Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. To view photos of the CR North/CR South game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
Council Rock North 49, Council Rock South 35
They hadn’t forgotten, and just in case they had, coach Derek Wright was always there to remind them of last year’s disappointing loss to Rock South in a game the Indians led by eight heading into the final quarter.
“We were up 39-31 at the start of the fourth quarter, and when they don’t want to finish practice hard at practice or it’s the fourth quarter of another game, we write that score down,” Wright said. “We wrote it down in the fourth quarter today because last year was a tough one, and those guys took it hard.
“They responded tonight, and they definitely deserved it.”
Interestingly, the Indians took an identical eight-point lead into the fourth quarter of Friday’s game (30-22), but this time the Indians closed out the game with a 19-point fourth quarter to put and exclamation point on the big win.
Leading the charge in the last quarter was senior Matt Margolis with nine points while Riley Thompson was a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line.
“We were 10-for-10 overall, and we’ve shot free throws well all year, which we need to do,” Wright said. “We can’t give up points any time.
“Riley had the ball in his hands most of the fourth quarter and was really solid with it and closed it out for us.”
Margolis led all scorers with 18 points, which included a pair of three-pointers.
“He was really good tonight, and I was really happy for him because he’s had a little bit of a rough stretch when our schedule got tougher,” Wright said. “Teams have really keyed in on him, and I know he probably wasn’t playing as well as he’d like.
“His attitude’s been great through the whole thing. He’s still defending as hard as he can, and we stick with him because we go as he goes, and he really made some big shots, rebounded the ball well for his position and played with really good passion, which I think gets the rest of our guys going.”
Steve Nowmos also had a big game for the Indians, contributing 14 points and providing a presence in the paint.
“Steve was a beast tonight in the paint,” Wright said. “He was the difference for us. They really packed in the lane early in the game and forced us to make perimeter shots, and we went 2-for-14 in the first quarter and couldn’t make a shot.
“We really focused on getting the ball in to him in the second and third quarters, and he responded. He played really well.”
Thompson also finished in double figures with 10 for the Indians, who led 5-3 after a low-scoring opening quarter but came to life in the second quarter. Sparked by six points from Nowmos and five from Margolis, they outscored the Golden Hawks 15-11 to go into halftime with a 20-14 lead.
Austin Thomas led the Golden Hawks with nine points while Ryan Boyd had seven and Mike Stock, six.
The Indians upped their league mark to 7-4 (12-7 overall) while the Golden Hawks are 4-8 in league play (7-13 overall).
Council Rock South 3 11 8 13—35
Council Rock North 5 15 10 19—49
Council Rock South (35) – Mike Agasar 2, Matt Stewart 2, Austin Thomas 9, Kevin Newbert 4, Alex Nordenholt 5, Mike Stock 6, Ryan Boyd 7.
Council Rock North (49) – Riley Thompson 10, Drew Glenn 3, Matt Margolis 18, Steve Nowmos 14, Will Desautelle.
Pennsbury 83, Harry S. Truman 59
Derrick Woods had a ridiculous night for the Falcons, recording a whopping 34 points and 26 rebounds in an impressive Pennsbury win over visiting Harry S. Truman.
The Falcons led by six (44-38) at the half and dominated play in the final two quarters to come out with the lopsided victory.
Pennsbury (15-4, 10-2) saw Woods score 24 of his points in the first half alone. Mekhi Bryant, who went over the 1,000-point milestone for his career on Thursday night, added 13. Cameron Jones tallied 11, while Nick Cereby added eight.
The Tigers (6-13, 4-7) were led by Tyquan Law’s 18 points. Danell Snelling added 13.
Harry S. Truman 14 21 11 10—59
Pennsbury 14 30 22 17—83
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 51, Quakertown 39
With no conference wins on the season, Central Bucks East wasted no time before taking command in the Patriots’ Senior Night game on Friday.
The Patriots ripped off 23 first quarter points and never looked back, defeating Quakertown by double digits at Central Bucks East High School.
Thanks to a pair of 17-point efforts by Matt Pattyson and Travis Ives, CB East (6-14, 1-11) was finally able to get rid of the ‘0’ it had in the win column in conference play.
“It’s a big relief,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. “Our wins have been few and far between after a 4-1 start.
“Quakertown is tough, gritty team, and we got off to a quick start. We knew they weren’t going away, so it was just a matter of sticking with what the plan was and luckily we were able to come out with our first win. It was great to see Travis (Ives) have a big game on his Senior Night.”
Of Pattyson’s 17 points, 12 came in the first quarter alone as he knocked down four three-pointers to spot the Patriots a 23-12 lead after one quarter.
“When you’re making shots, it makes games a lot easier,” Henrysen said. “And we were making our shots. And while Travis scored 17 points, he also shared the ball, got rebounds and did a great job on defense.”
Justin O’Neil added 10 points for the Patriots, who led 30-19 at the half and played the Panthers fairly even for the final three quarters after building up an 11-point lead after eight minutes of play.
Pattyson added five rebounds and five assists, while Ives added four and three, respectively. O’Neil also brought down five rebounds. CB East went 8-for-9 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Griffin Schmidt and Kevin Norvaisis led the Panthers (9-11, 3-9) with 16 and 11 points, respectively.
Quakertown 12 7 9 11—39
Central Bucks East 23 7 9 12—51
Quakertown (39) – Jake Perrine 6, Brian Rejniak 4, Kyle Baskin 2, Kevin NOrvaisas 11, Griffin Schmidt 16.
Central Bucks East (51) – Justin O’Neil 10, Matt Pattyson 17, Sean Dann 3, Travis Ives 17, Jeff Circuit 4.
Souderton 45, Central Bucks South 42
A minute before the game started, Evan Slone went to Souderton coach Pete Chimera and told him that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to play. The star player told his coach that his stomach was killing him and that he might not be well enough to go out on the court at all.
“We have a plan,” Chimera told Slone. “You give me thumbs up or thumbs down on the first dead ball, and I’ll get you out if you need.”
Slone ended up giving Chimera the thumbs up, played for most of the night and led the Indians with 17 points in an extremely gutsy effort as Souderton slipped past host Central Bucks South.
“Evan was tremendous,” Slone said. “He gutted it out and he led us tonight.”
Even with Slone’s incredible effort, the Indians (11-9, 7-5) found themselves trailing by seven at the half (27-2) and by 12 just moments into the third quarter.
“We called timeout and we just talked,” Chimera said. “I told them to forget about the score and play each possession like it means a lot, because they all do.
“I said just slowly get back into it and we did. We played every possession. Defensively, Tracy Simsick was terrific in the second half. He was rebounding the heck out of the ball, which is not always his strength. He wouldn’t let anyone get a rebound.”
Souderton was able to tie things up at 35-35 after three quarters before coming out with the slight advantage in the fourth.
Tim Markow scored 16 for Souderton after being held scoreless against Pennridge on Wednesday.
“We talk about the next play and not the next game,” Chimera said. “We say – don’t let anything affect you, and our seniors and leaders are doing that, so it’s a good thing.”
CB South (11-8, 7-5) was led by Tim Waddington’s 18 points.
Souderton 10 10 15 10—45
Central Bucks South16 11 8 7—42
Souderton (45) – Evan Slone 17, Tracy Simsick 3, Tim Markow 16, Steve Sosnowicz 7, David Brush 2.
Central Bucks South (42) – Alex Karras 5, Tommy Doyle 2, Bryan Meyers 6, Ian Vogt 3, Tim Waddington 18, Chris Hones 4, David Drea 2, Sean Gallagher 2.
Pennridge 52, North Penn 49
Before Friday night, Pennridge had never won the Continental Conference in outright fashion. In 2011, the Rams shared the title with North Penn, despite beating the Knights twice. Last year, four teams earned a share of the conference championship.
But thanks to Friday’s hard fought win over the host Knights, the Rams managed to earn sole possession of the conference title for 2015.
Now sitting at 11-1 in the conference (17-2 overall), the Rams know the title is theirs, and they can now begin to focus on the Suburban One championships and the district playoffs.
“Our goal from day one was to win the division outright,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “The boys stepped up and did that. I think that’s step one and your goal every season.
“You get to put a banner up in the gym and have something to show for it. I’m real proud of our kids tonight.”
Pennridge and North Penn (11-9, 6-6) played to a tie after one quarter, and the Knights led 26-22 at the half. The Rams came out in the third and went on top 38-36 going into the fourth.
Dan Long led the way for Pennridge, scoring 20 points while knocking down four triples. Joe Molettiere added 16, while Zach Muredda scored nine.
Joey Richards led the Knights with 12 points, while Jared Malone added nine.
Despite his team’s 17-2 record, Behrens said his team hasn’t been getting the respect it deserves this season.
“This was a great statement for our program,” he said. “People have been taking shots at our program saying that we’re really not that good and asking who have we beaten. All we can do is beat the teams on our schedule and being 17-2 is great. A Pennridge team has never had more than 18 wins. A
“I think the big picture is that we still have to get better. We would like to see if we can get the Suburban One outright, which will be a tough task. We want to get a good seed in the district playoffs and try to get into states.”
Pennridge 17 5 16 14—52
North Penn 17 9 10 13—49
Pennridge (52) – Joe Molettiere 16, Dan Long 20, Zach Muredda 9, Stephen Lowry 3, Joe Unangst 2, Kyle Yoder 2.
North Penn (49) – Matt Pickford 4, Joey Richards 12, Kyle Hulmes 5, Cordell Lord 7, JJ Melchoir 6, Jared Melone 9, Derek Heiserman 6.
Hatboro-Horsham 52, Central Bucks West 46 (OT)
Despite being on opposite ends of the conference standings, Hatboro-Horsham and Central Bucks West played to a surprise finish on Friday night.
The Hatters, who had three different players in double digits, scored 15 points in overtime to come out with a win over the visiting Bucks.
The Hatters, who are now 9-10 overall and 5-7 in conference play, received 14 points from Brian McEachern, 13 from Walter Kimble and 10 from Pat Haggerty.
“It was a real good win for our program,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Ed Enoch said. “We have so much respect for CB West. They’re so well coached and their program is very classy, and for us to battle and hang in there was great. We got better as the game went on, and I thought that’s where we were really good tonight. Offensively, we weren’t perfect, but we didn’t turn the ball over much, we made some shots and that’s what you have to do against those guys.”
CB West, which now sits at 15-5 and 8-4, respectively, was led by Owen Cooney’s 13 points.
The Bucks led by four (19-15) at the half, but the Hatters kept the game close and eventually tied it at 37-37 at the end of regulation.
“We were kind of trailing the whole game and then had a real good fourth quarter,” Enoch said. “We got a number of stops defensively and some really good rebounds. We made some shots and that allowed us to hang in there. In overtime, we scored first, got a couple stops and handled things very well.”
Central Bucks West 10 9 10 8 9—46
Hatboro-Horsham 7 8 12 10 15—52
Central Bucks West (46) – Luke Irons 2, Owen Cooney 13, Cal Reichwein 5, Erich Hohlenleitner 6, Nico Munari 5, Connor Lynch 4, Jim McCusker 5, Bill Power 6.
Hatboro-Horsham (52) – Zeke Sloan 4, Walter Kimble 13, Brian McEachern 14, Joe Russell 2, Kyle Katz 3, Pat Haggerty 10, David Robinson 6.
American Conference
Norristown 52, Wissahickon 44
With the district playoffs on the horizon, Norristown is finding its team chemistry at the right time.
Going up against a Trojan squad that beat them earlier in the year, the Eagles played a strong second half and won their fifth game in a row following with a victory over visiting Wissahickon.
Darryl Carr led all scorers with 25 points – 11 of which came in the third quarter – while also bringing down eight rebounds for Norristown.
“It’s good to get the win,” Norristown coach Mike Evans said. “We won five games in a row and I think the kids are starting to get better and they had something to learn to come back and beat this team. That shows some improvement.”
After Norristown went on top by eight points at the end of one quarter (15-7), Wissahickon went on a 10-0 run to tie things up at 17-17 by halftime. Norristown outscored the Trojans 18-12 in the third to go on top 45-39 and then held on for the win.
“At halftime, we just went in there and talked about being more consistent and doing the things to advance,” Evans said. “The guys came out and played great team defense and were moving the ball around and playing basketball. They got some easy transition points off of our defense.”
Roy Green added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles, while Todd Bentley was the only player in double digits in scoring for the Trojans, scoring 16. Stephen Driscoll added seven.
“Districts has been the goal the kids have, and that’s where they’re working on,” Evans said. “They’re jelling at the perfect time and getting it together at the perfect time.”
Norristown upped its record to 7-4 in league play (10-8 overall) while the Trojans are 8-4 in the league (10-8 overall).
Wissahickon 7 10 12 15—44
Norristown 15 2 18 17—52
Plymouth Whitemarsh 81, Springfield 21
Andre Mitchell, Jimmy Murray and Xzavier Malone combined to score 49 points for Plymouth Whitemarsh in a huge victory over visiting Springfield.
With the win, the Colonials (18-2, 11-1) clinched at least a share of the conference title.
Mitchell led the way with 18, while Murray and Malone added 16 and 15, respectively. Malone added a pair of assists and one steal, while Murray also dished out two assists while tallying three steals. Mitchell recorded four rebounds and three assists. Cameron Johnson added six rebounds and five steals.
Christian Yoast led the Spartans (2-17, 0-12) with nine points.
Springfield trailed 14-7 after one quarter but found itself on the short end of a 46-14 at halftime after the Colonials completely took over in the second quarter, exploding for 32 points. PW didn’t allow more than seven points in any single quarter.
Springfield 7 7 5 2—21
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14 32 19 16—81
Upper Merion at Upper Dublin
The American Conference meeting between Upper Merion and Upper Dublin was moved to next Thursday night at Upper Dublin High School after the school hosted wrestling duals on Friday.
Cheltenham 42, Upper Moreland 21
There really wasn’t much more Cheltenham coach John Timms could have asked of his defense on Friday.
The Panthers allowed just eight points combined in the opening three quarters, rolling to a win while doubling up visiting Upper Moreland.
Cheltenham allowed just two points in each the first and third quarters, while stifling anything the Bears attempted until the Panthers (11-7, 8-3) cleared their bench in the fourth.
The Panthers led 25-6 at the half and Anthony White led the team in points with 11. Vaughn Jenkins added 10, while Fatiir Al-Ahad added seven.
Brendan O’Donnell and Casey Decker led the Bears (7-13, 3-9) with six apiece.
Upper Moreland 2 4 2 13—21
Cheltenham 10 15 15 2—42
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