Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday.
American Conference
Wissahickon 86, Abington 83, 3OT
December 10, 2015.
That was the last time Abington’s boys’ basketball team suffered a league loss. The Ghosts’ undefeated streak has stretched four-plus years, carried over from the National Conference to the American, and lasted 57 consecutive games.
On Tuesday, Wissahickon made some magic. The Trojans made that undefeated streak disappear and handed Abington its first league loss since it moved into the American Conference last season as the host Trojans won a triple-overtime 86-83 classic.
“We had beaten some teams with non-winning records, but this was a solid opponent,” said Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson. “We played a great game and had a couple chances to close it out. It was nice to see the kids close it out. At the end of the game, I don’t know what relief looks like, but it was definitely all over my face.
“Of all the coaches I’ve played and beaten, I could not get a win over (Abington coach Charles Grasty). It felt good to get a win against such a tough team. They grind it out. We finally found a way to get it done.”
Wissahickon appeared to have had the game in their pockets after both the first and second overtime periods only to see the Ghosts tie the game at the buzzer … twice.
Abington’s Joey Brusha calmly sank a three-pointer as time expired in the first overtime period to knot the score and extend the game.
In the second overtime, the Ghosts trailed by three with 1.4 seconds left and were inbounding the ball at Wissahickon’s foul line. Abington drew up a play that somehow got the ball down the court and into the hands of Sam McFarlane, who finished the play with another buzzer-beating trey.
“I think Coach Grasty is the best in the business,” Wilson said. “The play he drew up with 1.4 second – it was a pass, a pass, and a shot. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ They did some incredible stuff. They had to go the length of the court. They threw the ball to Caleb Baker, who hit Sam McFarlane in the corner, and he buried a three to tie it.
“To me, it was like, ‘Oh my god, here we go again,’ because in our first four games of the season—Bensalem is 9-1 and the number one seed and we were up 13, and in the last two or three minutes, we found a way to lose it. And then Upper Darby, GA, and I was like, ‘If these poor kids don’t find a way to win this one, I don’t know what else I’ll say to them.’”
The Trojans overcame the doubts and refocused for the third extra frame. D’Shan Love answered Abington’s opening bucket with a trey, then Harrison Williams added a three-pointer for the hosts.
“We were winning most of this game and we were tied going into the fourth,” Wilson said. “They made plays and it’s in overtime. And I said to my guys after the game, ‘The only negative thing I want to leave with you is when you were going into overtime, you guys walked to the bench like you had just lost your puppy. You’ve got to believe, ‘hey, we got it to this point, we’ll win the next quarter.’ You just have to continue to have confidence and keep battling. Mistakes are going to happen, but you have to keep carrying the energy like you know you can win this game and keep battling.”
The Trojans received an stellar performance from Matt Compas, who was tasked with guarding Abington standout Manir Waller. While Waller scored 24 for the Ghosts, Compas kept him in check, and also poured in a game-high 32 points on the other end of the court.
“I put a lot on Matt to guard Manir Waller,” Wilson said. “That kid is a handful—he plays downhill, he’s tough to guard. For Matt to go out there, limit him, foul him out, and score 32 himself, he met the challenge.
“It was a really impressive game by Matt. It’s one of those things when you start out 0-4 or 0-5, it’s real easy for guys to start thinking, ‘We’re not good,’ and start to do their own thing and do more than they should. It was nice to see Matt in this game trust his teammates to make plays when we needed plays. He just had a tremendous night.
“I hope there’s more to come out of him. He’s a junior and he’s got a lot of potential. I’m hoping it’s the beginning of more things to come from him. He’s a very conscientious kid. He works hard, he’s a good leader and a good captain.”
Williams rained down baskets from the three-point line. He drained five treys among his 17 points. Jackson Intrieri chipped in with 16 points.
In addition to Waller’s 24 points, Bell netted 20 for Abington. Brusha and Oreck Frazier each added 9. Waller also had 20 rebounds – 18 on the defensive end – and six assists.
Wissahickon (3-2 SOL American, 5-8 overall) will look to build off this monumental win at 6:30 p.m. Friday, when the Trojans host neighborhood and league rival Upper Dublin. The Ghosts (4-1, 5-5) will look to bounce back when they host Hatboro-Horsham at 7 p.m. Friday.
Abington 7-14-23-15-6-8-10 83
Wissahickon 10-17-17-15-6-8-13 86
Abington (83)—Manir Waller 9 6-14 24; Antoine Ellis 1 0-0 2; Sam McFarlane 3 0-0 7; Oreck Frazier 3 3-4 9; Rob Bell 6 6-9 20; Joey Brusha 3 0-0 9; Caleb Baker 4 0-1 8; Connor Fields 1 2-2 4.
Wissahickon (86)—D’Shan Love 1 2-4 5; Justin Rappaport 2 0-0 4; Harrison Williams 5 2-2 17; Jackson Intrieri 4 6-7 16; Stefan Lowry 3 2-5 8; Matt Compas 10 11-19 32; Carmen Ostroski 2 0-0 4.
Upper Moreland 67, Springfield Twp 46
Sparked by Byron Hopkins and Beau Woollens, Upper Moreland jumped out to a 23-8 lead after one quarter and rolled to a 67-46 victory over Springfield Twp in Tuesday’s American Conference matchup.
“Both of our guards, Byron and Beau, did a great job forcing the tempo early,” said Golden Bears’ coach Sean Feeley. “Byron has been great on defense all year long and he set the tone for us tonight.”
Hopkins scored nine of his game-high 17 points in the first quarter. Woollens netted five of his nine points in the opening frame. Jahire Johsnon split his 14 points evenly between halves. In all, 11 different players scored for Upper Moreland, which shot 63% from the field.
Austin Maggioncalda led Springfield with nine points.
The Golden Bears improve to 3-2 in the American Conference, 8-2 overall. They visit Plymouth Whitemarsh next for a league showdown on Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans drop to 1-4, 5-7, and will host Cheltenham at 7 p.m. Friday.
Springfield Twp 8-4-11-23 46
Upper Moreland 23-5-19-20 67
Springfield Twp (46)—Amir Williams 4, Finn Coll 2, Jay Joseph 5, Matt Leibreid 2, Andrew Kennedy 3, Austin Maggioncalda 9, Jamal White 5, Gabe Harris 7, Jaquis Heath 3, Dylan McKenzie 6.
Upper Moreland (67)—Byron Hopkins 17, Beau Woollens 9, Jourdan Gregg 6, Jahire Johnson 14, McKie Walker 5, Jake Tiernan 5, Jeremy Harmer 2, Matt Tiernan 2, Tyler Ibbotson 3, Ryan Schernecke 2, Justin Sanders 2.
Cheltenham 70, Hatboro-Horsham 33
If the old adage of “offense wins games, defense wins championships” holds true, Cheltenham should find itself in good position to keep up its momentum.
The Panthers remained undefeated in American Conference play (5-0, 10-1 overall) on Tuesday, exploding for 70 points while holding Hatboro-Horsham to just six points in the middle two quarters en route to a dominating 70-33 victory.
“Defensively, allowing six points in the middle two quarters broke the game open,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “They were engaged and locked in, they communicated. We were exceptional in the middle two quarters, we were average in the first and fourth.
“Offensively, we had a good pace, and we shared the ball, which allowed the game to come to all of us where pretty much everybody contributed. It was a collective effort. We had 17 assists as a team, so I’m elated with that. That’s the story. Tonight they did everything that we asked, and I’m super pleased with them and how they celebrate each other’s success.”
Travis Coleman’s 14 points led a Cheltenham offense that saw 13 players contribute. Frank Saintildor finished with 3 blocks, Brandon Scott nabbed 5 steals, and Justin Moore handed out 5 assists for the Panthers.
John Marvin scored 11 points to lead the Hatters, who fall to 0-5, 1-9 on the season. H-H hosts Souderton at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Cheltenham will need to wait one more day, as the Panthers visit Springfield Twp for a 7 p.m. Friday game.
Cheltenham 24-15-13-18 70
Hatboro-Horsham 14-3-3-13 33
Cheltenham (70)—Rasheem Dearry 5, Travis Coleman 14, Brandon Scott 7, Justin Moore 4, Brandon Hawkins 4, Justin Savage 2, Saleem Payne 2, David Pope 5, Jaelen McGlone 6, Mike McClain 9, Sean Emfinger 7, Lou Liedtka 3, Nasir Andino 2.
Hatboro-Horsham (33)—N’Gianni Cerisier 2, DJ Cerisier 6, Zehier Cheeze 7, Logan Fischer 4, John Marvin 11, Schlosser 2.
National Conference
Bensalem 61, Harry S Truman 49
Early on in Tuesday’s National Conference matchup, Bensalem found itself down.
So James Ashford stepped up.
“We were down 7-2, we made a little adjustment, James got the ball and he started being aggressive,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “He kind of led us in the first quarter.”
Sparked by Ashford’s 14 first-quarter points, the Owls outscored Truman by a 16-2 count the rest of the quarter and battled their way to a closer-than-it-looked 61-49 victory.
“Bensalem versus Truman is always a tough rivalry,” Morris said. “Tyrone (Lewis) is doing a heck of a job over there. They’re a way better team than their record. They play really hard for him.
“We just battled. It wasn’t as easy as people think it would be, but we persevered. We made shots when we needed to.”
Ashford scored 18 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. And his teammates also stepped up to contribute to the scoring in the second half. Aaron Sanders scored 11 points and Jeremiah Alexander stood out with 17 points.
“Jeremiah had an awesome game,” Morris said. “He about four dunks. It was like a sealer dunk at the end. It was an alley-oop from James to Jeremiah—he put it down and-one.”
The win keeps Bensalem – the top seed in the District One 6A rankings – atop the conference at a perfect 5-0 (10-1 overall). The Owls will host Council Rock North at 7 p.m. Friday.
RJ Winton led the Tigers (0-4, 0-9) with 13 points. Keyshawn Clark added 9 and Terrence Rogers 8. Truman will host Pennsbury at 7 p.m. Thursday
Bensalem 18-17-13-13 61
Harry S Truman 9-8-17-15 49
Bensalem (61)—Travis Robinson 3 0-1 6; Justin Johnson 1 0-0 2; Aaron Sanders 5 0-1 11; Jeremiah Alexander 7 3-5 17; James Ashford 9 1-1 20; Luke Zeidler 2 0-0 5; Totals 27 4-8 61.
Harry S Truman (49)—RJ Winton 5 3-5 13; Kashun Holden 0 2-4 2; Jordan Fant 1 3-5 5; Terrence Rogers 2 2-2 8; Keyshawn Clark 3 0-0 9; Makai Jackson 2 1-5 6; Tarnue Collins 3 0-1 6; Totals 16 11-20 49.
3-point goals: Bensalem—Aaron Sanders, James Ashford, Luke Zeidler, Truman—Keyshawn Clark 3, Terrence Rogers 2, Makai Jackson.
Council Rock South 59, Pennsbury 55
For the first time in the 18-year history of Council Rock South High School, the boys’ basketball team earned a victory at Pennsbury with its hard-fought 59-55 win in Tuesday’s National Conference game.
“It was a real good win, there especially,” said Hawks’ coach Chris Clark. “It was a good team effort again at both ends.”
A key to the victory was being able to handle the Falcons’ aggressive defense. South responded well, posting 19 points in the first quarter and taking a 37-26 lead into the break.
“Pennsbury is always in your face defensively, and we handled that pretty well,” Clark said. “We had a working margin in the first half—we were up 11 at the half and 10 after three. All five guys on the court were working together at the offensive end, making themselves available for passes and things like that. It was invaluable.”
Michael Stewart led all scorers with 23 points. Kevin McNamee added 18 and Jack Rebholz netted 10.
“Michael Stewart was really good,” Clark said. “Jack Rebholz fought through foul trouble the whole time, so Michael did a lot of the ball handling and was scoring.
“Kevin McNamee had 18 points, and we got good contributions from him inside rebounding-wise.”
Luca Baratta pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his 6 points. South also got a strong defensive effort from Luke Meakim on Pennsbury guard Collin Connor, who was held to 9 points on the night.
“Luke guarded him really well,” Clark said. “I thought we did a good job of not fouling. They drove a lot, and we were able not to foul. We took some charges, got some defensive rebounds. Our guards rebounded.”
Shane Simmons led Pennsbury with a game-high 28 points, including four three-pointers. He scored 17 in the second half, with three treys in the fourth quarter. BaShaun Glover’s six rebounds led the Falcons on the boards. Evan Reichard added seven points and five rebounds.
With the victory, Council Rock South improves to 3-1 in the National Conference, 8-4 overall. Pennsbury falls to 1-3, 2-6. South returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, hosting William Tennent. The Falcons visit Harry S Truman Thursday at 7 p.m.
Council Rock South 19-18-13-9 59
Pennsbury 10-16-14-15 55
Council Rock South (59)—Jack Rebholz 10, Luca Baratta 6, Luke Meakim 2, Michael Stewart 23, Kevin McNamee 18.
Pennsbury (55)—Shane Simmons 22, Kyrie Miller 3, Collin Connor 9, Amir Johnson 6, Cooper Arnold 4, BaShaun Glover 4, Evan Reichard 7.
William Tennent 48, Neshaminy 32
With both teams playing without their starting point guards (Neshaminy senior Damon McGovern and Tennent junior Jay Stanfield) due to injury, William Tennent and Neshaminy needed others to step up in Tuesday’s Continental Conference tilt.
Bryce Lockett came off the bench for Tennent and scored 12 points as the Panthers used a second-half surge to power past Neshaminy, 48-32.
“Bryce again came off the bench and gave us a great lift,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “The other night against Pennsbury he had five steals. Tonight he came in and shot 6-for-7 from the field, and two of those buckets were huge buckets in the third quarter where we were able to stretch the lead a little bit.
“He does it at both ends. He plays excellent defense in guarding the post in our zone. Tonight he was able to convert at the other end.”
Sean Haus also scored 12 points and Josiah Johnson added 11 for Tennent, which trailed 10-7 after one quarter and was down by 1 at the half. Derrik Cosenza hauled in 10 rebounds and Mike Russell dished out 5 assists for the Panthers.
Mike Murray led Neshaminy with eight points.
With the win, Tennent moves to 3-1 in conference play, 7-3 overall. The Panthers will host New Foundations Charter at 1 p.m. Saturday. Neshaminy falls to 2-3, 5-5, and will host Lansdale Catholic at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Neshaminy 10-9-7-6 32
William Tennent 7-11-16-14 48
Continental Conference
Central Bucks West 43, North Penn 42
Sometimes the shots just don’t fall.
North Penn had a chance to net a last-second basket and steal a win, but the shot didn’t fall and Central Bucks West escaped with a 43-42 victory in Tuesday’s Continental Conference matchup.
Missing the front end of two one-and-ones, West handed North Penn the opportunity to win the game. With the Bucks leading by one, North Penn took a timeout with three seconds left to set up a final play.
“They ran a play where one of our kids stumbled, they were able to get open in the corner, they drove to the basket and they missed a shot at the buzzer,” West coach Adam Sherman said. “We were lucky to get out of there. We’ll take it, but you definitely want to see your team play a little bit cleaner this time of year.”
Jack Neri posted a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks.
“Jack had some huge offensive rebounds throughout the game,” Sherman said. “He really rebounded well. North Penn is a very big team. They start 6-7, 6-6, 6-4 in the front court, and Neri is only 6-3, so his rebounding was huge for us.”
Owen Haney sank three three-pointers—including a huge trey late in the fourth—among his 12 points.
Defensively, Teddy Spratt stepped up for West.
“Teddy Spratt covered Josh Jones (3 points) for most of the game,” Sherman said. “I have to give him a lot of credit for holding Jones down.”
The teams were tied after one quarter as well as halftime, and West held a two-point lead after three quarters.
Rob Caragni (14 points) and Matt Swanson (10) scored in double digits for the Knights, who fall to 1-3 in the Continental Conference, 3-8 overall, and will visit Central Bucks South at 7 p.m. Friday for another conference tilt.
The Bucks improve to 2-2, 8-4. They will travel to Quakertown for a 7 p.m. Friday game.
North Penn 7-13-13-9 42
Central Bucks West 7-13-15-8 43
North Penn (42)—Joe Larkins 4, Josh Jones 3, Rob Caragni 14, Matt Swanson 10, Kolby Barrow 6, Mike Chaffee 5.
Central Bucks West (43)—Mika Munari 6, Owen Haney 12, Teddy Spratt 4, Jack Neri 14, Danny Miller 5, Jack Slaymaker 2.
Pennridge 53, Souderton 38
Pennridge took early advantage of an injury-plagued Souderton team, jumping out to a 15-4 lead after one quarter and extending it to 16 points at the half on the way to a 53-38 victory in Tuesday’s Continental Conference game.
“I thought if we got off to a really quick start we could demoralize Souderton a little bit,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “I know (two-year captain Andrew) Vince got hurt, and it’s a shame he’s out for that long of a period. He’s not only a very good player, he keeps that team together, which is an intangible that’s hard to replace. And we knew they had a couple of other kids who also weren’t playing tonight.
“We forced them to call the first two timeouts of the game. We just fed the ball to Trent (Fisher) in the post, and he didn’t disappoint. We held them to 11 points in the first half, and I thought we had good defensive energy in the first half.”
Fisher was dominant with a game-high 26 points for the Rams, who remain undefeated in the league at 4-0 (9-2 overall).
“We came out a little flat in the third quarter, and they cut it to 10,” Behrens said. “We had to call timeout, settle a little bit. I think we settled in a little bit more and got it back up to 15 and coasted from there. With four minutes left, we were able to empty the bench and get some of the younger guys some valuable varsity minutes.”
Brian Reiner led Souderton (2-3, 7-5) with 9 points on the team’s SHYBA Night.
“They had a great crowd there tonight,” Behrens said. “A lot of little kids were there, and they played at halftime. I thought they really did a great job.
“I’m sure people wanted to see a more competitive game, but Tim (Brown) will get them going. There’s still a lot of basketball left.”
Pennridge returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday, returning home to host Central Bucks East in a game that will have implications for the league title. Souderton travels to Hatboro-Horsham for a non-league game at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Pennridge 15-12-9-17 53
Souderton 4-7-11-16 38
Pennridge (53)—Connor Pleibel 1 0-0 3; Ryan Benscoter 1 3-4 5; Luke Yoder 2 1-1 7; Christian Guldin 1 2-2 4; Colin Post 1 2-2 4; Anthony Phillips 1 0-0 2; Trent Fisher 11 4-7 26; TJ Grenda 0 2-2 2.
Souderton (38)—Dylan Hollick 1 2-4 4; Evan Kutzler 2 0-1 4; Sami Chouiraf 1 0-0 2; Dominic Natale 3 0-2 6; Tyler Roth 1 0-0 3; Jack Towsen 2 0-0 6; Matt Urich 1 1-2 4; Brian Reiner 3 0-1 9.
Central Bucks East 65, Quakertown 41
A dozen different players contributed to the scoring as Central Bucks East remained atop the Continental Conference standings with a decisive 65-41 victory over Quakertown.
Jason Markowitz led all scorers with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Joe Jackman added 13 for the Patriots, who got off to a quick start on the winless Panthers and never allowed them to threaten. East led 34-15 at halftime.
Brendan Harte scored all nine of his points off of treys. Chris Charlton pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points. Christian Rivera dished out 6 assists.
The Patriots, who led 18-6 at the end of one quarter, stretched that lead to 34-15 by halftime on their way to the win.
Jake Hallowell led Quakertown with 13 points. Ty Wilkin added eight.
With the win, East improves to 3-2 in league play, 8-5 overall, and is back in action Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home against New Hope-Solebury. Quakertown drops to 0-4, 0-10, and will try again for its first win on Friday at 7 p.m. when the Panthers host Central Bucks West.
Quakertown 6-9-10-16 41
Central Bucks East 18-16-17-14 65
Quakertown (41)—Kayden Roley 5, Zach Fondl 2, Matt Catalano 7, Jack Gordon 2, Tim Kratz 2, Jake Hallowell 13, Ty Wilkin 8, Will Steich 2.
Central Bucks East (65)—Joe Jackman 13, Jason Markowitz 15, Jack Hamilton 4, Chris Charlton 8, Anthony Giordano 2, Tyler Young 2, Shane Kennedy 3, Jacob Rotondo 4, Christian Rivera 1, Brendan Harte 9, Tariq Toney-Bailey 2, Aidan Weaver 2.
Non-league
Central Bucks South 49, Council Rock North 41
After falling behind, 14-8, after one quarter, Central Bucks South battled back and pulled out a 49-41 non-league victory over Council Rock North on Tuesday.
Evan D’Orazio led South with a game-high 16 points, while Michael Farley chipped in 10 and Alex Dietz, nine points.
Bernie Parent led the Indians with 13 points (including three three-pointers). All of Luke Vliet’s 12 points came from behind the three-point arc.
The Indians fell to 2-8 overall (1-3 SOL National) and will travel to Lower Moreland for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday, then return to league play at Bensalem at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Titans improve to 8-4 overall (3-1 SOL Continental) and will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday when they host North Penn.
Council Rock North 14-6-11-10 41
Central Bucks South 8-15-11-15 49
Council Rock North (41)—Bernie Parent 13, Luke Vliet 12, Sean Mealey 3, Hunter Wan 7, Mikey Sylvester 2, Connor Rushing 2, Jack Blum 2.
Central Bucks South (49)—Mike Waltrich 4, Evan D’Orazio 16, Jay Macalindong 7, Josh Consoletti 2, Josiah Harrison 1, Alex Dietz 9, Michael Farley 10.
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