Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action. CR south/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Wissahickon/Hatboro-Horsham photos courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of both games.
SOL National Conference
Council Rock South 68, Neshaminy 52
A strong second half enabled Council Rock South to pull away from Neshaminy for a National Conference win.
“It started with a good practice Monday,” Rock South coach Chris Clark said. “I’m really happy with how all of the kids responded after we had a tough loss on Saturday (to Upper Dublin).”
The Golden Hawks led by just three, at 36-33 at halftime, but put up 32 more after the break while holding Neshaminy to only nine points in the fourth quarter en route to the victory.
“We moved the ball well on offense,” Clark said. “We got the ball in the paint by the pass and the dribble and our defense and blockouts were much better in the second half.
“We only allowed 19 points in the second and that was good to see.”
Shawn Blank jump-started the Golden Hawks with 17 first-half points. He led the Hawks with a game-high 24 points and Jack Rebholz added 18 – 12 in the second half. Kevin McNamee also finished the game in double figures with 10.
“We got really good overall games from Shawn Blank and Jack Rebholz,” Clark said. “Also, Michael Stewart and Brian Schwartz were good secondary ballhandlers and Kevin McNamee did a nice job finishing around the basket.”
Mike Murray led Neshaminy with 13 points.
Council Rock South (2-4, 2-0 SOL) will host Academy Park in a non-league game on Thursday and close out the week with a non-league game at Quakertown on Friday. Neshaminy (1-4, 0-2) will travel to Harry S Truman on Thursday.
Neshaminy 14-19-10-9 52
Council Rock South 15-21-18-14 68
Neshaminy (52) – Saglimben 8, Belton 8, Drapkin 4, McGovern 7, Murray 13, Gyamfi 3, Mays 3, Brooks 6.
Council Rock South (68) – Jack Rebholz 18, Michael Stewart 7, Kevin McNamee 10, Brian Schwartz 9, Shawn Blank 24.
William Tennent 46, Bensalem 35
A strong start, aided immensely by stingy defense, lifted William Tennent past Bensalem in a National Conference game Tuesday.
The Panthers surrendered just three points in the opening quarter and were able to take a 23-14 advantage to halftime.
“That was huge for us,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said of the three-point first quarter by Bensalem.“We just kind of tried to set up a little press just to slow them down a little bit. We were able to get some turnovers off of that, and it gave us a little lead. We tried to continue with the game plan the rest of the time.
“We got into a little foul trouble, so we had to pull out of it a little bit. We saw them on tape against Wissahickon, who they had beat and we had just lost to, and we wanted to make sure we kept them in front of us. They can rebound the heck out of the ball. They rebounded so well against Wissahickon. That was one of our main concerns going into the game, trying to make sure that they didn’t get those second shots.”
Offensively, Tennent used a balanced attack led by Dave West’s 14 points. No other Panther was in double figures, but Michael Mulville had nine points and Derrik Cosenza was next with seven.
“It was nice to bounce back after Saturday’s loss (to Wissahickon),” Mulville said.“Overall, I thought it was a pretty good team effort. Defensively, our communication was really good. I thought that our guards helped the big men on the rebounding part of it. I think that’s where we shine the most. We played 10 guys tonight."
Lamont Hasker led the Owls with a dozen points.
William Tennet (2-4, 1-0 SOL) will host Council Rock North on Friday, and Bensalem (2-3, 1-1) will be on the road at Pennsbury on Thursday.
William Tennent 10-13-9-14 46
Bensalem 3-11-13-8 35
William Tennent (46) – Michael Mulville 9, Jay Stansfield 6, Josiah Johnson 4, Kip Mooney 3, Ryan Savage 3, Dave West 14, Derrik Cosenza 7.
Bensalem (35) – Nasir Williams 7, Reuben Jean-Phillips 2, Jeremiah Alexander 7, Lamont Hasker 12, Adam Beck 7.
Council Rock North 45, Harry S. Truman 37
Council Rock North used a strong final eight minutes to pull away from Harry S. Truman for a National Conference victory Tuesday.
“Tonight we were able to grind out a win over a very athletic and gritty Truman team,” Rock North coach Jesse Krasna said. “We didn’t execute the way we were hoping to offensively but Truman coach (Tyrone) Lewis had a lot to do with that—he has his boys playing tough and they gave us all we could handle for 32 minutes tonight.
“Our kids did a great job taking away Truman’s inside game and boxing out, but we weren’t able to pull away because we had trouble scoring. Truman defended us so well.”
The Indians, who led by nine at halftime (26-17), saw the Tigers outscore them 13-6 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to just two.But the fourth quarter saw Council Rock North salt the win away.
“We pride ourselves on the defensive end and because we were able to get stops consistently we stayed in control of the game,” Krasna said. “We had several players step up to make big hustle plays throughout the game even when we weren’t making shots.
“James Duffy plays with so much heart and he was all over the backboards for us. Josh Fisher took a charge and came up with a huge offensive rebound on one of our missed free throws to start the second half. When Truman was making a run in the second half Luke Vliet sprinted back on defense after a turnover and saved us two points by taking a charge.
“These are game winning plays in a tight game like tonight even though they don’t show up in the box score. Our boys are starting to understand how important these hustle plays are and how much they influence the momentum and energy of the game.”
The Indians scored 11 of their 13 points from the foul line in the fourth quarter (going 11-of-13 from the stripe) to seal things.
D.J. Mischak led Council Rock North with 15 points and was the only Indian in double figures. James Duffy had nine in the win and Luke Vliet chipped in with seven points.
Treszon Chapman led Harry S. Truman with 11 points.
Council Rock North (4-2, 1-1 SOL) will travel to William Tennent on Friday, and Harry S Truman (0-6, 0-2) will host Neshaminy on Thursday.
Harry S. Truman 10-7-13-7 37
Council Rock North 14 12 6 13 45
Harry S. Truman (37) – Donald Imo 3, Jon Maloney 5, Varges 2, Terrence Roger 6, Javeer Peterson 5, Treszon Chapman 11, Alex Fisher 2, Leonhauser 3.
Council Rock North (45) – DJ Mischak 15, Bernie Parent 1, Luke Vliet 7, Hunter Wan 6, Mikey Sylvester 3, James Duffy 9, Josh Fisher 4.
SOL Continental Conference
Quakertown 67, Pennridge 59
Quakertown picked up its first win of the season in style by upsetting host and archrival Pennridge in a Continental Conference game Tuesday.
“It was just an unbelievable win,” Quakertown first-year coach Mike DeCarolis said. “I coached with (Pennridge head coach) Dean (Behrens) for nine years, so this was a very emotional game for me.Plus, the rivalry is amazing.”
The Panthers were on the mark from long distance as they connected on 10 3-pointers coming from seven different players. Bobby Rosenberger, Matt Lucas and Eli Ortiz each had two.
That hot shooting started early as the visitors put up 18 points in both the first and second quarters to lead by seven (36-29) at intermission. Jimmy Casey’s six points led the Panthers in a first quarter that saw four different players bury a trey. In the second quarter, Rosenberger had six points, Ortiz five, and the Panthers added three more 3-pointers.
The Rams, who were led by a career-best 33 points from Sean Yoder, narrowed the deficit to only two points after three quarters before the Panthers put things away over the final eight minutes.
Ortiz, who had a team-high 16 points, had six of those points in the fourth quarter and Casey (13 points) had nine of his total over the crucial final eight minutes.
“Senior Eli Ortiz led the way for us with 16 points and sophomore Jimmy Casey held down the paint for us,” DeCarolis said.“Pennridge is a special team, so it was an amazing way to get our first win.”
Freshman Bobby Rosenberger finished with 11 points for the Panthers.
Jon Post had nine points for the Rams.
Quakertown (1-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Council Rock South in a non-league game on Friday, and Pennridge (4-2, 0-1) will travel to Central Bucks West on Friday.
Quakertown 18-18-11-20 67
Pennridge 15-14-16-14 59
Quakertown (67) – Matt Catalano 3, Tyler Merwarth 3, Sean Harrison 3, Matt Tuley 5, Jimmy Casey 13, Bobby Rosenberger 11, Matt Lucas 6, Al Amoudo 5, Eli Ortiz 16.
Pennridge (59) – Luke Yoder 5, John Dominic 2, Sean Yoder 33, Nick Dunn 5, Pat Gillespie 5, Jon Post 9.
Central Bucks South 54, Central Bucks East 44
The first half of this one went to Central Bucks East, but Central Bucks South won the second half and the game in a Continental Conference matchup.
“We played a well-balanced game in the second half by collectively playing defense and multiple players being scorers for us,” Central Bucks South coach Jason Campbell said.
The Patriots – behind 15 points from Nick Roggio – led 28-22 at halftime, scoring 14 points in each quarter, but they could only manage six points in the third quarter while the Titans put up 16 to lead 38-34 heading to the final eight minutes.
“Cole Prezelski provided offense for us by hitting a couple of big shots and creating shots for others,” Campbell said. “And (Ian) McCaw and (Tom) Kuypers provided a nice one-two punch in the post.”
McCaw finished with a team-high 16 points while Kuypers added 11. Prezelski added nine points.
The Patriots’ Nick Roggio led all scorers with 19 points and Ben Markowitz netted 15.
Central Bucks South (4-2, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Friday, and Central Bucks East (3-1, 1-1) will host New Foundations Charter in a non-league game Wednesday.
Central Bucks East 14-14-6-10 44
Central Bucks South 10-12-16-16 54
Central Bucks East (44) Jason Markowitz 2, Jacob Rotondo 2, Ben Markowitz 15, Anthony Giordano 6, Nick Roggio 19.
Central Bucks South (54) – Cole Prezelski 10, Brady Prezelski 1, Brian Shields 3, Alex Dietz 9, Mark Kannengeiszer 4, Tommy Kuypers 11, Ian McCaw 16.
Central Bucks West 51, Souderton 42
It took a little bit of time, but Central Bucks West was able to pull away from Souderton to post a Continental Conference win Tuesday.
The Bucks led by five after a quarter before the Indians roared back to lead 21-17 at intermission.
However, the second half was all Central Bucks West as the Bucks outscored the Indians 34-21 to win going away.
The Bucks’ Jack Mulhearn led all scorers with 15 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Teammate Connor Briece was close behind with 13. Jack Neri added seven points and five rebounds while Reed Zerweck had six points and four boards.
Souderton placed three players in double figures with Zach Thatcher leading the way with 12 points. Dom Natale and Sami Chouriaf each had 10.
Central Bucks West (3-1, 1-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Friday night, and Souderton (2-4, 0-2) will host Central Bucks South on Friday.
Central Bucks West 12-5-20-14 51
Souderton 7-14-13-8 42
Central Bucks West (51) – Connor Briece 13, Jack Mulhearn 15, Mika Munari 6, Jack Neri 7, Ryan Zerweck 6, John Murnen 2, Danny Miller 2.
Souderton (42) – Vince 4, Towsen 3, Walker 3, Thatcher 12, Natale 10, Chouriaf 10.
SOL American Conference
Wissahickon 66, Hatboro-Horsham 56
Consistency from start to finish was the right formula for Wissahickon in an American Conference victory over Hatboro-Horsham.
“I tried to remind the guys that we started off the season with a very challenging schedule,” said Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson. “We didn’t play well against Rustin (a 70-61 loss). We came out in the Bensalem game, we’re up 18 and lose (46-42). We just couldn’t put together four solid quarters.
“At one point, we were up 16 in this game, and they made some runs and hit some threes, but of all the games we’ve had this year, we put four solid quarters together. We felt we were at least in control for the entire game. Any run they were making was off mistakes we made, but we still felt, ‘We can still control this and win this game,’ so it felt good to see the guys put together four solid quarters.”
That they did as the Trojans had 34 points at halftime and 32 after intermission.
Eddie Fortescue led Wissahickon with a game-high 22 points and Carmen Ostroski had 16. Harrison Williams added a dozen points in the win.
“He’s our one returning scorer,” Wilson said of Fortescue. “He was fortunate last year to have Max Rapoport and Zach Reiner, and he could be the third guy. When they were getting doubled or scheming to stop Max or Reiner, Eddie would end up with good games as well.
“It’s been impressive. Teams know he’s our strongest scorer, and he’s still putting up strong numbers. To his credit, he had strong numbers tonight and that was still being patient on offense. With a young group, we have a tendency to take the first open look.”
Wilson also praised the play of Tyler Caso, whose 10 rebounds led the Trojans.
“If there’s one kid I want to give credit to it’s Tyler Caso,” Wilson said. “He doesn’t do a lot of things that show up on the scoring side, but their big kid, Jake Schalki, is a huge load of a guy.
“One of our other big players, Maurice Willis, was out for the game. We said to Caso, ‘You have to play without fouling, and you’re playing a big strong guy.’ To Caso’s credit, he really came in, played smart and avoided the fouls. He did a tremendous job of giving Schalki a tough game, not giving him easy baskets or easy post-ups, and that was a true help to us in our half-court defense."
The Trojans had just four turnovers to 13 for the Hatters, which led to 20 points for the Trojans. Fortescue also had a team-high four steals.
Josh George led the Hatters with 17 points and Khalid Johnson had 12.
Wissahickon (3-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Thursday, and Hatboro-Horsham (2-4, 0-2) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Friday.
Hatboro-Horsham 8-13-17-18 56
Wissahickon 19-15-16-16 66
Hatboro-Horsham (56) – Josh George 17,N’Gianni Cerisier 2, Jackson Treski 4, Khalid Johnson 12, Jake Schalki 6, Jack Marvin 15.
Wissahickon (66) – Eddie Fortescue 22, Carmen Ostroski 16, Harrison Williams 12, Cole Hirsch 8, Tyler Caso 6, Alex Richman 2.
Cheltenham 57, Upper Dublin 54
In a matchup of the neighboring American Conference rivals, it was Cheltenham coming out on top against visiting Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
The Cardinals – led by the 10-point effort of Jason Williams – led by two points at halftime (28-26) before the Panthers took the lead at 41-38 after three quarters. Zahree Harrison, who battled foul woes, had just three points in the opening half but 11 after the intermission.
Harrison, who had four assists and four steals, and Kyin Healy (six rebounds) each had 14 points for the Panthers. Brandon Scott also collected six rebounds.
Drew Stover led Upper Dublin with 14 points and Corby Watkins had 13.
Cheltenham (4-2, 2-0 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday, and Upper Dublin (4-2, 1-1) will host Abington on Friday.
Upper Dublin 17-11-10-16 54
Cheltenham 8-18-15-16 57
Upper Dublin (54) – Drew Stover 14, Corby Watkins 13, Jason Williams 10, Cory Ladov 5, Micah Bootman 4, Mike Slivka 8.
Cheltenham (55) – Zahree Harrison 14, Jalen Mickens 7, Tim Myarick 6, Brandon Scott 6, Mike McClain 4, Sean Emfinger 6, KyinHealey 14.
Abington 67, Upper Moreland 47
Eric Dixon continues to show why he’ll be helping Villanova University come this time next year.
The Abington senior scored 37 points to power the Ghosts past Upper Moreland in an American Conference game Tuesday night.Dixon shot a remarkable 15-of-20 from the floor and was 6-of-7 from the foul line. He also contributed 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals to help Abington coach Charles Grasty collect his 175th career win (second best all time at Abington). It was the sixth double-double for Dixon in seven games.
University of Pennsylvania-commit Lucas Monroe was next for the Ghosts with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
Christian O’Donnell led the Golden Bears with 19 points, going 7-of-8 from the foul line.
Upper Moreland 8-14-9-16 47
Abington 17-11-17-22 67
Upper Moreland (46) – Byron Hopkins 6, Beau Woolens 7, Christian O’Donnell 19, Jourdan Gregg 4, Jahire Johnson 2, Matt Tiernan 1, Tyler Ibbotson 8.
Abington (67) – Eric Dixon 37, Darius Brown 2, Lucas Monroe 15, Manir Waller 11, Jack Moynihan 2.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 80, Springfield Township 41
Naheem McLeod attained a personal milestone in the Colonials’ decisive win on their home court. Included in his 28-point performance was the 1,000th point of his stellar career. The Florida State-bound senior scored 19 points in a first half that saw the Colonials open up a 43-18 lead over their visitors.
Jason Cherry and Caelin Peters also finished in double figures for the Colonials. Both had 11 points. Kyree Pendleton added eight points – all in the first half.
Wilson Krewson’s 14-point effort led the Spartans. Zach Edwards added nine.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-1, 2-0 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Friday night, and Springfield Township (3-3, 0-2) will travel to Wissahickon on Thursday.
Springfield Township 1-17-11-12 41
Plymouth Whitemarsh 19-24-20-17 80
Springfield Township (41) – Jordan Pauls 4, Austin Maggioncalda 6, Ray Ebner 2, Ethan Hamilton 2, Wilson Krewson 14, Ryan Deal 3, Zach Edwards 9, Ben Rittenhouse 1.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (80) – Jaden Pryce 4, Ray Tomassetti 2, Caelin Peters 11, Naheem McLeod 28, Kyree Pendleton 8, Luke Dicianno 4, Mark Kalala 6, Cody Carmint 2, Jordan Evans 4, Jason Cherry 11.
Non-league
North Penn 47, Pennsbury 46
This one looked to be close on paper and it was really close on the court.
In the end, thanks to a key defensive stop, North Penn was able to come away with a non-league win over host Pennsbury.
The Falcons went up by two points when Gary Francis (game-high 31 points) drilled a 3-pointer with just over a minute to play before the Knights answered on the ensuing possession.
“We came down and Mike Chaffee hit a three to put us up one with 40 seconds, and we were able to get a defensive stop for the last 40 seconds,” coach John Conrad said. “It was a very good win for us. (Pennsbury coach) Bill (Coleman) does a great job, and it’s such a good program. Any time you can go there and win a close game, it’s obviously a really good feeling.”
The win came on the heels of a one-point loss to Boyertown on Saturday.
"We’ve played a lot of close games,” Conrad said. “Our kids are really competing. It’s been a good experience for them.”
Chaffee paced the Knights with a team-high 14 points and A.J. Mitchell had 10. Chris Caputo was next with eight.
“Mike Chaffee shot the ball really well, and Chris Caputo played defense really well,” Conrad said.
“Francis had 31, but we just went through our whole lineup of guys to try and defend him. We finally put Chris on him halfway through the fourth quarter, and he did a really good job defensively on Francis.
“And I thought Solomon Robinson rebounded really well.”
In addition to leading the Falcons in scoring, Francis also had a team-high seven rebounds. Cooper Arnold was next for the Falcons with 11 points. Kyrie Miller and Charlie Nuschke both had five rebounds.
North Penn (4-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East on Friday, and Pennsbury (2-3, 1-0) will host Bensalem on Thursday.
North Penn 18-9-9-11 47
Pennsbury 14-13-10-9 46
North Penn (47) – Tali McIver 7, AJ Mitchell 10, Chris Caputo 8, Mike Chaffee 14, Solomon Robinson 4, Matthew Swanson 4.
Pennsbury (46) – Kyrie Miller 2, Gary Francis 31, Cooper Arnold 11, Charlie Nunschke 2.
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