Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. To view photos by Keith Clemens of the North Penn/CB South game, please visit the Photo Gallery…CLICK HERE.
By Jarrad Saffren
Fourteen Suburban One League boys basketball teams opened league play Friday night. Four of the seven games were blowouts. Two were a little closer, and one came down to the last play. The results and recaps are below.
SOL Continental
Pennridge 58, Central Bucks East 46
Pennridge pulled away in the fourth quarter, breaking a 36-36 tie with a 22-10 run.
Six-foot-seven center Max Wagner started the run with a corner three. Wagner sat for the entire second quarter and most of the third with foul trouble. He was eager to reenter the game.
“I wanted to get back in but I knew my team could take it and we did, and I’m very proud of that and happy that everybody stepped up,” Wagner said.
A few minutes later, Wagner drained another three to put Pennridge up 44-37. CB East never got within seven again. Wagner finished with 12 points and senior guard Dan Long led the Rams with 20.
Wagner and Long have combined for 35, 26, 46, and 32 points in four Pennridge wins, leading the Rams in scoring in every game.
But, as Wagner said, the dynamic duo had a lot of help Friday. Stephen Lowry knocked down two threes and the Rams made seven in all. Ryan Kinky scored seven points and buried a three that tied the score at 28 in the third.
Coach Dean Behrens was happy to see Kinky and Lowry get going.
“Ryan Kinky stepped up. This was probably the first big game for Ryan Kinky as a junior,” said the Rams’ coach. “I think Steve felt like he wasn’t playing well for us. But he’s really been playing great defense. His shot wasn’t falling the last couple games. But in practice he was really pumping it in. We want him to be aggressive offensively.”
The Patriots were led by the 14-point effort of Blake Peterson. Justin O’Neil added seven while Tommy Strasburger and Chris Reilly both had six.
Pennridge is now 4-0 overall and 1-0 in SOL Continental play. CB East dropped to 3-1 and 0-1. The Rams play fellow unbeaten Central Bucks West Tuesday. The Patriots take on North Penn on the same night.
Central Bucks East 9-15-12-10 46
Pennridge 12-11-13-22 58
Central Bucks East: Matt Pattyson 4, Ryan Plack 4, Collin Stein 3, Justin O’Neil 7, Tommy Strasberger 6, Chris Reilly, Eiljah Seager 2, Blake Peterson 14.
Pennridge: Devon Balmer 4, Dan Long 20, Stephen Lowry 6, Ryan Kinky 7, Kyle Yoder 4, Ryan Cuthbert 5, Max Wagner.
Central Bucks South 58, North Penn 57
CB South closed the game with a 19-11 run to overcome a seven-point deficit after three quarters.
“They played great defense in the fourth quarter,” said North Penn coach John Conrad.
South played man-to-man and trapped aggressively, pushing the tempo when it forced turnovers. North Penn hit a three on its last possession of the game to cut CB South’s lead to one. South inbounded and dribbled out the clock.
“It’s always great to get a win in the league, especially on the road against a quality opponent like North Penn,” said South coach Jason Campbell.
Junior forward Nate Johnston scored 13 points off the bench for South. Senior forward Tim Waddington added 10.
Matt Pickford, Reece Udinski, and Noah Kwortnik scored in double figures for the Knights. Pickford and Kwortnik had 14. Udinski dropped 11.
CB South (3-1, 1-0 SOL) battles Hatboro-Horsham Tuesday at 7 p.m. North Penn (2-2, 0-1 SOL) plays at CB East on the same night and time.
Central Bucks West 61, Quakertown 41
Pennridge coach Dean Behrens keeps saying it.
“CB West is the team to beat this year in our league,” the Rams’ coach said. “Everyone keeps saying it.”
So far, the Bucks are proving Behrens and “everyone” right. CB West improved to 3-0 Friday night in its league opener, racing to a 22-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looking back.
“We shot the ball well and played good defense,” said West coach Adam Sherman. Sherman praised the defensive efforts of two Bucks players in particular. “Luke Irons and Jake Reichwein defended really well.”
The Bucks played man-to-man and used their size advantage to frustrate Quakertown.
Offensively, Irons and Cal Reichwein combined for 30 points, Irons with 12, Reichwein with 18. Reichwein hit three threes. Connor Lynch added nine for the Bucks and Bill Power scored eight.
Only one Quakertown player—Griffin Schmidt—scored in double figures. He had 10. Ryan Howard added seven.
CB West (3-0, 1-0 SOL) buses to Archbishop Wood Saturday for a 3:45 p.m. start. Quakertown (1-3, 0-1 SOL) is off until Tuesday night, when it plays Souderton at Souderton at 7 p.m.
Central Bucks West 22-8-14-17 61
Quakertown 9-6-6-20 41
Central Bucks West: Luke Irons 12, Cal Reichwein 18, Bill Power 8, Erich Hohlenleitner 4, Connor Lynch 9, Jake Reichwein 3, Collin MacAdams 5, Shane Harrison 2.
Quakertown: Ty Harrison 2, JR Grimmage 6, Ryan Howard 7, Jashua Rodriguez 4, Nick Drosnock 6, Charles Ervin 6, Griffin Schmidt 10.
Hatboro-Horsham 57, Souderton 40
Horsham rode its big three to a convincing win Friday night.
Clifton Moore, Jay Davis, and Kyle Katz combined for 51 of Horsham’s 57 points. Moore led the way with 22. Davis and Katz followed with 15 and 14, respectively. Moore also had 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Only three other Horsham players—Ryan Black, Joe Russell, and Zeke Sloan—scored.
Captain Brian McEachern missed his fourth straight game with a bruised thigh. McEachern bruised his thigh during a preseason scrimmage against Council Rock South. Coach Ed Enoch is not sure when McEachern will return.
Only one Souderton player—senior point guard Ty Salone—scored in double figures. Salone dropped 10 points.
Hatboro-Horsham (2-2, 1-0 SOL) takes on CB South Tuesday night. Souderton (1-3, 0-1 SOL) plays Methacton Saturday at 3 p.m.
Souderton 15-5-11-9 40
Hatboro-Horsham 21-11-6-19 57
Souderton: Mmike Bealer 5, Ty Salone 10, David Brush 2, Tracy Simsick 9, Connor Lennon 2, Austin Eberhart 6, Ian Beardsley 2, Noah Horas 2, JT Karaban 1, Antonio Rodriguez 1.
Hatboro-Horsham: Kyle Katz 22, Joe Russell 2, Jay Davis 15, Zeke Sloan 1, Ryan Black 3.
SOL American
Plymouth Whitemarsh 79, Upper Moreland 42
After two games, PW coach Jim Donofrio feels like he knows his team a lot better.
“We can go 11 deep and there’s no drop off. We’ve never had that at PW during my time here,” said Donofrio. “We subbed four guys at once in the first quarter tonight. Eleven guys played in the first quarter. And there was no drop off. Nine of these guys could start.”
Twelve Colonials players got minutes in all. But only one, senior captain Xzavier Malone, lit up the scoreboard, pouring in 26 points. Donofrio raved about his star after the game.
“Last year he was trying so hard to prove himself that he tried to do too much,” said the PW coach said. “This year he’s seeing the floor and staying patient and getting other guys involved. He’s much more unselfish, but his point totals keep going up. That’s scary.
“I think he’s probably as good as anybody in the Philadelphia area, but he doesn’t get talked about that much. He’s still underrated somehow.”
Senior guard Grady Minick was the Colonials’ second-leading scorer with 12. Seven other players scored between four and eight points.
Donofrio said Malone is the PW player who “knows how to be a big-time scorer.” But everyone on the team is “high-energy,” especially twin sophomore guards Ahmid and Ahmin Williams.
“They are some seriously high-energy guys,” Donofrio said. “We’ve been bringing them off the bench and they kind of provide a complete adrenaline rush. And that’s what happened tonight.”
Donofrio is not sure if he will stick with his 11-man rotation. But he likes it for now. “We’ve typically had 5-7 man rotations, which allows you to call more plays,” he said. “There is less control with this. We focus more on concepts than actual plays. But it’s fun to watch.”
For the Golden Bears, Shane Stone finished with 15 while Brendan O’Donnell added seven.
PW (2-0, 1-0 SOL) battles Pennsbury Saturday in a marquee non-conference clash. Upper Moreland (2-2, 0-1 SOL) travels to Wissahickon Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start.
PW 13-24-25-17 79
UM 13-9-11-9 42
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Grady Minick 12 (2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal), Oakley Spencer 4 (5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals), Xzavier Malone 26 (4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks), Kevin AShenfelter 3 (2 rebounds, 1 steal), Ahmin Williams 8 (2 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist), Ahmad Williams 4 (2 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals), Mike Lotito 4 (7 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block), Matt Walker 4 (2 steals, 1 assist), Naheem McLeon (4 (2 rebounds), Devon Lawrence 2, Davon Burrell 4 (2 rebounds, 1 steal), Glover 2.
Upper Moreland: Brendan O’Donnell 7, Damian Washington 6, Derek White 1, Casey Decker 2, Brett Brossman 6, Lyons 5, Shane Stone 15.
Norristown 55, Upper Dublin 47
Norristown cleaned the glass Friday night.
Junior guard Darius McGowan grabbed 10 rebounds, including five offensive boards that he converted into six points. Senior small forward Darryl Carr gobbled up nine boards.
McGowan and Carr also added offense, scoring 12 and nine points, respectively. Senior Desmond Gorski led Norristown with 15 points.
Upper Dublin continued to struggle without football players Ryan Stover and John Barrett, the third and first leading scorer on last year’s team. Senior forwards Will Derr and Jimmy Gallagher picked up some of the slack offensively, dropping 15 and 14, respectively.
Norristown (1-3, 1-0 SOL) plays Perkiomen Valley Wednesday at 7 p.m. Upper Dublin (0-3, 0-1 SOL) buses to Cheltenham Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start.
Norristown 8-22-10-15 55
Upper Dublin 15-11-9-12 47
Wissahickon 42, Springfield 34 (Thursday, Dec. 10)
The visiting Trojans opened up a 22-15 halftime lead only to watch the Spartans trim that lead to 25-23 heading into the final quarter. The Trojans closed it out with a 17-11 fourth quarter.
Noah Curran (12 points) and Zach Reiner (10 points) led the Trojans. Zach Gelman added nine and Shane Ford, six.
Springfield was led by Ryan Daley’s 11-point effort. Quentin Johnson added nine, and Larry Clark had seven.
Wissahickon (2-2, 1-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Tuesday, and Springfield (1-3, 0-1) will travel to Norristown.
Wissahickon 8-14-3-17 42
Springfield 3-12-8-11 34
Wissahickon: Noah Curran 12, Zach Reiner 10, Zach Gelman 9, Shane Ford 6, Max Rapoport 3, Marlyn Johnson 2.
Springfield: Larry Clark 7, Quentin Johnson 9, Ryan Daley 11, Mike Goodson 4, Kharee 3.
SOL National
Council Rock North 60, William Tennent 39
In its first two games, both wins, CR North played lockdown defense, holding its opponents to 43 and 38 points. But North only scored 45 and 48 in those wins.
On Friday night, the Indians’ offense caught up, handing Tennent its third straight loss to open the season.
Will Desautelle led the Indians with 19 points and Tyler Nowmos added 12. Noah Ehlin added nine, Ryan Costello eight, and Matt McAlister seven.
Matt Berndlmaier scored more than half of Tennent’s points with 21.
CR North (3-0, 1-0 SOL) welcomes Pennsbury Tuesday at 7 p.m. William Tennent (0-4, 0-1 SOL) goes to Harry S. Truman for a 7 p.m. start.
Council Rock North 16-12-15-17 60
William Tennent 6-5-22-6 39
Council Rock North: Tyler Nowmos 12, Eric Levine 2, Matt McAlister 7, Ryan Costello 8, Will Desautelle 19, Noah Ehlin 9, Elliot Spicer 3.
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