Jarrad Saffren recaps Friday’s SOL boys’ basketball games. Neshaminy/Bensalem photos courtesy of Jess Garber (http://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p458763212). Hatboro-Horsham photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. CR North/CR South photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson, and PW/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Kim Supko. CLICK HERE for galleries of the three games.
By Jarrad Saffren
One week into the 2016-17 season, the Suburban One League National Conference is the most interesting conference in District One.
First you have two loaded, big, athletic league title contenders in Abington and Pennsbury.
Then you have the ’85 Bears of high school basketball defense in 4-0 upstart Council Rock South.
Then you have the breakout player of 2016-17 so far: Neshaminy junior guard Chris Arcidiacono, who is averaging 29.5 points through three games. Oh, and the unheralded Redskins are 2-1, with a win over a strong, athletic Bensalem team on their resume.
And finally, you have those Bensalem Owls, who can score 70 on any given night and have the other breakout player of 2016-17: Senior guard Richard Dean, who is averaging 18 points through four games.
The National will be fun to watch this season. And Abington is hardly a lock to win the league, as people thought before the season. Though the Ghosts did beat Pennsbury in their league opener Friday night.
The Suburban One League Continental Conference got a lot more interesting too on Friday night. North Penn got its two best players back and won convincingly. Central Bucks South upset league powerhouse Pennridge. The Titans lost three times to the Rams in 2015-16. And Souderton upset Central Bucks East after losing by 32 on Wednesday.
Even with the added intrigue, the Continental is still the Continental. All of the teams are pretty close. With three-time defending champion Pennridge off to a 2-2 start, and on a two-game losing streak, the Continental has no favorites yet.
The Suburban One League American Conference is three teams at the top—Plymouth Whitemarsh (as always), Hatboro-Horsham (as expected) and Cheltenham (the team that never gets enough love)—and then everybody else. Those three are 8-2 overall and 4-0 in American play.
Eighteen SOL boys basketball teams played league games Friday night. The results and recaps are below.
SOL National
Council Rock South 42, Council Rock North 34
Derek Wright brought his new team—Council Rock South—to his old basketball home—Council Rock North—where he coached for the last 14 years.
“After our game Wednesday, I was not looking forward to this,” Wright said. “It’s just a very weird, uncomfortable feeling. But when I made the decision to do this, I knew this was coming. So don’t pity me in any way.”
Wright left North as the winningest coach in program history. He took over at South because he “wanted a new challenge.”
Turning South around was indeed a challenge. The Golden Hawks went 7-15 in each of the last three seasons.
But Wright has conquered the challenge so far. The Hawks improved to 4-0 overall and 1-0 in SOL National play with Friday’s exciting win over their rival. South had not beaten North since 2014, a four-game losing streak.
“I’m happy for the guys, walking out of here feeling good about the results,” Wright said.
“It feels amazing. We grew up with all these guys,” South senior guard Alex Nordenholt said. “Now we have bragging rights.”
“It was a big game for us. We wanted to get Coach Wright one,” South senior guard Austin Thomas said. “We heard the chants but we didn’t hear them. When we got on the floor, it was just basketball.”
North students serenaded Wright with chants like, “You’re a traitor!” and “Jay Wright’s better!” But the students quieted down and started filing out late in the fourth quarter, as South pulled away.
The first three quarters consisted of runs. North jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Then the Indians went cold from the field. South went on a 12-6 run to end the first half and go up by four.
Senior forward Ryan Boyd went on a personal 5-0 run to put South up for the first time, with 3:38 left in the half.
The Hawks never trailed again. North did go on an 8-2 run to tie the game at 22 heading into the fourth. Senior guard Ryan Costello kept the Indians in the game, scoring 15 of their 16 points in the middle quarters.
“I always try to get my shot going,” Costello said.
The teams traded baskets for the first five-plus minutes of the fourth. Then, with 2:37 left, Thomas drained a three from the left corner.
Nearly two minutes later, Thomas picked off a pass and laid the ball in, putting South up by six.
“The team got excited off of that one,” Thomas said. “It was an energy booster.”
South made enough free throws down the stretch to hold off North. The Hawks made 13 free throws in the fourth and 17 overall.
North has given up 21, 36 and 24 free throw attempts in its three losses.
Thomas (12) and Nordenholt (10) combined for 22 points to lead South. Boyd added eight.
Costello led North with 18 points. No other North player scored more than five. South limited North’s top scorer—Noah Ehlin—to five points.
Ehlin’s man sagged off and gave him open jump shot looks. Ehlin rarely took them, choosing instead to drive into a crowd.
South’s wings let the bigs take care of Ehlin. They stayed out on North’s plethora of shooters.
“We knew they had shooters on the perimeter and didn’t want to leave them,” Wright said. “We were willing to give up some two-pointers. We lost Costello a few times but overall we executed.”
The Hawks have not allowed more than 42 points in a game. They have given up less than 40 in three of four.
“We are focused on it every possession, in all of our huddles and for most of practice every day,” Wright said. “Our guys don’t get pulled if they miss a shot or turn it over. They get pulled if they don’t defend.”
CR South (4-0, 1-0 SOL) plays Parkland Sunday. CR North (1-3, 0-1 SOL) takes on Archbishop Ryan Saturday at 4:30.
Council Rock South 5-13-4-20 42
Council Rock North 6-8-8-12 34
Council Rock South (42) – Austin Thomas 12, Christian Jabbar 3, Trey Irvin 2, Alex Nordenholt 10, Kevin Newbert 3, Ryan McNamee 4, Ryan Boyd 8.
Council Rock North (34) – Ryan Costello 18, James Kosyla 5, Tyler Shields 3, Noah Ehlin 5.
Neshaminy 65, Bensalem 56
Chris Arcidiacono dropped 38 points to lead Neshaminy to its second straight win.
“It was a great league win, away especially. League wins are tough. And away it’s even bigger,” Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle said. “Chris played within himself. He got to the hoop, attacked the paint, got to the line, made a lot of free throws. He didn’t shoot many jumpers, to tell you the truth. It was a lot of high pick and rolls and transition plays.” 
Arcidiacono shot 18-of-23 at the free throw line.
Tingle was surprised that Arcidiacono scored so many points.
“My assistant after the game told me had 38,” Tingle said. “I thought he had 25.”
Arcidiacono’s three-game point totals are absurd: 23, 28, 38. Each one was a new career-high.
On Thursday, at Neshaminy’s practice, Tingle said he would be surprised if Arcidiacono continued averaging 25.5 points per game. Now he’s averaging 29.6 points per game.
“Of course he had to make me a liar saying he couldn’t sustain it,” Tingle said, laughing.
But Tingle did expect Arcidiacono to break out in 2016-17.
“He’s injury-free. So I had a feeling,” Tingle said.
Arcidiacono missed 14 games last season with a back injury.
Arcidiacono also had five rebounds and four assists. Neshaminy starters Anthony Papeo and Zach Tredway returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with injuries.
Papeo chipped in eight points and Tredway seven.
“They played big parts in the win,” Tingle said.
Neshaminy trailed by 10 with a minute left in the third quarter. Then Papeo hit a three and a layup. Neshaminy trailed by just five entering the fourth.
“After that we played smart,” Tingle said. “To come back to win by nine is a huge turnaround. They don’t give up.”
Three Bensalem players—Ward Roberts (18), Isaiah Carpenter (12) and Richard Dean (10)—scored in double figures.
Neshaminy (2-1, 1-0 SOL) hosts Abington Tuesday night at seven. Bensalem (2-2, 0-1 SOL) plays CR North Tuesday night at seven.
Neshaminy 11-21-13-20 65
Bensalem 17-14-19-6 56
Abington 37, Pennsbury 31
Abington shot 11-of-44 from the field and 4-of-15 from three-point range. But the Ghosts still won their 32nd straight home conference game. They have not lost a home conference game since the 2011-12 season.
“We’ll take all of them. Pennsbury controlled the tempo, slowed it down,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “They wanted to play at that pace and did. Our guys got frustrated but we stepped it up in the third.”
Abington earned some easy baskets and foul line trips in the third.
“We tried to push the pace all game. They just did a good job. They were patient,” Grasty said. “We rushed and took some really bad shots. It was the first league game, at home, so we were a little too excited.”
Robbie Heath led Abington with 11 points. Eric Dixon had 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
Joseph O’Brien had six rebounds and four blocks. Robert Young stole the ball four times.
Lucas Monroe and Eric Dougherty both scored six points.
“We are not playing our best basketball right now. We are getting there. We are still pretty young,” Grasty said. “One thing people don’t realize is that Dixon and Monroe and Robbie, it seems like they’ve been around a long time. But they are young.”
Dixon and Monroe are sophomores. Heath is a junior.
The young Ghosts showed resilience on Friday night, after a 25-point loss to Archbishop Wood on Wednesday night.
Grasty viewed that game as an aberration.
“I felt like the Wood game, they weren’t 25 points better. We came off beating Archbishop Carroll. It was the day after,” Grasty said. “Our kids had an emotional win. Then they go home, wake up, go to class, do work, play Wood. I feel like if it was a different day, the outcome could have been different. We were spent. We didn’t have our legs under us. I definitely don’t believe Wood is 25 points better than us.”
Grasty also does not believe Abington is that much better than the rest of the SOL National. Friday night’s game proved that.
“You know Derek Wright’s going to do a good job at South. He’s been around and knows how it goes. He’s a good coach,” Grasty said. “You got Rock South, Rock North, Pennsbury, even Truman scored 75 points in its first win. We have a really tough league this year. Then Chris (Arcidiacono) is really lighting it up for Neshaminy.”
Abington (4-1, 1-0 SOL) will finish another tough back-to-back stretch with Roman Catholic Saturday at 5:45, in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Pennsbury (2-1, 0-1 SOL) takes on Valley Forge on Saturday.
Pennsbury 7-10-2-12 31
Abington 8-6-11-12 37
Abington (37) – Eric Dixton 10, Robbie Heath 11, Joseph O’Brien 2, Lucas Monroe 6, Robert Young 2, Eric Dougherty 6.
SOL American
Plymouth Whitemarsh 67, Wissahickon 60
PW junior guard Ish Horn transferred from Martin Luther King High School before the season.
He was a bench player at MLK and hoped to play a bigger role. But he struggled during his first month with PW. 
“We’ve been waiting for him to come along. Ish is very talented. He’s a DI talent,” Colonials coach Jim Donofrio said. “He’s just trying to figure out the system. He’s putting pressure on himself. But tonight he figured it out.”
Smith scored 20 points to lead PW.
“He cleared his head. He got caught up in Xs and Os and strategy,” Donofrio said. “But we gave him permission to clear his head and make plays. He did that.”
Wissahickon took a 20-8 lead. So Donofrio called for a press.
“There was a lot of up-tempo 90-foot defense and it opened the floor for Ish. He gained confidence from that,” Donofrio said. “We were trying to get there the last few games and we weren’t there. But tonight we had to go faster and we did.”
The press led to a 16-0 run. “We kept our energy up through the third quarter,” Donofrio said.
Donofrio found a new lineup during the run.
“Ish and Kareem Breeden and Kevin Tilghman and Matt Walker and one of the Williams boys, which is a new look, and it clicked,” Donofrio said.
Tilghman scored 13 points. Ahmin Williams added nine.
Shane Ford led Wissahickon with 14 points. Chaz Owens added 13.
PW (3-0, 1-0 SOL) plays Constitution Saturday at four. Wissahickon (1-2, 0-1 SOL) hosts Upper Dublin Tuesday night at seven.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5-23-21-18 67
Wissahickon 17-7-19-17 60
Plymouth Whitemarsh (67) – Ish Horn 20, Kevin Tilghman 13, Kareem Breden 6, Naheem McLeod 6, Matt Walker 2, Ahmin Williams 9, Cheo Houston 3, Ahmad Williams 6, Devon Lawrence 2.
Wissahickon (60) – Chaz Owens 13, Donovan Oliphant 8, Marlyn Johnson 8, Zach Gelman 9, Max Rapoport 8, Shane Ford 14.
Cheltenham 69, Springfield-Montco 49
Cheltenham won the first quarter 24-11 and never looked back.
Four Panthers players—Tim Spencer (16), Trevonn Pitts (14), Jack Clarke (14) and Ahmad Bickley (10)—scored in double figures.
Pitts also had 11 rebounds and seven assists. Bickley also had nine assists and four steals.
But Cheltenham coach John Timms was not satisfied with his team’s performance.
“We’re a young team. We got out to a good start in which we played defense, and once we built a lead, our youth showed,” Timms said. “Basically, we tried to outscore them and stopped playing defense.
“That’s part of the process we’re going to have to deal with throughout the season—teaching them that defense wins. You have to get stops. It worked tonight, but against better teams, we’re going to lose 90-percent of the time.”
Springfield-Montco won the second quarter 16-14. Cheltenham lost the fourth quarter (26-22) to Archbishop Carroll Thursday night, in a 71-66 loss.
“We’re using both of these games as an example. We were able to outscore Carroll for three quarters, but you can’t beat a team by outscoring them. You have to stop them,” Timms said. “We got caught up in a lot of, ‘I’m better than the person guarding me, so I’m going to try to score.’ Instead of saying, ‘I’m not going to let the person who has the ball score.’ We just want to make sure we refocus the team back to stopping people and not trying to outscore them. If you look over the first four games, we haven’t scored this much in my three years here. We’re normally a 50-65-point team.”
Two Springfield-Montco players—Quentin Johnson and Ryan Daley—scored 17 points. Mike Goodson scored 13.
“Springfield played great. They executed their offense very well,” Timms said. “They exercised discipline on the offensive end, and that’s why they were able, in the second half, to put up some points and have big quarters.”
Cheltenham (2-1, 1-0 SOL) battles Upper Moreland Tuesday night at seven. Springfield-Montco (1-4, 0-2 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland Thursday night at seven.
Cheltenham 24-14-16-15 69
Springfield-Montco 11-16-14-8 49
Cheltenham (69) – Trevor Pitts 14, Ahmad Bickley 10, Jack Clarke 14, Jordan Paris 2, Tim Spencer 16, Tim Myarick 1, Naim McCall 2, Rodney Carson 8, Kyin Healey 2.
Springfield (49) – Ryan Daley 17, Mike Goodson 13, Quentin Johnson 17, Krewson 2.
Hatboro-Horsham 70, Upper Moreland 44
Hatboro-Horsham won its second straight game to improve to 2-0 in American play.
The Hatters won their league games by 40 and 26, respectively.
Jay Davis led Hatboro-Horsham with 30 points Friday night. Clifton Moore had 24 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Edwards grabbed 11 rebounds.
Davis is averaging 24 points per game through four games. Moore is averaging 20.7 points per game.
Hatboro-Horsham (3-1, 2-0 SOL) hosts Quakertown Tuesday night at seven. Upper Moreland (1-2, 0-1 SOL) plays Lower Moreland Monday night at seven.
SOL Continental
Souderton 65, Central Bucks East 51
Souderton played in the Wells Fargo Center Wednesday afternoon, losing to Perkiomen Valley 63-31.
Indians coach Tim Brown was glad to be back in a high school gym Friday night.
“As cool as the Wells Fargo Center was,” Brown said. “It was nice to return to normalcy.”
Souderton returned with vigor.
“The guys were ready to come back and prove themselves. We weren’t happy with what they did. We came back in a strong way,” Brown said. “We played with so much energy for 32 minutes. And we got it from everybody.”
Souderton communicated on defense and stayed patient on offense.
“The guys tried to make hero plays Wednesday. They made passes that weren’t there,” Brown said. “The possessions were too quick. We were trying to make stuff happen too much. It was part of being at the Wells Fargo Center.”
Mike Bealer led Souderton with 17 points. Trevor Watts added 15. Matt Cartwright chipped in 10.
“Mike Bealer has been great. The way he’s been shooting has been fun to watch,” Brown said. “But he’s also been doing a better job not just relying on his shooting.
“Trevor Watts is the best energy guy we got. Every moment he goes hard. He’s a big old dude who can move people around. He’s constantly talking on D and picking up teammates.
“Matt Cartwright has been keeping the pace and running the offense really well. He’s a coach on the floor, a great kid.”
CB East was no pushover, either. The Patriots won their first three games of 2016-17.
“It was good for guys to see energy turn into great play on the floor,” Brown said. “And to do it against a disciplined, tough defensive team like CB East is definitely a confidence booster.”
Souderton did not win a road league game last season. It won its first one of 2016-17.
Matt Pattyson led CB East with 18 points. Cooper Fink (11) and Collin Stein (10) also scored in double figures for the Patriots.
Souderton (2-2, 1-0 SOL) plays Methacton Saturday at 3:30. CB East (3-2, 0-1 SOL) battles Pennridge Tuesday night at seven.
Souderton 15-14-16-20 65
Central Bucks East 7-17-10-17 51
Souderton (65) – Mike Bealer 17, Matt Cartwright 10, Groller 4, Tomas Hanrahan 4, DJ Landis 6, Rodriguez 2, Trevor Watts 15 Noah Horas 7.
Central Bucks East (51) – Matt Pattyson 18, Elijah Seger 6, Ryan Plack 2, Collin Stein 10, Cooper Fink 11.
North Penn 48, Central Bucks West 35
North Penn football players-turned basketball players Reece Udinski and Ricky Johns played against Pennsbury on Tuesday night.
“They were a little rusty,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “But they are good athletes. It doesn’t take them too long.”
No, it didn’t. Udinski and Jones both scored 15 points against Central Bucks West to lead North Penn.
“Ricky and Reece played well tonight. They gave energy and obviously scored well. Having them there, the other guys raised their levels as well,” Conrad said. “Especially defensively because Ricky and Reece are long and athletic. They bring an energy. The other guys responded to that as well. Ricky rebounded well. Reece did, too.”
North Penn’s point guard—AJ Mitchell—missed the game with an illness. So Conrad got creative.
He played 6-foot-4 Lance Ford at point guard.
“Which was new. He did a nice job getting us in our offense in half-court,” Conrad said. “With Lance at point, and Reece and Ricky, we could be pretty long across the lineup.”
Jake Reichwein led CB West with 10 points and seven rebounds. Collin MacAdams also had 10. Jack Traina had five assists.
North Penn (3-1, 1-0 SOL) takes on William Tennent Tuesday night at seven. CB West (1-2, 0-1 SOL) plays CB South Tuesday night at eight.
North Penn 7-13-11-17 48
Central Bucks West 8-4-13-10 35
North Penn (48) – Shane Ford 8, Ricky Johns 15, Christopher Coleman 3, Reece Udinski 15, David Giuliani 2, Derek Heiserman 2, Noah Kwortnik 3.
Central Bucks West (35) – Jack Traina 2, Shane McCusker 5, Liam Cooney 4, Collin MacAdams 10, Jack Mulhearn 3, Davis Zerweck 1, Jack Reichwein.
Central Bucks South 51, Pennridge 46
Nate Robinson (16) and Alex Karras (13) combined for 29 points to lead CB South to a close win.
This game flowed back and forth. CB South won the first quarter 15-5. Pennridge won the second quarter 19-10, cutting South’s lead to one at halftime (25-24).
But South outscored Pennridge 27-22 in the second half.
Sean Yoder led Pennridge with 11 points. AJ Demarco added nine.
CB South (2-2, 1-0 SOL) plays CB West Tuesday night at eight. Pennridge (2-2, 0-1 SOL) battles Emmaus Saturday night at seven.
Central Bucks South 15-10-11-15 51
Pennridge 5-19-10-12 46
Central Bucks South (51) – Alex Karras 13, Nate Robinson 16, Dan Tecce 7, Nate Johnston 3, Colin Sauers 2, Tommy Kuypers 8, Colin Kenney 2.
Pennridge (46) – Sean Yoder 11, Ryan Kinky 7, Kyle Yoder 4, Lewis Eutsey 3, AJ Demarco 9, Ryan Cuthbert 5, Jon Post 5.
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