Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Abington/PW photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Bensalem/Pennsbury photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Patriot
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 59, NESHAMINY 57
The Golden Hawks just might have the corner of the market when it comes to heartbreaking losses. They came into Thursday’s game with a four-game losing streak that included back-to-back overtime losses, and the first of the four losses was by one point to North Penn.
On Thursday, the Golden Hawks turned the tables, winning a thriller when Gavin Holloran scored on a drive at the buzzer.
“All week we’ve been really preaching to the guys – be ready, stay mentally tough, weather the storm, so really all the credit goes to them,” Rock South coach Andrew Rogers said. “When you look at the games we were in, we played really, really well, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to close them out.
“That can be very tough considering we felt like we played and put ourselves in a position to win. To have a couple of them back-to-back is difficult. Then you find yourself in another one – really, it’s a credit to them. It’s a good group of guys, a really tough group of guys, and they just want to win. So collectively, they’re doing a really good job of saying, ‘What can we do to help us win?’ I think that showed tonight, and I’m really, really happy for them.”
The two teams battled to a 13-13 tie after one quarter, and the Golden Hawks edged the Redskins in the second to go into halftime with a 25-23 lead. In the third quarter, the Redskins outscored the Hawks 23-15 to go into the final quarter with a 46-40 lead. The Golden Hawks closed out the game with a 19-11 frame. Holloran led the Hawks with eight points in the fourth quarter.
“It was back and forth in the first half, and then Neshaminy came out – they were on a good run, and we were down seven in the second half,” Rogers said. “We cut it, they took it to seven again. We were able to weather the storm.
“I give all the credit to the kids – mentally to stay resilient. We were able to get it close at the end. We got a defensive stop, got the ball, and we called a quick timeout with eight seconds left. We got it to Gavin Holloran, and he was able to have a really tough drive and scored it right at the end. As the ball was going through the net, the buzzer sounded, which was great for us because we’ve had a lot of really close games in the last two weeks.
“They’re battling. I give them credit. I think we’re putting ourselves in a position to win a lot of these games. I was really happy for them – to stick it out and to win like that was great for us as a program.”
The Redskins used a balance attack to win this one.
“Gavin Holloran had 15 points and four assists,” Rogers said. “Shane Dawson had 10 points, six rebounds and two really big assists. Anthony Burns had eight points and five assists, but also he was delegated the task of guarding Sean Curley on Neshaminy who is having a really great year. He’s a tough guy to guard, so we really challenged him, and he was able to guard him well. At the end there, he was able to get a big stop. Matt Robinson had a really good game offensively for us as well as defensively. He had 14 points and five assists.”
For the Redskins, Curley’s 16 points, which included two 3s, led the way. Evan Esposito contributed 14 points, and Nate Townsend added 12.
Council Rock South (8-9, 4-8 SOL) will host Morrisville in a non-league game on Monday, and Neshaminy (11-6, 8-4) will be on the road at Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 13-10-23-11 57
Council Rock South 13-12-15-19 59
Neshaminy (57) – Joey Zack 1 0-0 2; Evan Esposito 14, Emeer Coombs 7, Kade Benjamin 2, Nunzio Zydzik 4, Sean Curley 16, Nate Townsend 12.
Council Rock South (59) – Gavin Holloran 15, Anthony Burns 8, Shane Dawson 10, Zach Schwartz 7, Matt Robinson 14, Gavin Stock 5.
BENSALEM 42, PENNSBURY 37
The Owls bounced back from Tuesday’s loss to Souderton to defeat the Falcons in a key division contest.
“It was a defensive battle – two programs that are just built on defense going back and forth on the defensive end,” said Bensalem coach Ron Morris, who was without a pair of starters. “Jake
(DeLange) is still out, and Allen (Myers) has been out since Saturday.
“When you’re down a couple of guys, it takes everyone to step up, and they just really bought into our defensive game plan. All the guys that were in there were just playing awesome defense all the way through. We boxed out really well.”
The Owls, who took a 22-12 lead into halftime, led by 11 heading into the fourth quarter. That lead turned out to be anything but secure as the Falcons rallied to knot the score with just over a minute remaining. Bensalem made some clutch foul shots down the stretch with Aaron Sanders burying 3-of-4 and Jack Wineburg connected on 2-of-2.
“We built a lead in the fourth quarter, we rushed some shots, we had some turnovers,” Morris said. “Pennsbury went on a run – tip your hat to them.
“We knew they weren’t going to go away ever. They’re such a good team and feisty. They’re never going to give up, so they were able to get momentum. They came all the way back and tied it up. Jack Wineburg had a big steal, he ended up getting fouled, and he made two big foul shots. Then we got a stop, and we came down and Aaron (Sanders) made two foul shots to go up four to ice the game.”
Aaron Sanders scored 20 points, which included a pair of 3s, to lead the Owls. Jeremy Rodriguez also finished in double figures with 10 points, and he completed an impressive double-double with 13 rebounds.
“We challenged him and said, ‘If you’re not scoring, what else can you bring to the table, and he really lived up to that challenge and had 13 rebounds,” Morris said. ““Sometimes you have to face adversity. It was a great game on Tuesday – (Souderton) shot the lights out. Missing Allen (Myers) on the boards really hurt us defensively, and adjusting to not playing with Allen was our biggest obstacle.
“Our message to our kids after that was ‘Be a goldfish. Lose your memory, and keep playing on every single possession.’ We just said we wanted to get back to Bensalem basketball. We built this brand on defense and energy. We challenged them to bring it, and everybody definitely did tonight. The bench was into the game. Everyone has bought in, and we just keep getting better and better. We go one game at a time, one game at a time.”
For the Falcons, Ty Kocak’s 13 points led the way. Aidan McCormak added nine, Justin Hedges had seven, and Evan McNeely finished with six points.
“We knew coming in that Evan (McNeely) and Aidan (McCormack) are all-league players, and we know Tyler (Kocak) has been scoring at a large clip too,” Morris said. “Aaron (Sanders) did an amazing job on McNeely. It’s hard to ask your scorer – a guy that’s been scoring the past few games and say, ‘Hey, you have to play their go-to guy and just battle with him,’ so it was really good to see that Aaron was up to the challenge, and we played really good defense.”
Bensalem (13-3, 10-2 SOL) will host Holy Ghost Prep in a non-league game on Saturday at 2 p.m. Pennsbury (9-4, 6-4) will host Frankford in a non-league game Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Pennsbury 12-2-6-17 37
Bensalem 13-9-7-13 42
Pennsbury (37) – Justin Hedges 3 0-0 7; Aidan McCormack 4 1-2 9; Connor Taddei 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 3 0-0 6; Ty Kocak 5 3-8 13. TOTALS 16 4-10 37.
Bensalem (42) – Jeremy Rodriguez 4 1-1 10; Tra Edwards 2 0-0 5; Eric Gonzalez 0 0-2 0; Aaron Sanders 7 4-5 20; Antonio Morris 0 3-4 3; Jack Wineburg 1 2-2 4. TOTALS 14 10-14 42.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Justin Hedges; Bensalem – Aaron Sanders 2, Jeremy Rodriguez, Tra Edwards.
SOL Liberty
ABINGTON 72, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 67
The Ghosts put themselves back in the hunt for a share of the division title, upending a PW squad that had won seven straight. They Ghosts are now one of three teams with eight wins in a logjam
at the top of the standings. Both PW and Abington are 8-3 in division play and both trail Upper Dublin by one game in the loss column.
“This was much-needed,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “Our guys really fought. We didn’t play a perfect game or a smooth game but just to see them having fun playing.
“Everybody is starting to chip in. I wish we could play that way every game. The guys really stepped up. We challenged them at halftime just to do some of the things a little better. It wasn’t going to be a perfect game, but they gave themselves a chance, made some baskets, got some stops, and the game turned in our favor. That was exciting.”
The Ghosts had 12 first-half turnovers and trailed by seven at halftime (33-26). Three of their players – Derrius Lucas, Jeremiah Lee and Kayjel Morris – were saddled with three fouls by halftime. Unfazed, they came out of halftime and outscored the Colonials 23-12 in the third quarter to go on top 49-45.
“Our third quarter was really exciting,” Grasty said. “We came out and slowed them down a little bit. They were getting out in transition on us. They were getting some easy baskets, and we just couldn’t keep up with their speed.
“I think they’re the fastest team or if not – the second fastest. They’re one of the fastest teams in the district. We just wanted to slow them down and give ourselves a chance to play defense, and I thought the third quarter we were able to do that.”
With the Ghosts clinging to a three-point lead after Jaden Calzie sank a 3-pointer, Jimmy Marino sank the second of two foul shots with 13.5 seconds to give the Ghosts a four-point advantage. The Colonials misfired at the other end, and Connor Fields pulled down the rebounds and was fouled. He connected on 1-for-2 at the line with 4.4 seconds for the 72-67 final.
Fhenyx Scutt led the Ghosts with a standout offensive performance, exceeding his career high of 20 points in last Saturday’s game against 
Methacton with 23 points. His six 3-pointers were the most for an Abington player since the 2003-04 season when Kevin Oleksiak – who went on to play at UNC Greensboro – buried six 3s. Scutt, who had 12 treys through 12 games, has buried 13-of-20 from 3-point range (65 percent) in the last three games. He was a near-perfect 6-for-7 in Thursday’s win at PW.
Derrius Lucas added 21 points and nine rebounds. Kayjel Morris – who had 30 points in 12 games heading into Thursday night – added 17 points. Connor Fields had a career high 12 rebounds – five offensive – to go along with six points. Jimmy Marino dished out six assists.
“Derrius Lucas played great – he was a monster,” Grasty said. “Connor Fields again was all over the place. Fhenyx Scutt had a career high 23 points with six 3s.
“Kayjel Morris came in and he had a great game. We were down five, and he hit two 3s back-to-back. They were pressing us, and Liam Rardin came in – he’s about 6-5, and he helped relieve some of that pressure also. He was very important tonight. All of our guys stepped up. Everybody that played did something for us, and that was key.”
The Ghosts connected on 9-of-16 from beyond the arc (56.2 percent) and 24-44 overall (55 percent). Abington pulled down 32 rebounds.
The Colonials put four players in double figures. Jaden Calzie led a balanced attack with 16 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Qudire Bennett added 12 points, Taji Hubbard had 11, and Zende Hubbard contributed 13 points.
Abington (9-6, 8-3 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday at 6 p.m., and Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-6, 8-3) will host Quakertown on Friday at 6 p.m.
Abington 16-10-23-23 72
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13-20-12-22 67
Abington (72) – Connor Fields 2 2-4 6; Fhenyx Scutt 7 3-3 23; Derrius Lucas 7 6-7 21; Jimmy Marino 0 1-2 1; Jeremiah Lee 1 0-0 2; Kayjel Morris 6 3-4 17; Liam Rardin 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 24 15-23 72.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (67) – Zende Hubbard 4 5-10 13; Jaden Calzie 7 0-0 16; Jahseir Sayles 0 0-1 0; Trey Jones 0 1-2 1; Taji Hubbard 5 1-1 11; Qudire Bennett 5 2-3 12. TOTALS 27 11-18 67.
3-point goals: Abington – Fhenyx Scutt 6, Kayjel Morris 2, Derrius Lucas; PW – Jaden Calzie 2.
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