thought we did a good job with that.
“We were used to – when someone scores on us, we’ll walk it up and get into an offense, but in this tournament, we were just able to get it out and go. A lot of teams pick up at half court or they’ll man press you. I think our guards were good enough to just go by them.”
The Villages, which boasted a 15-4 record entering Saturday’s game, trimmed Abington’s lead to 50-49 heading into the final quarter. The Ghosts closed out the game with a 31-23 burst to put an exclamation on the win.
“We got really big stops late in the game,” Grasty said. “It was a three-point game, we got a stop and came down and scored. A little under a minute they started fouling us. We went 16-for-18 from the line in the fourth quarter.
“That team is good. They’re not very big, but they’re scrappy, and they just make shots. They had a kid who’s a junior and is the third rated guard in Florida. It just seems like every team has players, so we had to step up.”
The Ghosts proved they have their share of players as well. Eric Dixon – who is averaging 25.0 points a game – had another big night for the Ghosts, finishing with 30 points, which included a 7-for-11 effort at the foul line. He completed the double-double with 10 rebounds.
Robbie Heath also had a huge game with 24 points – which included two 3-pointers, six steals, four rebounds and three assists. He was 8-for-10 at the line. Lucas Monroe added 13 points, six rebounds and eight assists, and Darius Brown had a season-high 11 points.
“We obviously dumped it in to Eric a lot,” Grasty said. “Robbie Heath was able to get to the basket.
“Lucas did everything again – he had a bunch of rebounds, a bunch of steals and a bunch of assists.”
Grasty also tipped his hat to his bench players.
“They all helped, they all contributed in their own way,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Xavier Crawford played really well. Bryan Coffman played well.”
Crawford contributed four assists off the bench for a Ghost squad that can only benefit from the opportunity to play against the best.
“I don’t know if we’re going to see teams that like to get up and down the floor like that, but we’re going to use this, watch film and try to make teams get up and down the floor with us,” Grasty said. “I feel that once we started doing that – I felt like we were able to get easy baskets and made them take shots they weren’t used to taking and they were kind of uncomfortable.
“We’ll watch it to see what we need to do to start forcing some teams to play up tempo, and hopefully, we’ll learn from this trip.”
Abington (13-4, 8-0 SOL) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Tuesday.
Villages Charter 16-12-21-23 72
Abington 21-15-14-31 81
Abington (81) – Eric Dixon 30, Darius Brown 11, Bryan Coffman 2, Xavier Crawford 1, Robbie Heath 24, Lucas Monroe 13.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 88, NESHAMINY 54
The Colonials scored 20-plus points in each of the four quarters, and no one was making it look easier than Naheem McLeod. The 7-2 junior center connected on 14 field goals and a game-high 30 points. He scored 21 of those points in the second and third quarters.
Ahmad Williams added 21 points – 19 in a first half that saw the Colonials open up a 45-34 lead over the visiting ‘Skins. Alan Glover was the third Colonial in double figures with 19 – 10 in the third quarter when PW went on a 22-6 tear to go on top 67-40. Ahmin Williams had eight points, all in the fourth quarter.
For the Redskins, Chris Arcidiacono scored 17 but only three after the intermission. Charles Dominick added 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Anthony Papeo had 11, including three 3-pointers.
The Redskins buried 12 threes and had just eight two-point field goals. They were 2-for-4 from the foul line as a team while the Colonials were 19-for-30 from the charity stripe.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (17-0, 10-0 SOL) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Tuesday, and Neshaminy (9-7, 3-4) will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 15-19-6-14 54
Plymouth Whitemarsh 23-22-22-21 88
Neshaminy (54) – Pat Campbell 3, McGovern 3, Chris Arcidiacono 17, Anthony Papeo 11, Mike Murray 4, Danny Bodine 3, Ian Deduro 1, Charles Dominick 12.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (88) – Ish Horn 5, Caelin Peters 3, Naheem McLeod 30, Danny Cooper 2, Ahmin Williams 8, Ahmad Williams 21, Alan Glover 19.
BENSALEM 66, GLEN MILLS 53
The Owls won their fourth straight game, opening up a 17-10 lead after one quarter and leading wire to wire. The Owls outscored the Battling Bulldogs 53-37 over the first three quarters.
Three Bensalem players – Ward Roberts, Lamont Hasker and Kris Shields – scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack. James Leible added nine while Taco Douglas and Keith Parrish both chipped in six points.
“It was a great team win,” coach Mike McCabe said.
Bensalem (11-7, 5-4 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman on Tuesday.
Bensalem 17-20-16-13 66
Glen Mills 10-13-14-16 53
Bensalem (66) – Taco Douglas 6, Ward Roberts 14, Keith Parrish 6, James Leible 9, Lamont Hasker 14, Carlos Gonzalez 3, Kris Shields 14
Glen Mills (53) – Tarik Bey 17, Shyeem Bacon 5, Raheem Griggs 2, Chandler Beach 6, Nazario Coleman 4, Nique Simmons 11, Khelon Kirkland 6.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 66, POTTSTOWN 50
The visiting Bucks trailed by two (14-12) at the end of one quarter but put some distance between themselves and the Trojans with an 18-5 second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-19 lead. They held an advantage over their hosts in each of the final three quarters, outscoring the Trojans 54-36 in that span.
Jack Neri led three West players in double figures with 16 points. Collin MacAdams added 15 points, and Jack Mulhearn had 13, including three 3-pointers. The Bucks were without Shane McCusker, who has been battling an ankle injury.
The Bucks connected on 20-of-24 shots from the foul line in the team’s seventh consecutive win.
Central Bucks West (15-4, 7-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Central Bucks West 12-18-17-19 66
Pottstown 14-5-15-16 50
Central Bucks West (66) – Jack Mulhearn 13, Mika Munari 5, Collin MacAdams 15, Jake Reichwein 8, Jack Neri 16, Davis Zerweck 2, Connor Briece 7.
Pottstown (50) – Tyshaun Harvey 5, Floyd Dashiell 11, Tre Bass 11, Ahnile Fountain 2, Hill 2, Peter Marcheskie 5, Towson 1, Ant Brown 13.
PERKIOMEN VALLEY 52, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 51
The Indians lost a heartbreaker, falling in a game they led by two points with less than a second showing on the scoreboard clock. That turned out to be just enough time for Tyler Strechay to find teammate Conner McShea with a fullcourt pass. McShea buried a three from the corner as time expired.
How close was this game?
The two teams were deadlocked 9-9 after one quarter. PV led 24-23 at halftime and still led by one (39-38) heading into the final quarter.
Brady Haggerty had the hot hand for the Indians, burying four 3-pointers in a 21-point effort. DJ Mischak added 11 points, and Matt McAlister had nine.
The two teams combined for 17 threes with the Vikings connecting on nine.
Council Rock North (7-11, 3-6 SOL) will host Abington on Tuesday.
Perk Valley 9-15-15-13 52
Council Rock North 9-14-15-13 51
Perk Valley (52) – Andrew Light 8, Tyler Strechay 16, Zach Krause 14, Conner McShea 5, Dante Graves 2, Kevin Bernabe 5, Bryce Streeper 2.
Council Rock North (51) – DJ Mischak 11, Harry Wyatt 2, James Duffy 6, Brady Haggerty 21, Matt McAliser 9, Fisher 2.
SPRING-FORD 60, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 53
The Rams, who led 18-14 after one quarter, took a 34-21 lead into halftime. The visiting Titans outscored the Rams 32-26 in the second half but could not make up the ground they lost.
Tommy Kuypers led the Titans with 18 points, and Ian McCaw added 12 points. Nate Robinson had 10, and Alex Dietz, six points.
Central Bucks South (12-6, 7-2 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Tuesday.
Central Bucks South 14-7-14-18 53
Spring-Ford 18-16-12-14 60
Central Bucks South (53) – Brady Prezelski 5, Nate Robinson 10, Jack Johns 2, Alex Dietz 6, Tommy Kuypers 18, Ian McCaw 12.
Spring-Ford (60) – Tyler Scilingo 8, Harrison Pierce 5, Ryan Hagan 4, nestor Diaz 12, Noah Baker 19, Robert Bobeck 10, Austin Hokanson 2.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 53, WILLIAM TENNENT 43
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