Check out the winners in SOL boys’ basketball action on Wednesday. William Tennent/ Community Academy photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of game action photos.
NORTH PENN 42, PERKIOMEN VALLEY 41
The Knights survived a potential buzzer-beater as they outlasted the host Vikings in the first round of Perkiomen Valley's tournament Wednesday night.
AJ Mitchell paced North Penn with 12 points while David Robinson was the offensive hero for North Penn, scoring the game-winning basket in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
"We were down most of the game, but we went up 40-36 with about two minutes to go, and they reeled off five straight to take a 41-40 lead. David Robinson scored with about 35 seconds left and then we played really good defense for the last 35 seconds," Knights’ coach John Conrad said. "We lost three straight so it feels good to get back on the right side of the ledger. It was a really tough win. (Coach) Mike (Poysden) does a really great job with Perk Valley, so we knew they were going to try and control the pace, which they did, and keep it close to win at the end.
“We didn’t execute very well on the offensive end, but I thought defensively, we really played well, and that stop at the end was all on the defensive side.”
Robinson and Chris Coleman each had eight points while Tali McIver dropped in nine on a trio of 3-point shots, all in the second half.
“We were just looking for a spark, and he came off the bench and had three threes in the second half and played well defensively, so he was a great spark off the bench in a second half," Conrad said of McIver.
AJ Catanzaro again turned in a rugged defensive effort, holding PV's leading scorer Tyler Stretchay to just eight points. The guard hasn't been a big factor offensively but has been invaluable for North Penn this season.
“AJ Catanzaro is really the guy,” Conrad said. “He’s not showing up a lot in the boxscores offensively, but he’s drawn some pretty tough assignments. Tonight he had Stretchay, who’s their leading scorer, and he held him to eight points. He had six in the first quarter and then he had two in the last three quarters. That was really the difference for us.”
North Penn (3-3, 0-2 SOL) faces Methacton at 5 p.m. Thursday back at Perk Valley
NORTH PENN 7 13 12 10 – 42
PERKIOMEN VALLEY 11 12 10 8 – 41
NP – AJ Mitchell 12, Tali McIver 9, Chris Coleman 8, David Robinson 8, Joey Lindsay 3, Chris Caputo 2
PV – Krause 10, Stretchay 8, Skeeper 8, Liant 6, Bernabe 4, Graves 3, Parke 2
UPPER DUBLIN 48, WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 35
The Flying Cardinals took an early lead and led for the better part of four quarters in an opening round game of the Great Valley Tournament. The Warriors made things interesting in the fourth quarter, pulling to within one, but the Cardinals closed it out with a 15-3 tear to earn their first win of the young season.
“We were able to turn them over,” coach Chris Monahan said of his team’s stretch run. “We didn’t shoot the ball well all night from three, but we were able to make a couple of threes – we were 3-of-18 on the night, and two of those were late in the fourth quarter.
“Mike Ryan had some offensive rebounds and putbacks. He had a big game.”
Ryan led the Cardinals with an impressive double-double, finishing with 19 points and 13 rebounds to go along with five blocked shots and three steals. Nyjee Scott and Corby Watkins each had nine rebounds, and Cory Stover had eight as the Cardinals got the job done on the boards.
Scott added nine points, four assists and two steals while Stover and Watkins had eight and seven points respectively. Watkins also had three steals. Malik Bootman had five assists and Jason Williams, three assists.
The Cardinals, who led 10-8 after one quarter, took a 24-17 lead into the intermission. A lackluster third quarter for both squads saw the Warriors hold a 6-5 scoring advantage to make it a 29-23 game heading into the final frame that saw the Cardinals close it out with a 19-12 tear.
Upper Dublin (0-6, 0-2 SOL) will face host Great Valley in the title game at 7 p.m.
Upper Dublin 10-14-5-19 48
West Chester Henderson 8-9-6-12 35
Upper Dublin (48) – Jason Williams 3, Nyjee Scott 9, Ian McGonagle 2, Corby Watkins 7, Cory Stover 8, Mike Ryan 19.
NESHAMINY 44, CHURCH FARM SCHOOL 26
Neshaminy didn't get a huge offensive performance from Chris Arcidiacono on Wednesday, but it didn't need one, thanks to its defense.
“We held their team to 26 points, so that’s pretty good. Overall, it was a team effort. Everyone always goes after Chris Arcidiacono. He only scored seven points tonight, but he had 11 rebounds and six or seven assists," Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle said. "(Anthony) Papeo had 11 – he’s really been showing up, and Danny Bodine, our big, was in foul trouble the whole game, but he still had eight points. Tonight was more of a team effort. We spread it around a little bit more. It was nice."
Neshaminy improved to 6-0 on the season, adding another solid win to its ledger. Church Farm is a 2A school in District I, but Jon Bol Ajak is anything but, a 6-foot-10 center drawing serious college interest.
While Tingle is happy with the start, he knows the road ahead doesn't get easier.
“We played some decent teams lately. Pennridge is, in my mind, definitely a top six team in the district, and we had that win last week. Church Farm is 2A, but they have a big Division One 6-10 kid who’s pretty good, and Holy Ghost is Holy Ghost – their program is always good. I think we played a couple of tough teams. So far so good," Tingle said. "It’s always good to have more wins than losses. We play a very good West Chester Rustin tomorrow and next week we have Abington and Pennsbury. Our schedule is a very tough schedule overall. We’ll see what we do tomorrow heading back into league play."
Neshaminy (6-0, 1-0 SOL) will face West Chester Rustin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
NESHAMINY 6 14 12 12 – 44
CHURCH FARM
N: Anthony Papeo 11, Dan Bodine 8, Chris Arcidacono 7, Logan Williamson 7, Pat Campbell 2, Greg Deluca 2
CF: Jon Bol Ajak 13, Ogunsunya 8, McEvoy 3, Oyamfi 2
WISSAHICKON 65, METHACTON 57
The Trojans have gotten great play from the guard spots so far this season, but the team's forwards have been just as important.
Zach Reiner – who measures in at 6-4 – drew a tough assignment guarding 6-8 Methacton forward Jeff Woodward. He also posted a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to go along with three steals.
“He just had a heck of a night. He had to battle that 6-8 kid from Methacton, Jeff Woodward – he’s just a load. It was really a solid performance by Zach against him,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “Our other forward, 6-1 Anthony Lawrence, was more of an energy guy out here. He went 5-for-5 from the field and had 11 points. It was kind of nice to get production out of him as well.
"When you’re playing against a big guy like (Woodward) and trying to guard Dave Duda, who can really shoot the ball, it was nice to get solid production out of our bigs."
Max Rapoport led Wissahickon with a 20-point effort while Eddie Fortescue scored 10 to pace the guards in the opening game of Perkiomen Valley's tournament.
"Max has really been playing well,” Wilson said. “Eddie Fortescue had 25 and 30 in the last two games – he only had 10 but he had some nice steals and made other plays and contributions out there, so it was nice to see a really well-balanced performance by the guys.”
The Trojans got a glimpse of what they could be in a one-point loss to powerhouse Plymouth Whitemarsh last Friday in their last game before the holiday break.
“I think the PW game really gave the guys the shot in the arm that they needed,” Wilson said. “We played this fall and this summer, and I think the guys were a little bit skeptical because we lost Chaz Owens who transferred to Shipley. He was a 6-5 guard/forward, and he had 30 in one of our last games last year and was a big part of our offense. Marvin Johnson was our sixth man, and he transferred to the Peddie School.
“If we had returned those two, we would have returned our starting five pretty much intact, so I think they were a little skeptical. Then we went to some summer and fall leagues and we weren’t just beating teams by 20. We were beating some teams by 30 or 40. It’s summer and fall league, so you’re like – I don’t now if that will translate into the season. It just seemed like the first few games everything they did in the summer and fall seemed to translate – the ball movement, the extra passes."
Whether the summer league helped or not, Wissahickon never trailed on Wednesday.
“Methacton is a really good team. They run some really nice stuff. We led from the very beginning and we led throughout the game," Wilson said. "They’d get close but then we’d make a few extra passes, knock down the shots and just continued to stay ahead of the game on them. It’s nice to watch these guys."
The Trojans, who improved to 4-1 (1-1 SOL), face host Perkiomen Valley at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. They hope to continue their string of strong showings.
“In the PW game, with four seconds left, we made an inbounds pass, went the length of the court and missed a contested layup, but if we make that we could have knocked off the number one team in the state," Wilson said. "Our guys are starting to think, ‘If we can hang with the best team in the state, hopefully, we can do some damage this year in spite of some of the losses.’ It’s been nice to see these guys sort of hang their hat on that, and they just seem to really enjoy playing together."
WISSAHICKON 17 14 17 17 – 65
METHACTON 10 17 17 13 – 57
W: Max Rapoport 20, Zach Reiner 15, Anthony Lawrence 11, Eddie Fortescue 10, Hirsch 3, Ostroski 2, Campas 2, Oliphant 2
M: Duda 23, Woodward 18, Kitaw 6, Kropp 5, Eberly 3, Girardo 2
WILLIAM TENNENT 64, COMMUNITY ACADEMY OF PHILADELPHIA 22
The host Panthers had little trouble advancing to the title game of their holiday tournament, opening up a 17-6 lead after one quarter and extending that to 36-13 by halftime.
Pat McCauley (12) and Markeith Baxter (14) outscored Community Academy on their own in leading Tennent. Dave West added nine points while Ryan Savage and Derrik Cosenza both had eight.
Baxter, Nick Meltzer and Dave West each pulled down seven rebounds while Michael Mulville had four points and four assists for Tennent.
“It was pretty well balanced,” coach Robert Mulville said. “It was nice getting a win a nice win at home. Hopefully, we’ll come out and play well tomorrow.”
William Tennent (3-3, 0-1 SOL) will face Phil-Mont Christian Academy in the title game on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Community Academy of Philadelphia 6 7 6 3 – 22
William Tennent 17 19 15 13 – 64
Community Academy (22) – Colon 11, Montanez 3, Barnett 8.
William Tennent (64) – Pat Mccauley 12, Michael Mulville 4, Markeith Baxter 14, Kip Mooney 2, Ryan Savage 8, Nick Meltzer 3, Dave West 9, Josh Benson 4, Derrik Cosenza 8.
BENSALEM 70, BRISTOL 45
The Owls got a lot of trips to the free throw line Wednesday and used it to their advantage.
Bensalem hit 23-of-33 free throws to open up a big lead over Bristol in the first round of its Dick Dougherty Memorial Holiday Tournament.
The Owls raced out of the gate to a 21-9 lead after one quarter and took a 37-25 lead into halftime. They outscored the Warriors 33-20 in the second half.
“We got off to a good start and played with a lot of energy,” coach Mike McCabe said. “We will try for our third straight tournament championship tomorrow."
Kris Shields scored 23 points in a standout offensive effort to lead the Owls.
“He played well,” McCabe said.
Taco Douglas added 16, and Ward Roberts also finished in double figures with 11. James Leible had eight points and Carlos Gonzalez, seven.
Bensalem (3-3, 1-1 SOL) will play Ben Franklin in the title game Thursday 7:30 p.m.
Bristol 9-16-15-5 45
Bensalem 21-16-13-20 70
Bristol (45) – Gerbo 10, Freeman 4, Cortez 16, Hammond 7, Clark 4, Funair 4.
Bensalem (70) – Taco Douglas 16, Ward Roberts 11, James Leible 8, Carlos Gonzalez 7, Nasir Williams 2, Kris Shields 23, Nick Fossile 3.
WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 77, SOUDERTON 73 (OT)
The Indians got a career night from Tomas Hanrahan, but it wasn't enough to overcome host WC Rustin on Wednesday.
“Those are the type of losses you look back at the end of the season – we had one there and let it slip,” coach Tim Brown said. “The first 10 minutes were not good. We were not executing any part of the game plan. They had 22 at the end of the first quarter, which is what we want to keep teams to at halftime, so we were pretty disappointed.
“They responded well and started executing and following the game plan, and that got us back in the game, but we can’t afford to not focus for one minute, let alone 10 minutes.”
Souderton – which fell behind 22-13 after one quarter – trailed most of the game, but one thing the Indians haven't lacked this season is grit, and they were able to make a couple of pivotal plays late in the fourth quarter. With Rustin leading by two and trying to ice the game away, guard Stephen Luchansky found a way to get the ball back.
“We were about to take the foul when Stephen Luchansky made a huge play and got the ball. We were honestly looking to attack the basket right off the bat, but it didn’t really happen. They transitioned well, so we took a timeout," Brown said.
The Indians called a timeout with just 10 seconds left, trailing their hosts 65-63. Naturally, Brown set the team up to get the ball into the hands of its hottest player.
"Tomas Hanrahan made an awesome play – got to his spot, came to a jump stop, made a nice little turnaround jumper. It was a big time shot for him. There was 1.7 seconds left at that point," Brown said. "They took their timeout, went to inbound the ball and stepped over the line, so we got the ball with one timeout left. We took that (timeout), and we got a decent look. They did a pretty good job of defending it. The shot was a little short and we went to OT."
Unfortunately for Souderton, they weren't able to keep the momentum from their late rally going into the extra period.
“They just kind of came out blazing in OT,” Brown said. “They pressured us and got the first two, pressured us and got another two. We hung around and were right there the whole time, but at the end, it slipped away from us.”
Hanrahan's big night came as a bit of a surprise to Brown, given that the senior wasn't putting up an extraordinarily high number of shots.
“He was great. It was a very efficient 35 points,” the Indians’ coach said. “He’s a quick hit – when he gets in transition, he’s tough to stop when he’s going downhill like that. He was racking up some and-ones just getting to the bucket in transition. I knew he was having himself a game, but seeing 35 in the boxscore at the end was a little surprising.
"It wasn’t like he was taking all these shots. He was taking the opportunities that were there, and obviously, he was making the most of them. Just his overall energy along with his scoring – he really lifted the team up and got us to where we needed to be.”
Rustin had four players in double-digits, led by Taji Asparagus' 25-point outing.
Souderton (3-4, 0-2 SOL) returns to Rustin to face Upper Darby at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
WC RUSTIN 22 13 11 19 12 – 77
SOUDERTON 13 13 16 23 8 – 73
WCR – Asparagus 25, Barrouk 17, Nelson 13, Pew 10, Batchelor 8, Dimarco 4
S – Tomas Hanrahan 35, Antonio Rodriguez 10, Trevor Watts 8, Stephen Luchansky 7, Andrew Vince 4, Kavi Ramchandani 6, Dom Natale 3
SAUCON VALLEY 42, QUAKERTOWN 37
The Panthers fell in the opening round of Salisbury's holiday tournament on Wednesday. They led 11-9 after one quarter and took a 25-24 lead into halftime. The shots stopped falling in the second half as the Panthers managed just 12 points while Saucon Valley scored 18.
Sharpshooter Matt Lucas led Quakertown with 12 points on four 3-pointers. He was the only Panther to reach double figures. Sam Rice had seven while Kevin Juszynski and Matt Catalano each scored six for Quakertown. Catalano buried a pair of threes.
Quakertown (2-5, 1-1 SOL) will play in Thursday’s consolation game at 5:30 p.m.
SAUCON VALLEY 9 15 6 12 – 42
QUAKERTOWN 11 14 3 9 – 37
SV: Simpson 10, Cyphers 18, O’Donnell 4, Yeahl 10
Q: Catalano 6, Harrison 3, Sam Rice 7, Kevin Juszynski 6, Mitchell 3, Matt Lucas 12
CALVARY CHRISTIAN 53, UPPER MORELAND 49
The Golden Bears dropped their opener in Jenkintown's Robert Hopf tournament on Wednesday.
Senior Ryan Coyle paced UM with 17 points and Jake Villanueva scored 12. Tyler Ibbotson had eight and Christian O'Donnell had six for Upper Moreland.
The Bears (2-4, 1-1 SOL) face Franklin Towne Charter in Thursday's consolation game.
UPPER MORELAND 11 19 10 9 – 49
Cavalry Christian 2 16 14 22 – 53
UM – Coyle 17, O'Donnel 6, Ibbotson 8, Villanaueva 12
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