Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Friday. Upper Dublin/Abington photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison Photography. Check back for a gallery.
SOL Continental
Central Bucks South 53, Souderton 49
In a battle of SOL Continental unbeatens, CB South used a 15-8 third quarter to take control of the game and eventually held off previously undefeated Souderton at home on Friday.
Alex Dietz and Michael Farley had 12 points each to lead the Titans, but in the third quarter, senior Mike Waltrich hit a pair of 3-pointers and had all nine of his points to spearhead South’s run.
“It does boil down to how well you execute and it’s on both ends of the floor,” said South coach Jason Campbell. “You have to execute your defense as well as you’re executing your offense. We had moments in that game, in the second quarter, where we didn’t execute the defense that we would like.
“Then, we ran into the same thing (on offense) in the second quarter where it was one pass and shot. Next possession, two passes and shot. Three times in a row we tried 3-pointers. We were like ‘Guys, in the pregame we talked about not settling for 3s, they want you to do that. Let’s be disciplined. I’ll take a 3, but you’ve got to move the ball around and get some inside-outside touches first.’
“When we got back to that in the third quarter, the offense was clicking on all cylinders by that point and then that helps our defense as well. Then, we’re not running around trying to pick people up in transition.”
In all, 10 different South players scored points in a balanced attack.
“They’re hungry,” Campbell said. “Mike Waltrich has been great for us all year off the bench. He’s a kid that wants to start but he’s great off the bench. Not many teams have a player like Mike off the bench. Josiah Harrison is another kid that gives us some minutes, his first time playing for South – he made it as a senior. He gave us good minutes today on the floor.
“The bench guys know that in any given game, one of them is going to step up. That’s how we win. If you get more bench points than the other team’s bench, you’ve got a good chance of winning the game. That’s what our guys understand. They’re so unselfish.”
Short-handed Souderton, which used a big second quarter to take a 25-23 lead at the break, was led by Dominic Natale’s 16 points, while Sami Chouiraf scored eight points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
CB South (6-1, 3-0 SOL) is next in action on Dec. 27 when it plays John Bartram in the opening round of the Jack Schott Christmas Tournament at Holy Ghost Prep. Souderton (6-1, 2-1 SOL) will play in the Rustin Winter Classic on Dec. 27 at Bayard Rustin High School.
Souderton 13 12 8 16-49
CB South 15 8 15 15-53
Souderton (49): Sami Chouiraf 3 2-6 8; Dominic Natale 7 2-5 16; Jack Towsen 3 0-0 7; Tommy Doughty 1 0-0 3; Matt Uhrich 3 0-0 7; Jason Price 0 1-2 1; Ben Murawski 1 4-4 6. Totals 18 9-18 49.
CB South (53): Alex Dietz 4 3-3 12; Zach O’Connor 0 2-2 2; Mike Waltrich 3 1-1 9; Evan D’Orazio 0 1-2 1; Jay Macalindong 1 0-0 2; Josh Consoletti 2 3-4 7; Josiah Harrison 1 0-0 2; Nick Wursta 1 0-0 2; John Hackendahl 2 0-0 6; Michael Farley 4 4-4 12. Totals 18 14-16 53.
Central Bucks East 70, North Penn 47
CB East came out fast with 21 points in the first quarter and snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive rout of North Penn on Friday.
Joe Jackman scored 10 points in the first quarter and finished with a game-high 33 for the Patriots, including six 3-pointers.
“Joe Jackman was tremendous,” said CB East coach Erik Henrysen. “He did a great job scoring, but his defense was also great.”
As a team, the Patriots had 11 3-pointers for the game. They connected on 16-of-22 at the foul line while the Knights were 9-for-12.
“We shot the ball well and started off the game hitting five 3s in the first,” Henrysen said. “We feel like we are starting to grow as a group and hope we are gaining valuable experience.”
Chris Charlton added 10 points and Jack Hamilton had eight. Tyler Young was credited with four assists.
North Penn was led by Rob Carangi with 11 points and Kolby Barrow and Shane Dolan with nine points each.
CB East (3-4, 1-2 SOL) next travels to Tempe, Arizona for the Cactus Jam on Dec. 27. North Penn (1-5, 0-3 SOL) has a nonleague game Monday night against Dock Mennonite.
CB East 21 15 19 15-70
North Penn 12 10 12 13-47
CB East (70): Joe Jackman 33, Jack Hamilton 8, Tyler Young 3, Anthony Giordano 5, Brendan Harte 3, Jason Markowitz 3, Chris Charlton 10, Christian Rivera 2, Aidan Weaver 1
North Penn (47): Kolby Barrow 9, Shane Dolan 9, Joey Larkins 6, Billy Coley 4, Rob Carangi 11, Mike Swanson 8.
Pennridge 50, Central Bucks West 35
Pennridge improved to 6-0 on the season as a spectacular calendar year 2019 nears an end for the program. The Rams ran away from visiting CB West early on the way to a 15-point win before an enthusiastic crowd at home.
“I don’t know if I saw that coming,” said Rams coach Dean Behrens. “It was a good test for us. I know we were 5-0 coming in, but I wasn’t sure what we were. I thought we may have stolen one – we were a little lucky beating Boyertown. Quakertown is undermanned. William Tennent has talent and I thought we played pretty well to beat them. But I don’t know where everybody is.
“I thought West, with their personnel, was a real test for us. But our guys stepped up, especially defensively. Individually and team defense, I couldn’t ask for a better effort.”
Pennridge outscored the Bucks 14-3 in the first quarter and limited them to just nine points in the first half in building a commanding 22-9 halftime lead.
Trent Fisher led the Rams’ offense with 12 points, while Paul Croyle and Christian Guldin had 11 points each and Luke Yoder had nine points.
“The game started and we went on an 8-0 run,” Behrens said. “It was 14-3 after the first quarter and we never really looked back. They never got within an arms length of us, maybe 14 or 15 points.
“It starts with Christian Guldin, defensively. He did a great job on Mika Munari. I thought Trent Fisher controlled (Jack) Neri, and I thought Paul Croyle did a fabulous job on their shooter (Owen) Haney. It was a team defensive effort.
“Offensively, we had three or four guys in double figures. I thought we were very efficient too.”
The Bucks were led by Jack Slaymaker with 10 point, while Munari had nine.
Pennridge (6-0, 2-0 SOL) will look to close out the 2019 portion of its schedule unbeaten with two games in the Boyertown Holiday Classic, starting on Dec. 27 against undefeated Governor Mifflin.
CB West (4-2, 1-2 SOL) plays Dec. 27-30 at the Modie Risher Tournament in Charleston, South Carolina.
CB West 3 6 14 12-35
Pennridge 14 8 18 10-50
CB West (35): Lee 1 1-1 3; Teddy Spratt 1 1-2 3; Owen Haney 2 0-0 5; Jack Neri 2 0-0 4; Mika Munari 3 2-2 9; Danny Miller 0 1-2 1; Jack Slaymaker 3 3-4 10. Totals 12 8-11 35.
Pennridge (50): Ryan Benscoter 2 0-0 4; Luke Yoder 2 4-4 9; Paul Croyle 4 0-0 11; Christian Guldin 4 3-4 11; Anthony Phillips 1 1-2 3; Trent Fisher 6 0-0 12. Totals 19 8-10 50.
SOL American
Abington 50, Upper Dublin 44
A big third quarter that saw the Ghosts outscore their hosts 17-5 broke open a close game, and then Abington survived a tough night on the free throw line to get past Upper Dublin to remain unbeaten in conference play.
Up one at halftime, Manir Waller and Robert Bell combined for 14 points in the fourth to jumpstart the Galloping Ghosts. Then in the fourth, as UD made its run and after missing all three of his free throw attempts up to that points, Bell went 7-for-8 from the line to close out the game.
Bell finished with a team-high 15 points. Waller had 14 points, four steals and four assists. Connor Fields had a nice game off the bench with seven points and five rebounds. Caleb Baker also had five rebounds and three steals.
The Ghosts connected on 19-of-50 from the field, and they were just 2-of-13 from beyond the arc (13 percent).
Upper Dublin was led by Drew Stover’s 22 points. He had 10 points in the fourth quarter and was the catalyst in the Cardinals’ comeback attempt. Bazel Brady had 11.
Abington (4-2, 3-0 SOL) has three games scheduled next week as part of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic, starting Dec. 27 against Archbishop Carroll at Jefferson University.
Upper Dublin (3-3, 1-2 SOL) takes part in the Great Valley Tournament on Dec. 27-28.
Upper Dublin 6 9 5 23-44
Abington 8 8 17 17-50
Upper Dublin (44): Bazel Brady 5 1-3 11; Drew Stover 11 0-2 22; Will Mead 1 1-4 3; Liam Robers 0 1-2 1; Amare Johnson 0 1-2 1; Tim Boutlier 0 2-2 2; Aidan Pyllian 0 0-2 0; Jason Williams 0 4-4 4. Totals 17 10-21 44.
Abington (50): Manier Waller 6 2-5 14; Sam McFarlane 1 0-2 3; Robert Bell 4 7-11 15; Kyle Wilson Bailey 2 0-1 4; Joey Brusha 1 0-0 3; Caleb Baker 1 0-1 2; Connor Fields 3 1-2 7; Karim Boyd 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 10-22 50
Upper Moreland 53, Hatboro-Horsham 25
Upper Moreland received scoring throughout its lineup and went on to road to handle rival Hatboro-Horsham, as the Bears won their first SOL American Conference game of the season.
Tyler Ibbotson and Jahire Johnson had 10 points each for UM, while Byron Hopkins and Beau Woollens both scored nine.
“(I’m) proud of how our team played in a place where we have had little success,” said Bears coach Sean Feeley. “The captains were great and the intensity was good.”
Upper Moreland (4-2, 1-2 SOL) is next in action Dec. 27-28 at the Jenkintown Holiday Tournament. H-H (0-6, 0-3 SOL), still searching for its first win, is playing in the Garnet Valley Holiday Tournament, with its first game against the host school at 7 p.m. on Dec. 27.
Upper Moreland (53): Byron Hopkins 9, Beau Woollens 9, Jourdan Gregg 6, Jahire Johnson 10, Mickie Walker 5, Matt Tiernan 2, Jake Tiernan 2, Tyler Ibbotson 10.
Cheltenham 68, Plymouth Whitemarsh 39
Jaelen McGlone had a dominant effort with 22 points and 16 rebounds as Cheltenham started quickly and routed Plymouth Whitemarsh to stay unbeaten on the season.
The Panthers held a 15-7 advantage after one quarter and that lead was up to 30-19 at halftime.
“Defensively, they defended,” said coach Patrick Fleury. “I can’t think of many possessions – a couple, obviously – but overall, I think every defensive possession they were in tune, they talked.
“We shared the ball a lot. I don’t have the numbers, but there weren’t very many isolation plays that we had tonight. PW is a good team. They’ve had a couple of losses that were uncharacteristic because of the success they’ve had.”
Justin Moore scored 18 points and dished out five assists, while Sean Emfinger added 10 points and 10 rebounds for Cheltenham. David Post, coming back from an injury, had six points in a minute.
Fleury also said senior point guard Zahree Harrison, a St. Francis commit, remains active with the team despite not playing because an injury.
“Even though he’s not on the court, he continues to just be a coach and teammate on the bench that is invaluable,” Fleury said. “It’s not like we’re without him because of how active he is in the games. He’s so in tune with the games now that he’s literally calling me over and asking me, ‘What about this? What about that? Let’s do this.’
“He’s literally fully engaged. It’s worlds of difference when you have a kid like that who’s obviously one of your better players who cares so much. At a time when he could be selfish, he’s still lifting and talking to his guys. It’s unreal.”
PW was led by Luke DiCianno and Zuri Jerman with six points each.
“Learning from Jimmy Donofrio, he just told me, ‘It’s a long season,’” Fleury said about the veteran PW coach. “You’re not going to get the best effort and output every night, but as long as you come out with something that was positive, then you can just grow from there.
“Jimmy has been great as a competitor and as a coach in the league. Even though we’re in heavy competition, he’s always had information or little tidbits that are helpful. It’s not just basketball related, it’s life related, and I’m grateful for that.”
Cheltenham (7-0, 3-0 SOL) has eight days off until its potentially epic showdown with Coatesville as part of the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University on Dec. 28 (3 p.m.).
PW (2-4, 2-1 SOL) is playing in the Blue Star Holiday Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C. on Dec. 26-27.
Cheltenham 15 15 14 19-68
Plymouth Whitemarsh 7 12 13 7-39
Plymouth Whitemarsh (39): David Harris 1 0-0 3, Caelin Peters 1 0-2 2, Ray Tomassetti 1 1-2 3, Luke DiCianno 3 0-0 6, Jayden Glover 1 3-3 5, Zende Hubbard 2 0-3 4, Jaden Pryce 2 0-0 4, Taji Hubbard 1 0-0 2, Qudire Bennett 1 2-4 4, Zuri Jerman 3 0-0 6. Totals 16 6-14 39.
Cheltenham (68): Travis Coleman 1 0-0 2, Brandon Scott 0 1-2 1; Justin Moore 6 5-6 18, Saleem Payne 3 0-0 8, David Pope 1 3-4 6; Jaelen McGlone 7 6-9 22, Michael McClain 1 0-0 2, Sean Emfinger 4 2-3 10. Totals 22 17-23 68.
Wissahickon 51, Springfield Township 44
After starting its season with five straight losses, Wissahickon now has three straight wins including a solid road win at Springfield on Friday.
Matt Compas led the Trojans with 25 points. He was 9-for-11 from the free throw line, including 8-for-9 in the second half. Harrison Williams scored nine of his 14 points in the first half.
Up 42-32 after three quarters, Wissahickon had just one field goal in the fourth quarter, but was able to seal the win from the line.
Gabe Harris had 17 points to lead Springfield, while Jay Joseph added 13.
The Spartans (2-4, 0-3 SOL) will play in the Over the River Holiday Classic at South Hunterdon (N.J.) on Dec. 27-28. Wissahickon (3-5, 2-1 SOL) takes on Methacton in the opening round of the Perk Valley Shootout at Perkiomen Valley High School on Dec. 27.
Wissahickon 16 8 18 9-51
Springfield 8 8 16 12-44
Wissahickon (51): Andrew Buck 1 0-0 3; Harrison Williams 5 2-3 14; Jackson Intrieri 1 1-2 3; Stefan Lowry 1 2-2 4; Matt Compas 7 9-11 25; Carmen Ostroski 1 0-3 2. Totals 16 14-21 51.
Springfield (44): Jay Joseph 3 7-9 13; Ethan Hamilton 2 1-3 5; Declan Farley 0 0-1 0; Austin Maggioncalda 3 2-3 9; Gabe Harris 8 1-1 17. Totals 16 11-17 44.
SOL National
William Tennent 40, Council Rock North 39
Josiah Johnson scored William Tennent’s final eight points, and the Panthers held off CR North for the important conference win for the Panthers.
Johnson scored eight of his 11 points in that stretch, including two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. It was his first game back after suffering an injury in Tennent’s second game of the season.
Sean Haus led the Panthers with 12 points in what was a defensive struggle throughout, that saw CR North with a 21-16 lead at halftime.
“In the first quarter, (CR North) scored 15 and all 15 came on five ‘3s’,” said Tennent coach Robert Mulville. “We were able to tighten that up. The other part was that they did a really good job on (Tennent standout Derrik) Cosenza in the first half.
“We were able to make an adjustment so we were able to get a little bit of ball reversal, so that Cosenza was able to seal his man on the reverse pass. We drew it up at halftime and the guys were able to execute that. We continued to go inside even though they did a great job on him in the first half – they held him to no points – but he was able to keep battling. He got them in foul trouble. I really happy with that part.”
The closing sequence of the game was a wild one, Mulville said.
“We pulled the ball out, we missed the front end of a one-and-one, but we held them on defense,” he said. “They fouled us again, we missed two shots with about 30 seconds left.
“We still four fouls to give. They inbounded the ball, we fouled them, and we got it down to 4 ½ seconds, and we didn’t have any more fouls to give. We just had to play defense. They got the ball in, they missed their first shot, got the rebound and got fouled at the buzzer. They were on the foul line with no time left and missed both of them.”
For the Panthers it was a nice bounce-back win after losing to first-place Bensalem on Tuesday.
“We had a real tough loss the other night,” Mulville said. “We were up 10 in the fourth quarter, and Bensalem went on a run that we couldn’t answer. Tonight, even though we missed some foul shots, I thought we were stronger at the end of the game. Especially our execution on the defensive end, because they had two opportunities to take the lead when it was 40-39, and we were able to stop them twice, actually three times with the last stop.”
Hunter Wan led CR North with 17 points, while Bernie Parent added 11.
Tennent (3-3, 1-1 SOL) has a nonleague game scheduled for Dec. 27 at home against New Hope-Solebury at 1:30 p.m. CR North (1-5, 1-2 SOL) plays at New Hope on Dec. 28.
William Tennent 11 5 11 14-40
CR North 15 6 7 11-39
William Tennent (40): Dominic Sulpizio 1 0-0 3; Jay Stanfield 1 0-0 2; Josiah Johnson 3 2-3 11; Sean Haus 5 0-0 12; Michael Scheller 1 2-2 4; Derrik Cosenza 3 2-6 8; Totals 14 6-11 40.
Council Rock North (39): Bernie Parent 4 0-0 11; Andrew Stewart 1 0-0 3; Luke Vliet 1 0-0 3; Hunter Wan 6 0-0 17; Mikey Sylvester 2 1-2 5; Sean Clancy 0 0-2 0; 14 1-4 39.
About the Author
