Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. Lower Moreland/New Hope-Solebury photos provided courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Freedom Division
Lower Moreland 47, New Hope-Solebury 36
Trailing by one at halftime, Lower Moreland outscored New Hope-Solebury 19-7 in the third quarter to take control of the game and eventually put it away in the fourth.
Defensively, New Hope hung tough in the first half, led by sophomore Miles Demby, who scored nine points in the first half as his team was up 14-13 at the break.
But LM took the game over in the third. Braden Alecia scored seven points in the quarter on the way to his team-high 12 points for the game. Brian Grant added 10 points, and Matt Ernst scored nine points. All three are seniors.
For New Hope, Demby scored 13 points and Dylan Hildebrandt added 11.
Lower Moreland (2-2, 2-0 SOL) hosts Cheltenham on Tuesday. New Hope (0-5, 0-2), still looking for its first win, plays at William Tennent Tuesday.
Lower Moreland (47)
Braden Alecia 4 2-2 12; Matt Ernst 3 2-4 9; Brian Grant 3 4-6 10; Pennisi 2 0-0 5; Gabriel Krutsinger 1 0-0 2; Przybylinski 1 0-0 3; John Kroll 1 1-2 3; Barnette 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 9-14 47.
New Hope-Solebury (36)
Dylan Hildebrandt 3 4-4 11; Charlie Albano 2 0-0 6; Miles Demby 6 0-0 13; Brian Demby 1 1-2 3; Jon Wilson 1 0-0 3. Totals 13 5-6 36.
Lower Moreland 7 6 19 15 – 47
New Hope 4 10 7 15 – 36
3-point goals: LM-Alecia 2, Ernst 1, Przybylinski 1, Barnette 1; NHS-Albano 2, Hildebrandt 1, M. Demby 1
William Tennent 43, Springfield Township 34
A big third quarter gave Tennent the cushion it would need and then the team put the game away on the free throw line in the fourth for its first win of the season.
“We’re always happy to get a win,” said Panthers coach Robert Mulville. “It was our first home game, we had a pretty decent crowd. It felt good playing in front of people. I felt pretty good about their effort. We’ve been stressing getting better, not worry about winning so much, but getting better and the wins will come. We played much better than the three previous games.”
It was a 16-16 game at halftime.
“We came out in the third quarter and hit four 3s and stretched that to nine at end of third,” Mulville said. “(Springfield) did a nice job coming back, our offense stalled, and they were getting to the line.
“With 1:45 left, we were up three. Timmy Stanfield and Kirby Mooney were able to extend the lead on the line and we were able to pull away.”
Stanfield led Tennent with 15 points, Jay Henry added 11. Mooney, a sophomore, finished with eight points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.
The Panthers (1-3, 1-1 SOL) has a nonleague game scheduled Monday at Great Valley.
Ben Cooney had 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead Springfield, while Dylan McKenzie also had 10 points and Kyle Smythe chipped in with eight.
Springfield (3-2, 1-2 SOL) hosts Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
William Tennent (43)
Jay Henry 3 3-4 11; George Marion 3 0-2 6; Kirby Mooney 2 4-6 8; Isaiah Dawson 1 0-0 3; Timothy Stanfield 3 6-8 15. Totals 12 13-20 43.
Springfield (34)
Dylan McKenzie 2 5-10 10; Ben Cooney 3 4-4 10; Brett Smith 1 0-0 2; Harry Rittenhous 2 0-0 4; Kyle Smythe 3 0-0 8; Totals 11 9-17 34.
3-point goals: WT-Stanfield 3, Henry 2, Dawson 1; S-Smythe 2, McKenzie 1
Tennent 5 11 13 14 – 43
Springfield 11 5 5 13
Cheltenham 73, Upper Moreland 50
Rasheem Dearry and Josiah Hutson led a 3-point shooting barrage for the Panthers, who scored 63 points in the first three quarters and put this one away early in a Freedom Division game.
Dearry finished with 23 points, including three 3-pointers, while Hutson had six 3-pointers and 20 points. Dearry also had eight rebounds, while Hutson dished out three assists.
Hutson, a freshman, wanted uniform No. 1 for Cheltenham this season.
“That’s not a number we usually just give out,” said Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury. “The last person for us to wear No. 1 for us was Zahree (Harrison). Zahree (who is playing at St. Francis University) had a game at Upper Moreland where he had around 31 points, and he had six or seven 3s that game. To see Josiah do it tonight, he did it a little differently, but to see a freshman – Josiah – wear number one and do the same thing Zahree did wearing the same number, that moment was just surreal.”
The Panthers’ coach had not forgotten last year’s trip to Upper Moreland. The Panthers, who took an 11-0 record into the game, were stunned by the Golden Hawks in a 46-38 loss.
“Tonight was the tale of two games,” Fleury said. “For the returners and myself, it definitely was something we wanted to make sure when we had the opportunity again that we were ready. Not that we weren’t ready before, but we had to focus on what our goal and mission was, which was for the team to win.”
Chelteham had 10 different players finish in the scorebook on Friday.
“Even though the last two games, Brandon Bush hasn’t scored as much, he’s making a lot of winning plays for us, and he’s a very capable 20-point scorer as are a couple guys that we have,” Fleury said. “It’s just very refreshing to see our guys find joy in their team’s success and challenge themselves to do things other than the things they’re comfortable doing, so they can allow other people to grow as well. It was definitely a pleasure to see them being a team and sticking to that no matter what was happening.
“(Upper Moreland) had a great crowd. It’s a tough place to play, for sure. They enjoyed it, they banded together. We knew they had to perform, and they did.”
Elias Walker added eight points and six assists.
“Elias was amazing,” Fleury said. “I don’t think he missed a shot. He was 4-for-4 with his eight points. He just set the table defensively. As an athlete, he can rebound the ball like crazy. He’s definitely a leader for our team. He just makes other guy’s lives so much easier.
“The one thing that doesn’t go unnoticed in all of it is just his ability to make people better and improve himself and just enjoy the success of others because Elias really is the engine. He’s tasked with helping Josiah learn and understand what we do. To watch their relationship is unreal. For Josiah to be 6-for-8 tonight (from beyond the arc) was just amazing, and Elias’ impact on him, it’s mind boggling, but it’s so refreshing to see.”
Also for the Panthers, Justin Savage had seven points and four assists. Nasir Edens had six rebounds and four points.
Byron Hopkins led UM with 23 points and four 3-pointers.
Cheltenham (5-0, 2-0 SOL) plays West Catholic in a nonleague game at Cristo Rey High School. UM (2-2, 0-2 SOL) plays at Springfield on Tuesday.
Cheltenham (73)
Rasheem Dearry 23, Josiah Hutson 20, Elias Walker 8, Kamani Healy 1, Nasir Edens 4,
Brandon Bush 2, Joey Weimer 3, Justin Savage 7, Taavi Mateen 3, Kevin Addison 2
Upper Moreland (50)
Sean Dallahan 2, Byron Hopkins 23, Nigel Adamson 2, Bo Meakim 5, Rashim Lancit 5,
Matt Tiernan 4, Jared McCellan 3, Stefano Garofalo 3, Colson Campbell 2
Cheltenham 21 19 23 10 – 73
Upper Moreland 7 13 14 16 – 50
3-point goals: UM-Hopkins 4, Lancit 2, Meakim 2, McCellan 1, Garofalo 1; C-Dearry 3, Hutson 6, Edens 1, Savage 1, Mateen 1, Addison 1.
SOL Liberty Division
Upper Dublin 56, Quakertown 44
After a slow start, Upper Dublin turned the heat up in the second quarter to take control of Friday’s Liberty Division game against Quakertown.
The Flying Cardinals managed just one field and six points total in the first quarter and trailed the Panthers 8-6 after one. But in the second quarter, led by D.J. Cerisier’s seven points, UD took over and by halftime were up 26-15.
“It was an up and down game for us,” said UD coach Chris Monahan. “It started very slowly, which I think was to Quakertown’s preference. We missed some makeable shots, we couldn’t really get anything going offensively. They made some shots. We were guarding okay, and then in the second quarter, we were able to turn it on defensively. We got some turnovers, and we were able to build a nice lead, but we were never able to shake them really. We had a double-digit lead that shrunk to seven in the fourth quarter.
“Quakertown is gritty, they’re tough, they bang, they’re physical. They got some offensive rebounds, and the game was certainly in doubt in the fourth quarter, but we made enough free throws to stretch the lead. We took care of the ball and then closed the game.”
Cerisier scored a game-high 23 points, while Chris Kohlbrenner added eight for the Cardinals.
“It’s kind of the makeup of our team this year that we’re going to be able to have different guys leading us in scoring on any different night,” Monahan said. “Tonight was certainly D.J.’s. He’s a kid when he has the ball in his hands, I’m not sure there’s a faster player around. He was able to get into the paint. He was terrific in the open floor, he took care of the ball for the most part and they had trouble staying in front of him. He was able to get to the foul line a ton, and he made some shots.”
Quakertown was led by Sam Wilkin and Ethan Tomlinson with eight points each.
UD (3-1, 2-0 SOL) next plays Tuesday night at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Quakertown (0-4, 0-2) still looking for its first win, plays at Upper Perkiomen on Saturday afternoon.
Quakertown (44)
Sam Wilkin 4 0-0 8; Kyle Rosenberger 2 3-4 7; Anthony Callan 2 0-0 4; Ty Wilkin 3 1-2 7; Brendon Ruzicka 2 1-1 4; Ethan Tomlinson 3 2-2 8; Vince Micucci 1 2-4 4; Owen Menszak 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 11-15 44.
Upper Dublin (56)
Griffin Pensaben 2 1-2 5; Ryan Mulroy 2 1-2 5; Collin O’Sullivan 0 3-4 3; D.J. Cerisier 6 9-14 23; Chris Kohlbrenner 3 2-4 8; Noah Lee 1 0-0 3; Seaton Kukla 2 0-1 4; Myles McNeil 2 0-0 5. Totals 28 16-27 56.
Quakertown 8 7 16 13 – 44
Upper Dublin 6 20 15 15 – 56
3-point goals: UD-Cerisier 2, Lee 1, McNeil1
Abington 43, Wissahickon 36
Abington bounced back after a slow start and were able to put away Wissahickon for its first win of the season.
“We got down early, and with this group and the inexperience we have, they could have just hung their heads and packed it in,” said Abington coach Charles Grasty. “But they kept fighting. They were playing for each other. I think with the experience that we’re getting slowly, they’re realizing they have to play for each other.
“They didn’t give up. They were cheering each other on, pulling for each other. They could see the energy just changed. Before, it was like stunned, ‘What are you guys doing?’ Now it’s like, ‘Come on, guys, we got this,’ and I thought that definitely helped us.”
Sophomore Jeremiah Lee came off the bench and scored a team-high 12 points, while Connor Fields had 11 points and eight rebounds.
“(Lee) is playing well for us,” Grasty said. “He got hurt, twisted his ankle, and now he’s getting back and he’s playing well for us.”
Friday saw the return of Derrius Lucas and Jimmy Marino, neither of whom played Tuesday.
“We brought (Lucas) off the bench,” Grasty said. “He’s still a little winded, so we’re trying to work him in slowly. Jimmy Marino came back tonight. We worked him in slowly as well. We’re trying to get healthy. Just like everyone else – people are sick and hurt.”
Grasty also praised the play of Fhenys Scott, who played solid defense against Wissahickon guards Jaylon Williams and Early Stout.
“He did a good job on them,” Grasty said. “We switched him back and forth on their two guards.”
Morgan Wilson led the Trojans with 10 points, while Josh Twersky added nine.
Abington (1-2, 1-1 SOL) plays Sunday at Father Judge. Wissahickon (2-2, 1-1) is off until Tuesday when it hosts Quakertown.
Wissahickon (36)
Josh Twerskey 3 2-4 9; Jaylon Williams 3 0-0 6; Morgan Wilson 4 2-4 10; Dom Vacchiano 2 0-0 5; Earl Stout 3 0-0 6. Totals 15 4-8 36
Abington (43)
Connor Fields 4 2-5 11; Fhenyx Scott 1 3-4 6; Jeremiah Lee 4 2-2 12; Jimmy Marino 3 1-2 9; Derrius Lucas 2 1-4 5; Kahjel Morris 1 0-1 2. Totlas 14 9-18 43.
Wissahickon 10 9 4 13 – 36
Abington 5 16 11 11 – 43
3-point goals: W-Twersky 1, Vacchiano 1; A-Lee 2, Marino 2, Fields 1, Scott 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 51, Hatboro-Horsham 32
Qudire Bennett scored 22 points, as Plymouth Whitemarsh shook off pesky Hatboro-Horsham in the fourth quarter on the way to the 19-point win that kept the Colonials undefeated on the young season.
This was a game that PW led 12-6 after one, 19-16 at halftime and 31-27 after three quarters.
“It’s nice to know we can shoot about as poorly as any team could in a game and still pull out a win due to our defense,” said PW coach Jim Donofrio.
Jaden Colzie had 10 points for PW, while Tajji Hubbard added seven.
H-H was led by Jake Grier with nine and Kyle Dittus with eight points.
PW (3-0, 2-0 SOL) hosts Methacton in a nonleague game on Saturday. Hatboro-Horsham (0-4, 0-2) looks for its first win on Tuesday against Abington.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (51)
Zende Hubbard 5, Jaden Colzie 10, Marshall Baker 6, Trey Jones 1, Tajji Hubbard 7, Qudire Bennett 22,.
Hatboro-Horsham (32)
Jake Grier 9, Noah Schlosser 6, Kyle Dittus 8, Matt Wingen 4, Christian Avery 2, Sam Fink 3.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12 7 12 20 – 51
Hatboro-Horsham 6 10 11 5 – 32
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 62, Souderton 56
Senior Brett Young hit six 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points as CB East remained unbeaten by holding on to beat Souderton on Friday.
Young scored 11 of his points in a critical third quarter that saw the Patriots extend their lead, including three 3-pointers. He also had a team-high six rebounds.
“Brett Young was awesome,” said East coach Erik Henrysen. “He hit six 3s, but he also played an incredible overall game. He made some tough defensive plays and rebounded the ball very well.”
Jacob Cummmiskey added 12 points and five rebounds, while Kyle Berndt had eight. Nick Rivera finished with five points, four rebounds and four assists.
Jayson Bonnet scored 19 points to lead Souderton, including nine and 5-for-5 free throw shooting in the fourth quarter. Aleks Smith finished with 14, while Paul Vince added 11.
“We were up 12 in the fourth, but then we had a few (turnovers) and some missed free throws down the stretch,” Henrysen said. “In the final two minute or two, Souderton made things interesting, but we were able to hang on.
“Souderton is a very good team. We are very happy to get this road win. The early portion of our season has us playing seven of our first eight on the road. We don’t play at home again until after the New Year. We are looking at five straight on the road, so tonight was important.”
CB East (4-0, 2-0 SOL) is on the road Tuesday at Central Bucks South. Souderton (3-2, 0-2 SOL) plays at North Penn on Monday.
CB East (62)
Tyriq Toney-Bailey 2 0-0 5; Jacob Cummiskey 4 4-10 12; Liam Cummiskey 1 0-0 2; Nick Rivera 1 3-4 5; Brett Young 8 2-3 24; Aidan Weaver 0 2-2 2; Kyle Berndt 3 0-0 8; Joshua Lyzinski 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 11-19 62.
Souderton (56)
Jayson Bonnet 6 5-5 19; Chris Towsen 1 0-0 3; Carson Grant 1 0-0 2; Nathan Hemsing 1 0-0 2; James Blair 1 0-0 3; Aleks Smith 6 2-7 14; Paul Vince 4 1-2 11; Levi John 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 8-15 56.
CB East 13 13 21 15 – 62
Souderton 15 8 16 17 – 56
3-point goals: S-Bonnet 2, Vince 2
North Penn 79, Pennridge 53
Using a 26-point second quarter, North Penn took over Friday night’s Colonial Division showdown against Pennridge and never looked back.
Trailing 20-16 after one, the Knights dominated the second, going 11-for-11 from the free throw line on the way to a 42-31 halftime advantage. Milind Pulugura hit two 3-pointers, went 6-for-6 from the line and scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the quarter.
Duece Dorsey scored 13 points for North Penn, nine in the second quarter, while Joey Larkins added 11 and 10 each for Ryan Deininger and Terhan Wright.
Pennridge (1-3, 0-2 SOL) was led by Matt Campione’s 16 points, while Tommy Cramer added 15, nine in the first quarter, Justin McCormick added 10.
The Rams are back home Tuesday when they host Central Bucks West. North Penn (3-1, 2-0 SOL) host Souderton on Monday night.
North Penn (79)
Sgro 2 0-0 5; Wright 3 4-4 10; Gee 1 0-0 3; Zeltt 3 0-0 6; Larkins 3 4-6 11; Deininger 4 2-3 10; Dorsey 4 5-5 13; Pulugura 5 6-6 18. Totals 25 21-24 70
Pennridge (51)
Justin McCormick 4 0-0 10; Marley Steward 0 0-1 0; Justin Nichols 1 2-2 4; Matt Campione 5 6-7 16; Jake Buesing 1 0-0 2; Xavier Peters 1 0-0 2; Gannon Perlini 1 0-0 2; Tommy Cramer 7 1-1 15; Tyler Johnson 1 0-3 2. Totals 21 9-14 53.
North Penn 16 26 12 25 – 79
Pennridge 20 11 12 10 – 53
3-point goals: NP-Pulugura 2, Gee 1, Sgro 1; P-McCormick 2
SOL Patriot Division
Council Rock North 47, Council Rock South 27
Senior guard Bernie Parent scored 16 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, as CR North pulled away from rival CR South in a defensive struggle.
The Indians limited the Golden Hawks to just 10 field goals, and eight points or less in all four quarters.
“Our boys have brought great energy and effort all season and tonight was the best yet,” said Indians coach Jesse Krasna. “We got in some early foul trouble because we were so charged up. Bernie Parent hardly played in the first half with foul trouble and Jack Blum and Adam Mahtat both had two fouls before half time. We haven’t played many minutes without Bernie on the floor this season so it was great to see how our kids adjusted and battled with some different lineups than we were used to.
“Luke Blum, Julian Matera and Tyler Rodowicz stepped in and helped us get some key stops when our offense wasn’t clicking, and they were key in helping us maintain our lead heading into halftime.
“South is such a tough team to guard because they are well coached, run great offense and have five shooters and good decision makers on the floor at all times. If one player falls asleep, they make you pay. We had so many guys step up and play with great urgency.”
Parent made 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to salt away the win. Adam Mahtat was also in double figures with 10 points, while Jack Blum added nine points.
“Bernie Parent and Ryan Burkett were terrific, especially in the second half when South extended their defense,” Krasna said. “They scored at the rim, made sound decisions under control and gave up good shots for great ones. Those two are fun to watch because they are super talented and unselfish.
“Jack Blum discouraged and altered so many open shots with his length and activity. Adam Mahtat guarded well on the perimeter on and off the ball. He came up with several big rebounds and finishes. His growth and versatility on the defensive end has been a huge advantage for us this year and his transformation from just one year ago wows me every time he steps on the floor.
“Shane Anhalt is such a strong team defender, and we love how he pounces on every opportunity to take a charge. Logan Saifer was tasked with guarding South’s leading scorer for the majority of the game and held him to six points. Logan has this rare combination of size, strength speed and lateral quickness that gives us so much flexibility. He and Jack Blum gave us a huge boost heading into the half when they double teamed the ball and came up with a steal that led to a fast break layup.”
CR South was led by Anthony Burns and Shane Dawson with six points each.
CR North (4-0, 2-0 SOL) hosts Notre Dame (NJ) in a nonleague game on Saturday. The Hawks (1-2, 0-2 SOL) plays at New Foundations Charter on Saturday.
CR South (27)
Gavin Halloran 2 0-0 5; Anthony Burns 2 1-2 6; Shane Dawson 2 2-6 6; Gavin Stock 1 0-0 3; Matt Robinson 2 0-0 5; Tim Rahill 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 3-8 27
CR North (47)
Shane Anhalt 2 0-0 5; Bernie Parent 6 3-4 16; Adam Mahtat 4 2-2 10; Jack Blum 2 5-5 9; Ryan Burkett 2 1-2 5; Logan Saifer 1 0-1 2; Totlas 17 11-14 47.
CR South 7 6 8 6 – 27
CR North 10 13 9 15 – 47
3-point goals: CRN-Anhalt 1, Parent 1
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