Check out the recaps for SOL boys’basketball teams in action Wednesday. UD/Upper Moreland & CR North/MaST Charter photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games. https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
DICK DOUGHERTY MEMORIAL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Bensalem 100, Norristown 80
Talk about a home-court advantage.
Bensalem opened its tournament on Wednesday in absolutely stellar fashion, reaching triple digits for the first time in at least 19 years – perhaps the first time ever – as the Owls overpowered Norristown for a 100-80 victory.
“I’m emotionally exhausted – it was a fun and not-so-fun game to be a part of,” said Bensalem coach Ron Morris. “To score 100 points – in my 19 years of coaching, it’s the first time we’ve scored 100 points in a game. The flip side of that is we gave up 80 points.
“A friend of mine texted me and said it was like an NBA All-Star Game. It’s good that we’re able to score, but defensively, you want to be able to get stops and rebounds.”
Nine players contributed to Bensalem’s scoring, with four reaching double digits. Jaidyn Moffitt led the Owls with 29 points, including a team-leading 6 points in the opening quarter.
“We’re a very balanced offensive team,” Morris said. “The one thing about our team, on any given night, so many guys can go off offensively. Tonight, it was Jaidyn Moffitt. We recognized we had a mismatch inside, so we wanted to make sure we continued to get it to him. He was awesome inside.”
While Moffitt dominated in the paint, Noah Morris was unstoppable from the 3-point arc. Included in the senior guard’s 19 points were six 3-pointers. Antonio Morris added 14 points, while Amir Drummond racked up 12.
“Noah stayed hot from outside,” Morris said. “Antonio had a couple of outside shots in the first half. If we hit outside shots, it really opens up the game and makes it a lot easier inside for Jaidyn. Amir was really quick and was able to get to the rim. He made some good decisions.”
“Our guard play with Antonio, Noah and Amir – they can handle the ball, they can handle the pressure. Norristown was trying to press us, and they were able to get through the press. Amir and Antonio had some really nice passes inside to get easy baskets for Micah (White) and Jaidyn. It was a well-balanced attack. We just continue to work and will be ready for tomorrow.”
White chipped in with 8 points for the Owls.
“Micah White was all over the place with rebounds, tips. He just continues to do a lot of things,” Morris said.
Scoring 100 points will go a long way to overshadowing any negatives, but Morris knows the Owls will need to improve on the defensive end, particularly on the defensive boards.
“We needed to do a much better job of rebounding,” Morris said. “We didn’t play terrible defense. Credit Norristown – they made some really tough shots. They had two guys we knew could score, and we made them work for everything they got, but they got a lot of points, so we need to do a better job on the defensive glass and transition defense.
“Overall, it’s a great win, it’s another step forward. It’s our tournament, and we’d like to win it, but you can’t win the championship without winning the first night, so it’s great to get that win. When you win and can fix things – it’s easier to do that mentally with a chance tomorrow night to win a championship game.”
Bensalem (8-1, 6-0 SOL) plays Lincoln at 8 pm Thursday in the tournament title game.
Norristown (80)—Byrd 12 4-5 29; Daniels 2 0-0 5; John 2 5-10 9; Kislew 8 5-7 23; Tuggle 2 0-0 4; Vandeyne 4 0-0 8; Giddens 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 14-22 80.
Bensalem (100)—Antonio Morris 5 1-1 14; Noah Morris 6 1-2 19; Micah White 4 0-0 8; Amir Drummond 5 2-3 12; Christian Lee 1 2-2 4; Nate Cooper 2 0-0 4; Jahmir Chatman 1 0-0 2; Idris Savadago 3 1-2 7; Jaidyn Moffitt 14 0-2 29. Totals: 41 7-12 100.
3-point goals: N—Byrd, Daniels, Kislew 2; B—A. Morris 3, N Morris 6, Moffitt.
Norristown 16 19 27 18 – 80
Bensalem 17 29 30 24 – 100
Lincoln 67, Lower Moreland 50
CARDINAL HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Upper Dublin 43, Upper Moreland 42
It wasn’t pretty, but Upper Dublin will take it.
In a battle that not only served as the tournament opener, but also a league game between Suburban One rivals, tournament host Upper Dublin held off Upper Moreland
and pulled out a 43-42 victory on Wednesday.
“It was an offensive struggle by both teams. They won’t be hanging this film up in the Louvre,” joked Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks.
The host Cardinals trailed 6-5 after one quarter and 15-12 at halftime. But Idris Rines scored 8 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter to push the Cards ahead.
“Idris Rines was huge, and we knew he needed to have a big game because they have a 6-9 center on their team,” Brooks said. “We knew Idris was going to get chances to knock down some threes today with how they guard, and he knocked down four of them, so that was big.”
Upper Moreland led by 4 points midway through the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals (8-2, 5-1 SOL) rallied to advance to Thursday’s final, a 2 pm showdown against Council Rock North.
“Upper Moreland hit a three, and we had a loose ball foul called on us, so the three counted, and they got to keep the ball, so they were up four with about six minutes left,” Brooks said. “Fortunately, I thought our execution was pretty solid down the stretch. We got good shots, we had good decision making, we got ourselves looks, we took advantage of the mismatches we had, and we did just enough to get stops. We were pretty good the last six minutes.”
The Bears made it a one-point game with one second left after a three-pointer, but after calling a timeout, the Bears couldn’t get the ball back for a final attempt.
“It was close the whole time,” Brooks said. “I don’t know if anyone at any time got greater than a four-point lead. Both teams struggled shooting the ball, both teams struggled with turnovers. It was sloppy. It looked like we had three days off and one practice. We tried to talk about it, we tried to preach it, but sometimes it’s hard. That’s how those things go. We said – an ugly win’s better than an ugly loss, so we’re just happy to have gotten a win. Hopefully, we can learn from it and be better.”
Colson Campbell led the Golden Bears with 10 points. Brayden Martin and Larry Hughes each chipped in with 7.
Upper Moreland (6-5, 4-2) will face MaST Charter at noon Thursday.
Upper Moreland (42) – Javier Velez 1 0-0 2; Alex Best 2 1-2 5; Colson Campbell 4 2-2 10; Anthony Carson 2 0-0 5; Sean Murphy 3 0-0 6; Brayden Martin 2 1-2 7; Larry Hughes 3 0-0 7. Totals: 17 4-6 42.
Upper Dublin (43) – Kobe Bazemore 2 1-2 5; Chris Kohlbrenner 2 0-0 4; Brady Fogle 2 3-4 7; Ryan Mulroy 1 2-4 4; Idris Rines 6 3-5 19; Noah Cohen 1 0-0 2; James Castronuovo 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 9-15 43.
3-point goals: UM—Carson, Martin 2, Hughes; UD—Rines 4.
Upper Moreland 6 9 11 16 – 42
Upper Dublin 5 7 16 15 – 43
Council Rock North 47, MaST Charter 41
Council Rock North rode a strong second quarter to take a lead it would not relinquish in the opening game of Wednesday’s tournament. Andrew O’Keeffe’s five points led a
balanced attack in the second quarter while Tyler Rodowicz had a three-point play.
The Indians were also solid down the stretch, sinking 6 of 7 from the foul line in the final frame. Josh Erman was a perfect 4-for-4 in the frame.
“Josh Erman and Tyler Rodowicz made big shots and free throws in the fourth quarter,” said North coach Derek Wright. “Our bench provided a nice spark after a slow start.”
Erman finished with a team-high 10 points, including 7 in the fourth quarter. Oliver Schaefer and Andrew O’Keeffe each scored 8, while Rodowicz and Grady Burt each contributed 7 to a well-balanced North offense.
North (4-5, 2-4 SOL) will face tournament host Upper Dublin in the championship game Thursday at 2 pm.
Council Rock North (47) – Grady Burt 3 1-2 7; Oliver Schaefer 3 2-2 8; Jack Curry 1 0-2 2; Josh Erman 2 4-4 10; Tyler Rodowicz 3 1-1 7; Riley Haggerty 1 0-2 3; Grant Capozzoli 1 0-0 2; Andrew O’Keeffe 2 3-4 8. Totals: 15 11-17 47.
MaST Charter (41) – Miguel Torres 1 1-2 3; Shawn Nunez 8 1-3 20; Reuben Dorceus 4 2-2 11; Joel Spivey 0 1-2 1; Dom Arrocho 2 0-0 6. Totals: 15 5-9 41.
3-point goals: CRN—Erman 2, Haggerty, O’Keefe; MaST—Nunez 3, Dorceus, Arrocho 2.
Council Rock North 8 14 12 13 – 47
MaST Charter 9 10 9 13 – 41
SALISBURY TOWNSHIP HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Quakertown 51, Oley Valley 39
Having three players score in double digits wasn’t just critical in Quakertown’s opening-round victory on Wednesday, it’s going to be a key to the Panthers’ success moving forward.
Although senior Miles Longacre has proven he can put up big numbers, he can’t carry the offense exclusively.
On Wednesday, Sam Wilkin (11 points) and Ethan Tomlinson (10 points) joined Longacre (12 points) in double digits as the Panthers downed Oley Valley 51-39.
“We need that balance,” said Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta. “It was great for us getting 40 points from Miles in that Pennridge game, but in reality, we can’t count on that every game. Everybody has to pull their weight.
“However, when the time calls for it or we need him to step up and make a basket, obviously, we’re looking for Miles to do that, but so are other teams. Everybody has to be a threat, and we’ve talked about trying to balance things out and making sure everybody is pulling their weight and holding themselves accountable.
“This was probably one of the few games that we had everybody really on the same page and all playing well at the same time. When we do that, we’re a pretty good team.”
Quakertown jumped out with a strong first quarter and led 11-4 after the opening frame. That proved critical, as the teams played nearly even ball over the middle two quarters before the Panthers pulled away down the stretch. Longacre scored 5 of his 12 in the final period, and Kyle Rosenberger scored all of his four points in the fourth.
“The key for us was we always have to get in transition because we determined that when we get in transition, we’re able to get some easier baskets, but the other thing is we put up double-digit points in each quarter,” DaCosta said. “We just have to make sure we’re focused on getting the right sets in and making sure we’re executing the right plays so we can do that consistently.
“You can’t play some of the stronger teams we play like PW, Upper Dublin, Abington and only put up single digits in a quarter. That’s going to come back and bite you. I equate that to football when everyone else is getting touchdowns and you’re kicking field goals.
“Against the stronger competition, you’ve got to make sure you’re putting up double-digit points. When we do that, we’re competitive, but when we don’t do that, we’re vulnerable. We do a very good job on the defensive end, and we’ve been pretty consistent in that area ever since I took over the program, but we’ve got to continue to try and put more points on the board.”
Quakertown (5-5, 2-4 SOL) advances to the championship game against Salisbury Township at 6:40 pm Thursday.
Quakertown (51) – Sam Wilkin 4 2-2 11; Kyler Rosenberger 1 2-2 4; Miles Longacre 4 4-6 12; Anthony Callan 3 1-1 7; Ethan Tomlinson 5 0-0 10; Jameson Sykes 2 0-0 4; Matt Thomas 1 0-0 3. Totals: 20 9-11 51.
Oley Valley (39) – Johnny Turchi 5 2-2 13; Nick Debalko 1 0-0 3; Tristan McFarland 0 1-2 1; Luke Turchi 1 1-2 3; Carter Smith 1 1-2 3; Ben Debalko 2 3-4 9; David Turchi 3 0-0 6; Gryffin Cappellano 0 1-2 1. Totals: 13 9-14 39.
3-point goals: Q—Wilkin, Thomas; OV—J. Turchi, N. Debalko, B. Debalko 2.
Quakertown 11 14 11 15 – 51
Oley Valley 4 15 11 9 – 39
BOARDWALK CLASSIC
Bill Osborn Memorial Bracket
Central Bucks South 59, Frankford 32
Brett Barrett scored 8 of his team-leading 12 points in the second quarter, where Central Bucks South outscored Frankford 11-2, as the Titans rolled to a 59-32 win in the opening round on Wednesday.
South held Frankford to 11 points across the middle two quarters, allowing the Titans to pull away.
“(Defense is) something we’re trying to get better at because we’ve given up a lot of points this year,” South coach Louie Ditri said. “The kids did a really good job in the zone, and we ran our offense efficiently. We made good passes. I think they might have been missing a player or two, but we just honestly played really well in that regard.”
Ben Harrison and Dylan Valentine also contributed 12 points each for the Titans, who received scoring from 10 different players.
“Dylan Valentine played his best game of the season,” Ditri said. “I thought he played really well. Alex Shah, a sophomore, is one of our starting guards. He’s kind of learning on the job, and he had a strong game both defensively and offensively. He scored eight points, which is his season high.”
South (3-7, 1-5 SOL) will square off against Mouth Pleasant High School (Del.) in Thursday’s championship game at 2:45 pm.
Central Bucks South (59) – Cole DiEmidio 0 2-4 2; Alex Shahin 3 2-4 8; JD Kollock 1 0-0 2; Nick Zarzowski 1 1-2 3; Dan Giess 1 1-4 3; Kyle Moyer 0 3-4 3; Ben Harrison 4 3-8 12; Jackson Braun 1 0-0 2; Brett Barrett 5 0-0 12; Dylan Valentine 2 7-10 12. Totals: 18 19-36 59.
Frankford (32) – Zaire Washington 1 0-0 2; Laquan Harrison 2 3-7 7; Doron Ross 3 5-8 11; Jefferson Disla-Blanco 0 1-2 1; Cameren Lane 0 2-6 2; Brandon Cage 3 1-2 9. Totals: 9 12-25 32.
3-point goals: CBS—Harrison, Barrett 2; F—Cage 2.
Central Bucks South 16 11 14 18 – 59
Frankford 10 2 9 11 – 32
GOVERNOR’S CHALLENGE
CH Flowers 68, Central Bucks East 47
A strong second quarter and dominant fourth quarter powered CH Flowers past Central Bucks East in Wednesday’s tourney championship game. The loss was the first of the season for the Patriots, who won 10 straight out of the gate.
Jacob Cummiskey led the Patriots with 14 points and five rebounds. Taylor Dandrea added 10 for East. Bryce Lolas drained a pair of 3-pointers as his 6 points.
CH Flowers held a 41-29 rebounding advantage.
Central Bucks East (10-1, 6-0 SOL) will return to action on Jan. 3 at Upper Dublin.
CH Flowers (68) – Jacob Taylor 5 0-0 11; Brandon Brooks 4 0-0 8; Tyrell Bowles 10 3-4 23; Quintan February 1 0-0 2; Aaron Jackson 1 1-1 3; Stevens 1 3-4 5; Lawson Hopkins 7 0-0 14; 1 0-0 2. Totals: 30 7-9 68.
Central Bucks East (47) – Jacob Cummiskey 4 5-8 14; Dhruv Mukund 0 2-2 2; Bryce Lolas 2 0-0 6; Taylor Dandrea 4 0-0 10; Justin DiRoberto 1 1-3 3; Nolan Behm 2 0-0 4; Myles Demby 2 0-0 4; Graham Smith 1 0-0 2; Caleb Lyzinski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 8-13 47.
3-point goals: CHF—Taylor; CBE—Cummiskey, Lolas 2, Dandrea 2.
CH Flowers 18 19 9 22 – 68
Central Bucks East 15 12 10 10 – 47
Tuesday, Dec. 26
Central Bucks East 58, Walkersville MD 47
Central Bucks East started strong, building a 16-6 lead after one quarter, en route to a 58-47 victory over Walkersville, MD, in Tuesday’s opening round.
“We controlled the game early and kept a double-digit lead until late in the fourth, when they made a run at us,” said East coach Erik Henrysen. “They had size and we needed to concentrate defensively on trying to limit Kenyon Johnson.”
Walkersville got it to as close as 5 points late in the fourth quarter, but Justin DiRoberto (13 points) sank one of his game-high three 3-pointers to ice the game. Tyler Dandrea tied (with Walkersville’s Johnson) for game-high with 16 points, while Jacob Cummiskey added 15.
Walkersville (47) – Darius Eubank 3 2-2 10; Justin Pfeil 0 1-2 1; Ryan Baldwin 1 1-2 3; Kenyon Johnson 7 2-4 16; Dylan White 2 0-0 4; Elijaah Brown 1 0-0 3; Trevor Pfeil 2 0-0 4; Achilles Whitby 3 0-0 6. Totals: 19 6-10 47.
Central Bucks East (58) – Jacob Cummiskey 6 1-2 15; Dhruv Mukund 1 2-2 4; Tyler Dandrea 7 0-0 16; Justin DiRoberto 5 0-1 13; Nolan Behm 4 0-0 9; Miles Demby 0 1-2 1. Totals: 23 4-7 58.
3-point goals: W—Eubank 2, Brown; CBE—Cummiskey 2, Dandrea 2, DiRoberto 3, Behm.
Walkersville 6 13 14 14 – 47
Central Bucks East 16 15 14 13 – 58
PERKIOMEN VALLEY HOLIDAY SHOOTOUT
Perkiomen Valley 67, Wissahickon 41
Tournament host Perkiomen Valley jumped out to a 19-4 lead on Wissahickon after one quarter and never looked back, handing the Trojans a 67-41 defeat in Wednesday’s opening-round game.
Gabe Lassiter led the Trojans with 9 points. Nico Vacchiano and Dom Vacchiano each scored 8.
Wissahickon (3-6, 3-3 SOL) will face Methacton on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Wissahickon (41) – Nijel Harrison 1 0-0 2; Michael Maltin 1 0-0 2; Blayden Ryan 2 0-0 4; Nico Vacchiano 4 0-0 8; Caj Jones 1 4-6 6; Gabe Lassiter 4 1-1 9; Josh Palutis 0 2-2 2; Dom Vacchiano 4 0-2 8. Totals: 17 7-11 41.
Perkiomen Valley (67) – Jakob Harken 2 1-1 5; Anthony Rodriguez 1 0-0 2; Julian Sadler 10 6-6 31; Ryan Murphy 1 2-2 4; Kyle Shawaluk 6 1-2 13; Ty Hopenwasser 1 0-0 2; Josh Taggert 4 1-3 10. Totals: 25 11-14 67.
3-point goals: PV—Sadler 5, Taggert.
Wissahickon 4 11 13 13 – 41
Perkiomen Valley 19 14 15 19 – 67
Methacton 66, North Penn 43
TIM EHST HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
Dobbins-Randolph AVTS 79, Souderton 63
Souderton saw four players score in double digits, but it wasn’t enough as the Indians dropped a 79-63 decision in Wednesday’s tournament opener.
Bill Sackor led Souderton with 18 points. Chanse Salone netted 13 points, while Danny Dyches and Trey Bui each scored 10.
Souderton (5-5, 3-3 SOL) will play at 5 pm today in the consolation game.
ALLENTOWN CENTRAL CATHOLIC CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT
Conestoga 53, Pennridge 36
Pennridge fell behind early and was unable to chip away at the deficit, falling 53-36 to Conestoga in Wednesday’s opening-round matchup. Conestoga led 17-4 after the first quarter and held an 11-point lead at the break.
Charlie Rising scored 9 of his game-high 16 points in the second quarter, then scored 5 (1 FG, 3-of-4 FT) of the Rams’ 7 points in the third quarter. Tom Costa and Cole Gehlert each added 5 points for Pennridge (2-8, 2-4 SOL), which will play in the consolation game at 7 pm today.
Pennridge (36) – Rowan Smith 1 0-2 2; Cade Bachman 0 2-2 2; Tom Costa 2 1-3 5; Cole Gehlert 1 2-4 5; Charlie Rising 5 5-6 16; Jake Barbadoro 2 0-1 4; Connor Murray 0 2-2 2. Totals: 11 11-20 36.
Conestoga (53) – Liam Smith 1 0-0 2; Ben Robinson 3 1-2 7; Rowan Miller 2 0-0 4; Shane O’Brien 4 0-0 12; Brendan Styer 3 3-4 10; Westin Fryberger 1 0-0 2; Sam Gears 5 0-0 14; Cory Hogan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 4-6 53.
3-point goals: P—Gehlert, Rising; C—O’Brien 4, Styer, Gears 4.
Pennridge 4 14 7 11 – 36
Conestoga 17 12 14 10 – 53
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