Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Friday. Check back to view a photo gallery of the CR North/CR South game.
By Jarrad Saffren
Twenty-two Suburban One League boys’ basketball teams played league games Friday night, as the regular season home stretch continued. Most playoff contenders stayed on track. Three were knocked at least slightly off course. The results and recaps of all 11 games are below.
SOL American
Upper Moreland 60, Cheltenham 59
Upper Moreland led by three points with 10 seconds left. Cheltenham went for a quick two-pointer instead of a three.
The Panthers missed the first shot but got the rebound and scored.
“We knew they were out of timeouts,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “Ryan Coyle was the designated in-bounder. I said to him, ‘If there are under five seconds left, you don’t have to inbound the ball.’”
Coyle let the ball bounce twice after the made basket. Then he picked it up with 4.5 seconds left. He held the ball as the clock ran out and
“Our guys went crazy,” said Heiland. “He (Coyle) was smart about it. It wasn’t noticeable. It wasn’t a delay of game.
“He played the situation and knew what he was doing. It was very heads’y for a sophomore to do that.”
Upper Moreland won its second straight game after losing nine in a row, handing Cheltenham just its second loss in league play.
UM hosted a “Silent Night,” meaning the home fans did not say or shout a word until the Golden Bears scored their 10th point.
“Brett Brossman made a three for our 12th point, and no one could hear (Cheltenham coach) John (Timms) call time,” Heiland said. “The place was packed. It was enjoyable. Having fun while playing is huge.”
The score was 19-19 after the first quarter and Heiland knew something needed to change.
“I said, ‘Guys we can’t go at this pace. They’ll wear us down. They are too deep,’” Heiland said.
But he never doubted that his guys could play with Cheltenham.
“I watched film of the first game. Sure they beat us by 16 but we shot ourselves in the foot with boneheaded turnovers,” Heiland said of his team’s 63-47 loss to the Panthers on Jan. 5.
At the third quarter buzzer, UM hit a big shot to tie the score.
“I told our guys, ‘Listen, this is what we prepped 10 months for, to play in games like this,’” Heiland said.
In the fourth, the Golden Bears inched away, then Brossman delivered the dagger. Brossman pulled up on a one-on-two fastbreak and buried a three-pointer to put UM up eight.
“It was a ballsy shot. The place went crazy,” Heiland said. “He looked at me afterward like he knew he was going to make it. That was when we knew we were going to win. That made everybody believe.”
Heiland credited selfless play, a lack of turnovers, and an unheralded role player.
UM’s Shane Stone (15), Damian Washington (12), and Brendan O’Donnell (11) combined for 38 points. Brossman and Coyle had nine and eight, respectively.
In the first game against Cheltenham, UM turned the ball over 19 times. On Friday night, the Golden Bears turned it over 10 times.
The unheralded role player was junior varsity call-up Jake Villanueva.
“Jake’s a big body. He’s a defensive tackle on the football team. Cheltenham has some big bodies. He allowed us to get more rebounds because he was boxing out, which allowed our two other bigs to get some rebounds on long shots,” Heiland said.
“In the beginning of the year, we didn’t care who stepped up. We just expected somebody to step up and make a play. This was the first night in a long time where we played that way. Jake stepped in and played over another guy and nobody cared.”
Anthony White led Cheltenham with 19 points. Trevonn Pitts and Khalil White had 13 and 11, respectively.
Upper Moreland (9-11, 5-7 SOL) goes to Norristown Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start.
Cheltenham (14-4, 9-2 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh on the same night and time.
Cheltenham 19-8-19-13 59
Upper Moreland 19-12-15-14 60
Cheltenham: Branden Mack 4, Khalil White 11, Anthony White 19, Ahmad Bickley 2, Maurice Valentine 4, Trevonn Pitts 13, Justin Sutton 6.
Upper Moreland: Brendan O’Donnell 11, Damian Washington 12, Ryan Coyle 8, Casey Decker 5, Brett Brossman 9, Shane Stone 15.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 73, Springfield 34
Springfield was shorthanded.
“Unfortunately for (Springfield coach) Gary (Nolan), two of his main guys, one tore his ACL the previous game, and Quentin Johnson wasn’t there as well,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “That hurt him. He was going in undermanned.”
The 3-15 Spartans probably would not have beaten the 17-1 Colonials even with those two players, but their absences turned this game into a blowout early.
“I like the fact that our guys concentrated,” Donofrio said. “They played very consistently and we were able to work on some new ideas.”
PW experimented with some zone defense looks.
“We don’t do a ton of zone,” Donofrio said. “Now we can go into the playoffs with some more options. It’s fun to add some new wrinkles. We are a long team. We have a lot of guys that are 6’2 to 6’5. That really works for other defenses besides man-to-man.”
PW has some of the biggest guards in the SOL. Point guard Oakley Spencer is 6-foot-2. Grady Minick and Davon Burrell are 6-foot-3. Xzavier Malone is 6-foot-4.
“They are all long lean guys. If they can learn to keep their hands big and wide, it could be intimidating,” Donofrio said. “Zone is a really different concept. When man teams go zone they act like they are back in biddy leagues and lay back. You gotta apply man-to-man energy to zone.”
PW has just two games left in the season. A date with Reading, which was snowed out last weekend, will not be made up.
“It moved from last weekend to Sunday and then I got a call saying they cancelled the whole tournament,” Donofrio said. “So we have 21 games instead of 22. That’s a little concerning.”
PW (18-1, 11-1 SOL) battles Cheltenham Tuesday night in what will likely be an SOL American championship game.
“We did the right things tonight to not look past anything,” Donofrio said.
Springfield (3-16, 0-12 SOL) buses to Upper Merion for a 7 p.m. start.
Norristown 53, Wissahickon 46
Norristown raced to an eight-point lead after one quarter (13-5) and kept Wissahickon at a distance, taking advantage of a bad shooting night by the Trojans.
Wissahickon shot 32 percent from the field, 2-for-24 from three-point range, and just 12-for-21 from the line. Wissahickon’s Zach Reiner scored 19 points but no other Trojans player had more than six. Chaz Owens had six.
Norristown was aided by the return to the lineup of Roy Green, who led the Eagles with 15 points. Green shot 9-for-11 from the free throw line and grabbed four rebounds. Darryl Carr added 14 points and four rebounds. Kether Massiaz had nine points. Darius McGowan corralled six boards to lead the Eagles.
Norristown (7-11, 5-6 SOL) plays Upper Moreland Tuesday at 7 p.m. Wissahickon (10-10, 5-7 SOL) travels to Upper Dublin for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Norristown 13-8-13-19 53
Wissahickon 5-12-7-22 46
Norristown: Darryl Carr 14, Roy Green 15, Kether Massiaz 9, Amir Carter 7, Darius McGowan 4, Tyrique Lyons 4
Upper Merion 59, Upper Dublin 54
Upper Merion won its second straight game and continued to look like a playoff team.
“At this point, I think we’d have to be a playoff team. We’ve done enough to warrant ourselves a spot, I think,” Upper Merion coach Jason Quenzer said. “We are just happy to be where we’re at right now. We are not comfortable and won’t be until we play the final game. But we think we deserve a spot.”
Upper Merion never trailed but Upper Dublin cut its deficit to two in the last couple minutes.
“We persevered as a team,” Quenzer said. “You take previous experiences and use them on a night like tonight. Guys stepped up and knocked down free throws again.
“Coming off a loss against them the first time, it was obviously good to avenge the loss. They played tough man. They played tough until the end.”
Quenzer said one Merion player stood out the most.
“Ethan Miller played really well. His presence was big for us,” Quenzer said. “He slowed it down when we needed to, sped up when we needed to. It’s his third year and he showed every bit of his three years tonight.”
Upper Merion (13-6, 7-5 SOL) welcomes Avon Grove Monday night. Upper Dublin (7-11, 5-7 SOL) hosts Pope John Paul II on the same night.
SOL Continental
Pennridge 72, North Penn 60
Pennridge coach Dean Behrens was happy to survive North Penn.
“Obviously they are a scary team,” Behrens said. “From an athletic standpoint, they are tough on the boards, which is not always our strongest suit.”
Pennridge led 19-18 after one quarter.
“It was a scoring fest. There wasn’t lot of defense going on,” Behrens said. “We want to get into an up-tempo game. Teams have to decide when they play us: They can either slow us down or run with us. North Penn wants to run. Teams like CB East will try to slow us down. So that played in our favor.”
Pennridge extended its lead to eight by halftime and 13 by the start of the fourth quarter. The Rams led by 20 at one point in the fourth. Five Rams’ players—Max Wagner (19), Dan Long (16), Stephen Lowry (12), Ryan Cuthbert (10), and Devon Balmer (10)—scored in double figures.
JJ Melchior led North Penn with 14 and Ricky Johns added 10.
At the end of the game, on senior night at Pennridge, Behrens put all five of his seniors on the floor.
“Some North Penn people were upset, but (North Penn coach) John (Conrad) wasn’t. Their coaching staff wasn’t,” Behrens said. “We tried to run all our plays for Ryan Galloway, who doesn’t get a ton of time, so that was neat.”
Behrens reflected on the 2016 class, which includes Wagner, Long, Lowry, Balmer, and Galloway.
“This group has amounted a lot of wins over the last three or four years,” Behrens said. “They are a big reason why we’ve been so successful.”
“We went through five or six years of never going to the playoffs between 2005 and 2010,” Behrens said. “I thought basketball ended on Feb. 8 every year. Now it’s like, ‘Wow there is another season.’”
Pennridge (16-3, 10-1 SOL) plays three games in the next four days to end the regular season.
“That’s our next focus. We were the only team that didn’t make up a game yet from the blizzard,” Behrens said. “That puts us in a tough spot. Because there is a thing called school and studying.”
The first of those three is on Monday night at 5 p.m. against Souderton. North Penn (9-11, 4-8 SOL) plays Souderton at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
North Penn 18-14-8-20 60
Pennridge 19-21-13-19 72
North Penn: Matt Pickford 2, Lance Lindsay-Ford 8, Ricky Johns 10, AJ Mitchell 6, Chris Coleman 4, Reece Udinski 9, Justis Henley 4, JJ Melchior 14.
Pennridge: Devon Balmer 10, Dan Long 16, Stephen Lowry 12, Kyle Yoder 4, Ryan Galloway 1, Ryan Cuthbert 10, Max Wagner 19.
Central Bucks West 46, Hatboro-Horsham 34
CB West bounced back after an upset loss to North Penn Tuesday night, but the Bucks still trail Pennridge by one game in the SOL Continental.
Connor Lynch led the Bucks with 15 points. Jay Davis and Clifton Moore scored eight points each for Hatboro-Horsham. Ryan Black added seven points for the Hatters.
CB West (16-4, 10-2 SOL) goes to Central Bucks East Tuesday night. Hatboro-Horsham (10-9, 7-5 SOL) travels to Pennridge for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
Quakertown 52, Central Bucks East 42
CB East came in on a four-game winning streak that put the Patriots back in the playoff discussion.
Quakertown halted that momentum for the moment. Or, more accurately, Griffin Schmidt halted East’s momentum, scoring 27 points, including three three-pointers. JR Grimmage played Schmidt’s sidekick as usual, dropping 12 points.
Justin O’Neil (15), Tommy Strasburger (11), and Matt Pattyson (9) combined for 35 points for CB East. Pattyson also made three three-pointers.
Quakertown (6-13, 2-10 SOL) battles CB West Tuesday night. CB East (12-8, 6-6 SOL) goes to CB South Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. tip.
Central Bucks East 7-13-9-10 42
Quakertown 11-9-12-20 52
Central Bucks East: Matt Pattyson 9, Justin O’Neil 15, Tommy Strasburger 11, Elijah Seger 3, Tiemo Fenner 3, Peterson 2.
Quakertown: Ty Harrison 3, JR Grimmage 12, Ryan Howard 2, Branden Lewis 2, Dakota Suchanec 4, Nick Drosnock 2, Griffin Schmidt 27.
Souderton 62, Central Bucks South 58
Tim Waddington won the battle, Tracy Simsick won the war.
Waddington, CB South’s leading scorer, outscored Simsick, Souderton’s leading scorer, by one point, 24-23.
But Simsick led his team to a close win over the Titans, who have lost four straight and five of six.
Austin Eberhart and Mike Bealer complemented Simsick, scoring 13 and 10, respectively. Nate Robinson and Ryan Joerger complemented Waddington, netting 16 and 10. The difference was at the bottom. Souderton had two players—Ian Beardsley and Ty Salone—who scored seven. No other Titan player scored more than four.
Souderton (7-12, 3-8 SOL) plays Pennridge Monday night. CB South clashes with Quakertown Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Central Bucks South: Tim Waddington 24, Nate Robinson 16, Ryan Joerger 10, Alex Karras 4, Tommy Doyle 2, Sam Al-Asha 2.
Souderton: Tracy Simsick 23, Austin Eberhart 13, Mike Bealer 10, Ian Beardsley 7, Ty Salone 7, Noah Horas 2
SOL National
Abington 60, William Tennent 38
Remember when there was a debate about the best team in the SOL National? Yeah, Abington has ended that.
The Ghosts have won 10 in a row and 15 of 16. They are two games ahead of Council Rock North with two to play.
Eric Dixon again paced the Ghosts’ offense, scoring 12 points. Robbie Heath added seven.
William Tennent has been streaky all season. The Panthers started 0-5, got to 5-5, and have now lost nine straight.
Abington (16-3, 11-1 SOL) hosts second-place CR North Tuesday night. William Tennent (5-14, 2-10 SOL) buses to Bensalem Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. start.
Council Rock North 71, Council Rock South 57
The Indians are red hot too, winning for the fourth straight game. The streak started with a two-point win over Pennsbury. CR North is now a game and a half up on the Falcons for second-place in the SOL National.
A Rock North squad best known for its defense exploded out of the gate for 21 first-quarter points and took a six-point lead into the second quarter. The Indians led 37-32 at the intermission and took a 51-44 lead into the final quarter when they delivered their second 20-point quarter of the game, outscoring their visitors 20-12 to sweep the season series with the Golden Hawks.
"We got up six or eight early in the fourth quarter and then just got some consecutive stops and made free throws, so it was a lot tighter than the final score," coach Derek Wright said. "We made shots early, and I think that just became contagious, which tends to happen on both ends.
"Sometimes when you're missing a lot, that becomes contagious too. We consistently played well on the offensive end last night. Our second half defense was much better which was the difference."
The Indians – according to Wright – responded positively to playing in front of a full house.
"It says a lot about their clarity and their mindset last night with everything that was going on and the big crowd and the big game environment that they just went out and played, competed and had fun," Wright said. "They were passionate about it, and that's all you can ask.
"That was really good to see. Sometimes you don't have control of that. Sometimes you have days where you're feeling really good and some days you don't. Last night happened to be one where our guys were in the right mindset."
Riley Thompson (28 points) and Will Desautelle (18 points) provided an impressive one-two offensive punch for the Indians. Thompson also handed out three assists, and Desautelle had a big game under the boards with nine rebounds. He also dished out a team-high four assists. Matt McAlister added eight points and Tyler Nowmos, six points, to the Indians' offensive attack.
“The key the last few games is we have been getting some eight and 10-point games from guys besides Riley and Will, which is important,” Wright said. “Again, we’re feeling more comfortable in our roles and rotations.
“The first month and a half of the season was very staggered with Riley coming back late and we had some other injuries and a couple of guys sick. Our rotations were different every night. When kids don’t know when they’re coming in and what they’re being asked to do consistently, it becomes tough. The last couple of weeks I think everybody expected to know what they needed to do and felt confident in it.”
Wright credited several players for contributing in supporting roles.
"Will had two fouls in the second quarter, and we had to sit him," Wright said. "Matt Baniwiecz came in and ate up a lot of playing time for us. We were really undersized, especially with Will out.
"Matt's our biggest body, so he covered a lot of space in the paint, hit a couple of big free throws for us and kept the momentum going while we had to sit Willi in the second quarter, and that was a big difference.
"Elliott Spicer made a couple of key plays offensively late in the third and early in the fourth quarter. He made a really nice pass in the baseline out-of-bounds play that was really big for us. It might not show up in the stats, but it was really important."
Ryan Boyd led CR South with 24 points. Alex Nordenholt and Austin Thomas had eight and seven, respectively.
CR North (11-8, 9-3 SOL) plays New Hope-Solebury Monday night at 7 p.m. CR South (7-11, 5-7 SOL) battles Pennsbury Tuesday night.
Council Rock South 15-17-13-12 57
Council Rock North 21-16-14-20 71
Council Rock South: Mike Stock 6, Alex Nordenholt 8, Kevin Newbert 3, Ryan McNamee 2, Michael Krepich 6, Kenny Brightcliffe 1, Ryan Boyd 24, Austin Thomas 7.
Council Rock North: Riley Thompson 28, Elliott Spicer 2, Matt Baniewicz 2, Tyler Shields 1, Tyler Nowmos 6, Matt McAlister 8, Eric Levine 1, Noah Ehlin 5, Will Desautelle 18.
Bensalem 75, Harry S. Truman 59
Bensalem rounds out the red-hot SOL National triumvirate.
The Owls have won nine of 12 and have a shot at the playoffs going into the season’s final week.
Bensalem’s Richard Dean lit up the scoreboard with 26 points. Teammates Brandon Vaughn and Ward Roberts were not far behind, notching 18 and 15, respectively. Taco Douglas added 10.
Maurice Jackson led Truman with 14 points. James Clowney and Danell Snelling added 11 each.
Bensalem (10-8, 6-6 SOL) battles William Tennent Tuesday night at 7 p.m. Harry S. Truman (6-11, 5-6 SOL) hosts Methacton Monday night.
Bensalem 20-17-22-16 75
Harry S. Truman 15-12-14-18 59
Bensalem: Brandon Vaughn 18, Rich Dean 26, Anthony Greene 6, Ward Roberts 15, Taco Douglas 10.
Harry S Truman: Kelechi Ogbonna 4, Danell Snelling 11, Justin Fant 8, James Clowney 11, Khalil Trammel 3, Maurice Jackson 14, ZJ Jackson 3, Jeff Nixon 2, Gursay 3.
About the Author
