CR South defeated CB East in a non-league battle. Check out Wednesday’s results. Abington/Wood photo provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. CB East/CR South photo provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a complete gallery of action shots…CLICK HERE.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 53, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 42
In a battle of SOL unbeaten squads, it was the Golden Hawks keeping their perfect record intact.
The Hawks – sparked by eight points from Ryan Boyd and four more from Ryan McNamee – came roaring out of the gate, opening up a 17-9 lead after one quarter.
“We knew we had a little size advantage down low, and we wanted to take advantage of that early,” Rock South coach Derek Wright said. “Ryan McNamee and Ryan Boyd worked real well together early in the game and executed. That got us an early lead.”
The Hawks took a 29-18 lead into halftime and never looked back.
“We started off with good intensity on the defensive end, and we took some open shots, which I think relaxed us a little bit on the road,” Wright said. “I think we rode that the rest of the game.”
Kevin Newbert led the Golden Hawks with 16 points while Boyd and Alex Nordenholt each added 10. Austin Thomas had nine points, and McNamee finished with six.
The Patriots were led by the 13-point effort of Cooper Fink while Matt Pattyson had 12 and Collin Stein added eight.
“Defensively, Christian Jabbar and Kevin Newbert did a really good job on Matt Pattyson, who’s a really good high school player,” Wright said. “We were really impressed with him on film and impressed again with him tonight.
“We wanted to make sure he worked with everything he got, and Christian and Kevin did a good job on him.”
With the win, the Golden Hawks upped their record to 3-0 with several impressive wins to their credit.
“On one hand, I’m surprised because we’ve had to throw so much at them so quickly,” Wright said of his team’s strong start. “But I’m not surprised with the way they’re playing because I knew they had it in them. They have the talent, they have the ability, and I know they have the passion to play.
“It’s good that we’re seeing that. I was concerned that we were going to stunt their growth a little bit because we got them thinking so much, but they’ve done a really nice job of just playing.”
Council Rock South (3-0) will be on the road at Council Rock North for Friday’s SOL National Conference opener that not only will pit the archrivals but also will see Wright coaching against his former team.
“I’ve been part of so many of them,” Wright said of the rivalry game. “The important thing is to remind them that it’s just another game. I know that sounds cliché, but when the game starts, that’s what it comes down to. All the other stuff that goes on before is fun and exciting, and that’s what sports are about, but it really has no impact on the outcome of the game.”
Central Bucks East (3-1) will host Souderton in its SOL Continental Conference opener.
Central Bucks East 9-9-11-13 42
Council Rock South 17-12-10-14 53
Central Bucks East (42) – Matt Pattyson 12, Elijah Seger 5, Ryan Plack 4, Collin Stein 8, Cooper Fink 13
Council Rock North (53) – Austin Thomas 9, Christian Jabbar 2, Alex Nordenholt 10, Kevin Newbert 16, Ryan McNamee 6, Ryan Boyd 10
POTTSTOWN 59, UPPER DUBLIN 48
Growing pains were to be expected for an Upper Dublin squad that lost nine seniors from last year’s squad to graduation and then endured several serious injuries.
“We lost Zair Jones the second game to a fractured foot, and our best shooter (Rio Besachio) has been out since the offseason with an injury, so guys are learning and growing each game,” coach Josh Adelman said. “We are improving.”
Adelman is hoping Besachio will be back within the next week or two.
“It has been a long journey for Rio,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “He missed about 95 percent of last year too.”
Although the Flying Cardinals came up short, Adelman liked a lot of the things he saw from his inexperienced squad.
“We finally played as a team,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “We executed against both man and zone.”
Cory Stover had a big game for the Cardinals with 19 points and seven rebounds. Mike Ryan added 11 points and six boards, and Mike Cottom contributed six points, six assists and four rebounds.
Upper Dublin (0-3) will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday for its SOL American Conference opener.
Pottstown 20-14-9-16 59
Upper Dublin 10-13-14-11 48
ARCHBISHOP WOOD 71, ABINGTON 46
Less than 24 hours after their hard-fought win over Archbishop Carroll, the Ghosts found themselves playing another PCL power on the big stage in the Scholastic Play-by-Play at Arcadia University.
The Ghosts trailed the Vikings by just one after one quarter (11-10) but found themselves on the short end of a 26-18 score at the intermission. Things didn’t improve a whole lot in the second half as the Vikings rolled to the win.
Eric Dixon – who earned team MVP honors – led the Ghosts with 14 points, and Robbie Heath had 11. Eric Dougherty and Lucas Monroe both added six on a night that saw the Ghosts connect on just 16-of-49 shots from the floor (32.6 percent) and 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. The Ghosts continued to be effective from the foul line where they buried 11-of-15 shots.
Wood was led by the brilliant 25-point effort of Collin Gillespie, who connected on 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Abington (3-1) will host Pennsbury in its SOL National Conference opener on Friday.
Abington 10-8-16-12 46
Archbishop Wood 11-15-20-25 71
Abington (46) – Darius Brown 2, Brandon Coffman 1, Eric Dixon 14, Eric Dougherty 6, Robbie Heath 11, Lucas Monroe 6, Joseph O’Brien 3, Robert Young 3.
PERKIOMEN VALLEY 63, SOUDERTON 31
The Indians came up short in Wednesday’s non-league opener, but they had a once-in-a-lifetime experience playing the Vikings at the Wells Fargo Center.
Mike Bealer led a balanced Indian attack with six points.
Souderton (1-2) will travel to Central Bucks East for Friday’s SOL Continental Conference opener.
Souderton (31) – Mike Bealer 6, Groller 4, DJ Landis 4, Watts 4, Matt Cartwright 3, Lennon 2, Tomas Hanrahan 2, Kaleef blackwood 2, Noah Horas 2, Rodriguez 2.
Perkiomen Valley (63) – Justin Jaworski 17, Sean Owens 14, Hogan Millheim 8, Tyler Stretchay 7, Bernabe 5, Graves 4, Lopez 3, Gorla 3, Andrew Light 1.
About the Author
