Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. North Penn/CB East photos courtesy of Tracy Valko, PW/ Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Larry Small, and Pennsbury/CR South photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of all three games. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
SOL Liberty Division
Plymouth Whitemarsh 75, Upper Dublin 33
The showdown for the top spot turned into a rout early, as Plymouth Whitemarsh jumped on visiting Upper Dublin early and rolled to the shocking 42-point victory in the first Liberty Division game for both squads on Tuesday night.
PW led 24-6 after one quarter and 40-13 at halftime. Mani Sajid scored 15 of his game-high 31 points in the opening half.
“I’m really proud of them tonight,” said PW coach Jim Donofrio. “I wasn’t sure what we were going to do. I think Upper Dublin came in – they’re just a really confident bunch, and they deserve to be. They had a district title. They had an incredible streak last year, and that carries over.
“So we had to handle that, and we handled it. And now can we handle it Friday night? We’ve got Cheltenham Friday night, we’ve got Coatesville at home Saturday night. It’s a fun schedule. It’s a little crazy.
“It was a really great crowd and great high school environment, but I loved our focus. They’re starting to grow up. Hopefully, we can chase something big.”
Key Players: Mani Sajid had a monster night for the Colonials with 31 points, including four 3-pointers. UD was led by Justin Ragsdale’s 10 points.
PW coach Jim Donofrio:
–The big win: “I think a lot of this is timing and where your team is at emotionally. And if you think about the timing of it, the last two years Upper Dublin was building to a terrific senior strong team. That’s how this stuff works. And they were great. We were a hair behind, and they went on and had a phenomenal season. as it should have been. Their timing, their experience, the specific type of players they had in terms of depth and the chemistry. And this year, that script is flipped. And we have 10 seniors, and they’ve figured things out a bit.
“So then you add to that the fact that you’re coming off a down moment, losing to West Catholic. You’re sitting at 4-4. You’ve got to wonder about yourselves a bit. The kids got to wonder. And then you go to San Diego and win three in a row, and you win a title there. And it’s funny how it turns around.
“Now you come home, and I wasn’t sure about the challenging schedule we put together, you’re hoping it pays off. So, you add the emotion to it. You’re in our place, and the history of our program – we’ve had a lot of success winning at home – so there’s a whole lot to draw on.
“Mani Sajid has had a bullseye on his back for the last two years or three years, and the social media world has fun taking shots at him, and he’s all grown up now, and he’s got ears. He dropped 31, and he can play. You know, he’s a different guy than he was a year ago, and he’s got a great cast of guys around him, and I’m really happy that we were focused and showed a lot of pride and, most importantly, followed a defensive game plan to a tee.
“For all the talk of getting emotional wins and all, it’s still early in the season, and these guys have to learn how to have poise and confidence and mental and emotional strength for the long run. So, young teams get emotional every time they get a win. Experienced teams say, ‘Okay, great win, great focus.’ We got two more games this week. Can you start to realize what you’re capable of and now play at that next level up all the time?
“It’s a no-brainer that we’re good. But the reason the score was what it was tonight is – out of the gate, the defensive focus was beyond precise and highly energetic. When you’re a young team, sometimes it’s highly energized with a lack of discipline. So you’re lunging, you’re fouling. Now you learn from the Roman game, you learn from the Wood game, you learn from the experiences.
“Upper Dublin came, being a league game, being a local 20-minute drive down the road team, and a team that got the best of you three or four times in a row, which doesn’t usually happen with us. The kids responded exactly as you’d want them to respond. So we can build on that.
–Props: “Micah Thompson’s defensive focus was through the roof, Jack Hayes, talk about following game plans precisely for 32 minutes. It’s not easy to do. They’re kids. They get excited with one good play. You’re always telling them, that’s great, do it 27 more times. So, we’re starting to figure that out. We’re starting to gain confidence with that.
“Mani was Mani as you hope he would be as a senior. He deserves respect. He deserves to understand how good he is. A lot of guys have thrown a lot of game plans at him in the last year. And he got frustrated with the physicality. And now he’s almost welcoming it. And he’s starting to defend, really defend, and I’m so proud of him for being able to be coached hard.
“We want to have a great senior year for the team. But I also want him going to Towson ready to play. I want Michael Pereira going to Penn ready to play. Everyone’s got to get better. Jack Hayes has got a lot of D3 interest. You’ve got Micah Thompson drawing interest. Terron Davis can draw interest. So, it’s a multifaceted job. You want to see these guys keep getting better, keep evolving mentally and physically and emotionally.”
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will be on the road at Cheltenham Friday for an SOL non-league crossover, and Upper Dublin will be on the road at William Tennent for a non-league crossover game Friday.
Upper Dublin 6-7-10-10 33
Plymouth Whitemarsh 24-16-16-19 75
Upper Dublin (33)
Kobe Bazemore 4 0-0 9; Noah Cohen 0 2-2 2; Horace Jackson 1 3-7 5; Justin Ragsdale 3 3-4 10; Jake Scherzer 1 0-0 2; Benji Ravitz 1 0-0 2; L. Tyler 0 1-2 1; M Pileggi 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 11 9-15 33.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (75)
Gene Deshazor 1 0-0 2; Jack Hayes 3 2-2 9; Luca Taormina 1 0-0 2; Terron Davis 3 3-4 9; Mani Sajid 11 5-7 31; Michael Pereira 1 3-4 5; Austin Edwards 1 0-0 2; Justin Probst 2 1-1 6; Buddy Denard 1 2-2 5; Micah Thompson 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 26 16-20 75.
3-point goals: UD – Ragsdale, Bazemore; PW – Sajid 4, Hayes, Probst, Denard.
Hatboro-Horsham 45, Wissahickon 44
A Shane Phillips 3-pointer at the buzzer was just the post-holiday jolt that Hatboro-Horsham needed, as it knocked off visiting Wissahickon in a thriller 45-44.
It was H-H’s first win over the Trojans since 2018.
“I’m very happy for the guys,” said Hatters coach Bill Coleman. “I don’t know when the last time they beat Wissahickon, and I don’t know the last time we had a four-game winning streak.
“They executed for 80 percent of the game, gave it away a little bit in the fourth quarter, but they were able to refocus and get it through to the finish line. Enjoy it tonight, forget about it tomorrow, 4:30 we practice and get ready for our next game.”
Wissahickon trailed by seven but knotted the score 42-42 with 15 seconds remaining and took a two-point lead with 5.7 seconds left on a Nico Vacchiano layup.
Key Players: Phillips finished with a team-high 13 points, while Kevin Stroup added 11.
Zack Schwartz (16) and Nico Vacchiano (15) finished in double figures for Wissahickon.
Hatboro-Horsham coach Bill Coleman:
–The ending: “We were up the entire game and kind of coughed up the lead to a Nico (Vacchiano) 3 and a layup with 5.7 seconds left. We ran a play, we turned it over, and Nico was able to get a layup in transition. We had one timeout left, and we drew something up that we’ve reviewed maybe in the summertime with these guys, and they remembered what we needed to do, and JT (Jaden Thompson), Devin (Tercha) and Shane (Phillips) just executed it. JT was able to get downhill, and that opened up a little bit of a window to hit Shane, and Shane buried a 3 right at the buzzer.'”
–Props: “Obviously, there were mismatches galore when they go big, with the kid from Germany (Jona Sellenriek) and Delmar (Taliaferro), and our guys were able to defend that pretty well. That’s Devin (Tercha), that’s Kenny (Lutz), that’s Kevin (Stroup).
“Then we were able to buy some time with Nate Glenn coming in and hitting two 3s in the second quarter.
“We went seven deep today, and they all played really well and they executed and they were able to stay focused for the most part. Everyone knows what the program went through, and I’m very happy for the kids.”
Up next: Wissahickon will host Quakertown in an SOL non-league crossover game Wednesday. It will be the program’s annual ‘Silent Night game.’ Hatboro-Horsham will be on the road at New Hope-Solebury Thursday for a non-league crossover.
Wissahickon 6-15-8-17 44
Hatboro-Horsham. 10-17-7-11 45
Wissahickon (44)
Zack Schwartz 6 0-0 16; Owen Haughan 1 3-4 5; Nico Vacchiano 7 0-3 15; Jona Sellenriek 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 16 4-9 44.
Hatboro-Horsham (45)
Kenny Lutz 1 1-2 4; Nate Glenn 2 0-0 6; Jaden Thompson 4 0-0 9; Kevin Stroup 3 4-5 11; Shane Phillips 5 0-0 13; Devin Tercha 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 16 5-7 45.
3-point goals: W – Schwartz 4, Vacchiano; HH – Phillips 3, Glenn 2, Lutz, Thompson, Stroup.
Abington 61, Quakertown 23
This one was one-sided from the onset, as visiting Abington came out of the gates fast, with 25 first quarter points and never looked back on the way to 38-point victory.
The Galloping Ghosts led 41-14 at half and didn’t allow Quakertown to score more than seven points in any quarter. Xander Grasty scored 18 points in the first half, which included four 3-pointers in the second quarter. Faison Garland’s 10 first-quarter points ignited the Ghosts.
Key Players: Xander Grasty scored 21 points to lead the Abington offense, while Faison Garland was also in double figures with 13.
Up next: Abington will travel to Upper Moreland for an SOL non-league crossover game Thursday, and Quakertown will be on the road at Wissahickon Wednesday.
Abington 25-16-12-8 61
Quakertown 7-7-3-6 23
Abington (61)
Kyler Pickeron 1 1-2 3; Amare Stone 1 0-0 2; Malcom Lucas 1 2-2 4; Xander Grasty 8 0-0 21; Faison Garland 5 1-2 13; Ian Burmeister 1 0-0 2; Declan Doyle 1 0-0 3; Elijah Cruickshank 1 0-0 3; Mehki Smith 0 1-2 1; Jacob Solomon 1 0-0 2; Saadir Wimbush 0 1-2 1; Aiden Turner 1 0-0 2; Ray Rice 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 23 6-10 61.
Quakertown (23)
Trae McCray 3 0-0 8; Joey Bodnar 1 0-0 2; Lockhan Everitt 0 1-4 1; Jameson Sykes 2 0-0 4; Declan Mooney 2 1-4 5; Thomas Gai 0 1-2 1; Jayson Taylor 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 8 5-12 23.
3-point goals: A – Grasty 5, Garland 2, Doyle, Cruickshank; Q – McCray 2.
SOL Freedom Division
William Tennent 55, New Hope-Solebury 27
Tennent was in control early and shut down New Hope-Solebury Tuesday, especially in the second half on the way to the 55-27 victory.
The Panthers held the Lions to just eight field goals for the game.
Tennent was led by Evan Eiler’s 16 points, while Ayden Davis-Carter had 13 points and eight rebounds.
Blake McCagg had 10 for New Hope.
Up next: William Tennent will travel to Neshaminy Wednesday for an SOL non-league crossover game, and New Hope-Solebury will host Hatboro-Horsham in a non-league crossover game Thursday.
Tennent 15 11 17 12 – 55
New Hope 9 6 7 5 – 27
Tennent (55)
Lukes Bonderenko 0 1-2 1; Braden Goldberg 0 1-2 1; Tyler Tumelty 3 2-2 8; Scott Scheller 3 0-0 7; Carter Jameson 0 3-6 3; Evan Eiler 7 0-0 16; Ed Mays 2 2-2 6. Ayden Davis-Carter 6 1-4 13. Totals 21 10-18 55.
New Hope (27)
Brock Alderson 0 0-2 0; Dave Martin 1 0-2 2; Blake McCagg 3 2-4 10; Mark Kolen 1 1-2 4;, Rocco Massimino 2 2-2 8; Linus McKenzie 0 1-2 1, Jack Swankoski 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 6-14 27.
Cheltenham 80, Springfield Twp 54
Right out of the blocks Cheltenham attacked Springfield offensively, scoring 45 points in the first half on the way to a 80-54 lopsided win on Tuesday night.
Tyree Martin had eight points in the first quarter for the Panthers, who led 23-15 after one quarter and never looked back.
Key Players: Cheltenham had four in double figures, led by Mark Hill with 14, Chris Harmon and Peyton McClendon with 13 each and Martin with 12.
For Springfield, Clay Trejbrowski had 10 points and three rebounds, Cahlin Spearman 10 points and Nate Davis 10 points and three rebounds.
Up next: Cheltenham will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in an SOL non-league crossover Friday, and Springfield Twp will travel to Martin Luther King High School for a non-league game Wednesday.
Cheltenham 23 22 20 15 – 80
Springfield 15 10 10 18 – 54
Cheltenham (80)
Isaias Vargas 4, Chris Harmon 13, Mark Hill 14, Williamson 2, Mosley 6, McFadden 6, Ivory 2, Millis 2, Martin 12, Saintilder 6, Peyton McClendon 13
Springfield (54)
Spearman 10, Ciasullo 9, Davis 10, Trejbrowski 10, McGuckin 4, Kiamba 8, DePolo 3
Upper Moreland 38, Lower Moreland 24
It’s never easy on the road in the division, and Tuesday, Upper Moreland won a tough defensive struggle against Freedom rival Lower Moreland by a 38-24 final score.
Trailing by one, 15-14, at halftime, the Golden Bears had a big 14-4 third quarter to seize control of the game. They held the Lions to just nine points in the second half.
Key Players: Sophomore Cannon Campbell had a big night for UM, with 20 points. His eight field goals equaled the team total for LM.
Up next: Upper Moreland will host Abington in an SOL non-league crossover on Thursday, and Lower Moreland will host Lehigh Valley Academy in a non-league game Thursday.
Upper Moreland 4 10 14 10 – 38
Lower Moreland 4 11 4 5 – 24
Upper Moreland (38)
Nate Best 2 0-0 5; Kyle Moore 1 0-0 3; Larry Hughes 1 0-0 2; Cannon Campbell 8 3-5 20; Jose Hernandez 3 0-0 8. Totals 15 3-5 38.
Lower Moreland (24)
Wheeler 2 0-0 4; Udal 0 4-4 4; Keaton 1 0-0 2; Mirano 1 0-0 3; Carroll 1 0-0 3; Maloney 8. Totals 8 5-9 24.
3-point goals: UM – Hernandez 2, Moore, Campbell, Best; LM – Mirano, Carrol, Maloney.
SOL Patriot Division
Neshaminy 67, Bensalem 49
Close for a half, Neshaminy took control in the second half and pulled away from visiting Bensalem for the Patriot Division win on Tuesday night.
Neshaminy shared the ball well with 16 assists and did the job on the boards, with 14 offensive rebounds.
Key Players: For Neshaminy, Luke Amrhein had 19 points and six assists, Marlon Yon 12 points, 11 rebounds and Logan Gale 12 points and seven rebounds.
Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle:
“It’s always good to get a home win, and obviously a league win. It was weird. It was knotted at 12 after the first quarter, It was knotted at 30 at the first half, which is a lot of scoring. We felt we gave a lot of things away in the first half. I’d say opportunities to score, easy stuff. But third quarter, we pulled away, won that quarter by nine, and then completely took over in the fourth quarter, which was great.”
–Keys to victory: “I think like any team, Bensalem zoned us the whole game, different 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone looks. It was about just being patient and sharing the ball, and moving them, moving the defense so that we got good looks. I thought we did it in the first half but didn’t capitalize off of it. Second half, we started to capitalize on it.”
–Props: “Luke Amrhein had 19 and six assists. He came off the bench and gave us great minutes. He just was in attack mode. The nice thing, our whole team, I think we had 16 assists. As far as sharing the ball, we had a couple guys in double figures. We had nine guys that scored tonight. Overall, we shared the ball in the second half, which was why we were able to get away. I think our transition fuels our team, so we started getting the transition more in the second half.”
Up next: Neshaminy will host Bensalem in a non-league crossover game Wednesday, and Bensalem will be on the road at North Penn Thursday for an SOL non-league crossover game.
Bensalem 12 18 7 12 – 49
Neshaminy 12 18 16 21 – 67
Bensalem (49)
Bourelly 4 3-4 11; Vose 4 0-0 11; Parmar 1 0-0 2; Per 1 1-2 4; Ellzy 4 0-0 9; Eberhardt 5 2-3 12. Totals 19 6-9 49.
Neshaminy (67)
Leiva 2 0-0 6; Amrhein 7 2-2 19; McCarthy 2 0-0 4; Gale 5 1-4 12; Gold 2 2-3 7; Emmerich 1 0-0 2; Amati 0 1-4 1; Yon 5 2-2 12; Mardalieshvili 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 8-15 67.
Council Rock North 48, Harry S Truman 32
CR North locked visiting Truman down defensively Tuesday night and took care of business with the solid 48-32 win in a Patriot Division game.
It was a 23-18 game at halftime, but the Indians held the Tigers to just 12 points total in the second half and pulled away for the victory.
Key Players: Owen Crowne scored 17 points to lead CR North in the scorebook – 13 in the first half that saw him bury 6 of 8 from the foul line..
Truman was led by Davae Vaughn with 10 points.
CR North assistant coach Brandon Knotts:
“I’d say we played North basketball tonight. We battled on the defensive end, hustled our butts off, executed our offensive and defensive game plan in an all-around team win.”
–Props: “Our dawg of the game was Leif Peterson who has shown a lot of growth over the past two weeks. We are very proud of his growth.”
Up next: Harry S Truman will be on the road at Central Bucks South for an SOL non-league crossover game Friday, and Council Rock North will be on the road at Pennridge for a non-league crossover game Friday.
Truman 8 11 4 8 – 32
CR North 10 13 7 18 – 48
Truman (32)
Diallo 3 0-0 6; Luchansky 1 2-2 4; Vaughn 4 2-2 10; Edwards 1 6-6 8; Rogers 0 1-2 1; Parker 1 0-0 2; Brown 0 1-2 1. Totals 10 12-14 32.
CR North (48)
Peterson 3 1-2 8; Crowne 4 7-10 17; Prabhu 2 0-0 6; Kiefer 3 0-2 6; McBride 2 0-0 4; Cuneo 3 1-4 7. Totals 17 9-18 58.
3-point goals: CRN – Prabhu 2, Crowne 2, Peterson.
Pennsbury 53, Council Rock South 43
Brayden Clark had a big game all around and Pennsbury did the little things to pull away from CR South in a Patriot Division road win for the Falcons on Tuesday night.
The Falcons were an impressive 16-for-20 from the foul line, including 14-for-16 in the fourth quarter.
Key Players: For Pennsbury, Clark had 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, Sean Breslin nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals, Max Manga eight points, seven rebounds and Patrick Jajua 19 points, four rebounds and two assists.
CR South was led by Ryan Delp’s 18 points, while Lucien Mirc added 14.
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme:
“A good, good sound performance after Saturday against (CB) East where we just kind of sensed the moment and mistakes mounted. And tonight, I thought we played really well together as a group.
“I think (CR) South presents a unique challenge as it relates to defending because they beat you so much from over the top, their ability to make shots from the perimeter. It’s just a uniqueness in the league, and they run some really challenging offensive actions that make you engage for long possessions, and then they played a zone tonight, and credit to our guys, we really moved the ball 
well. We were able to find some creases to get either open 3s and Brady Kent knocked down a couple early ones to kind of loosen the zone a little bit.
“And then in the second half, when you force them to kind of come out and play outside their comfort zone defensively, it allowed us to get to the free throw line and make some of the more traditional plays that we’ve made this year.”
–Props: “I would say that Braydon Clark had his best game in a while. Just relentlessly attacking the rim. And he also hit two 3s early in the game that got us going a little bit. And I think the rest of the game, his pace and his downhill attacks just never allowed them to set their defense. And that’s particularly in transition.”
Up next: Pennsbury will travel to Souderton for an SOL non-league crossover game Thursday, and Council Rock South will be on the road at Central Bucks West for a non-league crossover game Friday.
Pennsbury 12 11 12 18 – 53
CR South 11 6 8 18 – 43
Pennsbury (53)
Brayden Clark 3 8-12 16; Brady Kent 3 2-2 10; Sean Breslin 3 2-2 9; Pat Jajua 3 4-4 11; Max Manga 4 0-0 8; Totals 16 16-20 53.
CR South (43)
Haglund 1 0-0 2; Malone 0 0-2 0; Delp 6 4-6 18; Mirc 6 1-1 14; Madara 1 0-0 2; McLean 0 2-2 2. Totals 14 7-11 43.
SOL Colonial Division
North Penn 58, Central Bucks East 45
Coming back from the holiday break, North Penn was looking for a big league win, and with a huge second half got just that, blowing past visiting CB East for the 58-45 win.
The Knights trailed 17-14 to start the third quarter, but outscored the Patriots 16-5 in the third to seize control, and in all “won” the second half 34-18.
Key Players: Brysen Foust led a balanced scoring attack for North Penn with 12 points, while Nolen Foust and JC Wood had 11 points each.
For CB East, Henry Bartchuk and Keegan Marascio had 16 points each.
North Penn coach Cordell Lord:
–The game: “The big story for us was buying into the game plan and executing, especially on the defensive end – not letting them get into any of their actions and just trying to maintain keeping them out of the paint and keeping our man in front of us. And just playing solid basketball and maximizing our possessions on the offensive end in terms of just being patient, looking for the best shot every play and trying to find a way to just make sure that we’re playing poised at all times.
“Coming out of halftime, the message was to not let them get going early. Don’t let them get into the paint early and to just keep our man in front of us.
“One of the things that our guys did a really good job of was finishing the possession. Not only did they keep their person in front of us, but we didn’t allow second-chance points. We finished the possession with a strong rebound and then we got great looks on the offensive side. One of the things that has been hurting us all year has been offensive rebounds, and the last couple of games, the 
guys have really bought into one-shot only, getting a great rebound and then going down on the offensive end.”
–Props: “Brycen Foust and Nolen Foust were both huge for us. They did a great job handling the basketball. JC Wood had another great game shooting the basketball, and Chris Kingkiner had a great night in terms of taking care of the basketball, making the right play and just staying under control and making a lot of plays for us to allow guys to get great looks and just playing with confidence.
“All the guys did a great job, but the other person that we really want to give a shoutout to is Marco Vera. He started for us tonight, and he just made a really big impact, getting some easy baskets, protecting the paint and rebounding and just being solid on both ends of the floor. He was a really good spark for us today, and we needed him.”
Up next: Central Bucks East will host Neshaminy in an SOL non-league crossover Friday, and North Penn will host Bensalem on Thursday in a non-league crossover.
Central Bucks East 18-9-5-13 – 45
North Penn 16-8-16-18 – 58
Central Bucks East (45)
Connor Mekanik 2 1-2 5; Alex Lemaire 1 0-0 2; Henry Bartchak 6 0-0 16; Ryan Dailey 2 2-2 6; Keegan Marascio 6 4-5 16; TOTALS 17 7-9 45.
North Penn (58)
Chris Kingkiner 2 3-4 7; Nolen Foust 2 7-9 11; Brysen Foust 5 2-5 12; JC Wood 4 0-0 11; Wyatt Martin 3 1-3 7; Aiden Thomas 1 0-0 2; Marco Vera 4 0-0 8; TOTALS 21 13-21 58.
3-point goals: CBE – Bartchak 4; NP – Wood 3.
Central Bucks South 58, Souderton 55
At home, coming off a successful South Carolina trip over the break, CB South had a chance to make a statement Tuesday night and did just that, edging first-place Souderton in a nail-biter by a 58-55 final.
After Chanse Salone scored to pull Souderton within one, South’s Brayden Barrett made two free throws with eight seconds remaining to help the Titans clinch the win.
Key Players: Barrett scored a team-high 16 points to lead CB South. Leo Medwid and Kayote Adebayo had 11 points each.
For Souderton, Salone led the way with 21 points. Nate Rusike was also in double figures with 14.
CB South coach Louie Ditri:
“Obviously, they’re very good, and (they’’ve) got exceptional guards, and it was a battle. The biggest lead might have been four or five points for either team, and it was a battle in the fourth quarter back and forth. We had the lead going into the fourth. They took a four- or five-point lead in the fourth, and we battled back and kind of bared down on ‘D’ a little bit, because they’re tough to guard with their guard play. They’re really strong.”
–Fourth quarter: “I mean, Brayden Barrett goes 4-for-4 from the line there, Leo (Medwid) with the 3. We forced them into some tough shots there at the end.
“But early on we had some unforced turnovers, we were a little sloppy with the ball. And I think my guys are just gaining confidence and experience that they bared down in the fourth quarter a little bit and then took care of the basketball, ran our sets pretty good, and defended better than they did the other three quarters.
“For these guys, with the exception of Leo and Alex (Shahin), they’re all kind of first time getting varsity minutes. So I think as these games progress and they’re playing more and gaining the experience in a big game like this today, I think it bodes well for them going forward.”
Up next: Central Bucks South will host Harry S Truman Friday in a non-league SOL crossover, and Souderton will host Pennsbury on Thursday in a non-league crossover.
Souderton 14 13 14 14 – 55
CB South 17 10 15 16 – 58
Souderton (55)
Lockwood 1 0-0 2; Salone 8 4-4 21; Rollerson 1 00 2; Epps 2 0-0 5; Quinn 1 0-0 3; Rusike 6 2-5 14, Brown 4 0-0 8. Totals 23 6-9 55.
CB South (58)
Adebayo 4 3-5 11; Shahin 2 2-2 7; Farrell 3 0-4 7; Barrett 5 5-6 16; Van Zanten 3 0-0 6; Medwid 5 0-0 11. Totals 22 10-17 58.
Central Bucks West 50, Pennridge 39
A huge fourth quarter was the difference, as CB West broke out in a big way to pull away from Pennridge in Colonial Division play on Tuesday.
The Bucks trailed 27-26 heading into the fourth quarter, but then outscored the Rams 24-12 in the fourth.
Key Players: Melo Aylmer had a huge fourth quarter for West, with three 3-pointers and 13 of his game-high 15 points. John Vrettos was also in double figures with 11.
Rownan Smith led Pennridge with 10.
CB West assistant coach Sherrod Higginbothom:
“Honestly, the first three quarters were a little rough. We started out slow, shooting the ball. We really could not get the lid off the basket tonight. So we struggled, and we were able to find a rhythm early in the fourth quarter and kind of turned things up defensively, get some stops, and eventually hang on and get a nice little win.
“But Pennridge played well. They’ve actually been playing well all season, and they’re just struggling to find a way to close out games. So it was nice for us to be able to pick up that win in a tight game.”
–Props: “I would say early on in the game, Max Melillo got off to a hot start. He played very well. Melo Alymer picked it up later on and had a really nice fourth quarter. I think he might have banged in two or three 3s in that fourth quarter to kind of help push the lead out for us, which was nice. And John Vrettos was able to find a little bit of rhythm. He’s a kid still working his way back from a thumb injury, so he hasn’t been shooting the best on his shooting end. And he was able to hit a couple shots tonight, so it was nice for him to see the ball go through the basket.”
Up next: Central Bucks West will host Council Rock South in a non-league crossover game Friday, and Pennridge will host Council Rock North Friday in an SOL non-league crossover.
Pennridge 7 7 13 12 – 39
CB West 6 10 10 24 – 50
Pennridge (39)
Smith 10, Kuntz 5, Schwind 6, Dietl 2, Flood 5, Alba 4, Murray 7
CB West (50)
Max Milillo 8, Melo Aylmer 15, Dan Pellegrini 6, Isaiah Rubentein 7, John Vrettos 11, Gavin Reichnr 3
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