Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action on Monday. To view photos of the North Penn/PV game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 72, Chester 70
As if squaring off against Friends’ Central to start the holiday season and George Washington to finish the break weren’t difficult enough games, Plymouth Whitemarsh had to go into Widener University’s gym and take on a powerhouse Chester squad.
Good thing for the Colonials they came to play.
PW received 62 points from its top three guards – Jimmy Murray, Andre Mitchell and Xzavier Malone – in a hard-fought win over the Clippers. Murray’s 24 led the way as the Colonials were able to win the Pete and Jameer Nelson Holiday Classic game.
“It was a great game in a great environment,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “It became a really, really high energy basketball game and our guards were terrific. Our kids fought like crazy. We had a high shooting percentage, and Jimmy Murray really got on track during this break. It was a good group game for us and huge, but it’s only nine games (in), so we’ll see how we handle it.”
In those nine games, PW has nine wins. A few impressive wins, to boot.
Next up is George Washington, a 10-1 powerhouse that will be ready to square off with the undefeated Colonials at 7:30 on Tuesday.
“They also beat Chester,” Donofrio exclaimed. “It’s a big trilogy of winter break fun.”
Against Chester, the Colonials led by nine at the half, up 41-32. PW – which led by as many as 15 – actually led for nearly the entire game, spotting the Clippers just one lead with less than two minutes to play in regulation. The Colonials took that right back when Jimmy Murray hit a three-pointer with 1:30 showing on the clock.
“Murray put us up ahead for good,” Donofrio said. “We never relinquished that lead, and it was a really, really grown-up performance. It was a lot of fun.”
Mitchell finished with 22 points for the Colonials while Malone added 16. Murray earned team MVP honors.
Plymouth Whitemarsh28 13 16 15—72
Chester 19 13 21 17—70
Harry S. Truman 56, Holy Ghost Prep 52
Wins haven’t come easily for Harry S. Truman, and while the Tigers earned a come-from-behind win over a talented Holy Ghost Prep squad, the win – like many before it – didn’t come easily.
Truman fought back from a 15-point halftime deficit with Tyquan Law scoring 13 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Tigers to the tightly-contested win over Holy Ghost in a Jack Schott Memorial Holiday Tournament game at Holy Ghost Prep High School.
“We basically just made a few adjustments and changed the lineup a little bit,” Truman coach Alan Munford said about his team’s changes at halftime. “We took Maurice Jackson off the floor because we wanted to get a little more size, and we changed to a 2-3 zone from man-to-man. I thought the kids responded very well and offensively, they stayed on the attack. They spread the ball and attacked the basket.”
Prep led by only one after one quarter (16-15), but a 22-8 second quarter scoring tear by the Firebirds sent the Tigers into halftime on the short end of a 38-23 score. In the third, Truman outscored Holy Ghost by 13 and got right back in it before eventually going on top for good in the fourth.
“Their coach is legendary, and they’ve always found ways to win games, especially in the league they play in,” Munford said. “This was a good win. I don’t know if the (Holy Ghost) teams we played the past few years were better, but I would like to think that we were better.”
James Clowney added 10 for Truman, while Jair Brown and Tramere Adams finished with nine and eight, respectively. Truman plays a team coming up from Virginia in the championship game Tuesday night at 7.
Harry S. Truman 15 8 17 16—56
Holy Ghost Prep 16 22 4 10—52
Upper Dublin 62, Great Valley 51
Simeon Fryer – who earned tournament MVP honors – scored 23 points Saturday night and another 28 on Monday to lead Upper Dublin past Great Valley in the Great Valley Holiday Tournament championship game.
The Cardinals knocked off the host team with a strong all-around team effort, along, of course, with the play of Fryer.
It was a special tournament win for Upper Dublin (6-3), which hadn’t won a tournament of any kind since capturing the crown at the Emmaus Tournament in 2009.
“It feels good. It feels real good,” Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman said. “We’ve been like the bridesmaid but we haven’t been the bride. We’ve come close.
“The guys played well. Great Valley really tried to slow us up with the zone, but we handled it. This feels really good.”
Upper Dublin led by three after one (13-10) and was on top 26-22 at the half. The Cardinals won the scoring advantage in all four quarters en route to the double-digit victory.
“It took a little while to bust through there, but the guys really got some good transition baskets and Simeon had a great game,” Adelman said. “We played good defense. It was a really good win.”
John Barrett added 13 points for Upper Dublin while Matt Thompson had seven.
Upper Dublin 13 13 16 20—62
Great Valley 10 12 13 15—51
Central Bucks South 52, Council Rock North 47
Central Bucks South came out with an impressive win in the opening round of the 8th Annual Athletes Helping Athletes Classic.
The Titans had no players score in double digits but used a complete team effort in a five-point win over the host Indians.
CB South (6-3) was led by Tim Waddington and Ian Vogt, who scored nine points apiece – Vogt’s off the bench. Josh Brodie added eight for the Titans, who led by only two at the half (21-19) and after three quarters (29-27). The Titans outscored their hosts 23-20 in a high-scoring fourth quarter.
“We’ve had some games where we’ve struggled offensively sometimes with putting the ball in the basket,” CB South coach Jason Campbell said. “It’s been our Achilles Heel at times. This is a really big win. There are two reasons why this game and this tournament is big – we are the defending (tournament) champions and because we played CR North in the first round last year.
“CR North is a good perimeter team and they have three guards who can knock down three-pointers. I told the guys that if you win a game like this, it’s going to help for the playoffs and district seeding.”
Riley Thompson led the Indians with 17 points. Drew Glenn added 12, while Steve Nowmos finished with 10.
CB South will face St. Anthony’s High of New York in tomorrow’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. Council Rock North will take on Ben Franklin in Tuesday’s consolation game at 6 p.m.
Central Bucks South 10 11 8 23—52
Council Rock North 9 10 8 20—47
Central Bucks West 46, Patuxent (MD) 45
Senior Nico Munari buried the game-winning basket with 12 seconds remaining to propel Central Bucks West to a dramatic victory over Maryland’s Patuxent High in the Annapolis High School Holiday Tournament.
Munari and Owen Cooney each scored 13 points to lead the way for the Bucks while Cal Reichwein added 11 of his own in a game that puts CB West in Tuesday night’s championship game for a 7:00 meeting with Annapolis High School.
“Nico stepped up and made a huge play for us at the end of the game,” CB West coach Adam Sherman said. “These kind of games kind of remind us and gives us the playoff-type atmosphere. “
Munari also added six rebounds.
CB West took a two-point lead into the second quarter (11-9) but trailed 18-17 at the half. An 11-6 third quarter burst by the Bucks was just enough to allow them to hold on in the fourth for the exciting win.
CB West has a much tougher test on its on hands on Tuesday when the Bucks will face a team that graduated just two seniors from a squad advanced to the Maryland 4A state semifinals last year.
“They’re the host team, and this is a very good test for us,” Sherman said. “They get good fan support, and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us.”
Central Bucks West 11 6 16 13—46
Patuxent 9 9 11 16—45
Springfield 33, Upper Moreland 30
Just six days ago, Springfield lost to Upper Moreland by 21 points in a conference meeting. On Monday, the Spartans avenged that loss with a hard-fought win in the opening round of the Christopher Dock Holiday Tournament.
Sean Stovall finished with eight points and Ryan Daly scored five of his seven in the fourth quarter, including hitting the go-ahead layup with less than a minute to go in a tie game.
“It was a back and forth game and Springfield executed well down the stretch,” Upper Moreland coach Matt Heiland said. “They kept us out of rhythm on the offensive end, and we settled for a lot of jumpers. I give Gary (Nolan) and their players a lot of credit to bounce back and beat a team that beat them last week by 21.”
The Bears led 10-7 after one quarter and held a one-point advantage going into the half, 16-15. The entire game was close, but the fourth quarter would ultimately belonged to Springfield.
“We played better defense, and we knew where their shooters were going to be,” Nolan said. “We played way better team defense and that was the first thing. In the first game, we shot 7-for-33, but tonight, we made 15 field goals. That was the second thing. The third thing was that we were composed for the whole game and we played a full 32 minutes.
“(Ryan) Daly gave us a real good spark off the bench with a lot of energy. He rebounded the ball well, was composed on offense and he got the open shots on the floor. He found himself in a good position to score.”
Brendan O’Donnell led the Bears with 14 points. A three-point attempted by James Martin in the final seconds fell short for Upper Moreland.
The Spartans (2-7, 0-4 SOL) will face Christopher Dock in Tuesday’s title game at 7:30 p.m. The host Pioneers defeated Upper Perk 66-53. Upper Moreland (4-5, 1-3) will face Upper Perk in the 6 p.m. consolation game.
Upper Moreland 10 6 9 5—30
Springfield 7 8 8 10—33
Neshaminy 52, Upper Merion 36
The Redskins advanced to the title game of their own Deb Recupido Memorial Tournament, thanks to their win over the Vikings.
Cole Houseal led a balanced attack with 11 points while Eric Altiere and Chris Arcidiacono both had nine points. Just Kimber led the ‘Skins under the boards with eight rebounds to go along with five assists. Jack Spingler hadseven points, four assists and five steals in an all-around performance.
The Redskins (3-4, 1-3 SOL) will face Lincoln, a winner over KIPP Charter, in Tuesday’s championship game at 7 p.m. The Vikings (0-8) will take on KIPP Charter in the consolation game at 5 p.m.
North Penn 54, Perkiomen Valley 51
North Penn picked up an opening round win in the Perkiomen Valley Holiday Tournament.
The Knights (5-5) were led by Joey Richards’ 20 points, while Jared Melone added 10.
The Knights, who held a 16-14 advantage after one quarter, took a 32-24 lead into halftime and then withstood a Viking comeback attempt. PV held a 10-6 scoring advantage in the third quarter and 27-22 edge in the half. The Vikings (3-5) had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but a three-point shot fell short. “We didn’t do anything well in the second half, that’s for sure,” North Penn coach John Conrad said, sounding disappointed in his team’s play despite the win. “We got a real big steal from Colin Hulmes late in the game, which was probably the biggest turnaround of the game.”North Penn will face Methacton in another tournament game on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.).
North Penn 16 16 6 16-54
Perkiomen Valley 14 10 10 17—51
Pennsbury 49, Atlantic City 40
Cameron Jones led the way with 18 points and Mekhi Bryant added 17 as Pennsbury defeated Atlantic City by nine points in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University.
Jones and Derrick Woods led Pennsbury with eight rebounds apiece.
The Falcons got off to a slow start, trailing 10-5 after one quarter, but they regrouped to outscore Atlantic City 18-10 in the second quarter and took a 23-10 lead into the half. Pennsbury (6-3, 5-1 SOL) increased its lead in both the third and fourth quarters en route to the important win.
Pennsbury 5 18 13 13—49
Atlantic City 10 10 9 11—40
Schalick (NJ) 46, Central Bucks East 42
Central Bucks East attempted to recover from an abysmal fourth quarter, but spotting New Jersey’s Schalick High a 10-point lead after one quarter (14-4) ended up coming back to hurt the Patriots, who lost by four in a consolation game of the John Carlos Memorial Bracket at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Mike Pattyson was the only CB East (4-7) player to reach double digits, scoring 14 points. Cooper Fink added nine while Blake Peterson scored eight. Fink also led CB East with nine rebounds.
The Patriots shot only 12-for-29 from the floor while going 15-for-23 from the free throw line.
Central Bucks East 4 14 13 11—42
Schalick 14 11 10 11—46
Cheltenham 56, Academy New Church 52
Fatir Al-Ahad scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter – including a go-ahead basket with 17 seconds remaining – to earn MVP and help Cheltenham to a four-point win over Academy New Church in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Holiday Classic at Chestnut Hill College.
Anthony White added 15 points – eight in the fourth – for Cheltenham, while Justin Sutton and Jack Clark added 10 and eight, respectively.
ANC was led by Carnell Harley’s 17 points.
Cheltenham trailed by five at the half (23-18) and after three quarters (40-35), but a huge fourth quarter that saw the Panthers close out the game with a 21-12 tear locked up the win for Cheltenham.
Cheltenham 10 8 17 21—56
Academy New Church 11 12 17 12—52
Penn Wood 63, Wissahickon 45
Wissahickon kept things close in the first half, trailing by just four points at the intermission (22-18), but things went downhill in the second half, as the Trojans fell to Penn Wood in the Pete and Jameer Nelson Holiday Classic at Chestnut Hill College.
Todd Bentley led the Trojans with 14 points while Tre Holcomb added 10.
Wissahickon was outscored by eight in the third quarter (20-12), and the game was out of reach for the Trojans by the fourth. Penn Wood was led by Addison Scott, who scored 22 points, 12 of which came in the final eight minutes.
Penn Wood 10 12 20 21—63
Wissahickon 9 9 12 15—45
Lower Merion 73, Abington 57
It was a rough first half for the Ghosts, who trailed 35-14 en route to a loss to host Lower Merion in a Kobe Bryant Holiday Boosters Classic consolation game.
Matt Penecale led the Ghosts with 21 points while Jake Porter added 11. Amir Hinton and Robby Heath were held to seven points apiece.
The Aces went up by eight after one quarter (14-6) and never looked back.
Abington 6 8 20 23—57
Lower Merion 14 21 14 24—73
Unionville 64, William Tennent 32
William Tennent was doubled up by the host Indians in the opening round of the Unionville Holiday Tournament.
In the loss, the Panthers were led by John Ryan’s 12 points. No other Tennent player scored more than three points. Tennent trailed by nine after one quarter (15-6) and trailed 35-17 at the half. Unionville continued the onslaught in the third quarter.
William Tennent 6 11 4 11—32
Unionville 15 20 19 10—64
Bensalem 58, Roxborough 43
Bensalem had a huge third quarter – outscoring Roxborough 17-7 – en route to a 15-point win in the opening round of the Dick Dougherty Memorial Tournament at Bensalem High School.
The Owls were led by Keith Howard’s 14 points. Nick Mulvey added 12 while Brandon Vaughn chipped in with nine.
Bensalem trailed by five at the half, 28-23, but came storming back with a monster third quarter. The Owls cruised in a fourth quarter that was all offense, outscoring their opponent 31-25.
Bensalem will face Bristol on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.
Roxborough 14 9 4 16—43
Bensalem 15 13 18 12—58
Susquehanna Township 76, Norristown 55
Norristown kept things in check in the first quarter and took a 16-15 lead into the second quarter when the Eagles were outscored 13-7. Susquehanna took a 28-23 lead into halftime and then outscored the Eagles 48-32 in the second half of an opening round Triangle Club Tournament game at Norristown High School.
The Eagles were led by Khalif Sinclair’s 14 points. Darryl Carr added 12 for Norristown.
The Eagles (4-3, 3-1 SOL) will face Central in Tuesday’s consolation game at 6:30 p.m.
Susquehanna Township 15 13 17 31—76
Norristown 16 7 7 25—55
Salisbury 51, Quakertown 40
Kevin Norvasis led Quakertown with 12 points, but the Panthers came up short to Salisbury in the title game of the Salisbury Holiday tournament. Griffin Schmidt and Jake Perrine both added nine for Quakertown (3-6, 0-4 SOL).
Quakertown 8 16 3 13—40
Salisbury 13 11 15 12—51
Monsignor Farrell (NY) 52, Central Bucks East 44 (Sunday, Dec. 28)
The Patriots, who trailed by as many as 13 points, rallied to knot the score in the fourth period but could not get over the hump in Sunday’s opening round game of the John Carlson Memorial Bracket at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood.
Justin O’Neil led a balanced Patriot attack with 10 points while Matt Pattyson added nine. Ryan Plack had eight points, and Cooper Fink, six, for the Patriots. O’Neil had a pair of three-pointers on a day that saw the Patriots connect on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and 15-of-40 overall. They were 10-of-16 from the foul line.
The Patriots trailed 15-9 after one quarter and 31-19 at the intermission before rallying to outscore their opponent 18-11 in the third quarter to make it a 42-37 game heading into the final frame.
Central Bucks East 9 10 18 7—44
Monsignor Farrell (NY) 15 16 11 10—52
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