SOL Boys’ Basketball Wrap (12-19-24)

Pennsbury & Upper Dublin picked up wins in SOL boys’ basketball action Thursday. Pennsbury/Neshaminy photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Upper Dublin/Quakertown photos courtesy of Gregory Lindsay. Check back for a gallery of both games. CLICK HERE to view Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.

SOL Patriot Division

PENNSBURY 75, NESHAMINY 55

The Falcons picked Thursday night’s rivalry game in front of a full house – which included special recognition of the 2000 championship team – to turn in their finest performance of the season.

“We put on a show,” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “Sometimes as a coach – you micromanage. I’m no different than any coach out there. I want things done my way, but I realize I’m micromanaging a bunch of really talented kids.

“I think what I did was I set them free a little bit tonight, and they showed their talent level. They were just able to play at a pace that few teams we will face going forward will be able to play at.”

The Falcons gave a preview of things to come in a 21-12 first quarter. Freshman Pat Jajua’s seven points jumpstarted Pennsbury. In the second quarter, sophomore Sean Breslin scored all 11 of his points – which included three 3-pointers – and the Falcons put 25 points on the board to go into halftime with a 46-25 advantage.

Mike Roccograndi’s 12 points in the third quarter led the Falcons, who refused to give an inch to the Redskins on their way to the huge win.

Key stretch: A brilliant 46-point first half by the Falcons took the suspense out of Thursday’s rivalry game.

Key players: Mike Roccograndi (24 points), Pat Jajua (15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Sean Breslin (11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 assists), Max Manga (7 points, 10 rebounds), Grayson Gozum (9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists).

For Neshaminy, Jason Leiva (18 points).

Pennsbury coach Wes Emme: “Neshaminy has had a great start to the year. They have kind of established an identity as a team, and fortunately for us tonight, our identity is probably the thing that they’re not strongest at, and that’s why we were able to jump on them at the beginning of the game.

“In these rivalry games – we knew they were going to keep punching, keep coming back, and that was them in the second half – they didn’t go away.”

–A special night: “We had an article come out today about one of our seniors, Grayson Gozum. It was the story about him and his family and just how he juggles so many things in life being one of 11. For us, that’s kind of the role he’s filling for us. For him, this may be the last time he gets a Neshaminy home game and that rivalry experience. It is what I was thinking about before the game, and after the game, I was just thinking about joy – the fact that we got to celebrate the 2000 team, one of the great teams in the history of the league, and how we played. I felt joy at the end of the game, and that was really great.

“I just left the alumni, the coaches and some of the family members – we all went out to get some food afterwards, and I saw the connection in the faces of all the people. That’s a big part of the reason I came back was because of how connected I was to the school. It was just a great night all round.”

–Props: “The way (Mike) Roccograndi played today like Rocco who is our most experienced player and our leading returning scorer – it was finally his opportunity to blow up. He’s played okay so far, but he was the best player on the floor tonight.

“Patrick Jajua and Sean Breslin – that’s a freshman and a sophomore that were just outstanding. That doesn’t just happen. Those kids work, and those kids play.

“I thought Grayson Gozum just did an outstanding job on Logan Gale, who has been Neshaminy’s leading scorer. He was his primary defender for most of the night, and for us, Grayson is the kind of kid that does whatever he needs to do to make us successful. He doesn’t really care if that’s scoring or playmaking or – in tonight’s case – defending a really good player. This is what he does on a nightly basis – finds his way into whatever we need. He was great tonight. He won’t show up in the box score the way Roccograndi did, who was just unguardable at times with the way Pat Jajua was flying up and down the floor creating, or Sean Breslin making shots, but when we go back and watch the film, we’re going to see that Grayson Gozum had a major impact on the game.”

Next up: Pennsbury (3-3, 2-1 SOL) will travel to North Penn for a non-league game Saturday (12:30 pm), and Neshaminy (5-4, 1-2) will be competing in the Upper Dublin Tournament Friday and Saturday.

Neshaminy 12-13-18-12 55

Pennsbury 21-25-18-11 75

Neshaminy (55) – Jason Leiva 6 5-6 18; Eriq Gold 1 0-0 3; Logan Gale 3 2-6 9; Shane West 1 2-4 5; Cadenn Amati 3 0-5 6; Max Currie 4 0-0 8; Nikoloz Mardeleishvili 1 1-2 3; Dominic Cialella 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 20 10-20 55.

Pennsbury (75) – Brayden Clark 1 0-0 2; Mike Roccograndi 8 5-11 24; Grayson Gozum 4 0-0 9; Luke Wachino 1 0-2 2; Owen Hawkes 1 0-0 2; David Aidee 1 0-0 2; Kieran Shaw 0 1-2 1; Sean Breslin 4 0-0 11; Pat Jujua 5 3-3 15; Max Manga 3 1-2 7; TOTALS 28 10-20 75.

3-point goals: N – Jason Leiva, Eriq Gold, Logan Gale, Shane West, Dominic Cialella; P – Mike Roccograndi 3, Sean Breslin 3, Pat Jujua 2, Grayson Gozum.

SOL Liberty Division

UPPER DUBLIN 61, QUAKERTOWN 18

The Flying Cardinals took care of business in a hurry, opening up a 25-7 lead after one quarter and extending that to 39-13 by halftime.

Key stretch: In the 25-point first quarter, Noah Cohen scored 11 points, which included three 3-pointers.

Key players: Noah Cohen (14 points – 4 3-pointers), Ryan Mulroy (14 points), Brandon Altman (10 points – 3 3-pointers).

Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks: “The team brought a lot of energy tonight. I was happy with how we played our halfcourt defense. We were pressuring the ball and still provided good help defense. Once we got stops, we got out in transition and made the right pass which often led to a good shot. Everyone on the team contributed. We had eight players score.”

–Props “Noah Cohen started the game off hot with the first 11 points for us. Then Ryan Mulroy got going the rest of the first quarter. From there, it was a pretty balanced team effort. I thought Kobe Bazemore did a great job getting his teammates open looks. Brandon Altman played with an intensity and aggressiveness, guarding the ball as well as making plays on offense, which was great to see. I was very happy with how the team played tonight, and we look forward to a great opportunity to take on Coatesville Saturday. We will need to bring our A game.”

Next up: Upper Dublin (7-1, 3-0 SOL) will travel to Coatesville in a non-league game Saturday (1:30 pm), and Quakertown (0-6, 0-3) will compete in the Dock Mennonite Academy Tournament next Friday.

Quakertown 7-6-3-2 18

Upper Dublin 25-14-9-13 61

Quakertown (18) – Joey Bodner 1 0-0 2; Gavin Mushrush 1 0-0 2; Sam Wilkins 2 6-6 10; Mason Rush 1 2-2 4; TOTALS 5 8-8 18.

Upper Dublin (61) – Kobe Bazemore 1 0-0 2; Noah Cohen 5 0-0 14; Ryan Mulroy 5 3-3 14; Idris rines 2 2-4 6; Justin Ragsdale 2 0-0 5; James Castronuova 1 2-2 4; Brandon Altman 4 0-0 10; Horace Jackson 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 23 7-9 61.

3-point goals: UD – Noah Cohen 4, Brandon Altman 2, Ryan Mulroy, Justin Ragsdale.