Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 53, PENNSBURY 51
The Colonials showed a flair for the dramatic in Saturday’s win at the Coaches vs. Cancer event at Archbishop Wood. Trailing by six entering the final quarter, PW went up by three on a clutch trey by Matt Walker in the closing minute only to watch the Falcons knot the score with a three-pointer of their own on the second chance of the possession. That set the stage for the improbable ending.
“We call timeout and run a sideline play,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “With two seconds on the clock, Xzavier Malone takes a contested three, airballs it right into our guard’s hands – Ahmin Williams, and he makes a layup at the buzzer.
“Xzavier draws so much attention – if you watch the film, literally five guys are running at ‘X.’ We just called it a really good pass. It was a five-foot high alley-oop pass. That was a lucky, lucky win today. You take it and run with it. It’s the heaven and the heartbreak of basketball.”
The all-SOL contest featured a pair of perennial league and district powers that are trying to find their identity with a lot of new faces in their lineups.
“I’m sure Bill (Coleman) is giving the same interview,” Donofrio said. “We’re trying to figure ourselves out right now. He’s doing the same thing I am – he’s going deep.
“It makes for fun basketball for a fan. For a coach, it drives you crazy. Great heart, great, great fight by our guys. Can we win while we’re trying to learn things? It was two great programs and who gets lucky at the end.”
The Falcons took a 13-8 lead after one quarter and took a 27-21 lead into halftime. It was still a six-point game heading into the final quarter (41-35).
“A game is a long time,” Donofrio said. “We had a poor first half, we were still not making smart moves in the third, but it’s what we’re going to be for the next month of so.
“We just have gears that we can hit that remind me of the Chester teams that we’ve gone against that just go to another level. I think we were fortunate enough to crawl back in the game and make huge shots. Matt Walker was huge for us – he’s about 6-2, 175 covering their big guy and giving up 80 pounds. We did a lot of right things when it mattered. I don’t know how.”
For the Falcons, Addison Howard led the way with 16 points. Tyler Sessa-Reeves added 12, and Rob Daly had 11.
“They have as much pride as we do, and they play really well,” Donofrio said. “They’re not quite last year’s team obviously, but they’re playing knowing they’re supposed to win basketball games, so I knew this was going to be a pick-em game.
“Coming off a game last night, we’re so young in so many way – I’m not a big fan of playing Pennsbury literally 16 hours later, and 1:30 games are weird for high school kids. I’m thinking ‘We need a lot more days to prepare for a Pennsbury-type team.’”
Malone had a big game for the Colonials, leading all scorers with 22 points to go along with six rebounds, two steals, one block and two assists. Mike Lotito added 12 points.
“We’re playing a lot of guys right now,” Donofrio said. “It’s not a typical PW team where you can say, ‘When we need to be organized, we play this five.’ We don’t have a go-to five, and when you don’t have a go-to five, you’re really playing loose with decision making and you just let it fly.
“Pennsbury is a very good defensive team – it’s the best defensive team we’ve seen so far. We didn’t run our offense, which is a concern. We don’t have an Andre Mitchell, we don’t have a three-year veteran playing point guard to put people in places, so we’re just kind of going up and down the floor. That puts too much in Xzavier Malone’s hands, and as much as ‘X’ has been tremendous this year in getting his points while distributing, we started to stand around a bit, they started to hone in on ‘X,’ and no one else was stepping up.
“Next thing you know – it’s the frustrating down four, down five, down six, and (Addison Howard) is knocking down every three in sight. Basically, it’s a little Russian roulette playing in games like that.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Upper Merion on Tuesday while Pennsbury (3-1, 1-0) will host Council Rock North on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-13-14-18 53
Pennsbury 13-14-14-10 51
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Oakley Spencer 5 (6 rebounds, 2 assists), Xzavier Malone 22 (6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 assists), Ahmin Williams 2 (5 rebounds), Ahmad Williams 2 (5 rebounds, 2 steals), Mike Lotito 12 (6 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 assist), Matt Walker 6 (4 rebounds, 1 steal, 2 assists), Nasheem McLeod (3 rebounds, 1 steal), Davon Burrell 4 (2 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal)
Pennsbury: Addison Howard 16, Tyler Sessa-Reeves 12, Mike Alley 4, Rob Daly 11, Mark Flagg 6, Corey Dea 2.
ABINGTON 63, CONWELL EGAN 61 (OT)
The Ghosts rebounded from back-to-back losses to Archbishop Carroll and Pennsbury to win an overtime thriller over the defending PIAA Class AA champions.
“We played a very good Egan team, and our guys are coming along,” coach Charles Grasty said. “We played well.
“I think we’re starting to understand the speed of the game and how physical the game is at this level because we’re not very experienced. That’s the reality of it. We don’t have a lot of varsity experience, but we have good leadership.
“We played a couple of bad games, and our leaders stepped up, came to practice yesterday and got after it. They want to learn, they want to get better, so that’s good. They really listen. The rest is up to us.”
Grasty credited the leadership of captains BJ James, Jack Steinman and Brian Close.
“Not that we panicked – we lost two games, but we didn’t panic,” Grasty said. “They thought we could play better.
“We sat down and had a talk yesterday before practice, and the guys came out and played hard today. They want to be good. Just understanding how hard it is at this level – they’re starting to get it.”
Eric Dixon led the Ghosts in Saturday’s win with a monster 24-point, 10-rebound effort. Robbie Heath also had 24 points.
It was Joseph O’Brien’s follow up shot in the final minute of overtime that propelled the Ghosts to the exciting win.
“We told them that (Egan) was very good and we would have to play hard and smart and play the right way,” Grasty said. “Believe it or not, I thought that Carroll game (a 77-56 loss) helped us because the guys are young and haven’t played in varsity games.
“Then they come out and see a team like Carroll, and they’re like ‘Wow.’ I didn’t go crazy in the locker room. I just told them, ‘Listen, this is basketball. We play these teams.’
“In our loss to Pennsbury, we had 17 turnovers and shot something like 25 percent, but the effort was there, and we can build off of that. We told them after the Pennsbury game it was only game four, there’s no reason to jump ship now. Let’s see what we can do, and I really like the way we responded.”
Abington (3-2, 0-1 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday.
SOUDERTON 49, METHACTON 31
The Indians rebounded from their loss to Hatboro-Horsham to put a beating on the Warriors in a non-league contest Saturday. Souderton led 19-4 after one quarter and extended that to 34-12 by halftime on their way to the lopsided win.
Tracey Simsick’s 20-point performance – which included a pair of threes – led the Indians. Austin Eberhart contributed eight points and Ian Beardsley, six.
Souderton (2-3, 0-1 SOL) will host Quakertown in SOL action Tuesday.
Methacton 4-8-12-7 31
Souderton 19-15-8-7 49
Methacton: O’Neill 5, Cardarelli 6, Cerchio 2, Savage 8, Cougle 5, Kitaw 5.
Souderton: Mike Bealer 5, Ty Salone 5, David Brush 3, Tracey Simsick 20, Austin Eberhart 8, Ian Beardsley 6, JT Karaban 2.
WISSAHICKON 74, MATH CIVICS AND SCIENCES 60
Five players finished the game in double figures to lead an explosive Trojan attack. Zach Reiner led the way in Saturday’s non-league win with an impressive 22-point effort. Zach Gelman (14 points), Noah Curran (13 points), Shane Ford (12 points) and Max Rapoport (10 points) also came up big for the Trojans.
Wissahickon held a tenuous 16-14 lead after one quarter but exploded for 22 points in the second quarter and took a commanding 38-23 lead into halftime. The Trojans outscored Math, Civics and Sciences 24-18 in the third on their way to the decisive win.
Wissahickon (3-2, 1-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Wissahickon 16-22-24-12 74
Math, Civics & Sciences 14-9-18-19 60
Wissahickon: Max Rapoport 10, Zach Reiner 22, Zach Gelman 14, Noah Curran 13, Shane Ford 12, Matteo Atkins 2, Alex Tappen 1.
Math, Civics & Sciences: Archer 19, Stovie 16, Peoples 3, Ransan 13, Johnson 8, Croswell.
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 66, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 46
The Vikings jumped out to an 18-9 lead and took a 29-21 lead into halftime on their way to the non-league win in Saturday’s Coaches vs. Cancer event at Wood.
Erich Hohlenleitner’s 16-point effort led the Bucks. Connor Lynch added nine points on a 9-for-10 effort at the charity stripe. Luke Irons and Cal Reichwein both added seven points.
The Vikings were led by the 22-point effort of Tyree Pickron.
Central Bucks West (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Pennridge in a key SOL Continental Conference game on Tuesday.
Archbishop Wood 18-11-12-20 66
Central Bucks West 9-12-8-17 46
Central Bucks West: Luke Irons 7, Cal Reichwein 7, Bill Power 2, Erich Hohlenleitner 16, Connor Lynch 9, Ben Riegel 3, Jake Reichwein 2.
Archbishop Wood: Tyree Pickron 22, Keith Otto 2, Tom Funk 10, Cerruti 11, Gillespie 5, Hirschman 4, Andrew Funk 8, Matt Schwartz 4.
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