Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Tennent/Neshaminy file photo courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of photos.
Jack Schott Basketball Tournament
William Tennent 78, Holy Ghost Prep 75
William Tennent made its return to the Jack Schott Basketball Tournament a triumphant one. Making its first appearance in the tournament in more than a decade, the Panthers pulled out a thriller in Thursday’s Championship Game.
Holy Ghost had cut Tennent’s lead to two with time running out in regulation. Kirby Mooney was fouled and hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to make it a 3-point game with six ticks left on the clock.
Then came the nail-biting.
“They got a pretty good look at a three at the end that just didn’t go in, and we were able to hold on,” said Tennent coach Robert Mulville.
Mooney finished the game with 28 points on the heels of his 26-point effort in Wednesday’s opener and was named Tournament MVP.
Mooney was remarkably effective from the floor in the two tournament games. He scored 28 points in the championship game on 9-of-12 shooting from the field (he also went 9-of-11 from the foul line and added six assists and six rebounds). In Wednesday’s opener, Mooney went 10-for-14 from the field.
“He had a fabulous tournament,” Mulville said. “I thought he played the best game of his high school career last night, and I think he outdid himself tonight.
“Holy Ghost did a nice job trying to contain him. I think they went triangle-and-two with somebody on George (Marion) and somebody on Kirby. Our guys worked hard to try and get him open. He’s very patient with his looks. People are probably saying, ‘He’s probably getting a ton of shots up,’ but he’s really not. He’s really been focused in on trying to contribute and trying to control things at the end of games, which we talked to him about.”
Marion finished the game with 22 points (with 9 points in the opening game) and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
“George missed his first three shots, and they were great looks,” Mulville said. “It was very surprising that he missed them, and then he ran off four in a row after that, and he made his last five shots, so both of them were being efficient on offense.”
Holy Ghost Prep came out shooting in the finals, sinking five first-quarter treys to jump out to a 25-14 lead after the opening frame. Paced by Mooney’s eight points and Marion’s seven, the Panthers cut the deficit to 39-35 at halftime.
“Holy Ghost had four guys in double figures tonight,” Mulville said. “They really shot the three well. They hit 11 threes. They came out really hot in the first quarter, and they came out hot in the second half. For us to battle back and keep it within reach – we were able to catch a lead in the fourth quarter. We did a good enough job to close it out. We could do some things a little better, but for us as a team, it’s a really good way to end the year. We had some really good effort and energy that was given up and down the bench for us tonight.”
Mulville heaped praise on several players who stepped up big in the championship game.
“(Danny) Scheller and (Isaiah) Dawson just played super defense for us,” he said. “Tony Pople, who’s a sophomore, came in off the bench in the second half and hit two 3s for us. One in the fourth quarter was just a huge 3. We basically sent him in there to give Evan Devor rest for a minute. Mooney found him open, and he knocked down a 3. It was late in the fourth quarter. Holy Ghost had made another run and cut the lead to two or three, and Pople hit the 3 to stretch it back out.”
It was a thrilling couple of days for the Panthers, who earned the tournament title by winning both games by a combined 7 points.
“It was two really good teams we had to beat on back-to-back nights,” Mulville said. “Both games were close, so I think that does a lot for us moving forward.”
The Panthers move to 7-2 overall (4-1 Freedom Division) and will look to build off the tournament victory when they host Wissahickon at 7 pm Tuesday.
William Tennent 14-21-22-21 78
Holy Ghost Prep 25-14-16-20 75
William Tennent (78) – Kirby Mooney 9 9-11 28; Isaiah Dawson 1 2-6 5; George Marion 9 3-4 22; Sean Devine 1 0-0 3; Chris D’Ambra 2 0-0 5; Tony Pople 2 0-0 6; Evan Devor 3 0-2 7; Tyler Laurin 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 28 14-23 78.
Holy Ghost Prep (75) – Tomasetti 1 0-0 2; Boutilier 3 1-2 7; McGlaughlin 2 2-3 7; McDermott 5 1-1 14; Varella 6 2-2 15; Wert 1 0-1 2; Lindsay 5 0-0 14; Lucas 5 2-5 14. TOTALS 28 8-14 75.
3-point goals: WT – Kirby Mooney, Isaiah Dawson, George Marion, Sean Devine, Chris D’Ambra, Tony Pople 2, Evan Devor; HGP – McGlaughlin, McDermott 3, Varella, Lindsey 4, Lucas 2.
Neshaminy 71, Harry S Truman 28
Neshaminy made quick work of a familiar foe in Harry S Truman in Thursday’s Consolation Game, rolling to an easy 71-28 win.
After jumping out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter, Neshaminy exploded for 29 points in the second frame to take a 47-19 lead into halftime.
“It was a good all-around effort tonight,” said Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle.
Sean Curley scored all of his 11 points in the second quarter. Nate Townsend, who was named to the all-tournament team, led all scorers with 17 points. He poured in 12 in the first half. Emeer Coombs added nine for Neshaminy, which saw 11 different players contribute to the scoring.
Tre Winton led Truman with 13 points.
Neshaminy improves to 7-3 overall (4-1 Patriot Division) and returns to action at Central Bucks South at 7 pm Tuesday. Truman falls to 1-8, 0-5, and will look to rebound in a visit to Pennridge at 7 pm Tuesday.
Neshaminy 18-29-16-8 71
Harry S Truman 8-11-6-3 28
Neshaminy (71) – Joey Zack 3 0-0 6; Ashton Lovelace 3 0-0 7; Emeer Coombs 3 3-3 9; Ryan Meehan 2 0-0 4; Bolma Gobah 1 0-0 2; Jake Jordan 3 0-0 6; Guy Horton 2 1-1 5; Jason Gilardi 1 0-0 2; Elvin Perez 1 0-0 2; Sean Curley 5 0-0 11; Nate Townsend 5 4-10 17. TOTALS 29 8-14 71.
Harry S Truman (28 ) – Julian Adams 0 1-2 1; Erik Nieves 3 0-1 6; Tre Winton 5 3-5 13; Randolph Cox 1 0-0 2; Stephon Thomas 1 0-0 2; Rodgers 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 12 4-8 28.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Ashton Lovelace, Sean Curley, Nate Townsend 3.
Great Valley Holiday Tournament
Upper Dublin 61, Pottstown 46
Ryan Mulroy scored 13 points in the second quarter as part of his game-high 17 points as Upper Dublin topped Pottstown in Thursday’s Championship Game.
Mulroy sank two treys in the second quarter that extended the Cardinals’ 3-point first-quarter lead into a 12-point advantage at the half. Combined with his game-high 17 points in Wednesday’s opener, Mulroy earned Tournament MVP honors.
“We got off to a big lead in the second quarter, they started to come back in the third. I think they cut it to 9 or 10, but we fortunately were able to make a couple stops and a couple baskets whenever we needed it to keep it at a good distance,” said Cardinals’ coach Derek Brooks.
Seton Kukla also finished in double-digit scoring, netting six of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Brady Fogle finished with eight, including two treys in the third quarter.
The victory was important not only for the tournament title, but in the district rankings as well.
“This was a big one for us today for a couple of reasons,” Brooks said. “Probably number one was, Pottstown was right ahead of us in the (District 1) 5A rankings. Going into today they were one spot ahead of us, so we knew it was going to be a big one for us for seeding.
“Saturday is three weeks since we got our football guys. Three of our eight guys that played today joined the team three weeks ago, so it’s been a process building and getting everybody on the same page, getting those guys back to getting their hoops legs under them. Today was definitely a good step. It was a good win. Pottstown is a good team. They had a nice win against Great Valley (on Wednesday), so it was good for us to have a nice all-around team win.
“I thought the best thing today – I’m a first-year head coach at Upper Dublin. A bunch of the football kids weren’t with us this summer, and today was our best execution day in terms of our plays, our offense, our defense. It was good to have a start to finish where we executed, we did what we wanted to do, and it paid off.”
Upper Dublin finishes the calendar year at 6-4 overall (3-2 Liberty Division). The Cardinals will kick off 2023 by visiting Springfield Twp at 7 pm Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 14-21-10-16 61
Pottstown 11-13-11-11 46
Upper Dublin (61) – DJ Cerisier 2 2-2 7; Chris Kohlbrenner 2 0-0 4; Ryan Mulroy 7 0-0 17; Mason Pensabene 1 2-2 4; Griffin Pensabene 3 0-0 6; Seton Kukla 6 0-0 15; Brady Fogle 3 0-0 8. TOTALS 24 4-4 61.
Pottstown (46) – Jurrell Young 1 2-2 4; Jullian Beasley 1 0-0 2; Ty Elliot-Moore 3 0-0 8; Abdul Jackson 4 0-0 9; Elijah Palmore 1 0-0 2; Terryece Phillips 0 1-2 1; Sadeeq Jackson 6 2-6 15; Rashean Bostic 1 1-2 3; Elias Butler 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 17 8-14 46
3-point goals: Upper Dublin – DJ Cerisier, Ryan Mulroy 3, Seton Kukla 3, Brady Fogle 2; Pottstown – Ty Elliot-Moore 2, Abdul Jackson, Sadeeq Jackson.
Robert Hopf Memorial Tournament
Upper Moreland 61, Samuel Fels 56
Trailing by three heading into the final quarter, Upper Moreland posted 19 points in the fourth to pull ahead and defeat Samuel Fels in Thursday’s Championship Game.
“It was a back-and-forth game the whole time,” UM coach Dan Heiland said. “We actually trailed by nine in the third quarter. We made a couple of critical plays defensively, getting rebounds and coming up with big possessions and getting a score down at the other end to cut the lead.
“We were still down at times in the fourth quarter, but then we tied it up, and from that point, it seemed like it was fate that we were going to pull away with it because it seemed as though things were going our way. We were getting the bounces in favor of Upper Moreland. Our guys just stayed together, they were mentally tough at the end.
“It just came down to doing the little things that really separated us late in the game, making free throws, getting the key rebounds, making the extra pass for an open look – all the little things you preach as a coach. It was great to see the guys execute late down the stretch and obviously come home with a huge victory.”
The UM coach recalled a key stretch in the fourth quarter.
“Alex Best had a huge three – it was our only three of the game,” Heiland said. “It either tied the game or put us down by two points, and it was kind of a momentum swing because right after that we got a huge turnover defensively where Alex got a fast-break layup, so he scored five quick points, and I think that’s when we tied the game up.”
The free throw line was UM’s ally. For the game, they took 38 foul shots and converted 26 of those opportunities.
“We preach it, they’re doing it every day at practice – they’re working on getting in the lane, jump stopping, being under control and then going up strong with the ball,” Heiland said. “It seemed like Fels, who likes to block shots – if we could get them off-balance trying to block shots and if they’re out of position, we could get easy fouls called on them. That was the game plan. Our guys executed.
“We knocked down free throws. Not too many field goals, but 26 points from the stripe is obviously part of winning the game.”
Colson Campbell led the Golden Bears with 15 points. Jon Clark had 13, and Best chipped in with nine for the Bears. Campbell’s 9-for-11 effort from the charity stripe led UM. Ralph Tyler, Jon Clark and Sean Murphy were all 5-for-7 while Corey Ellison buried his only two attempts.
Upper Moreland improves to 10-1 overall (4-1 Freedom Division) and will visit Abington at 7 pm Tuesday.
Upper Moreland 15-13-14-19 61
Samuel Fels 14-16-15-11 56
Upper Moreland (61) – Nigel Adamson 3 0-2 6; Alex Best 4 0-2 9; Jon Clark 4 5-7 13; Ralph Tyler 2 5-7 9; Sean Murphy 1 5-7 7; Colson Campbell 3 9-11 15; Corey Ellison 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 17 26-38 61.
Samuel Fels (56) – S. Parker 1 0-2 3; S. Etienne 2 0-2 4; N. Colston 6 1-4 13; S. Parker 6 2-4 14; R. Shelton 2 1-2 5; N. Scurry 2 0-0 4; A. Oulare 2 0-0 4; R. Bell 3 0-0 9. TOTALS 24 4-14 56.
3-point goals: UM – Alex Best; SF – R. Bell 3, S. Parker.
Boyertown Holiday Tournament
Pennridge 69, Avon Grove 57
Pennridge earned more than just bragging rights in downing Avon Grove 69-57 in Thursday’s Championship Game.
The Rams may have found a true turning point in their season.
Coming off a tough overtime loss last week against Central Bucks West, the Rams have now won three straight, with two solid team wins coming in the holiday tourney.
“We were up six with a minute to go and we lost the game in overtime,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said of the game against the Bucks. “We talked to the boys how we didn’t want our team to be defined by that loss. Our kids were really down about losing that game. We had a game on Thursday with CB South, and we win on a buzzer beater. It got us to 4-4 overall, and now the sky wasn’t falling in.
“We pick up two wins in this tournament, and all of a sudden, we went from, ‘Oh my god, we’re 3-4, we blew a game that we should have probably won,’ and then we win three in a row. Now we’re 6-4, and the world looks great. We talked about this — we were pleased that we didn’t let the West game define us because after a game like that you could start losing a lot of games.”
Jake Buesing sank a pair of treys and Caden Fisher added a 3-pointer in the first quarter as the Rams led 15-12 after one. Fisher scored 9 of his 11 points in the first half, and Buesing finished with 10 points.
Matt Campione’s 19 points led all scorers, with seven points (including 4-of-4 from the foul line) in the fourth quarter. Xavier Peters chipped in with 13 and was 5-for-6 from the line in the third.
“Our point guard, Xavier Peters, is a sophomore, and being the point guard, he really is the engine that makes us tick,” Behrens said. “We put a lot of pressure on him, it’s a lot to put on a sophomore, but we feel like he can handle it. He’s under a lot of duress. Teams have thrown a lot at him – double-teams, trapping him in corners, trying to make him feel uncomfortable, and he’s handled it extremely well.
“Matt Campione at both ends of the floor. I know everyone wants to look at everyone’s points, and he had 19 tonight, but it’s the defense he’s bought in on. We’ve been fortunate to have guys over the years like Sean Yoder, Colin Post, Dan Long and Zach Muredda that bought in not only offensively but defensively. I think Matt got to see that with Luke Yoder, how he handled himself, and Colin Post defensively like, ‘This is really important,’ and that just trickles down to everybody else. If Matt, who everyone is going to say is our best player, plays hard in practice and plays hard defensively, everyone says, ‘Oh, we’re going to follow suit.’ His presence in that regard – which is more of a leadership presence – is very, very important for us.”
Pennridge ends the 2022 calendar year at 6-4 overall (2-3 Colonial Division). The Rams will look to stretch their winning streak to four games when they host Harry S Truman at 7 pm Tuesday.
“I think we got some confidence beating Governor Mifflin and Avon Grove,” Behrens said. “Both teams had good guards that were a handful. I feel like the competition we played matched the competition we play in our league. They’re both 6A schools. I thought it was perfect for us to be back in Boyertown competing.
“We talked about it today – there’s 40 days of basketball left which gets us to Feb. 7, the end of the regular season. We have 20 practices and 12 games, so let’s be all in on this and let’s see what we can accomplish. We’re kind of on the outside looking in for the division and the playoffs, but let’s see what we can do.”
Pennridge 15-19-16-19 69
Avon Grove 12-19-14-12 57
Pennridge (69) – Caden Fisher 5 0-0 11; Jake Buesing 4 0-2 10; Gannon Perlini 1 0-0 2; Matt Campione 7 4-4 19; Xavier Peters 3 6-8 13; Tommy Cramer 3 2-3 8; Ryan Hass 2 1-2 6. TOTALS 25 13-19 69.
Avon Grove (57) – Cox 3 1-2 7; Glick 1 0-0 2; Britton 5 2-4 13; Anthony 3 0-0 8; Nick B 2 0-0 4; Josh M 0 0-2 0; Ziegler 7 1-2 15. TOTALS 25 4-10 57.
3-point goals: Pennridge – Caden Fisher, Jake Buesing 2, Matt Campione, Xavier Peters, Ryan Hass; Avon Grove – Britton, Anthony 2.
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