Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday.
SOL Liberty Division
UPPER DUBLIN 59, ABINGTON 49
The Flying Cardinals put a damper on Abington’s Senior Day celebration, opening up an early lead and going on to earn the important win in the battle for the division’s top spot.
“They had a nice ceremony – Charles (Grasty) does a nice job with that,” UD coach Chris Monahan said. “I was joking with him before the game, and he corrected me that we weren’t at their Senior Night last year, but I think we’ve been at the three or four years before. He got all his seniors in the first quarter – credit to him for that.”
Sparked by the play in the paint of Seaton Kukla and Ellis Johnson, the Cardinals led 12-5 after one quarter and took a 29-12 lead into halftime.
“We were able to score around the rim. We had a spell in the second quarter where we turned over the ball rapid fire a little bit, but in the first quarter, we handled their pressure pretty well, and we were able to get layups,” Monahan said. “They’re very fast, and they were able to beat a PW team the night before that is also very fast by causing turnovers and things like that, but if you can handle that type of pressure, a lot of times you can get the ball into the paint and into the rim, and those two (Kukla and Ellis) did a good job of scoring at the beginning of the game.”
Three UD players finished the game in double figures led by Kukla with 17 points. Colin O’Sullivan added 14, and Johnson had 13.
“What doesn’t show up in the book is defensive stuff,” Monahan said. “We’re small, and Abington with (Derrius) Lucas and Connor Fields, who plays taller than he is, present a problem. I think for the most part tonight we did a pretty good job.
“Lucas finished with 14 and Fields had 12, and a lot of those were around the rim, but a lot of those were contested, and a lot of times we were denying both the ball, and that was Ellis (Johnson) and that was Seaton (Kukla).”
The Ghosts came out of halftime and outscored the Flying Cardinals 17-9 to make it a 38-34 game heading into the fourth quarter.
“We go into halftime thinking that we’re doing pretty well, and they came out and (Fhenyx) Scutt is making some 3s and Lucas and Fields are scoring around the rim – all of a sudden in the fourth quarter, it’s a game,” Monahan said. “The final looks like 10, but with two minutes left, it’s a two-point game.
“We handled the pressure at the end, and we made layups, and we made enough free throws down the stretch.”
For the Ghosts, Lucas led the way with 14 points, five rebounds and one block. Fields added 12 points and nine rebounds, and Scutt, who has 17 3s in the last four games combined, also had 12 points on four 3-pointers. Seniors Jimmy Scholly (5 points) and Danny Moynihan (3 rebounds) also contributed.
Abington connected on 17-of-39 shots (43.5 percent). The Ghosts – who were without Kayjel Morris (injury) – were 5-for-18 from beyond the arc (27.7 percent).
Upper Dublin (13-4, 9-2 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Abington (9-7, 8-4) will host Cheltenham on Monday.
Upper Dublin 12-17-9-21 59
Abington 5-12-17-15 49
Upper Dublin (59) – DJ Cerisier 31-4 7; Chris Kohlbrenner 1 1-5 4; Colin O’Sullivan 4 5-8 14; Nathan Fechter 0 1-2 1; Brady Fogle 0 1-2 1; Griffin Pensabene 1 2-3 4; Ellis Johnson 5 3-4 13; Seaton Kukla 6 4-5 17. TOTALS 19 18-33 59.
Abington (49) – Connor Fields 4 4-5 12; Fhenyx Scutt 4 0-0 12; Jeremiah Lee 1 2-2 4; Derrius Lucas 5 4-8 14; Jimmy Marino 1 0-0 2; Jimmy Scholly 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 17 10-15 49.
3-point goals: UD – Colin O’Sullivan, Seaton Kukla; Abington – Fhenyx Scutt 4, Jimmy Scholly.
WISSAHICKON 58, HATBORO-HORSHAM 44
Every game is a big game for the teams jockeying for position in the battle for the Liberty Division crown. Wissahickon and PW both have three losses while Upper Dublin is holding down the conference’s top spot with two losses. Abington is also in the hunt with four losses.
A whole lot can happen between now and the end of the regular season, and the Trojans are primed and ready for the stretch run.
“It’s Abington, PW, Upper Dublin and us all in that bunch, and who’s going to play who coming down that stretch,” Wisssahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “It’s neat to see that four teams are really competing down the stretch. It makes it interesting.
“For our guys, we told them – we have the ability to control our own destiny to an extent. Our kids are really excited. I was talking to them tonight – we really need to take the mentality that our playoffs have started. This is desperation time for everybody. You can’t take anybody lightly. Everyone is fighting for their life. It’s going to make for a really nice end of year for a lot of teams and basketball fans in general. If we really want to try to get a home playoff game or the conference title, we have to take every game one game at a time and focus on that game. They really did a nice job starting that tonight.”
The Trojans opened up a 21-12 lead after one quarter and took a 33-19 lead into halftime. They added to it with a 14-6 third quarter. The Hatters never threatened.
“That was part of the plan,” Wilson said of his team’s fast start. “Knowing that Hatboro has had its struggles and we’ve been playing really well, we don’t want to get in a game where we wait until the fourth quarter and they’re still hanging around, so we wanted to go out there – push tempo, try to have a reasonable lead at halftime and see if we could continue to grow and execute into the second half, and the guys really did everything I could ask of them.
“The things I put on the board – they each took to heart. They went out, whether it was crashing the offensive glass or pushing the tempo or making sure we watched (Noah) Schlosser, their really strong scorer. Each guy did their job and gave attention to details. It was a good night where not only did the guys play well, but we were able to get a lot of guys in that don’t always get to see time.
“You sometimes need a chance to reward those guys that are unsung heroes down the bench. It was nice to see some of those guys get some minutes, especially on a funky Friday night where you’re playing earlier, you’re leaving school early, and the guys didn’t lose focus. That was my concern.”
The Trojans received double-digit scoring efforts from three players. Dom Vacchiano’s 19 points – 11 in the first half to ignite the Trojans – led the way. Earl Stout and Morgan Wilson both added 13 points.
For the Hatters, Schlosser and Kyle Dittus both had 11 points to lead the way.
Wissahickon (11-6, 7-3 SOL) will host Abington on Tuesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-15, 1-10) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Wissahickon 21-12-14-11 58
Hatboro-Horsham 12-7-6-19 44
Wissahickon (58) – Josh Twersky 1 3-5 5; Kevin Cupid 1 0-0 2; Jaylon Williams 2 0-0 4; Morgan Wilson 5 3-5 13; Dom Vacchiano 7 2-2 19; Owen Coughlin 1 0-0 2; Earl Stout 6 1-2 13. TOTALS 23 9-14 58.
Hatboro-Horsham (44) – Jake Grier 2 0-0 4; Noah Schlosser 4 3-5 11; Kyle Dittus 4 0-0 11; Matt Wingen 1 3-4 5; P Pymilia 0 1-2 1; Jack Joyce 2 0-0 6; Sam Fink 1 0-0 3; Chrishon Avery 0 1-1 1. TOTALS 14 8-10 44.
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Dom Vacchiano 3; HH – Kyle Dittus 3, Jack Joyce 2, Sam Fink.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 70, QUAKERTOWN 54
The Colonials remained in the hunt for a division title, bouncing back from a disappointing loss to Abington 24 hours earlier to defeat the visiting Panthers.
Jaden Colzie’s 21 points included a pair of 3-pointers and earned the sophomore point guard game scoring honors. Zende Hubbard and Qudire Bennett each added 10 points while Marshall Baker and Trey Jones each finished with nine points.
The Colonials trailed 16-14 after one quarter but rebounded to outscore their visitors 21-12 to go into halftime with a 35-28 halftime lead. Zende Hubbard scored all 10 of his points in the first half. Colzie also had 10 points in the opening half. The Panthers were led by the hot hand of Ty Wilkin, who scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the opening half. Ethan Tomlinson added nine points.
The Colonials all but put the game out of reach with a 19-8 third quarter surge that featured eight points from Colzie and six from Ethan Marshall, who had a pair of 3s.
In addition to Ty Wilkin, Tomlinson finished with 10 points for the Panthers, Vince Micucci added eight points while Kyle Rosenberger and Anthony Callan both had six.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (12-6, 9-3 SOL) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and Quakertown (5-13, 3-9) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Quakertown 16-12-8-18 54
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-21-19-16 70
Quakertown (54) – Sam Wilkin 1 0-0 3; Kyle Rosenberger 1 4-5 6; Ethan Tomlinson 4 2-4 10; Ty Wilkin 8 2-4 19; Brendon Ruzicka 1 0-0 2; Vince Micucci 4 0-1 8; Anthony Callan 2 2-2 6. Totals 21-10-16 54.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (70) – Zende Hubbard 2 6-7 10; Jaden Colzie 8 3-7 21; Marshall Baker 3 1-1 9; Jahseir Sayles 0 4-4 4; Trey Jones 2 3-5 9; Evan Ring 1 1-2 3; Taji Hubbard 1 0-0 2; Qudire Bennett 3 4-4 10; Pat Flynn 1 0-0 2; Rodney Willis 0 0-2 0. TOTALS 21 22-32 70.
3-point goals: Quakertown – Sam Wilkin, Ty Wilkin. PW – Jaden Colzie 2, Marshall Baker 2, Trey Jones 2.
SOL Freedom Division
UPPER MORELAND 52, LOWER MORELAND 47
The Golden Bears opened up a seven-point lead after one quarter but found themselves clinging to a tenuous 30-28 halftime lead. A 15-6 third quarter burst gave the Bears 45-34 lead on their way to the win.
“We came out strong in the first quarter, and they cut it to two at halftime,” UM coach Dan Heiland said. “In the third quarter, we came out on a mission. Our guys executed offensively, got stops defensively. That was the difference.
“Give Lower Moreland a ton of credit. They’re very well coached, they are very high IQ basketball players, they understand the game, they were picking up pressure a little bit. We didn’t execute at points, and they were able to get the score within five or six points. We made some key free throws late in the game that ultimately sealed the deal. It was the third quarter that gave us the lead we needed.”
Byron Hopkins led the Golden Bears with 15 points while Matt Tiernan had 12 and Stefano Garofalo added 10. Bo Meakim finished with nine points.
“Byron (Hopkins) and Matt (Tiernan) were our top two scorers, and that’s what we think every night will happen – just the consistency between those two,” Heiland said. “Really, it’s who’s the next guy? Who’s that third guy that’s going to step up for us, and Stefano (Garofalo) has been doing a tremendous job being that guy in the absence of Sean Dallahan, who’s been injured.
“Stefano just brings us a different energy. He’s relentless on the boards, he does the little things nicely offensively. He ultimately has been a key difference maker both offensively and defensively in our last few matchups.”
Ian Alecia’s 12 points led the visiting Lions. Thomas Przbylinski added 10 and Kevin Hegedus contributed nine. Braden Alecia and Brian Grant both had seven points.
Upper Moreland (10-6, 5-6 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Tuesday, and Lower Moreland (5-12, 4-8) will host New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday.
Lower Moreland 12-16-6-13 47
Upper Moreland 19-11-15-7 52
Lower Moreland (47) – Braden Alecia 7, Brian Grant 7, Gabe Krutsinger 2, Thomas Przbylinski 10, Kevin Hegedus 9, Ian Alecia 12.
Upper Moreland (52) – Byron Hopkins 15, Bo Meakim 9, Rashim Lancit 4, Matt Tiernan 12, Stefano Garofalo 10, Colson Campbell 2.
3-point goals: LM: Kevin Hegedus 3, Ian Alecia 2, Gabe Krutsinger 2, Brian Grant, Braden Alecia; UM – Byron Hopkins, Bo Meakim, Stefano Garofalo.
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