Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. CB West/CB South photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. CR North/CR South photos courtesy of John Gleeson, PW/Springfield photos courtesy of Larry Smalls, and photos of Quakertown/Wissahickon provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for galleries of all three games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f884733941
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks South 57, Central Bucks West 48 (OT)
Two teams that have had a rough go of it through the first two weeks of the season squared off looking for their first wins on Friday night in SOL Colonial play, and what resulted was a classic game between a pair of hungry squads.
Trailing by two with two seconds remaining, a length of the court pass and a foul on CB South center Tyler Meinel, who buried a pair of free throws that sent the game into overtime, where the Titans took command and pulled away for the nine-point win.
“We’ve had a couple of close games to start the season, with an exception being last night (a 74-46 nonleague loss to Malvern Prep),” said South’s first-year head coach Lou Ditri. “But the kids have been grinding, I’ve been grinding. We’ve had that monkey off our back mentality.”
This one was close throughout.
South led by 10, 15-5 after one. West cut the deficit to 26-21 at the half and 30-28 after three quarters, and then in the fourth battled back thanks to a pair of Julian Phillips 3-pointers. And when Matt Engle hit a pair of free throws with 2 seconds remaining, the Bucks took the lead again 42-40.
That set the stage for Meinel’s heroics, drawing the foul and nailing the two free throws into the heart of the CB West student section.
“I had one of my assistants draw up an in-bounds play,” Ditri said. “We threw it the length of the court, Tyler caught the ball and was fouled. He nailed two free throws into that screaming, yelling crowd. He had ice in his veins.
“That got it to overtime and we were able to pull away. But that final score is in no way indicative of the kind of game it was.”
The Titans did the job on the free throw line, converting 15-for-18.
Meinel’s 22 points led the way for South, but he had a lot of help.
“He hit big shots for us a couple of times when we were getting into a lull,” Ditri said. “A couple of other guys had eight points or seven points. We had more balanced scoring. We had that in the East game (a 61-58 loss on Tuesday), even though we lost. I venture to say we probably played better in the East game, but in this one, we were able to close it out and get over the hump.”
Ditri pointed out the effort of Dylan Valentine and Dalton VanZanten, who had nine points and eight points each, as well as Owen Wheeler defensively against CB West’s Engle, and point guard Flynn Carroll.
“To open our season, we had our first 10 games in 19 or 20 days,” Ditri said. “That’s a lot of games early, without much practice. We had three games last week and three next week. But once we get through December 27, we’ll have 12 games in 46 days. That’s just the way our schedule is.
“We’ve been installing new players and a new system. We only had two returning varsity players, so that’s 11 new bodies who were playing JV or freshman last year. So, there’s going to be a learning curve. With so many games, we’re trying to preach patience. We’re learning what’s working and eventually things will fall our way.”
Phillips led West with 15 points, while Engle had 13.
CB South (1-5, 1-2 SOL) plays a nonleague game Monday at Episcopal Academy
CB West (0-6, 0-3 SOL) hosts Pennridge on Tuesday.
CB South (57)
Kyle Klein 1 2-2 4; Kyle Moyer 1 0-0 2; Dylan Valentine 2 4-4 9; Flynn Carroll 2 0-0 5; Dalton VanZanten 3 2-4 8; Owen Wheeler 2 0-0 4; Tyler Meinel 8 6-6 22; Sean Rieber 1 1-2 3. Totals 20 15-18 57.
CB West (48)
Charlie Cashman 1 0-4 2; Mike Fountain 3 0-1 7; Matt Engle 2 7-10 13; Bowen Gugger 1 0-0 2; Julian Phillips 5 2-3 15; Trey Reed 1 1-1 3; Jackson Wisnowski 2 0-0 6. Totals 15 10-19 48.
CB South 15 11 4 12 15 – 57
CB West 5 16 7 15 6 – 48
3-point goals: CBS-Valentine, Carroll; CBW-Phillips 3, Engle 2, Wisnowski 2; Fountain
Central Bucks East 61, Pennridge 46
Up six at halftime and 10 at the end of three, CB East remained undefeated and put visiting Pennridge away, behind the play of junior guard Jacob Cummiskey.
Cummiskey scored a team-high 22 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter and included 6-for-6 free throw shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds.
“Great team effort tonight,” said CB East coach Erik Henrysen. “Pennridge came out aggressive early and hit a couple of open ‘3s’. We made some adjustments defensively and picked up our pressure.”
As a team, the Patriots hit eight 3-pointers, two each by Cummiskey, Tyler Dandrea, Kyle Berndt and Justin DiRoberto. Dandrea and Berndt finished with 10 points each.
“We were able to share the ball and hit open shots,” Henrysen said. “We did a good job closing the game out, shooting 9-for-10 from the free throw line.”
Pennridge was led by Jake Buesing and Matt Campione with 10 points each.
CB East (6-0, 3-0 SOL) is back in action Tuesday at Souderton.
Pennridge (3-3,1-2 SOL) plays at CB West on Tuesday.
Pennridge (46)
Jake Buesing 10; Matt Campione 10, Tommy Cramer 4, Xavier Peters 2, Ryan Hass 5, Caden Fisher 5, Gannon Perlini 5
CB East (61)
Jacob Cummiskey 22, Tyler Dandrea 10, Dhruv Mukund 5, Kyle Berndt 10, Joey Giordano 4, Miles Demby 2, Justin DiRoberto 6, Nick Condo 2
Pennridge 14 6 9 17 – 46
CB East 17 9 13 22 – 61
3-point goals: P-Buesing 2, Campione, Hass, Fisher; CBE-Cummiskey 2, Dandrea 2, Berndt 2, DiRoberto 2
North Penn 80, Souderton 61
North Penn was firing on all cylinders Friday night, as it connected on 10 3-pointers for the game, jumped up by 12 at halftime and then put the game away with a 49-point second half against rival Souderton.
Teddy McAllister led the way for the Knights with 19 points, including three 3-pointers and 13 points in the critical third quarter as they put the game out of reach.
Ryan Zeltt had 18 points and four 3-pointers. Ryan Deininger added 14 points.
Souderton was led by Nate Hemsing with 21 points and James Blair with 20.
North Penn (4-0, 3-0 SOL) hosts Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Souderton (1-4, 1-2 SOL) takes on unbeaten CB East Tuesday.
North Penn (80)
Ahmaar Gondhania 2 0-0 5; Mario Sgro 2 0-0 4; Norm Gee 3 2-2 9; Teddy McAllister 6 4-4 19; Luke Cody 1 0-0 2; Ryan Zeltt 7 0-0 18; Ryan Deininger 6 1-2 14; Corey Meade 2 1-2 5; Trey Simpson 2 0-1 4.
Souderton (61)
Nate Hemsing 7 5-8 21; Jared Zimmerman 0 1-2 1; Nolan Watkins 1 0-1 3; James Blair 8 0-0 20; Chanse Salone 1 0-0 2; Aiden Maue 3 0-0 7; Levi John 3 0-0 7.
North Penn 16 15 24 25 – 80
Souderton 12 7 21 21 – 61
3-point goals: NP-Zeltt 4, McAllister 3, Gee, Deininger, Meade; S-Hemsing 2, Blair 4, Maue, John
SOL Patriot Division
Council Rock North 48, Council Rock South 36
Adam Mahtat scored eight of his game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter as CR North held off rival CR South in this
intense rivalry game on Friday.
Oliver Schaefer had 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while Jack Blum added 10.
“Adam really played well when we caught it in the post,” said Indians assistant coach Tyler Sessa-Reeves. “Jack played the high post really well and Oliver played his best game of the year.
“I was really happy with our effort and energy tonight.”
The Indians led 25-19 at halftime and upped that lead to double figures with a 13-2 third quarter.
“The boys played really well,” Sessa-Reeves said. “We wanted to pound the ball inside against their zone and the boys executed it.
“South is a really good program and they run their stuff really well. Our defense was able to force them to take some tough shots and it gave us momentum on the offensive end.”
Timmy Rahill and Jordan Getz scored eight points each for the Golden Hawks, who had 13 field goals in the game.
CR North (3-2, 2-1 SOL) returns home Tuesday against Neshaminy.
CR South (1-4, 0-3 SOL) plays at Pennsbury Tuesday.
Council Rock North (48)
Oliver Schaefer 4 0-0 11; Tyler Rodowicz 2 0-0 5; Cole McCarthy 3 0-0 6; Adam Mahtat 7 2-3 16; Jack Blum 3 4-4 10. Totals 19 6-7 48.
Council Rock South (36)
Matt Robinson 2 0-0 5; Aiden Wallace 0 2-2 2; Timmy Rahill 3 1-1 8; Jordan Getz 3 0-0 8; Cole Delp 3 1-1 7; Owen Provenzano 0 1-2 1; Evan Bidwell 2 0-0 5. Totals 13 5-6 36.
CR North 12 13 13 10 – 48
CR South 7 11 2 16 – 36
3-point goals: CRN-Schaefer 3, Rodowicz; CRS-Getz 2, Robinson, Rahill, Bidwell
Neshaminy 64, Harry S Truman 32
A nine-point halftime lead turned into a mismatch as Neshaminy outscored the host Tigers 28-6 in the third quarter on the way to the 32-point SOL Patriot win on Friday night.
Nate Townsend scored 16 points to lead the Neshaminy scoring attack, while Emeer Coombs added 11 and Sean Curley 10. Guy Horton scored eight points.
Truman was led by Wyatt Spinks’ 11 points.
Neshaminy (5-1, 3-0 SOL) is back at it Tuesday night at Council Rock North.
Truman (1-4, 0-3 SOL) takes on unbeaten Bensalem on Tuesday.
Neshaminy (64)
Joey Zack 3 1-2 7; Ashton Lovelace 2 0-1 5; Emeer Coombs 4 3-5 11; Colin Cloud 0 0-1 0; Boma Gobah 2 1-5 3; Dan Ravitch 1 0-0 2; Guy Horton 3 1-2 8; Sean Curley 4 2-2 10; Nate Townsend 7 1-4 16.
Truman (32)
Wyatt Spinks 5 1-3 11; Aaron Nathan 2 0-0 4; Tre Winton 2 2-2 6; Adrian Jackson 2 0-0 4; Randolph Cox 1 1-1 3; Khavier Adams 1 1-2 3.
Neshaminy 14 12 28 10 – 64
Harry S. Truman 7 10 6 9 – 32
3-point goals: N-Lovelace, Horton, Townsend; HST-Winton
SOL Liberty Division
Quakertown 64, Wissahickon 49
Quakertown has played a very difficult schedule the first two-plus weeks of the regular season, with games against Pennridge, Central Bucks East, Upper Dublin and Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Yes, the Panthers started 0-4, but they weren’t far off.
Friday night, on the road, Quakertown picked up that first win against Wissahickon.
“We practiced really strong,really good,” said coach Tony DaCosta. “Our schedule was tought to start, but we knew that. We prepared for it. We played well early in those games, but our play wasn’t consistent. Tonight, it was. We showed up to win.”
Tied at the end of one, Quakertown led by three at halftime. Then, it outscored the Trojans 19-8 in the third quarter to take control.
“We tried to carry what we do in practice every day in terms of preparation into the games,” DaCosta said. “At times, that hasn’t been consistent. Tonight it was.
“We’ve played good basketball, just not for 32 minutes and against better teams, that’s going to be a problem for us. We have to defend, box out, score when we need to and make our free throws.”
Miles Longacre had 24 points and nine rebounds to lead the Panthers. Sam Wilkin had nine points, five rebounds and four assists, and Ethan Tomlinson finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“We only shot 40 percent for the game,” DaCosta said. “Our defense carried us. We tell them, our defense needs to travel.
“It was 7-7 after the first point, 24-21 at the half, and then we scored 40 points in the second half. Our offense came through, and we continued to play great defense.
“Wissahickon pressured us. Kyle (Wilson) always has them prepared to play, and they made a few runs at us.”
Jaylon Williams led Wissahickon with 16 points, Dom Vacchiano had 12 and Earl Stout 10.
Quakertown (1-4, 1-2 SOL) has a nonleague game Saturday at home against Holy Ghost Prep.
Wissahickon (1-4, 1-2 SOL) plays at Abington on Tuesday.
Quakertown (64)
Miles Longacre 9 5-6 24; Sam Wilkin 2 4-4 9; Ethan Tomlinson 3 5-9 11; Anthony Callan 1 3-4 5; Kyle Rosenberger 2 3-4 8; Tanner Clancy 1 1-2 4; Aiden Bergy 0 3-4 3.
Wissahickon (49)
Will Kirkpatrick 1 0-0 2; Jaylon Williams 7 0-0 16; Brayden Ryan 2 0-0 5; Andrew Slackman 2 0-0 4; Dom Vacchiano 4 2-2 12; Earl Stout 3 3-4 10.
Quakertown 7 17 19 21 – 64
Wissahickon 7 14 8 20 – 49
3-point goals: Q-Longacre, Wilkin, Rosenberger, Clancy; W-Williams 2, Vacchiano 2, Ryan, Stout
Abington 59, Upper Dublin 49
A 25-point second quarter was the catalyst for Abington in this one, as the Galloping Ghosts opened up a 36-20 lead by halftime and went on to the 10-point win over Upper Dublin.
The win was the second in a row for Abington, which lost three straight to start the season.
“We definitely needed it,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “We just came out with a lot of energy tonight. Like I told the guys earlier, we were just not playing hard, we were going through the motions.
“But in their defense, we only had two or three players back from last year. Everybody can say the same thing, but it’s understanding how hard you have to play the whole game.
“Today, we came out and we just played hard and executed. We saw a couple of baskets go in, and we just kept it going.”
The Ghosts shot the ball well in this one, going 5-for-6 from 3-point land, and 21-for-35 (60 percent) from the field.
Jeremiah Lee had 25 points and 12 rebounds, six offensive, to lead Abington. He scored 17 of his points in the first half, 12 in the second quarter. He also added two steals, one assist and one block.
“Jeremiah Lee definitely carried us in scoring, but I thought Josh Young played really well,” Grasty said. “He’s one of our bigger guys. Their bigger kid, Seaton Kukla, is really good, and we challenged Josh tonight, and he was up for the challenge and played well against him.”
Also, Kellen Ingram was in double figures with 11 points, and he also grabbed three rebounds.
Paul Glants had nine points, three rebounds, two steals and three assists. Damon Rawls finished with five assists.
“Upper Dublin has been playing well,” Grasty said. “We saw them on film and we were like, ‘Wow, look how hard they play.’
“Our guys saw how hard they played, and they could have either ran us out of the gym or we were going to have to step up, and I thought our guys stepped up.”
Upper Dublin was led by Ryan Mulroy’s 14 points, while DJ Cerisier added 12 points.
Abington (2-3, 2-1 SOL) hosts Wissahickon on Tuesday.
UD (3-3, 2-1 SOL) looks to bounce back at home against first-place Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Abington (59)
Jeremiah Lee 8 5-9 25; Liam Rardin 3 1-2 7; Paul Glants 4 0-0 9; Josh Young 2 1-2 5; Kellen Ingram 4 3-4 11; Dalton Cornell 0 2-2 2; Totals 21-12-19 59
Upper Dublin (49)
Mason Pensabene 2 1-5 6; Brady Fogle 2 2-2 6; DJ Cerisier 3 4-4 12; Ryan Mulroy 5 2-2 14; Seaton Kukla 2 0-0 5; Kobe Bazemore 2 0-0 4; Griffin Pensabene 1 0-0 2; Totals 17 9-13 49.
Abington 11-25-9-14 59
UD 9-11-9-20 49
3-point goals: Abington – Jeremiah Lee 4, Paul Glants; UD – DJ Cerisier 2, Mason Pensabene, Seaton Kukla.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 73, Hatboro-Horsham 21
Qudire Bennett scored 12 points in the first quarter, jump-starting a huge opening half for the Colonials, who blew past
the Hatters and never looked back.
PW led 21-1 after one quarter and 41-7 at halftime.
Bennett finished with a game-high 24 points, 20 in the first half. Jah Sales and Jaden Colzie had 12 points each, while Jimmy Flowers finished with nine.
H-H struggled offensively all night, connecting on eight field goals for the game.
PW (4-1, 3-0 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
H-H (0-7, 0-3 SOL) hosts Quakertown on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (73)
Jaden Colzie 4 3-9 12; Jimmy Flowers 4 0-0 9; Mani Sajid 1 0-0 3; Evan Ring 2 0-0 4; Ben Marisco 2 0-0 5; Josh Harris 1 0-0 2; Qudire Bennett 9 3-3 24; Jah Sayles 5 0-0 12; Rodney Willis 1 0-1 2.
Hatboro-Horsham (21)
Kyle Dittus 1 0-0 3; Ken Lutz 0 2-2 2; Matt Wingen 2 0-0 4; Noah Schlosser 2 0-0 4; Vaughn Craig 1 1-2 3; Jack Joyce 1 0-0 3; Brendan Costello 1 0-2 2.
PW 21 20 18 14 – 73
H-H 1 6 11 3 – 21
3-point goals: PW-Bennett 3, Sayles 2, Flowers, Sajid; HH-Dittus, Joyce
SOL Freedom Division
Cheltenham 68, William Tennent 63
Sophomore Josiah Hutson had a huge second half, including nine points and 5-for-6 free throw shooting in the fourth quarter as Cheltenham survived a scare and pulled out a good one against Tennent Friday.
Tennent jumped ahead 21-8 with a dynamite first quarter, and still led 50-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
“William Tennent came out with a great deal of energy,” said Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury. “Them being ranked No. 2 in terms of our district, that’s not a commonality. They’re feeling this year is their year, and we’re a young team. We always consider ourselves the underdog. What did happen that’s bigger than basketball – our kids just stayed the course and believed in one another.
“We were down 13 or 15 in the first quarter. I don’t hear it usually, but you could hear their fans that were close to me and what they were saying, so that was an add-on to my motivation and to our kids because as we know in our communities and in the world, we’ve got to band together.
“Throughout the game, they just focused on possession by possession. They weren’t playing the score. We were crawling back ever since the first quarter. They were up, so they went to the stall. Josiah Hutson got a steal on the side and was able to bring it to a one-point game. When Tennent stalled, they kind of lost their momentum because they had to switch their mindset.”
Hutson finished with 26 points for Cheltenham, while Yakeen Respes added 16, and eight each for Kevin Addison-Anderson and Malik Hughes.
“I had no idea. It was probably one of the quietest 26 points,” Fleury said about Hutson. “That’s what we ask him to do. We ask him to lead, and it’s not easy as a 10th grader to command a team and to read the moments. For the most part, he made the right plays. Obviously, there’s a lot we can work on.
Respes had a bucket with 23 seconds remaining that put Cheltenham in front to stay.
“Yakeem is a four-year kid,” Fleury said. “He’s a true testament of what our program is. Yakeem came in, and he wasn’t always seen as always doing the right thing. Three years later, he’s a leader, he’s selfless. It took four years for him to be rewarded. Not that this was a major game, but it was a big moment in our season that can change the trajectory.
“Early in the season, we didn’t have that resiliency. You can learn in wins, you can learn in losses. After tonight, I think they definitely believe they can win, no matter what the stage of the game or whatever is going on in the game. Yakeem’s a true testament to what we try to build in our young men. He’s not perfect, but you can see the growth, you can see the passion for excellence.”
There was other praise to go around as well.
“(Nile Tinsley is) one of the unsung heroes,” Fleury said. “He’s going to emerge sooner than later. He had four big points in the fourth quarter, and he was at the bottom of our defense. He contested a shot, walled straight up, didn’t reach over, and we got the rebound.
“Malik Hughes and Kevin (Addison-Anderson) both had eight points, and they did all of the small stuff that got us to the win.
“Craig Metalfe, one of our seniors who was battling injuries early in the season, came in and settled us in the first half. He hit a big ‘3’ when they were making a run, and that brought us to seven. We were able to close the half down two, and you could tell that comeback took a toll on them.”
Kirby Mooney scored 30 points for Tennent, while George Marion had 16.
Cheltenham (4-2, 3-0 SOL) plays at Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Tennent (3-2, 2-1 SOL) looks to rebound Tuesday, on the road at New Hope-Solebury.
William Tennent (63)
Kirby Mooney 30, Isaiah Dawson 5, George Marion 16, Sean Devine 2, Imad Abunima 2, Danny Scheller 3, Evan Devor 5
Cheltenham (68)
Josiah Hutson 26, Yakeen Respes 15; Kamani Healey 4; Kevin Addison-Anderson 8; Malik Hughes 8; Craig Metcalf 3, Nile Tinsley 4
William Tennent 21 11 18 13 – 63
Cheltenham 8 21 18 21 – 68
3-point goals: WT-Dawson, Marion, Scheller, Devor;C-Hutson, Metcalf
Upper Moreland 70, Springfield Twp 54
After trailing in the first half, Upper Moreland shook that off in the third quarter in a big way, outscoring host Springfield 29-4 and pulling away for the SOL Freedom Division win on Friday night.
UM shot 17-for-19 from the free throw line for the game, led by sophomore Colson Campbell, who was 10-for-10 and finished with a team-high 17 points.
The Golden Bears had balanced scoring, with Alex Best (15 points), Jon Clark (13) and Sean Murphy (10) all in double figures.
Springfield was led by Dylan McKenzie, who pumped in 28 points and also had eight rebounds, while Brett Smith added nine points and two steals. Aiden Hood had six points.
Upper Moreland (6-1, 2-1 SOL) hosts Cheltenham on Tuesday.
Springfield (3-2, 1-2 SOL) looks to bounce back against rival Lower Moreland on Tuesday.
Upper Moreland (70)
Nigel Adamson 2 0-0 4; Alex Best 5 2-2 15; Jon Clark 5 3-3 13; Ralph Tyler 3 0-0 9; Anthony Carson 1 0-0 2; Sean Murphy 4 2-4 10; Colson Campbell 3 10-10 17. Totals 23 17-19 70.
Springfield (54)
Johnny Nosal 1 0-1 2; Dylan McKenzie 11 4-4 28; Miles Godwin 2 0-0 5; Brett Smith 3 3-5 9; Sam Greenfield1 2-3 4; Aiden Hood 2 0-0 6. Totals 20 9-13 54.
Upper Moreland 10 14 29 17 – 70
Springfield 7 10 4 24 -54
3-point goals: UM-Best 3, Tyler 3, Campbell; S-McKenzie 2, Hood 2, Godwin
Lower Moreland 60, New Hope-Solebury 37
(Game info will be posted when it is received.)
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