Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Wednesday.
Springfield 38, Jenkintown 37
The Spartans trailed 5-2 in the opening minutes of the game, but by the end of the first quarter they led 10-5 and took a 22-9 lead into halftime. Jenkintown made things interesting, but the Spartans led the rest of the way.
“The first half we played with a lot of patience,” coach Gary Nolan said. “We moved the ball well, we got open shots, and we rebounded the ball. We got good open looks and played good defense.
“In the second half, we made more mistakes. We gave up a couple of easy baskets on inbounds plays. We had a couple of untimely fouls and a couple of turnovers. It got close at the end, and they got it to one.”
The Spartans answered with a perfectly-executed offensive play at the other end.
“We had a nice offensive possession in the last minute,” Nolan said. “We pulled the ball out, and we threw it to the high post. A backdoor cut by Deon Johnson put us up by three. We just held on from there.”
The Spartans connected on the front end of a one-and-one to go on top by four before Jenkintown connected on a 50-foot desperation shot at the buzzer for the one-point final.
“I just thought as a team they played together,” Nolan said. “They were much more composed as a team.
“Seven guys scored. Ryan Daley had a lot of points, but Brendan Dugan did a lot of real nice things that don’t show up in the box score.
“Honestly, every guy contributed something positive throughout the game. Justin Hill did a great job of composing the offense. Defensively, Deon Johnson did an exceptional job on Colin Mulvaney.”
Springfield (1-2) will travel to Wissahickon for Friday’s SOL opener.
Springfield 10-12-4-12 38
Jenkintown 5-4-14-14 37
Springfield: Ryan Daley 11, Justin Hill 6, Sean Stovall 6, Brendan Dugan 6, Christian Yoast 6, DeAndre Johnson 2, Quentin Johnson 2.
North Penn 52, Exeter 41
The Knights used a big fourth quarter to blow open a close road game and earn their first win of the young season.
“We just hung in there,” coach John Conrad said. “We had a tough start. We’ve played a lot of good basketball teams.
“We got down early again, but we just kept battling and battling and battling. We finally took the lead right around halftime. I was most pleased with our ability to finish the game because we haven’t been in that spot so far this year.”
The Knights trailed 9-6 after one quarter but rallied to go on top 19-18 by halftime. They took a 32-28 lead into the final quarter when they scored 20 points to win going away.
“Down the stretch we took it from four to six, six to eight, and we were just able to extend the lead and play with a lot of poise down the stretch,” Conrad said.
No one played with more poise than Cornell Lord, who connected on 8-of-10 from the foul line in the second half. He buried 6-of-8 in the fourth quarter and finished with 15 points. Joe Richards led the Knights with 16 points. Jared Melone added 10 points.
“It doesn’t show on the stat sheet, but Jared Melone really did a nice job rebounding,” Conrad said. “He got a couple of big steals for us and played real good solid interior defense.”
The Knights (1-3) will travel to Central Bucks South for their SOL opener on Friday night.
North Penn 6-13-13-20 52
Exeter 9-9-10-13 41
North Penn: Matt Pickford 1, Joe Richards 15, Kyle Hulmes 7, Cordell Lord 15, JJ Melchior 3, Jared Melone 10.
William Tennent 55, New Foundations 53
The Panthers took a 42-32 lead into the final quarter and then withstood a late charge by New Foundations Charter to earn their first win of the season.
John Ryan led the Panthers were an impressive double-double – 22 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Chalie Wodack added 15 points, which included three treys. He also had four assists. Kevin Simonsen added eight points and Anton Baluiskij had six.
Keith Blassingale did most of the damage for New Foundations Charter, finishing with 27 points, which included four three-pointers.
The Panthers (1-3) will travel to Council Rock North for Friday’s SOL opener.
William Tennent 15-16-11-13 53
New Foundations 7-14-11-21 55
Church Farm School 66, Council Rock South 53
Matt Stewart broke the single game scoring record for boys’ basketball at Rock South with 28 points. The senior guard had 12 points in the second quarter and 17 in the first half – which included three treys. Stewart did not score in the third quarter but exploded for 11 points in the fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on his record-breaking performance.
The Golden Hawks (1-2) led 10-9 at the end of one quarter, but CFS took a 30-26 lead into halftime and then outscored the Hawks in each of the next two periods.
Senior center Dan Buchnik added 13 points for the Golden Hawks, who will travel to Harry S Truman for Friday’s SOL opener.
Church Farm School 9-21-17-19 66
Council Rock South 10-16-12-15 53
Academy Park 84, Upper Merion 54
The Vikings kept things close for one half, trailing 23-18 after one period and 42-34 at the intermission, but Academy Park seized control of the game in the second half.
Ethan Miller led the Vikings with 16 points while Aiden Newell had 12. Andrew Persuad added nine and Matt Faw, eight points.
For Academy Park, senior guard Travis Smith scored 27 points, Rich Caldwell added 20 and Jawan Collins had 16.
Upper Merion (0-3) will travel to Cheltenham for Friday’s SOL opener.
Academy Park 23-19-25-17 84
Upper Merion 18-16-8-12 54
Conwell-Egan 61, Central Bucks South 39
Frankford 62, Bensalem 51
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