Jarrad Saffren recaps Tuesday’s SOL boys’ basketball action. CR North/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Abington/Truman photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. Please check back for a gallery of both games…CLICK HERE.
By Jarrad Saffren
The calendar flipped to January over the weekend. Happy New Year!
The high school boys basketball season kicks into high gear after the New Year’s break. League championship and district playoff races crystallize as teams start playing two-three league games per week.
The marathon became a sprint Tuesday night, as 18 Suburban One League boys basketball teams played league games. Two—Bensalem and Central Bucks South—clashed in a nonleague game.
Contenders—Central Bucks West and North Penn—have finally emerged in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
A perennial champion—Plymouth Whitemarsh—proved that the Suburban One League American Conference race may not actually be that close.
The Suburban One League National Conference is still Abington and everybody else. But there are four strong teams—Pennsbury, Council Rock South, Neshaminy and Bensalem—in the ‘everybody else’ category.
Learn more below.
SOL Continental
Central Bucks West 49, Pennridge 46
Collin MacAdams and Jake Reichwein are becoming quite the tandem for CB West.
MacAdams had 17 points and seven rebounds Tuesday night. Reichwein had 12 points and seven boards.
The duo combined for 35 points in CB West’s last win, a 69-66 decision over Washington-Lee Dec. 28.
Shane McCusker added nine points for the Bucks Tuesday night. Liam Cooney added seven.
CB West has won four of its last six games after a 1-2 start. It has won three straight SOL Continental games. At 3-1 in league play, the Bucks are a half game behind North Penn for first-place.
Sean Yoder led Pennridge with 21 points. Jon Post and Tyrese Lewis-Eutsey scored eight and seven points, respectively.
CB West built a narrow lead, 23-19, going into halftime. The Bucks held on through a close second half.
CB West (5-4, 3-1 SOL) plays Souderton Friday night at seven. Pennridge (4-6, 1-3 SOL) hosts William Tennent on the same night and time.
Pennridge 9-10-10-17 46
Central Bucks West 13-10-11-15 49
Pennridge (46) – Sean Yoder 21, Kyle Yoder 5, Jon Post 8, AJ DeMarco 5, Tyrese Lewis-Eutsey.
Central Bucks West (49) – Shane McCusker 9, Liam Cooney 5, Matthew Cooper 2, Collin MacAdams 17, Jack Mulhearn 4, Jake Reichwein 12.
North Penn 56, Souderton 40
North Penn trailed 24-23 at halftime but outscored Souderton 33-16 in the second half. David Giuliani sparked the Knights second-half surge, scoring 12 of his game-high 19 points after the intermission.
Four North Penn players—Giuliani (19), Reece Udinski (12), Chris Coleman (10) and AJ Mitchell (nine)—scored between nine and 19 points. Noah Kwortnik added six.
Mike Bealer (18) and Noah Horas (10) combined for 28 of Souderton’s 40 points. Bealer, who scored 13 points in the first half, made four threes. Horas nailed two.
The Knights improved to 3-0 in Continental play and sit alone in first-place. They have won all three games by double digits.
North Penn (7-3, 3-0 SOL) takes on CB South Friday night at seven. Souderton (3-6, 1-2 SOL) plays CB West on the same night and time.
Souderton 14-10-5-11 40
North Penn 14-9-16-17 56
Souderton (40) – Mike Bealer 18, Matt Cartwright 3, Antonio Rodriguez 5, Trevor Watts 4, Noah Horas 10.
North Penn (56) – AJ Mitchell 9, Chris Coleman 10, Reece Udinski 12, David Giuliani 19, Noah Kwortnik 6.
Central Bucks East 51, William Tennent 32
Central Bucks East trailed 12-11 after one quarter. Then the Patriots – who led 28-18 at halftime – won the middle quarters 32-12.
William Tennent scored just 20 points over the last three quarters.
CB East’s Collin Stein (16) and Ryan Plack (10) combined for 26 points. Stein made two threes. East’s Matt Pattyson and Elijah Seger both had eight points and six rebounds.
The Patriots shot 57 percent (20-of-35) from the field. They also shot 80 percent (8-of-10) from the foul line.
Markeith Alford-Baxter led Tennent with nine points. Pat McCauley had eight. Alford-Baxter and McCauley both sank two threes. Tennent made seven threes as a team.
CB East (6-4, 2-2 SOL) battles Wissahickon Thursday night at seven. Tennent (2-6, 0-3 SOL) plays Pennridge Friday night at seven.
William Tennent 12-6-6-8 32
Central Bucks East 11-17-15-8 51
William Tennent (32) – Pat McCauley 8, Matt Berndlmaier 2, Brendan Carter 4, Daulton Zeaman 3, Markeith Alford-Baxter 9, Dave West 3, Seamus Krier 3.
Centrl Bucks East (51) – Matt Pattyson 8, Ryan Plack 10, Elijah Seger 8, Collin Stein 16, Cooper Fink 1, Ben Markowitz 2, Nick Roggio 4, Kyle Cassidy 2.
SOL American
Plymouth Whitemarsh 54, Hatboro-Horsham 35
Plymouth Whitemarsh improved to 3-0 in SOL American play by rolling over a challenger.
The Colonials built an 18-7 lead through one quarter, pretty much held serve in the middle quarters (20-21) and pulled away with a big fourth (16-7).
In the 18-point first quarter, Matt Walker buried a pair of threes to lead the Colonials. Ahmad Williams scored six points in the second quarter – eight in the first half – as the Colonials opened up a 31-21 halftime lead.
Ahmad Williams led PW with 18 points. Four other Colonials players—Matt Walker (nine), Naheem McLeod (eight), Ahmin Williams (eight) and Cheo Houston (eight)—scored at least eight points.
Walker drilled three threes. Ahmad Williams buried two.
Clifton Moore led Hatboro-Horsham with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He had 15 of his points in the opening half to keep the Hatters in it. Jay Davis added nine points. Moore sank two threes.
PW (8-1, 3-0 SOL) takes on Cheltenham Friday night at seven. Both are 3-0 in American play. Hatboro-Horsham (5-4, 3-2 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin on the same night and time.
Hatboro-Horsham 7-14-7-7 35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 18-13-7-16 54
Hatboro-Horsham (35) – Brandon Crews 4, Clifton Moore 17, Jay Davis 9, Ryan Black 5.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (54) – Ish Horn 2, Naheem McLeod 8, Matt Walker 9, Ahmin Williams 8, Cheo Houston 8, Ahman Williams 19.
Upper Moreland 53, Quakertown 44
Upper Moreland won its fourth straight game and second straight league game.
The Golden Bears led by three going into the fourth quarter (37-34). Then UM won the fourth 16-10. The Bears shot 9-of-10 from the line in the last eight minutes.
Shane Stone led UM with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Coyle added nine points for the Bears. Damian Washington and Anthony Green both scored six. Both made two threes.
Quakertown’s Nick Drosnock (15), Ryan Howard (13) and JR Grimmage (11) scored in double figures. Drosnock buried four threes. Howard made three.
Upper Moreland (6-3, 2-2 SOL) hosts Wissahickon Friday night at seven. Quakertown (1-7, 0-3 SOL) plays Emmaus Wednesday night at seven.
Quakertown 8-15-11-10 44
Upper Moreland 15-11-11-16 53
Quakertown (44) – Ryan Howard 13, Nick Drosnock 15, Kevin Juszynski 3, Dakota Suchanec 2, JR Grimmage 11.
Upper Moreland (53) – Casey Decker 5, Ryan Coyle 9, Damian Washington 6, Anthony Green 6, Brett Brossman 3, Shane Stone 22, Jake Villanueva 2.
Cheltenham 69, Wissahickon 65
Cheltenham went into halftime down 45-31. Then the Panthers won the last two quarters 38-20.
“Tim Spencer twisted his ankle two minutes into the first quarter, so we lost him for the game. I think we were trying to find ourselves,” Cheltenham coach John Timms said. “You lose a guy that plays anywhere between 25-30 minutes out of 32 minutes, I think we were shellshocked, and Wissahickon came out on fire.”
Wissahickon made five threes in the first quarter.
“They weren’t missing,” Timms said. “You get hit with a barrage of threes and lose your best player, we started playing a little hopeless. We just had to weather the storm, regain that composure and understand that one person doesn’t make our team and that we win by playing defense. The fact that we gave up 45 points in the first half, if we had Tim, that’s still not playing a good half.”
Timms made a defensive adjustment in the third quarter, switching Trevonn Pitts onto Wissahickon’s top option, Shane Ford.
“Shane Ford dominated the first half,” Timms said. “We couldn’t afford Trevonn getting in foul trouble, so it was part of our strategy to say, ‘Hey, if Shane’s going to have a good first half, let him have it, but in the second half when we need to buckle down the most, Trevonn won’t be in foul trouble, and he’ll be allowed to play some defense,’ so that was part of our strategy.”
Ford scored eight points in the second half.
“I think we just kept riding the momentum, and it was defense,” said Timms, whose team outscored the Trojans 16-6 in the third quarter. “This was the game they recognized we couldn’t outscore Wissahickon. This is our growth. We grew up today because we recognized that we couldn’t outscore Wissahickon in the first half, and in the second half, we buckled down and got stops. This team kept thinking they could outscore people. The fact that Wissahickon scored 45 in the first half let us know that we could not outscore them. Unless you get a hundred, you’re not going to outscore them. We buckled down and played defense.”
Pitts and Ahmad Bickley both scored 18 points for Cheltenham. Rodney Carson dropped 17. Jack Clark added 10.
Ford led Wissahickon with 22. Zach Gelman and Zach Reiner had 11 and 10, respectively.
Cheltenham (5-2, 3-0 SOL) battles PW Friday night at seven. Wissahickon (3-5, 2-2 SOL) plays CB East Thursday night at seven.
Cheltenham 19-12-16-22 69
Wissahickon 28-17-6-14 65
Cheltenham (69)- Trevonn Pitts 18, Ahmad Bickley 18, Jack Clark 10, Tim Spencer 3, Nadir Slocum 3, Rodney Carson 17.
Wissahickon (65) – Chaz Owen 7, Donovan Elephant 7, James Johnson 2, Zach Gelman 11, Max Rapoport 6, Shane Ford 22, Zach Reiner 10.
SOL National
Pennsbury 40, Council Rock South 35
Pennsbury was considered the second-best team in the SOL National before the season, and still is.
But CR South started 7-1 overall and 2-0 in National play. The Golden Hawks wanted to change that hierarchy Tuesday night. And they almost did.
But Pennsbury held on for a close win. The Falcons never trailed.
They raced to a 12-6 lead after one quarter. Mark Flagg scored 10 of those 12 points.
“Mark’s skills are starting to shine,” Pennsbury coach Bill Coleman said. “He’s starting to show he can score from anywhere. On the low block, from the elbow, outside. It’s very difficult for people to play him.”
Pennsbury also led by six at halftime (19-13). The Falcons stretched their lead to nine by the start of the fourth, and to 11 early in the quarter. Then South went on an 8-0 run to make it 37-34 Pennsbury.
The Hawks missed a three on their next possession. It rimmed out. Then, on Pennsbury’s next possession, Billy Warren made a layup, got fouled and swished the free throw.
Pennsbury led by six with 34.2 seconds left. South scored one more point the rest of the way.
Flagg (16), Warren (12) and Addison Howard (10) combined for 38 of Pennsbury’s 40 points. Howard scored eight in the third. He also held South’s fourth quarter go-to guy—Austin Thomas—to no points in the final stanza.
“I know Austin and I know how he plays,” Howard said. “I had to make sure I played to his weaknesses. I had to make sure he didn’t get any rhythm shots.”
“Addison is a great player. He scores the ball great. He handles the ball great. He’s a great passer,” Flagg said. “He does everything for us. He’s the heart and soul of this team.”
“Addison played spectacular defense today,” Coleman said.
Alex Nordenholt led CR South with 13 points. Shaun Smith made two threes in the fourth.
Pennsbury (6-3, 2-1 SOL) plays Council Rock North Thursday night at seven. South (7-2, 2-1 SOL) battles 
Bensalem Friday night at seven.
Pennsbury 12-7-14-7 40
Council Rock South 6-7-11-11 35
Pennsbury (40) – Mark Flagg 16, Billy Warren 12, Addison Howard 10, Josh Arruda 2.
Counci Rock South (35) – Alex Nordenholt 13, Shaun Smith 6, Kevin Newbert 5, Ryan McNamee 5, Austin Thomas 4, Christian Jabbar 2.
Abington 71, Harry S. Truman 49
Abington improved to 4-0 in SOL National play, remaining alone in first-place.
Abington’s Robbie Heath (22) and Eric Dixon (21) combined for 43 points. Dixon also had 10 rebounds. Heath had five. Joseph O’Brien had 10 points and nine boards.
Lucas Monroe put up six points, five rebounds and five assists. Robert Young chipped in seven assists and two steals. He also did not turn the ball over.
Abington shot 52 percent (29-of-56) from the field, 57 percent (27-of-47) from inside the three-point line. The Ghosts also made 11-of-14 (78.5 percent) free throws.
Abington also pulled down 40 rebounds, a season-high, and dished 22 assists.
Abington (8-3, 4-0 SOL) takes on CB East Friday night at seven. Harry S. Truman (5-3, 1-2 SOL) plays Neshaminy Friday night at 7:30.
Abington 15-21-20-15 71
Harry S. Truman 10-10-15-14 49
Abington (71) – Eric Dixon 21, Robbie Heath 22, Joseph O’Brien 10, Lucas Monroe 6, Eric Dougherty 6, Jonah Canada 4, Howie Burrell 2.
Neshaminy 41, Council Rock North 30
Someone other than Chris Arcidiacono—Anthony Papeo—led Neshaminy to victory Tuesday night.
Papeo scored 15 points, including three threes. Arcidiacono and Zach Tredway both scored eight points. 
Neshaminy built a 10-5 lead through one quarter with Papeo accounting for five of those. The Redskins took a 17-12 lead into halftime and still led by five heading into the final frame (26-21). They pulled away by winning the fourth 15-9.
Drew Burton and Noah Ehlin led CR North with six points each.
Neshaminy is 4-4. The Redskins won five games in 2015-16.
Neshaminy (4-4, 2-2 SOL) hosts Truman Friday night at 7:30. CR North (3-9, 0-4 SOL) battles Pennsbury Thursday night at seven.
Neshaminy 10-7-9-15 41
Council Rock North 5-7-9-9 30
Neshaminy (41) – Pat Campbell 3, Zach Tredway 8, Chris Arcidiacono 8, Anthony Papeo 15, Anthony Verrecchio 1, Andrew Note 2, Charles Dominick 4.
Council Rock North (30) – Ryan Costello 5, Eric Levine 4, Drew Burton 6, James Kosyla 2, Noah Ehlin 6, Matt McAlister 3, Tommy Boyle 4.
Nonleague
Bensalem 51, Central Bucks South 46
Bensalem – which took a 22-16 lead into halftime – led 33-32 after three quarters. The Owls pulled away by winning the fourth quarter 18-14.
Bensalem’s Brian Quarterman (13) and Isaiah Carpenter (12) combined for 25 points. Ward Roberts added eight. Taco Douglas chipped in seven.
Alex Karras led CB South with 18 points. Andrew Dietz and Nate Robinson both added six.
Bensalem (6-3, 1-2 SOL) hosts CR South Friday night at seven. CB South (3-6, 2-1 SOL) plays North Penn on the same night and time.
Bensalem 8-14-11-18 51
Central Bucks South 7-9-16-14 46
Bensalem (51) – Taco Douglas 7, Ward Roberts 8, Rich Dean Jr 4, Keith Parrish 2, Brian Quarterman 13, Kris Shields 5, Isaiah Carpenter 12
Central Bucks South (46) – Alex Karras 18, Nate Robinson 6, Danny Tecce 5, Nate Johnston 4, Cole Prezelski 1, Colin Sauers 4, Andrew Dietz 6, Ian McCaw 2.
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