Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. Truman/Bensalem photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay, Abington/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Kim Supko, and Pennsbury/Neshaminy photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Check back for galleries of those games.
SOL Freedom Division
Cheltenham 58, Upper Moreland 50 (OT)
After a back-and-forth battle that saw Upper Moreland rally from down double figures at halftime (24-13) to extend the game to overtime, Cheltenham emerged in overtime with the 58-50 win in the Freedom Division game of the night on Tuesday.
Mark Hill accounted for seven of the Panthers’ points in overtime, burying a clutch 3 and connecting on 4 of 4 from the foul line.
The Panthers dominated in overtime, outscoring the Bears 11-3.
Key Players: Chris Harmon (19), Mark Hill (17) and Jaeden Mosley (14) were each in double figures for Cheltenham. Hill scored nine of his point in the first half to lead the Panthers, and Harmon had 11 of his points in the third and fourth quarters.
UM was led by Jose Hernandez’s 21 points, while Cannon Campbell added 13.
Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury:
–On the game: “(Upper Moreland) does a good job – they play hard, they’re a prideful team, they fight for every possession, which is admirable, whether you’re a fan or not. We jumped out early – we were up 24-11 in the second quarter, and then we gave them a reach-in foul that gave them two free throws and it was 24-13 (at halftime).
“We knew they were going to make a run, but we got to just sustain our defense for the whole time. Going into overtime, it was a big defensive type game for us where Isais Vargas played amazing, Isaiah Dill played amazing, Tyree Martin came up with a big block. Peyton McClendon got in foul trouble early, so it was hard to get him in a rhythm, but he’s valuable member to us.
“We only went seven deep tonight, but the guys that didn’t get in were engaged. The student section – their friends came. It was amazing to see support for us.
“It was a defensive game, then they got hot, and we had to answer back. They had a great crowd. That was a good game for our guys to win in a tough environment and battle the flows of the game.”
Up next: Cheltenham will host New Hope-Solebury Friday, and Upper Moreland will host Springfield Twp Friday.
Cheltenham. 12-12-13-10-11 58
Upper Moreland 7-6-22-13-3 50
Cheltenham (58)
Isais Vargas 4, Chris Harmon 19, Mark Hill 17, Isaiah Dill 2, Jaeden Mosley 14, Tyree Martin 2.
Upper Moreland (50)
Nate Best 3, Kyle Moore 3, Larry Hughes 10, Cannon Campbell 13, Jose Hernandez 21
3-point goals: C – Harmon 2, Mosley 2, Hill; UM – Hernandez 2, Campbell, Best.
William Tennent 82, Springfield Twp 43
Evan Eiler and William Tennent came out smoking Tuesday night, putting up 53 first-half points to pick up the Panthers’ first win of the season in convincing fashion on the road against Springfield.
Eiler scored 13 of his team-high 18 in the first half, including three 3-pointers. Eight different Panthers lit up the scorebook in the first half, and as a team, they had eight 3-pointers in the first half and 13 for the game.
“We had five guys in double figures tonight,” said Tennent coach Robert Mulville. “And we really just shot a high percentage. We shot a high percentage from the ‘3’, shot a high percentage from the two. Shot well from the foul line, which we really haven’t done yet this year.”
Tennent coach Robert Mulville:
“We came out on those first five games and did some good things in them, but we had to concentrate on making progress and getting better. I thought we did that against Cheltenham. Even though we didn’t come up with the win, I thought we played better. And then I thought tonight we kind of took another step forward. Things just really were falling for us tonight, which was good.”
–Props: “I thought Teegan Stanfield did a really good job running the point. He was 5-for-5 from the field. He had five assists. Aiden Davis-Carter, again, was like 4-for-4 from the field but did a much better job at the line tonight where I think he was 6-for-9. And then Evan Eiler did a really nice job coming off the bench. He was our leading scorer, had 19 and grabbed six rebounds.
“We had five guys in double figure. Braden Goldberg was 4-for-5 and had five assists. We just had a really all-around pretty good game by a lot of guys, and it just kind of all clicked tonight. So that was good. “
Up next: Springfield Twp will be on the road at Upper Moreland Friday, and William Tennent will host Lower Moreland Friday.
William Tennent 25 28 16 13 – 82
Springfield 10 15 10 8 – 43
Tennent (82)
Goldberg 10, Stanfield 12, Stracuzzi 3, Scheller 12, Davis-Carter 14, Angely 2, Jameson 2, Eiler 19, Wahid 5, Bazler 3.
Springfield (43)
Spearman 5, Ciasullo 2, Davis 2, Tejbrowski 6, McGutchin 9, Kamba 9, Gibson 3, McLaughlin 3, Cleary 2, Piccolo-Cooper 2.
Lower Moreland 45, New Hope-Solebury 31
Nate Fellah scored eight of his nine points in the second half, including sixth in the fourth quarter, as Lower Moreland pulled away from New Hope-Solebury on Tuesday night for the 45-31 win.
LM had a balanced scoring effort, as eight different players had field goals, led by Fellah and Tristan Vizcarondo with nine points each, while Shawn Mertens and Luke Wheeler had six points each.
Up next: Lower Moreland will travel to Holy Ghost Prep for a non-league game Wednesday. New Hope-Solebury will be on the road at Cheltenham Friday.
Lower Moreland 12 9 11 13 – 45
New Hope 3 12 7 9 – 31
Lower Moreland (45)
Wheller 3 0-0 6; Udal 1 0-0 2; Lucas 1 0-0 2; John 2, Carroll 4, Viscarrando 9, Mertens 6, Maloney 5, Fellah 9.
SOL Liberty Division
Abington 51, Wissahickon 46
Abington built a double-figure lead in the first half and went on to the 11-point win over visiting Wissahickon on Tuesday night.
The Ghosts led this one 32-18 at halftime.
“We jumped out to an early lead, and I think we led most of the game by 12ish,” said Ghosts coach Dan Marsh. “And then they started creeping back in the second half, and then they made a run in the fourth quarter where they actually cut it to three, 47-44. We were able to make some free throws down the stretch.”
Key Players: Xander Grasty had 18 points for Abington, while Malcom Lucas had seven points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
Abington coach Dan Marsh:
“I think both teams played well. Nico (Vacchiano) got hot and was making some crazy shots and got them back in the game. We missed some free throws and made some mistakes, and they got back in it, but we were able to persevere, which is great, a good experience. Our league is tough, so every win counts.”
– Props: “Malcom Lucas is really becoming a staple of our defense. He’s a great rim protector, and he’s starting to learn. He was 3-for-3 from the field with an and-one. He didn’t get the ball a whole lot, but he didn’t miss a shot. He’s really coming along. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about our middle position, even as late as fall.
“It’s funny – I don’t know if it’s funny – but Malcom had dropped a really easy pass in one of our fall league games, and I really got on him, and he got so upset. And all the team was like, ‘Marsh, you can’t talk to Malcom like that.’
“They love him. He’s everybody’s buddy because he’s such a good dude, so, of course, I felt bad. I had a conversation with him, and he’s like, ‘Marsh, I was upset with myself, not you.’ And that was like a turning point. He’s just been playing phenomenal. He’s got a big test on Friday against the big kid from PW. We’re really happy with the way him and Amari Stone have handled the inside duties for us.”
Up next: Abington will host Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday, and Wissahickon will host Quakertown Friday.
Wissahickon 10 8 10 18 – 46
Abington 18 14 11 8 – 51
Wissahickon (46)
Zach Schwartz 1 0-0 2; Logan McCloud 1 0-0 2; Luka Slovotkin 1 0-0 2; Owen Haughey 2 1-2 5; Nico Vacchiano 8 7-10 25; Jack Weiss 1 0-0 3; Malachi Hodges 1 0-0 3; Milan Fields 1 2-2 4.
Abington (51)
Pickron 1 0-0 2; Stone 1 0-0 3; Luccus 3 1-1 7; Grasty 5 7-9 18; Garland 2 4-4 8; O’Rourke 2 0-0 5; Sikard 1 0-0 2; Scarpelli 1 1-1 3; Cruickshank 1 0-0 3.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 63, Hatboro-Horsham 19
Plymouth Whitemarsh didn’t waste time in this one, jumping out early on the way to a 44-9 lead by halftime and a 44-point win in the end.
Mani Sajid scored 25 points to lead a balanced scoring effort for the Colonials.
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will be on the road at Abington Friday, and Hatboro-Horsham will travel to Upper Dublin Friday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-30-10-9 63
Hatboro-Horsham. 5-4-8-2 19
Plymouth Whitemarsh (63)
Gene Deshazar 1 1-5 3; Luca Taormina 2 1-1 5; Terron Davis 2 4-4 8; Eric Conicello 3 00-1 7; Mani Sajid 10 1-1 25; Michael Pereira 1 3-5 5; Austin Edwards 1 0-0 2; Zhaiden Gray 3 0-1 6; Micah Thompson 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 24 10-18 63
Hatboro-Horsham (19)
Jayden Tion 1 0-0 2; Kenny Lutz 2 1-1 6; Jaden Thomson 2 2-4 7; Devin Tercha 2 0-0 4.
3-point goals: PW – Sajid 4, Conicello; HH – Lutz, Thompson.
Upper Dublin 64, Quakertown 32
Coming off a huge win 24 hours earlier against Archbishop Ryan, Upper Dublin took care of business Tuesday night with a 33-point win at Quakertown.
Justin Ragsdale scored eight of his 11 points in the first quarter as the Cardinals led 20-10 after one quarter.
Also for the Flying Cardinals, Horace Jackson scored a game-high 20 points.
UD coach Derek Brooks:
“We got off to a much better start than we got off the last two games. So I was happy with the boys’ focus to start this one. I thought we had good energy and focus even after coming off of a game last night. And I just thought we played the right way today, which was probably the most encouraging.
“It was our best offensive game in terms of just sharing the ball and execution and playing the right way.”
–Props: “I thought Horace Jackson was phenomenal. He had 20 points. I think he only took 12 shots. But his passing was great. He made the right read all the time. If I had to guess, he ended up with five to six assists, but could have had even more, given the amount of looks he provided tonight.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will host Hatboro-Horsham Friday, and Quakertown will be on the road at Wissahickon Friday.
Upper Dublin 20 17 15 12 – 64
Quakertown 10 6 10 6 – 32
Upper Dublin (64)
Kobe Bazemore 6, Brandon Altman 7, Noah Cohen 7, Horace Jackson 20, Justin Ragsdale 11, Scherzer 7, Caron 4, Tyler 2
Quakertown (39)
CJ Peacher 1, Joey Bodnar 4, Trae McCray 3, Lochlan Everitt 2, Jameson Sykes 18, Mason Rush 2, Declan Mooney 3.
SOL Patriot Division
Council Rock South 60, Council Rock North 58
CR South started fast, with a 22-point first quarter, and as a team the Golden Hawks hit seven 3-pointers in the first half alone, as they pulled out a two-point thriller on the road against rival CR North on Tuesday night.
Key Players: For CR South, Brendon Balmer finished with 14 points, Lucian Mirc added 13 and Joe Madara finished with 10.
CR North was led by Owen Crowne’s 19 points.
CR South coach James Cassidy:
“Joey Madara was outstanding in the second half, he had fouls in the first half but came back with 10 second half points, and finished the game with eight rebounds.
“Our junior guard, Brendon Balmer, grew up in this game and gave us 14 huge points, none bigger than the two buckets he got in the fourth quarter.
“And our senior leader, Ryan Delp, did all the dirty work despite having been sick for the past week. He really gutted it out, playing great ‘D’ and contributing with all the little things necessary to hold on and win a rivalry game against a talented and extremely well coached opponent in their gym.”
Up next: Council Rock North will host Pennsbury Friday, and Council Rock South will travel to Bensalem Friday.
CR South 22 13 16 8 – 60
CR North 9 19 12 13 – 58
CR South (60)
Ray Haglund 5, Ryan Delp 5, Lucian Mirc 13, Brendan Balmer 14, Joe Madara 10, Owen McLean 5, Pat Malone 2, Aiden Lydon 6
CR North (58)
Peterson 6, Crowne 19, Prabhu 6, Keifer 10, McBride 5, Cuneo 9
Pennsbury 66, Neshaminy 48
Max Manga had a huge night in the paint for Pennsbury, as the Falcons went on the road and downed rival Neshaminy 66-48.
Manga scored a game-high 22 points, with 15 rebounds, three assists and one block.
“We finally pulled away for good about midway through the fourth quarter,” said Falcons coach Wes Emme. “It was a good back-and-forth battle to start the game. And then we got it up to seven with some good execution at the end of the second period on a nice move by Max Manga. And then second half, we had a good start and kind of locked down defensively.
“And we were really able to locate their shooters. They have some really good guards that can make shots and really stretch you out defensively. And we were able to kind of use our length and size to deter some of that. And we were able to get a comfortable enough feed that we could kind of coast in that last four minutes.”
Key Players: Also, for Pennsbury, Brayden Clark had 13 points, nine assists and three rebounds, and Sean Breslin had seven points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Neshaminy was led by Logan Gale’s 17 points.
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme:
–Props: “(Manga) was absolutely fantastic. Between him and Sean Breslin, they had 29 points and 29 rebounds. So that’s some dominance on the 
backboards. Last year I was talking to my team, and I was like, ‘You know, if we rebound, we’re going to have a chance to win the league.’
“And this year we’ve turned into a team with two dominant rebounders on a nightly basis. I’m really proud of Max. Max has been through it with us. He was a freshman on the last league title team, and he wanted his own. He’s been really, really methodical about how he goes about each game. Attacking the rim, holding the backboard, being a great help side defender, point of attack defender on a post.
“And then Breslin, Breslin’s game has transformed from being a 3-point shooter as a sophomore to being that Swiss Army knife, rebounder, shot blocker, shot maker. Pretty good combination. That’s for sure.”
Up next: Pennsbury will travel to Council Rock North Friday, and Neshaminy will be on the road at Harry S Truman Friday.
Pennsbury 14 17 16 19- 66
Neshaminy 11 13 11 13- 48
Pennsbury (66)
Brayden Clark 2 9-10 13 ; Brady Kent 2 0-0 6; Sean Breslin 1 5-6 7; Pat Jajua 5 2-3 13; Max Manga 10 1-2 22; Owen Hogancamp 1 0-0 3; Omar Halwani 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 21 19-23 66
Neshaminy (48)
Leiva 2 4-6 8; Amrhein 1 0-0 3; Stewart 1 0-2 3; Gale 6 3-4 17; Gold 4 0-0 9; Amati 0 0-2 2; Yon 3 2-4 8; TOTALS 17 9-18 48
3-point goals: P- Kent 2, Hogancamp, Manga, Jajua; N- Amrhein, Stewart, Gale 2, Gold
Harry S. Truman 57, Bensalem 42
Jaden Luchansky scored 16 points to lead the way, as Harry S. Truman ended a 17-game, nine-year losing streak to rival Bensalem with the 57-42 home win on Tuesday night.
“We are really happy for our team and seniors especially to end that losing streak and to get a big league win,” said Tigers assistant coach Mike Rangione. “We got big time support tonight from our students and fans. We knew it would be an emotional game. This once was a big-time rivalry, and we told our kids – it can’t be a rivalry when it’s completely lopsided in one direction.
“We had a great practice yesterday. Bensalem threw a lot at us tonight, but our experience really showed.”
Key Players: Luchansky had 16 for Truman, while Adul Diallo added 15 and Davae Vaughn 14 points.
Truman assistant coach Mike Ringione:
–Props: “Davae Vaughn and Jaden Luchansky really set the tone for us. They kept us together when Bensalem made runs. Adul Diallo continues to be a big-time playmaker for us as well.
“We have a great deal of respect for Bensalem and their roster. Jacob Eberhardt and Aidan Mayfield are winners. Michael Elzy is really having a nice senior year as well. They have some nice exciting young talent too. We hope we can build off this win going forward into the holiday break.”
Up next: Bensalem will host Council Rock South Friday, and Harry S Truman will host Neshaminy Friday.
SOL Colonial Division
Souderton 56, Central Bucks East 54
Souderton shook off a slow start, and turned it on in the fourth quarter to knock off CB East and take sole possession of first place in the Colonial Division.
Koby Rollerson hit the game-winning 3-pointer late for the Indians.
Key Players: Nate Rusike had a game-high 22 points for Souderton, while Chanse Salone added 16, and Koby Rollerson 13.
Connor Mekanik scored 13 for CB East.
Souderton coach Brendan Stanton:
“CB East came out and jumped on us tonight. They executed and played with more toughness than us. I don’t think we led until Koby Rollerson’s ‘3’ with 10 seconds left.
“Guys stepped up down the stretch for us. Chanse Salone, Nate Rusike and Marques Brown made big shots for us. Will Lockwood had a huge chase-down steal on a breakaway to keep us alive with about a minute left. We were fortunate to win tonight, I thought CB East outplayed and outcoached us. We have a lot of things we need to clean up.”
Up next: Central Bucks East will host Central Bucks West Friday, and Souderton will be on the road at North Penn Friday.
CB East 16 13 12 13 – 54
Souderton 11 17 9 19 – 56
CB East (54)
Connor Mekanik 13, Brady Colbert 7, Keegan Marascio 10, Quinn Slack 9, Ryan Dailey 4, Henry Bartchak 9, Alex Lemaire 2.
Souderton (56)
Chanse Salone 16, Koby Rollerson 13, Levi Epps 2, Nate Rusike 22, Marques Brown 3
Central Bucks West 56, Central Bucks South 43
Still banged up, CB West battled all night and won on the road against CB South Tuesday night, posting the big Colonial Division win.
“Really proud of this group,” said Bucks coach Adam Sherman. “We’re down four guys, two starters, one bench player. So it was kind of nice to see guys that weren’t usually in the mix step up and get big minutes.
“We were able to jump out from the beginning, and we were able to get a pretty big lead in the second half and then hold them off.”
Sherman credited Dan Pellegrini, Melo Aylmer and Isaiah Rubenstein.
Up next: Central Bucks South will travel to Pennridge on Friday, and Central Bucks West will be on the road at Central Bucks East Friday.
CB West 14 9 17 14 – 56
CB South 9 9 9 16 – 43
CB West (56)
Max Miillo 6, Melo Aylmer 15, Dan Pellegrini 14, Jack Chuo 5, Isaiah Rubenstein 8, Gavin Rechner 2, Ben Kordyra 4.
CB South (43)
Adebayo 7, Montes 3, Farrell 5, Van Zanten 7, Ross 2, Medwid 12
North Penn 57, Pennridge 54
A 17-8 fourth quarter completely changed the tide in this one, as North Penn rallied for the 57-54 win over Pennridge on Tuesday.
“I was definitely pleased with our energy,” North Penn coach Cordell Lord said. “We’ve had a tough stretch with losing some tough games we could have won. I felt like our energy was a lot more consistent tonight.
“One of the things that was big for us was we shot 5-for-7 from three in the fourth quarter, and we made a lot of big-time shots.”
For the game, North Penn connected on 12 3-pointers.
Key Players: The Knights were led by Chris Kingkiner with 16 points while Wyatt Martin added 11. Both had three 3-pointers.
Ryan Schwind, Connor Murray and Ryan Kuntz each had 11 for Pennridge.
NP coach Cordell Lord:
“We needed this in every single way. We have all been dealing with sickness. I got the end of it. I wasn’t at practice Saturday or yesterday. A shout out to my coaching staff, especially my assistant, Ethan Blom, for just being phenomenal, getting them prepped, having constant communication with me about everything.
“We made some tough decisions to move guys around and move some different pieces, but honestly, it’s great when we make some tough decisions and things pan out the way it did. Just a big win all around.”
–Learning on the job: “A lot of these guys on our team are very young, and we’re learning how to play while making mistakes. We do have some seniors that are starting, but a lot of our bench is sophomores and juniors, so we’re learning along the way. They’re making mistakes, and we get on them about those mistakes, but we also know that we’re playing a long game here while trying to win some basketball games now.
“We are just super proud of them for how hard they’re playing and how they come in every day and work. We just have a really special group of kids. These guys make it really easy in the sense of wanting to be at practice every single day and wanting to be around them and just their energy, their effort, their positivity towards one another, towards the coaching staff. And we just have an awesome group, and we love these guys, and we’re hoping we can turn a corner here and start putting together some wins consistently.”
Props: “I want to give a good shoutout to Chris Kingkiner, who was starting for us originally, but we brought him off the bench because we wanted him to find ways to be more aggressive and have the ball in his hands a little bit more. He did a really good job with that when he came off the bench. He was great for us all night. It was awesome for him to come in and make an effect for us in a positive way even though still being upset about not starting. The big message I had for him was that it’s not about who’s starting it’s more about who’s finishing, and he was great for us all night. He finished the game and sealed the deal with two big free throws.”
Up next: Pennridge will host Central Bucks South Friday, and North Penn will host Souderton Friday.
Pennridge 15-19-12-8 54
North Penn. 19-10-11-17 57
Pennridge (54)
Rownan Smith 3 0-2 6; Ryan Kuntz 4 2-2 11; Ryan Schwind 5 0-0 11; Tim Croyle 0 1-2 1; Ryan Flood 2 1-3 5; Connor Murray 5 0-1 11; Michael Alba 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 23. 4-10 54.
North Penn (57)
Chris Kingkiner4 5-6 16; Shane Ward 2 3-4 7; Nolen Foust 1 2-2 5; Brycen Faust 1 0-0 3; JC Wood 2 0-0 6; Wyatt Martin 4 0-0 11; Sean Vagie 0 0-2 0; A Thomas 2 3-4 9; TOTALS 16 13-18 57.
3-point goals: P – Kuntz, Schwind, Murray, Alba; NP – Kingkiner 3, Martin 3, Thomas 2, Wood 2, N.Faust, B.Faust
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