Jarrad Saffren recaps Friday’s SOL boys basketball action. CR South/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. North Penn/CB South photos are courtesy of Lisa Henderson. Check back for a photo gallery of both games.
By Jarrad Saffren
Harry S. Truman beat Neshaminy Friday night. That was kind of sort of a surprise.
Quakertown won a league game on the road for the first time since 2010. But that was actually not a surprise. Quakertown played 1-9 Springfield-Montco, a Class 4A team. The Panthers are a Class 6A team. Still, it was an impressive 16-point win for a team that had been playing well against more talented teams, just not finishing.
All of Friday night’s other results were expected. Most were blowouts. Five of ten winners won by double digits. Four won by eight or nine.
Sixteen Suburban One League boys basketball teams played league games. Two—Abington and Central Bucks East—played a nonleague game.
The results and recaps are below.
SOL Continental
Pennridge 49, William Tennent 29
Pennridge’s sophomore tandem—Sean Yoder (22) and Jon Post (16)—combined for 38 of the Rams’ 49 points.
Yoder, Pennridge’s point guard and best scorer, continues to impress his coach.
“He gets better every game. We’re putting a lot on his back for a sophomore. And teams are throwing a lot at him, for a sophomore to handle,” Rams coach Dean Behrens said. “Some teams are even face-guarding him, which is a lot of pressure throughout the game. But he stays composed.”
Post scored 15 points in Pennridge’s season-opening win over Saucon Valley Dec. 9. But he has been quiet since.
“He needed to work on his shooting. So we’ve been working on that with him in practice,” Behrens said. “And he’s been steadily improving.”
Post’s 16 points came on eight two-pointers, no free throws, so he took and made jump shots.
Post made the twos. His teammates handled the threes. Pennridge made six. Yoder drained four of them. Ryan Kinky and Ryan Warner made the others.
Pennridge played really good team defense. Just look at the final score. William Tennent did not even hit 30.
“They have some kids, like (Pat) McCauley and (Matt) Berndlmaier, who can hit from distance. We had to get out on their shooters,” Behrens said. “And we did. We pressured them wherever they were. That was pretty much our strategy.”
McCauley scored 13 of Tennent’s 29 points. He did make three threes. But no other Tennent player made more than one. Brendan Carter added eight points.
Once Pennridge blanketed the shooters, it boxed out and grabbed rebounds.
“We had been struggling to rebound, and didn’t really do anything different, we just kept practicing it,” Behrens said. “We also played bigger teams before.”
Pennridge (5-6, 2-3 SOL) plays Wissahickon Saturday at 4:30. William Tennent (2-7, 0-4 SOL) hosts Souderton Tuesday night at seven.
Pennridge 9-21-13-6 49
William Tennent 5-12-5-7 29
Pennridge (49) – Ryan Warner 3, Sean Yoder 22, Ryan Kinky 3, Kyle Yoder 2, Tyrese Lewis-Eutsey 3, Jon Post 16.
William Tennent (29) – Pat McCauley 13, Brendan Carter 8, Markeith Alford-Baxter 3, Jorge Soto 2, Dave West 4, David Gassonova 1.
North Penn 60, Central Bucks South 51
North Penn raced to a 17-10 lead after one quarter, and maintained its lead throughout.
“It was a good game for us. David Giuliani, Reece Udinski and Lance Ford helped us control the tempo,” Knights coach John Conrad said. “They were also clutch down the stretch.”
Giuliani scored 17 points, leading North Penn yet again.
“We knew he had this in him this year,” Conrad said. “I don’t know if we expected him to score this much, though.”
Udinski dropped 13, shooting 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Most of the free throws came in the fourth quarter.
“Reece really put the game away,” Conrad said. “We wanted to keep the ball in his hands in the fourth, him or Lance.”
Ford added six points. Ford and Udinski handled the ball in the fourth.
“We had AJ Mitchell handling in the first half,” Conrad said. “But he got into some foul trouble, so Lance and Reece started handling, and once they started making free throws, we kept it in their hands.”
Chris Coleman added nine points for North Penn. Nine Knights players scored.
“Balance has been our strength,” Conrad said. “And it was again tonight. We feel confident running our offense through almost anybody.”
North Penn, at 4-0 in Suburban One League Continental Conference play, is in first-place, all alone, a half game up on Central Bucks West.
“It’s a good start but there are still things we need to work on,” Conrad said. “We’ll keep improving, but we like where we are.”
Nate Robinson led Central Bucks South with 18 points. Alex Karras scored 15.
North Penn (8-3, 4-0 SOL) battles Upper Moreland Saturday at three. CB South (3-7, 2-2 SOL) plays Central Bucks East Tuesday night at seven.
North Penn 17-12-13-18 60
Central Bucks South 10-13-12-16 51
North Penn (60) – Lance Ford 6, Nate O’Donnell 3, AJ Mitchell 2, Ricky Johns 2, Chris Coleman 9, Reece Udinski 13, David Giuliani 17, Derek Heiserman 4, Noah Kwortnik 4.
Central Bucks South (51) – Alex Karras 15, Nate Robinson 18, Nate Johnston 3, Colin Sauers 3, Tommy Kuypers 3, Andrew Dietz 4, Ian McCaw 3, Colin Kenney 2.
Central Bucks West 55, Souderton 47
Four CB West players scored in double figures as the Bucks improved to 4-1 in league play.
“We played really well offensively tonight,” Bucks coach Adam Sherman said. “We’ve been playing well defensively, but tonight the offense caught up.”
Collin MacAdams has been CB West’s best player all season. He was again Friday night. MacAdams had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Jake Reichwein has been West’s other best player this year. He was again Friday night. Reichwein had 14 points and nine boards.
“They’ve been great together. Not just the scoring, but the rebounding and everything else,” Sherman said. “That’s been the most impressive part of their games.”
Liam Cooney and Shane McCusker added 11 and 10 points, respectively. McCusker nailed two threes and also had three rebounds. Jack Traina handed out three assists.
Souderton scored nine points in the first quarter and nine in the second and trailed 25-18 at the intermission.
“We played great defense for three quarters but slacked a little bit at the end,” Sherman said. “Other than that, we don’t have too much to work on. We played really well all around tonight.”
Mike Bealer led Souderton with 17 points, including three threes. Trevor Watts scored 13. Matt Cartwright had eight.
CB West (6-4, 4-1 SOL) hosts Academy Park Saturday at 4:30. Souderton (3-7, 1-3 SOL) plays Boyertown on the same day and time.
Central Bucks West 18-7-20-10 55
Souderton 9-9-14-15 47
Central Bucks West (55) – Jack Traina 3, Shane McCusker 10, Liam Cooney 11, Collin MacAdams 17, Jake Reichwein 14.
Souderton (47) – Mike Bealer 17, Matt Cartwright 8, Lennon 2, DJ landis 4, Trevor Watts 13, Noah Horas 3.
SOL American
Quakertown 50, Springfield-Montco 34
Quakertown won its first SOL American game of 2016-17, its first American Conference win ever.
The Panthers led 14-3 after one quarter and stretched that to 31-9 by halftime.
“We had been playing well, really challenging those teams in our league with better records,” Quakertown coach Kevin Keeler said. “So it was really nice to get one.”
The usual cast played well for Quakertown.
“Nick Drosnock, JR Grimmage were aggressive and steady,” Keeler said. “They played great on defense, too.”
Drosknock led the Panthers with 17 points, which included three three-pointers. Ryan Howard, who had a pair of threes, and Dakota Suchanec both added nine points. Grimmage had eight points.
For the Spartans, Ryan Daley led the way with 19 points.
Quakertown (2-8, 1-3 SOL) hosts Plymouth Whitemarsh Tuesday night at seven.
“Now we need to build off this win,” Keeler said. “We got the big boys coming in. If we can compete with them, we’ll have something going.”
Springfield-Montco (1-9, 0-5 SOL) takes on Wissahickon Tuesday night at seven.
Quakertown 14-17-12-7 50
Springfield 3-6-14-11 34
Quakertown (50) – Ryan Howard 9, Nick Drosnock 17, Dakota Suchanec 9, Kevin Juszynski 4, Matt Lucas 2, JR Grimmage 8, Jashua Rodriguez 1.
Springfield (34) – Pauls 3, Mike Goodson 3, Ryan Daley 19, Perry 3, Krewson 3, Matt Corrado 3.
Wissahickon 61, Upper Moreland 54
Upper Moreland “came out on fire,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. UM’s Damian Washington hit three threes in the first quarter, putting the Golden Bears up 15-6.
“We needed to close out on shooters,” Wilson said. “We shaped up in the second quarter.”
Wissahickon dominated the second quarter, outscoring Upper Moreland 23-10 to go into halftime with a 29-25 advantage.
“We woke up, started taking the ball to the hole and turned things around,” Wilson said. “They were really focusing on Shane Ford and Zach Reiner, so Chaz Owens stepped up.”
Owens led Wissahickon with 20 points in the game. Max Rapoport dropped 13. Zach Gelman added nine. They all made up for UM’s blanketing of Ford and Reiner. Those two contributed in other ways.
“They played great defense and helped us rebound,” Wilson said.
The Trojans shot 15-of-18 from the line in the fourth quarter, holding off Upper Moreland. Owens shot 7-of-8. Gelman hit 7-of-9. And Reiner made 3-of-4.
Washington led the Bears with 19 points. Ryan Coyle and Shane Stone both scored 10.
Wissahickon (5-5, 3-2 SOL) battles Pennridge Saturday at 1:30. Upper Moreland (6-4, 2-3 SOL) plays North Penn Saturday at three.
Wissahickon 6-23-14-18 61
Upper Moreland 15-10-13-16 54
Wissahickon 6-23-14-18 62
Upper Moreland 15-10-13-16 54
Wissahickon (62) – Chaz Owens 20, Donovan Oliphant 3, Marlyn Johnson 2, Zach Gelman 9, Max Rapoport 13, Alex Tappen 3, Shane Ford 6, Zach Reiner 5.
Upper Moreland (54) – Damian Washington 19, Ryan Coyle 10, Anthony Green 9, Shane Stone 10, Jake Vilanueva 6.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 75, Cheltenham 59
In a battle of teams that entered undefeated in American play, Plymouth Whitemarsh came out as the league’s clear favorite.
The Panthers got off to a strong start, outscoring the Colonials 18-16 in the opening quarter. Things changed in a hurry in a second quarter that saw the Colonials close out the half on a 21-13 tear to go into halftime with a 37-31 lead. Matt Walker had the hot hand for PW, burying four three-pointers and scoring 14 of his 17 points in the opening half. Ahmin Williams, who finished with a team high 18, scored 11 points in the opening half, which included a pair of threes.
Sparked by six points from both Ahmin and Ahmad Williams, the Colonials continued their torrid offensive production in the third quarter, outscoring the Panthers 22-15.
Ahmad Williams finished with 16 points, and Naheem McLeod added 11 for the Colonials.
Jack Clark buried five three-pointers and led the Panthers with 19 points. Rodney Carson added 17 points. The Colonials limited high-scoring Trevonn Pitts to just seven points.
The Colonials improved to 4-0 in league play. They beat Hatboro-Horsham and Cheltenham—their two main challengers for the league title—this week. They also beat Wissahickon—the only other American team with a winning record in league play—earlier in the season.
The Colonials are still kings. There is still a lot of season left, and another round of league play. But they beat their two challengers by 19 and 16 this week, respectively.
PW (9-1, 4-0 SOL) plays Quakertown Tuesday night at seven. Cheltenham (5-3, 4-1 SOL) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on the same night and time.
Cheltenham 18-13-15-13 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16-21-22-16 75
Cheltenham (59) – Trevonn Pitts 7, Ahmad Bickley 5, Jack Clark 17, Tim Myarick 5, Rodney Carson 17, Kyin Healey 6.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (75) – Ish Horn 6, Kareem Breeden 5, Naheem McLeod 11, Matt Walker 17, Ahmin Williams 18, Ahmad Williams 16.
Hatboro-Horsham 62, Upper Dublin 30
Hatboro-Horsham bounced back after a 19-point loss to PW Tuesday night.
The Hatters won how they have been winning all year: Clifton Moore plus Jay Davis plus a third member of the band.
Moore had 18 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. Davis had 23 points and five steals. Ryan Black added 13 points.
Hatboro-Horsham (6-4, 4-2 SOL) takes on Cheltenham Tuesday night at seven. Upper Dublin (1-8, 1-3 SOL) battles Upper Moreland on the same night and time.
SOL National
Harry S. Truman 61, Neshaminy 59
Neshaminy led by four at halftime, 27-23. Harry S. Truman won the third quarter 19-14, taking a one-point lead into the fourth.
The Tigers held on in a close fourth quarter. Kelechi Ogbonna led Truman with 18 points. Danell Snelling and Zierr Reid both scored 10. Reid buried two threes. Gabe Gipli and Marvel Rogers had nine and eight, respectively.
Neshaminy’s Chris Arcidiacono had another huge night, dropping 35 points. He was 12-for-14 at the foul line. He is averaging 23.7 points per game this season. He also corralled six rebounds Friday night.
Neshaminy’s Anthony Verrecchio had 11 points and seven boards. Zach Tredway had nine points and six rebounds.
Truman improved to 2-2 in SOL National play, leapfrogging Bensalem and Neshaminy in the standings. The Tigers are in fourth-place behind Abington, Pennsbury and Council Rock South.
Truman (6-3, 2-2 SOL) takes on Pennsbury Tuesday night at six. Neshaminy (4-5, 2-3 SOL) battles CR South Tuesday night at seven.
Harry S. Truman 12-11-19-19 61
Neshaminy 16-11-14-18 59
Harry S Truman (61) – Jeff Nixon 6, Kelechi Ogbonna 18, Danell Selling 10, Marv Rogers 8, Zierr Reid 10, Gabe Gipli 9.
Neshaminy (59) – Zach Tredway 9, Mark Gentry 2, Chris Arcidiacono 35, Anthony Pepeo 2, Anthony Verrecchio 11.
Council Rock South 58, Bensalem 49
Council Rock South trailed by one after the first quarter (16-15), but won the second quarter 14-6. The Golden Hawks maintained their advantage through a close second half.
CR South’s Alex Nordenholt dropped 18 points, including three threes. Ryan Boyd and Kevin Newbert added 13 and 12, respectively.
Taco Douglas led Bensalem with 13 points. Brian Quarterman, Richard Dean and Kris Shields all scored eight.
South (8-2, 3-1 SOL) plays Neshaminy Tuesday night at seven. Bensalem (6-4, 1-3 SOL) battles Abington on the same night and time.
Bensalem 16-6-11-16 49
Council Rock South 15-14-12-17 58
Bensalem (49) – Taco Douglas 13, Rich Dean Jr 8, Keith Parrish 6, Brian Quarterman 8, Nadir Smith 6, Chris Shields 8.
Council Rock South (58) – Austin Thomas 5, Christian Jabbar 3, Alex Nordenholt 15, Kevin Newbert 13, Ryan McNamee 7, Ryan Boyd 13.
Nonleague
Abington 58, Central Bucks East 42
Abington improved to 9-3 on the backs of its big four.
Eric Dixon, Robbie Heath, Joseph O’Brien and Lucas Monroe again filled up the box score.
Dixon finished with 23 points and eight rebounds. He shot 7-of-11 (64 percent) from the field, 8-of-9 (88 percent) from the line and even made a three.
Heath posted 15 points, six boards, four assists and two steals. He shot 4-of-5 (80 percent) from the line.
O’Brien chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds, four offensive. He did not miss a shot (5-of-5) from the field.
Monroe added six points, five rebounds and four assists.
Abington point guard Robert Young again steadied the offense. Young did not turn the ball over. He only has 12 turnovers in 12 games.
Abington shot 21-of-38 (55.2 percent) from the field. It shot over 50 percent for the second straight game.
Abington (9-3, 4-0 SOL) plays Bensalem Tuesday night at seven. CB East (6-6, 2-2 SOL) hosts CB South on the same night and time.
Abington 18-9-11-20 58
Central Bucks East 6-13-15-8 42
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