Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. CR North/William Tennent photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos.
5th ANNUAL GOLDEN BEARS TIPOFF TOURNAMENT
Upper Moreland 52, West Chester Henderson 50
A stirring fourth quarter rally capped by a thrilling finish in front of a raucous home crowd led to a special day for the Golden Bears.
Trailing a taller Henderson team 41-33 after three quarters, Upper Moreland followed the scoring lead of Byron Hopkins with a host of other contributors chipping in to claw back into the game.
“It was really an all-hands-on-deck type of situation,” Bears coach Dan Heiland said. “Colson Campbell had some big rebounds and some nice plays offensively to get himself easy buckets. Sean Dallahan had a bunch of great rebounds and created some turnovers, and Bo Meakim who was 0-for-3 or 0-for-4 from beyond the arc – we ran a play for him, he came off the screen to hit a three to tie the game.”
Henderson used its size advantage and some blistering shooting to bury the Bears early. The Warriors took a five-point lead after the first quarter and stretched it to seven by halftime.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do, we were making them kick out and take contested threes, and they were knocking them down. Shots were just falling left and right,” Heiland said. “We just stayed close, we stayed on the path. I kept preaching every time I had an opportunity – ‘The game’s not going to change, and we’re not going to get back into it if we start forcing and start trying to make one shot be the shot that brings us back.’ The guys bought in.”
Upper Moreland managed to pull to within three in the final minute and took a timeout with 38 seconds left. Running their play as designed, Meakim connected on the tying hoop with about 20 seconds on the clock and the Bears immediately put the pressure on Henderson, which had used all of its allotted timeouts, as it tried to advance the ball up the court.
“Dallahan put some pressure on him, and when the kid went to cross over and change the side of the court, Dallahan got his hand on the ball, hit it off the kid’s leg,” Heiland said. “Dallahan sprinted to it, got to it before it went out of bounds, and then he dribbled all the way to the basket, got fouled in the shooting motion and just knocked down both free throws to go ahead with six seconds left.”
Hopkins, the team’s senior lead guard, led all scorers with a 17-point effort while forward Matt Tiernan posted 13 for the Bears. Dallahan finished with six, none bigger than the go-ahead free throws.
Upper Moreland sealed the deal by breaking up Henderson’s final inbound play with Hopkins coming up with the ball and dribbling out the final seconds.
“Everyone that played just impacted the game in a positive way. The kids just believed. I kept telling them ‘Believe, believe, believe,’ and they did,” Heiland said. “The end result is obviously what we wanted. I’m very pleased with all my kids’ efforts. I couldn’t be happier.”
Having the opportunity to pose with a trophy for a team photo was a nice cap to opening weekend, but Heiland wants his players to aim for even more.
“It was a good early test to see what we’re made of,” Heiland said. “I keep telling the guys as well – ‘This is not the high point of the season, this is only the beginning. Keep growing from this and getting better. See where we end up at the end of it all.’”
Upper Moreland (2-0) will travel to Lower Moreland for Tuesday’s season opener.
Upper Moreland 9 15 9 19 52
W.C. Henderson 14 17 10 9 50
Upper Moreland: Sean Dallahan 6, Byron Hopkins 17, Bo Meakim 3, Rashim Lancit 3, Matt Tiernan 13, Stefano Garofalo 3, Colson Campbell 7
W.C. Henderson: S. Sirchio 7, N. Ralph-Beyer 13, C. Fleet 10, N. Lamizana 9, E. Smink 3, E. Jarden 2, R. Bell 6
3-pts FG: UM: Hopkins (2), Meakim, Lancit, Campbell, WCH: Ralph-Beyer (3), C. Fleet (2), Sirchio, Lamizana, Smink, Bell
Upper Merion 46, New Hope-Solebury 41
Despite getting a clutch basket from Justin Lehman to force overtime, the Lions couldn’t keep pace with the Vikings in the extra frame and fell in the consolation game of Upper Moreland’s tip-off tournament.
“I’m very proud of the effort from our guys,” NHS coach Derek Brooks said. “We did a great job defensively this game. Sophomore Liam Ross did a great job protecting the paint. Our senior guards did a good job of making plays on offense. Looking forward to building off of this game and continuing to improve.”
The Lions trailed much of the way and still found themselves on the short end of a 29-24 score heading into the final quarter. Four points from Dylan Hildebrandt as well as three points from Lehman and buckets from Charles Albano, Miles Demby and Liam Ross allowed the Lions to outscore the Vikings 13-8, sending the game to OT.
Ross finished with 12 points to lead a balanced attack while Hildebrandt added 11. Lehman had nine and Albano coontributed seven.
New Hope-Solebury (0-2) will host Springfield Township in Tuesday’s SOL opener.
Upper Merion 9 12 8 8 9 – 46
New Hope-Solebury 6 10 8 13 4 – 41
New Hope-Solebury: Eylan Hildebrandt 11, Justin Lehman 9, Charles Albano 7, Miles Demby 2, Liam Ross 12, Wil Keddie 2.
TRIANGLE CLUB TOURNAMENT
Wissahickon 58, Germantown Academy 51
This fall, the Trojans got off to a rocky start in their fall league because they weren’t playing team basketball.
Eventually, they started sharing the ball and, in turn, started playing much better. The first night of the winter regular season looked like that early fall Wissahickon team, the one without much continuity and team play.
The second night of the winter season was much better and much needed, with plenty of connections between players on both sides of the court.
“We needed this win. There was more continuity, more teamwork and more sharing of the basketball,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “We had a really interesting fall. We played eight games in a fall league. We lost the first four all by a point or two, and there was a lot of individual play. The last four games we won by an average of 30-something because we shared the ball and everybody got touches. We just played like a team.
‘We even went to a fall shootout down at Penncrest and we played as a team, and we won all three games down there.”
While Wissahickon was out of its element on Friday, it was the opposite on Saturday.
“It felt good to watch these guys finally start to get it, but once you put people in the stands, all of a sudden kids start thinking about, ‘I’m going to make mom and dad proud. I’m going to get some points,’ and we sort of got away from the team mentality,” Wilson said. “Not horribly, but we weren’t playing the same way we had been playing winning basketball, so it was good to watch them tonight play more unified, play more in sync, sharing the ball, guys getting open shots instead of forcing difficult or challenging shots.”
Josh Twersky showed why he’ll be a key player for the Trojans this fall with an all-around strong performance.
“He’s our center and he plays almost like a point-forward at times once we cross half court. He had eight assists to go with his 15 points,” Wilson said. “The night before against Norristown, he sat almost the entire first half in foul trouble, so that was tough for us. It was nice to see him come back with a solid performance from start to finish.”
The Trojans had the lead at the end of each quarter but couldn’t seem to pull away from a Patriots roster that has plenty of ties to the Wissahickon community.
Patriots center Blake Smith was one of Wilson’s students in eighth grade and played with Twersky growing up and happens to be best friends with Wiss captain Morgan Wilson, who spent most of the night guarding him. GA guard Jake Hsu, out with an injury, is also local as is Leo McElroy.
“It was a really interesting game. I was like, ‘Look, be friends with them afterwards. Go out there and take care of business. You’ve got to focus.’ It’s very easy in games like that to lose focus because you’re playing against your friends,” Wilson said. “It was nice to get a win. We sort of had a goal of at the very least coming out of that tournament 1-1, and it was good for the kids to reach that goal.”
Wissahickon (1-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham in Tuesday’s SOL opener.
WISSAHICKON 11 13 14 20 – 58
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY 9 14 12 16 – 51
W: Rondale Stewart 19, Josh Twersky 15, Earl Stout 13, Jaylon Williams 7, Gabe Lassiter 5, Brayden Ryan 2, Morgan Wilson 2
GA: Blake Smith 18, Leo McElroy 9, Bryce Rollerson 8, Luke Marvin 8, Andrew Dougherty 3, Flinn Brooks 3, Cole Putman 2.
3-pointers: W – , GA – Marvin 2, Rollerson, Smith, Brooks, Dougherty, McElroy
ORELAND LIONS TOURNAMENT
Springfield Twp 42, New Foundations Charter 29
The 2020-21 season was a tough one for the Spartans, with first year coach Rob Fusaro laying down a foundation but no wins to show for it.
Two games into the 2021-22 season, Springfield Township has two wins and a tournament championship.
“It was great for their confidence. They bought into what we’re trying to do as a staff and as a system, and they’re executing, they’re poised, they’re believing in themselves, they’re confident, they’re rolling pretty well with it, which is good,” Fusaro said. “They’re great kids, and they’re excelling in their roles. Everyone is playing their roles from the bench to the starters. They’re enjoying it, so it’s really nice to see.”
Both teams started off slow on Saturday, with the score standing just 4-4 after eight minutes. The Spartans took control with a 14-7 edge in the second frame, then added on to their advantage from there.
“The way games go in waves – it went up and down a little bit, but we fought back really well when we hit some adversity. Other guys stepped up,” Fusaro said.
Oreland Lions Club Tournament MVP Ben Cooney led the Spartans with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Dylan McKenzie chipped in nine. Kyle Smythe added seven. Both McKenzie and Smythe were named to the all-tournament team.
Springfield Township’s bench, led by eight points from Jimmy Halligan, was a difference maker.
“Jimmy Halligan – he shot 100 percent from the field tonight. He came in and gave great minutes,” Fusaro said. “Will Hastings gave us great minutes and Miles Goodwin – the three guys we got off the bench gave us good minutes.
“We have a good nucleus of starters that play really strong together. They believe in each other and play really hard.”
While Springfield Township had gone a year without a win, it had been even longer since the Spartans had won an Oreland Lions Club Tournament title.
“We’ve been preparing for this and hoping that we were going to be able to turn the corner. It was really nice because they haven’t won the tournament since 2007,” Fusaro said. “We won the championship at home, and just to do that for the township is really nice.”
Springfield Township (2-0) will travel to New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday for its SOL opener.
SPRINGFIELD TWP 4 14 13 11 – 42
NEW FOUNDATIONS 4 7 10 8 – 29
ST: Ben Cooney 10, Dylan McKenzie 9, Jimmy Halligan 8, Brett Smith 6, Kyle Smythe 7, Harry Rittenhouse 2
3-pointers: ST – Smith
8th ANNUAL JIM CHURCH CLASSIC
Souderton 58, Upper Dublin 55
During the preseason, the Cardinals handed the Indians a three-point loss in a tune-up scrimmage. With a trophy on the line Saturday, Souderton returned the favor and claimed the Jim Church Classic tournament title.
The Indians had to overcome a significant deficit to do it, rallying out of a seven-point hole early in the fourth quarter. Tournament MVP Aleks Smith, who had 15 points and Jay Bonnet, an all-tournament selection with 18 points, had some key scores during the comeback.
Turning to their full-court press for the first time all game, Souderton started chipping away.
“That was effective for us. We got some turnovers, we made foul shots. It was back and forth,” Indians coach Okoteh Sackitey said. “We just did a good job rebounding at the end, not giving them second chances in the last two minutes. We did a good job with free throws.
“These kids are hungry. They definitely remember last year and their record, and they know people might not take them seriously. We’re playing with a chip on our shoulders, for sure. We’re working hard, it’s paying off.”
Upper Dublin’s pace of play gave the Indians some trouble, especially when the hosts tried to set up offense, so Sakitey opted to let his players make the decisions on the floor. Thanks to some stellar work at the point by Chris Towsen, the move paid off.
“I think the game changed when I gave them more loosely structured instructions and just let the kids play,” Sackitey said. “They just made plays, they made things happen. Chris Towsen was a wizard at point guard with 10 assists, and that’s no small accomplishment. It was phenomenal.”
Carson Grant scored 11 for Souderton, including two pivotal 3-pointers in the second half while Bonnet focused on getting to the rim and finishing inside.
Towsen, a senior, scored just five points but had the free throws that all but iced the game before UD scored a late basket for the final three-point margin. That, coupled with his playmaking, allowed the freelancing Indians to make the most of their opportunity.
“We didn’t panic, we played under control. I got out of the way, and the kids just made plays,” Sackitey said. “Chris Towsen stepped up – threw a dime to Jay Bonnet. He’s such a gifted passer – it’s just really special. He made a nice pass to Bonnet who finished it. Towsen got assists to Carson in the corner for two 3s. They just made plays.”
Although the Indians have a tournament title and two wins to take from the opening weekend, Sackitey didn’t want to make too much of it with so much of the season yet to play out.
“This was as important as a win any other time would be. It’s not something I think about. I just try to think about trying to win the game, trying to get better,” Sackitey said. “I’m not going to get too caught up in trying to weigh the meaning of wins. I’m not going to get too caught up looking into the future. I’m really just taking it one day at a time, but this feels good, and I know it means a lot.”
Souderton (2-0) will be on the road at Central Bucks South for Tuesday’s SOL opener, and Upper Dublin (1-1) will host Abington on Tuesday.
SOUDERTON – 58
UPPER DUBLIN – 55
PENNRIDGE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Central Bucks East 61, Quakertown 31
A fast start and a dominant third quarter fueled the Patriots to a big win over Quakertown for a 2-0 weekend in Pennridge’s Memorial Classic.
“It was great to see everyone contribute. We haven’t had a drop off once we go to the bench and at times, we get better,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “This has really been a strength for us.”
Liam Cummiskey led East with 10 points and three steals while Jacob Cummiskey had nine points and six rebounds. Aidan Weaver led the Patriots under the boards with eight rebounds.
East led 16-5 after a quarter but could only increase their lead by a point going into halftime.
“Nick Rivera and Liam Cummiskey got us going early in the third with steals on back-to-back possessions and that triggered a run for us that put the game away,” said Henrysen, whose teams buried 12-of-16 from the foul line. “We wanted to be 2-0 heading into league play, and we accomplished that mission.”
Central Bucks East (2-0) will host Pennridge in Tuesday’s SOL opener, and Quakertown will host Plymouth Whitemarsh.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 16 11 23 11 – 61
QUAKERTOWN 5 10 5 11 – 31
CBE – Jacob Cummiskey 9, Liam Cummiskey 10, Brett Young 3, Tyriq Toney-Bailey 2, Nick Rivera 7, Kyle Berndt 8, Joshua Lyzinski 8, Ryan Lenahan 5, Joey Giordano 6, Tyler Dandrea 3
Q – Vince Micucci 3, Sam Wilkin 1, Anthony Callan 7, Owen Menszak 2, Brendan Ruzicka 6, Ethan Tomlinson 2, Stephen Frumuselu 3, Jashua Thomas 2, Miles Longacre 5
3-pointers: CBE – L. Cummiskey, Young, Rivera, Lenahan, Lyzinski 2, Berndt; Q – Micucci, Longacre, Ruzicka
Boyertown 49, Pennridge 42
An 8-0 run by the visiting Bears midway through the fourth quarter turned the tide of Saturday’s game, flipping a Pennridge lead into a deficit the Rams couldn’t overcome.
“All weekend, we played with a lead until that fourth quarter tonight,” Rams coach Dean Behrens said. “We still need to learn how to play when we’re behind.”
Matt Campione paced Pennridge with 13 points, but just four after halftime with the Bears’ zone defense giving him and Justin McCormick little space to get open shots. Jude D’Agostino had nine points and six rebounds for Pennridge.
Pennridge (2-0) will travel to Central Bucks East for Tuesday’s SOL opener.
BOYERTOWN 14 10 9 16 – 49
PENNRIDGE 14 11 11 6 – 42
B: Zach Ward 8, Roman Marinello 4, Jake Kapp 18, Richard Black 2, Eddie Higgins 9, Colin Eisenhard 2, Ryan Tinney 6
P: Justin McCormick 8, Justin Nichols 5, Matt Campione 13, Jude D’Agostino 9, Tommy Cramer 7, Tyler Johnson 0
3-pointers: B Kapp 2, P – McCormick 2, Campione
HERSHEY TIPOFF TOURNAMENT
William Allen 55, North Penn 44
The Knights couldn’t overcome a strong first half from the defending District 11 6A champions on Saturday.
William Allen used a 20-11 advantage in the second quarter to take control after leading by just two points after eight minutes of play.
Norm Gee led North Penn with 14 points.
North Penn (1-1) will open its SOL season at Central Bucks West on Tuesday.
WILLIAM ALLEN 14 20 5 16 – 55
NORTH PENN 12 11 7 14 – 44
WA – Ellis 19, Vigo 10, Davis 1, Castro 4, Pena 9, Johnson 4
NP – Norm Gee 14, Mario Sgro 5, Ryan Zeltt 5, Joe Larkins 7, Ryan Deininger 2
Non-league
Cheltenham 71, Executive Charter 60
The Panthers got contributions across the board and used a strong second quarter to take control in Saturday’s win.
Justin Savage scored a team-high 19, adding nine rebounds, two blocks and three steals in a high-level matchup against a future Division I player.
“Justin Savage came on today to give us more of who we think he is and can be. He answered the challenge today. He was matched up against a good wing in Kobe Magee, a Drexel commit,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “I think he definitely took the challenge and recognized the magnitude of the game, especially being a home game for us.”
Executive Charter led 12-10 after a quarter, but the Panthers erupted for 22 in the second while keeping the visitors to 14 to build a six-point advantage at halftime.
Josiah Hutson scored 14 points, chipping in five assists, five rebounds and three steals and combined well with Elias Walker, who gave the Panthers five points, six assists and three steals.
“Elias Walker set a great tone for our team defensively, and offensively, he work very well with Josiah,” Fleury said. “Josiah Hutson was very steady and again made plays for himself and others.”
Rasheem Dearry, one of the team’s most experienced varsity players, also stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 15 points, seven boards, three steals and four assists.
“Rasheem Dearry – the growth in him as a basketball player and a person this year in the first two games is very clear. He’s just doing a lot of things right, a lot of little things that we really appreciate,” Fleury said. “I think our team’s camaraderie and cohesion is pretty good. We have a couple of young guys – Kamani Healy and Taavi Mateen – who haven’t gotten going just yet, but we’re very excited, and we know that with continued work, they’re also going to get going and put their imprints on the game.”
Brandon Bush, who scored 13, was a perfect 9-of-9 at the foul line.
Cheltenham, last year’s SOL Freedom champion, still has room to go but Fleury likes what he’s seen two games in.
“I’m definitely happy with where we are for the most part,” Fleury said. “Defensively, we’ve been okay. Offensively, we’re still trying to find ourselves, but today was a good test with an Executive Charter team that always plays a very good schedule. Going against a team like that always helps you in the long run.”
Cheltenham (2-0) will host Sankofa Academy Charter School in a non-league game Monday.
CHELTENHAM 10 22 21 18 – 71
EXECUTIVE CHARTER 12 14 18 16 – 60
Executive Charter (60) – Kevin Muniz 14, Jalil Schenck 11, Patrick Allieu 4, Kobe Magee 24, Gabe Hornberger 3, Sanoh Moustapha 4.
Cheltenham (71) – Justin Savage 19, Rasheem Dearry 15, Nasir Eden 4, Elias Walker 5, Brandon Bush 13, Josiah Hutson 14, Jalen Lucas 1
Council Rock North 55, William Tennent 42
Despite a short turnaround time, the Indians were able to pick up a second win in as many days to open the season.
“I like the way our kids came ready to play after just 16 hours between games. They gave great effort from the opening tip and guarded well,” CR North coach Jesse Krasna said. “Offensively, we had an attacking mentality and our kids played unselfishly all game.”
Jack Blum paced the Indians with 18 points and earned credit from his coach for running the floor well, knocking down open looks and playing good perimeter defense. Bernie Parent had 15 while Ryan Burkett chipped in seven and were the keys to controlling the tempo of the game.
“Our lead guards Bernie Parent and Ryan Burkett got into the paint and made sound decisions in traffic,” Krasna said. “They each had five rebounds and helped us control the glass.”
Adam Mahtat had a near double-double, scoring eight points to go with 10 rebounds on a busy day cleaning the backboard.
“His high motor was on display all night,” Krasna said. “Logan Saifer and Shane Anhalt both made excellent passes versus Tennent’s zone.”
The Indians – who held a tenuous 11-9 lead after one quarter – outscored the Panthers 27-13 in the middle two frames – to put the game out of reach.
Council Rock North (2-0) will travel to Harry S Truman for Tuesday’s SOL opener, and William Tennent (0-2) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Tuesday.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 11 10 17 16 – 55
WILLIAM TENNENT 9 4 9 20 – 42
CRN – Jack Blum 18, Bernie Parent 15, Adam Mahtat 8, Ryan Burkett 7, Grady Burt 2, Shane Anhalt 2, Logan Saifer 2, Matt Hendrickson 1
WT – Kirby Mooney 19, George Marion 9, Brandon Belich 6, Isiah Dawson 4, Jeremy Henry 2, Timothy Stanfield 2
3-pointers: CRN – Parent 2, Blum 2, Mahtat, Burkett
Harry S Truman 52, Faith Christian 46
Spring-Ford 57, Central Bucks South 46
Perkiomen Valley 56, Central Bucks West 49
Liberty 47, Hatboro-Horsham 40
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