Check out the results for SOL boys' basketball team in action Friday. To view photos of CB West/CB East and Upper Dublin/Wissahickon, please visit our photo gallery.
American Conference
Cheltenham 59, Plymouth Whitemarsh 56
It’s a safe bet that not many people were picking Cheltenham, a team hovering around .500, to beat a Plymouth Whitemarsh squad that had not lost in 11 games this season.
But that’s exactly what happened, thanks to a huge fourth quarter that helped lift the host Panthers to a win over a PW squad that seemed otherwise unbeatable in the conference.
“It was great,” Cheltenham coach John Timms said. “I think it was what we needed as a program moving forward. PW traditionally beats Cheltenham, so it was great to get that stink off of always losing to them.
“We’re trying to establish ourselves in the Suburban One as a real competitor, and it felt good being able to compete with the best team in your conference.”
Cheltenham and PW were tied 18-18 after one quarter, and in the second, the scoring slowed down and the defense stepped up. By halftime, the Colonials led by three (27-24). The Panthers still trailed 40-38 heading into the final quarter when they outscored the Colonials 21-16 to come out victorious.
Fatiir Al-Ahad scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to help Cheltenham earn the monster win and reach .500 overall (6-6, 4-2 SOL).
“Fatiir is a senior and we’re now on a four-game win streak and he’s been playing exceptionally well,” Timms said of Al-Ahad, who also recorded seven assists and four steals. “He really controlled the game and I challenged him before the game knowing that (Jimmy) Murray and (Andre) Mitchell are the guys in the Suburban One who garner the most attention. I challenged him to step up to their level of competition and I was very pleased with how he played with them. He definitely welcomed the challenge.”
Anthony White scored 13 points for Cheltenham, while Khalil White added 11. Vaughn Jenkins led the Panthers on the boards with 10.
PW (11-1, 5-1) was led by Jimmy Murray’s 16 points. Xzavier Malone added 15, while Andre Mitchell chipped in with 10.
Plymouth Whitemarsh18 9 13 16—56
Cheltenham 18 6 14 21—59
Upper Dublin 53, Wissahickon 43
On a very special night for Upper Dublin – a night which saw the Cardinals honor the 1985 District One championship basketball team on its 30th anniversary – the Cardinals also got past their neighborhood rival.
At halftime, the entire anniversary team was honored in front of home fans. Before and after the ceremony, the Cardinals (8-3, 5-1) were able to play the better game of basketball to come out on top.
“It was interesting,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “We’ve beaten them several times in a row in the past and recently, they’ve beaten us several times in a row, so we know to have tons of respect for them.
“Kyle (Wilson) is a great friend and an awesome coach, and we really had good practices getting ready for this team. We knew they were going to throw a lot of stuff at us.”
The Cardinals, who led 14-11 after one quarter, doubled up Wissahickon (6-5, 4-2) in the second quarter to take a 26-17 lead into the half. John Barrett hit a three-pointer to open up the third quarter, sparking a 6-0 Flying Cardinal run. Barrett scored seven of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. Ryan Stover and Simeon Fryer added 16 and 11, respectively.
“The team had a nice celebration at the half, and we had a nice thing set up for them,” Adelman said.
Jeff Huddleston was the head coach of the district championship team. He, along with assistant coaches and players were in attendance.
Brandon Pace led the Trojans with 12 points, while Steve Driscoll and Zach Reiner added 11 and eight, respectively.
Wissahickon 11 6 14 12—43
Upper Dublin 14 12 14 13—53
Norristown 39, Upper Moreland 20
Norristown’s defense got the job done against Upper Moreland, keeping the Bears scoreless in the second quarter and in single digits in all four quarters en route to the convincing win. The Eagles led 12-5 after one quarter and took a 19-5 lead into halftime. They never looked back.
The Eagles (5-5, 4-2) were led by Khalil Sinclair’s 13 points. Roy Green added eight points while Darryl Carr had six points and six rebounds.
James Martin had nine points to lead the host Bears (5-8, 1-5).
Norristown 12 7 9 11—39
Upper Moreland 5 0 6 9—20
Upper Merion 47, Springfield 40
Matt Faw led all scorers with 25 points as the Vikings (2-10, 1-5) earned their first conference win of the season by beating visiting Springfield.
Ethan Miler added 11 for Upper Merion, which led 10-2 after one quarter and went up by 11 at the half (19-7). The Vikings took a 33-18 lead into the final quarter when the Spartans closed out the game with a 22-14 surge.
Sean Stovall helped spark a Springfield comeback attempt by hitting three triples in the fourth, but the Spartans fell short thanks to some solid defense from Upper Merion. Stovall led Springfield (2-10, 0-6) with 14 points.
Springfield 2 5 11 22—40
Upper Merion 10 9 14 14—47
National Conference
Abington 49, Council Rock North 42
In what has been a relatively easy road for Abington in conference play thus far this season, the Ghosts ran into a second-place Council Rock North squad that battled until the final horn.
The Ghosts, on their home court and with a big crowd on hand, came out on top to solidify their spot as the No. 1 team in the conference.
“It was really important. It was another league game and Council Rock North is a very good team and we knew that,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “We really had to play well to beat them.”
With fans showing up to see senior Matt Penecale reach the 1,000-point milestone, the Abington guard will have to wait another game, as his 21 points left him five short of the big number. But milestone or not, he had another big game and led all scorers.
“Matt has played well and we had a nice crowd on hand for him,” Grasty said. “Matt has been super important to the program and all of his friends and classmates were trying to get him there. He played well in spurts, but he just came up a little short (tonight).”
Rock North led 10-9 after one quarter, but the Ghosts responded with a 14-7 second quarter to go into halftime with a 23-16 lead.
Nine of Penecale’s 21 points came in the fourth quarter. The Ghosts (8-3, 6-0), who also got 11 points out of Amir Hinton, led by 11 going into the final quarter.
CR North (8-3, 4-2) was led by Will Desautelle’s 11 points. Matt Margolis added 10, while Riley Thompson and Steve Nowmos finished with nine and seven, respectively.
Council Rock North 10 7 6 19—42
Abington 9 14 11 14—49
Council Rock North (42) – Riley Thompson 9, Drew Glenn 3, Matt Margolis 10, Steve Nowmos 7, Noah Ehlin 2, Will Desautelle 11.
Abington (49) – Robbie Heath 2, Matt Penecale 21, Close 3, Amir Hinton 11, James 5, Brendan Gallagher 5, Steinman 2.
William Tennent 45, Bensalem 41
Missed layups and poor foul shooting down the stretch did in Bensalem as the Owls fell to visiting William Tennent in a close game.
Tennent’s Kevin Simonson, on the other hand, hit his foul shots, knocking down 7-of-8 down the stretch en route to a 13-point night. John Ryan led Tennent and all scorers with 16.
The Panthers (4-7, 3-2) trailed by two at the half (20-18) but had a huge third quarter to come out victorious, outscoring the Owls 14-5 to go on top 32-25.
Bensalem (4-8, 1-5) was led by Neel Patel and Rich Dean, who scored 12 points apiece.
William Tennent 12 6 14 13—45
Bensalem 15 5 5 16—41
Harry S. Truman 36, Neshaminy 31
Harry S Truman managed to get its second conference win of the year, thanks to a big second half against host Neshaminy.
Trailing by two at the half, Truman (4-8, 2-4) followed an 11-point first half with a 25-point effort in the final 16 minutes. They outscored the Redskins 12-8 in the third quarter to go on top 23-21 and followed that with a 13-10 fourth quarter to seal the win.
“It felt good to get the win because we just needed to get back on the winning side of things,” Truman coach Alan Munford said. “We had a couple disappointing outings the last couple games, so it was good to get back, and it’s important to get that league win. Hopefully this can get us on the right track.”
The Tigers were led by Tyquan Law’s 15 points. Darnell Snelling added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Neshaminy fell to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in conference play. The Redskins were led by four different players with six points.
Harry S. Truman 3 8 12 13—36
Neshaminy 4 9 8 10—31
Pennsbury 70, Council Rock South 21 (Thursday, Jan. 8)
The Falcons roared out of the starting gate to a 29-2 lead after one quarter on their way to the decisive win. Cam Jones reached a historic milestone when he scored his 13th point of the night to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He finished with 14 to lead a balanced Falcon attack.
Juan Jones added 10 points and Derrick Woods and Mark Flagg both had eight on a night that saw 10 players get into the scoring column for the Falcons. Addison Howard chipped in with seven points.
Austin Thomas and Kevin Newbert led South with six points each.
The Falcons are 5-1 in conference play (10-3 overall) while the Golden Hawks are 2-4 in the conference (3-8 overall).
Council Rock South 2 9 8 2—21
Pennsbury 29 23 8 10—70
Council Rock South (21) – Austin Thomas 6, Mike Stock 5, Kevin Newbert 6, Alex Nordenholt 2, Ryan McNamee 2.
Pennsbury (70) – Cam Jones 14, Juan Jones 10, Derrick Woods 8, Mekhi Bryant 6, Mark Flagg 8, Rob Daly 6, Zach Dea 4, Addison Howard 7, Nick Cereby 3, Joey Monaghan 4.
Continental Conference
Souderton 45, North Penn 40
Souderton played in front of a packed house and decidedly partisan crowd inside of North Penn High School’s gym and came out with a win conference win over the Knights. The contest was the second game of a girls/boys doubleheader with special ceremony held between games to recognize the retirement of longtime athletic director Don ‘Doc’ Ryan.
“It was a great win in a tough environment with a huge crowd and a lot of energy, and we withstood it for a terrific win,” Souderton coach Pete Chimera said.
Evan Slone led the Indians with 16 points. Tim Markow scored 12 points for Souderton while Tracy Simsick added eight.
Souderton (8-5, 4-2) trailed 11-8 after one quarter but outscored the Knights 14-7 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 22-18 lead. The two teams exchanged baskets in the second half as the Indians held on for the big win.
“Evan Slone and Tim Markow played great, but Austin Eberhart came off the bench and had 11 rebounds for us,” Chimera said. “It was a very physical game in a good way, and he was a huge presence.”
Joey Richards led the Knights (6-7, 2-4) with 16 points, while Kyle Hulmes scored seven.
Souderton 8 14 14 9—45
North Penn 11 7 15 7—40
Souderton (45) – Evan Slone 16, Ty Salone 4, Ben Wonderling 1, Tracy Simsick 8, Tim Markow 12, Austin Eberhart 4.
North Penn (40) – Matt Pickford 4, Joey Richards 14, Ricky Johns 5, Kyle Hulmes 7, JJ Melchior 3, Jared Melone 2, Derek Heiserman 5.
Central Bucks West 36, Central Bucks East 34
Central Bucks West held on in the final seconds to defeat host Central Bucks East by a bucket in a rivalry game.
Cal Reichwein led the Bucks with 16 points. CB West (10-3, 3-2) missed two free throws with 20 seconds remaining, and the Patriots (4-9, 0-6) had a chance to tie the game, but missed a pair of shots in the final seconds, allowing the Bucks to escape with the win.
“It was a great rivalry game in a tough atmosphere and we were able to come out with a win,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said.
East led 8-6 after a low scoring first quarter, but the Bucks rallied to go on top 18-17 at the intermission. The two teams were deadlocked 28-28 heading in the final quarter that saw the Bucks hold an 8-6 scoring edge.
Central Bucks West 6 12 10 8—36
Central Bucks East 8 9 11 6—34
Pennridge 55, Hatboro-Horsham 41
Pennridge remained undefeated in conference play following a double-digit win over visiting Hatboro-Horsham, upping its SOL record to 6-0 (11-1 overall).
The Rams were led by Joe Molettiere’s 17 points. Zach Muredda and Dan Long added 15 and 10, respectively.
Pennridge, which led 13-10 after one quarter, took a seven-point lead into the half (27-20) and nearly doubled that in the third quarter when the Rams outscored the Hatters 15-9 to go on top 42-29.
Brian McEachern led the Hatters (5-6, 2-4) with 14 points. Walt Kimble added 11.
Hatboro-Horsham 10 10 9 12—41
Pennridge 13 14 15 13—55
Hatboro-Horsham (41) – Ezekial Sloan 2, Walter Kimble 11, Brian McEachern 14, Kyle Katz 2, Clifton Moore 6, David Robinson 4, Jimmy Gavaghan 2.
Pennridge (55) – Joe Molettiere 17, Dan Long 10, Zach Muredda 15, Stephen Lowry 2, Joe Unangst 9, James White 2.
Central Bucks South 67, Quakertown 51
Thanks to Sean Gallagher’s 18 points and 10 rebounds and Tim Waddington’s 17 and seven, Central Bucks South rolled to a convincing win over the Panthers. Seven of Gallagher’s rebounds came on the offensive end.
CB South (8-4, 5-1) also saw Ian Vogt score four points while bringing down seven rebounds, and Ryan Joerger scored nine points. Josh Brodie dished out five assists and tallied two steals for the Titans.
Griffin Schmidt led the Panthers (4-7, 1-5) With 14 points, while Jake Perrine and Kevin Novaisas scored 11 and 10, respectively.
The Titans led 14-8 after one quarter, but the Panthers battled back, outscoring the Titans 19-15 in the second quarter to trim South’s lead to 29-27 at the intermission. The Titans outscored the Panthers 15-8 in the third quarter and added to their lead with a 23-16 fourth quarter.
Quakertown 8 19 8 16-51
Central Buck South 14 15 15 23—67
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