Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. Upper Dublin/Cumberland Valley photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay. Pennsbury/Palumbo photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. Truman/Norristown photos provided courtesy of Richard Owens. Check back for galleries of both games.
Non-league
Harry S. Truman 60, Norristown 49
Trailing by two at halftime, Truman dominated in the second half and blew past visiting Norristown for the 11-point win on Saturday afternoon, improving to 3-0 heading into the division play on Tuesday.
It is Truman’s first 3-0 start to the season in eight years.
Key Players: Truman was led by Aziz Diallo (16 points), Terrell Edwards (14 points) and Davae Vaughn (11 points).
Truman assistant coach Mike Rongione:
–On the game: “Our guys found a way today in a very emotional game. We knew Norristown is much better than their record. Their opponents were a combined (6-1) going into today.
“It was a tight game, similar to our Quakertown game at halftime. A bit sloppy but we feel like we have a deep team and we were able to wear Norristown down in the second half.
“We have a lot to clean up if we want to be competitive in our league.”
–Props: “Terrell Edwards and Adul Diallo really made some big-time plays for us late to pull away.”
Up Next: Truman will be on the road at Pennsbury for its SOL opener Tuesday.
Norristown 5-19-10-15 49
Harry S Truman 9-13-16-22 60
Norristown (49)
Amari Minor 26, R.McGill 3, L.Wilson 2, J.Perry 8, E.Rudd 7, T.Smith 3.
Harry S Truman (60)
Aziz Diallo 16, Jaden Luchansky 9, Terrell Edwards 14, Davae Vaughn 11, Juliun Rogers, Shawn Parker 4.
3-point goals: N – Minor 3, McGill, Smith; HST – Edwards 2, Luchansky, Diallo.
Hatboro-Horsham 47, Frankford 43
Shane Phillips scored 14 points for Hatboro-Horsham, which edged Frankford 47-43 in a non-league home game on Saturday afternoon.
“We had a tough loss on Thursday (to Jenkintown), and being so early in the season, we’re still trying to find our identity both on the defensive side of the floor and the offensive side of the floor,” said Hatters coach Bill Coleman. “ It’s coming along in bits and pieces, but that’s something you really wish it would develop sooner than it does, so it takes a little bit of time for that to happen.”
Key Players: Shane Phillips (14 points), Kevin Stroup (11 points) and Jaden Thompson (8 points) led H-H.
H-H coach Bill Coleman:
–On the game: “We were more connected defensively today. We understood and we executed our game plan, which was much better than it has been, so that’s a positive.
“I’ve never really cared who scores offensively. I just want us to be connected defensively and win the basketball game there, so it was good to see that from that standpoint.
“There’s a lot more improvement that’s there, but this is not just rolling out the basketball and playing. There’s a thought process behind everything we do. There’s a thought to every game plan and how we’re supposed to play in order to beat the best teams on our schedule, so it takes a little bit of time for all of that to gel. We’ll get there, but hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Up Next: H-H (2-1) opens up Liberty Division play at Abington on Tuesday night.
Frankford 9-10-10-14 43
Hatboro-Horsham 12-10-9-16 47
Frankford (43)
J.Faulkner 1 0-0 2; J.Natat Diaz 2 2-4 6; J.Johnson 0 3-6 3; J.Jeffcoat 5 0-0 10; K.Champ 1 0-0 2; E.Molina-Lopez 2 0-2 6; D.Pross 5 4-5 14; TOTALS 16 9-17 43.
Hatboro-Horsham (47)
T.Williams 1 0-0 2; Nate Glenn 2 0-0 5; Kenny Lutz 2 0-0 5; Jaden Thompson 4 0-1 8; Kevin Stroup 3 4-4 11; Shane Phillips 5 0-0 14; Devin Tercha 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 18 4-4 47.
3-point goals: F – Molina-Lopez 2, HH – Lutz, Glenn.
Upper Dublin 62, Cumberland Valley 39
Unbeaten Upper Dublin pulled away after a close first quarter and dominated the rest of the game, drubbing visiting Cumberland Valley 62-39.
“I’m pretty happy all around with this one,” said UD coach Derek Brooks. “I thought offensively, it was by far our best execution game as far as sharing the ball, following our game plan and what we wanted to do, making the right read.”
Key Players: Upper Dublin was led by Noah Cohen (16 points), Brandon Altman (15 points) and Horace Jackson (13 points).
UD coach Derek Brooks:
–On the game: “We missed a bunch of layups and free throws early that I thought really could have opened up the game a little sooner. Fortunately, our defense was great again all the way through. We did a good job pressuring and did a good job executing our defensive game plan, so we were great on that end as well.
“We finally opened it up when we got the offense going a little bit more in the second half.
–Props: “I thought Brandon Altman was great today. He had a lot of good energy, shot the ball well, made some great passes. He was awesome offensively.
“Noah Cohen was really efficient. He was steady, and he applied some good defensive pressure.
“Kobe (Bazemore) was great on defense, and his passing was really good and so was his decision making . Horace (Jackson) had 13 points, so he chipped in with some nice finishes as well. And I thought Justin Ragsdale’s rebounding was great today.”
Up Next: The Flying Cardinals open up Liberty Division play Tuesday at home against rival Wissahickon.
Cumberland Valley 9-10-10-10 39
Upper Dublin 10-17-16-18 62
Cumberland Valley (39)
Kameron Wolfe 4, Patrick O’Brien 3, Carter Jimenez 2, Elijah Welsh 11, Kallen Duppstadt 2, Aiden Diehl 6, Elijah Scott 5, Samuel Parsons 6.
Upper Dublin (62)
Kobe Bazemore 3, Brandon Altman 15, Noah Cohen 16, Horace Jackson 13, Justin Ragsdale 5, Luke Caron 2, Jake Scherzer 4, Lawsone Tyler 3.
3-point goals: CV – Wolfe, O’Brien, Welsh; UD – Altman 3, Cohen 3, Scherzer.
Central Bucks West 53, Perkiomen Valley 43
Up two at halftime, CB West pulled away in the second half. The Bucks were led by a balanced scoring attack to get past Perkiomen Valley 53-43 in their season opener.
Key Players: For CB West, Melore Aylmer led all scorers with 11 points, while Dan Pellegrini added 10.
CB West coach Adam Sherman:
–On the game: “We were down 9-1 to start the game, then went on a 10-0 run. We won the first quarter 19-11. They had a good second quarter to bring it to two at the half.
“It was a good team effort with balanced scoring.”
Up Next: The Bucks open their division schedule Tuesday at home against North Penn.
Perkiomen Valley. 13-12-6-12 43
Central Bucks West 22-5-12-15 53
Perkiomen Valley (43)
J.Boyd 6, W.Stein 6, O.Bryant 2, C.Kelly 10, A.Kelly 5, B.Motley 8, T.Hoppennasses 6.
Central Bucks West (53)
Max Milillo 6, Connor Chuo 9, Melore Aylmer 11, John Vrettos 9, Dan Pellegrini 10, Isaiah Rubenstein 7.
3-point goals: PV – Motley 2; CBW – Milillo 2, Aylmer 2, Pellegrini.
Episcopal Academy 56, Council Rock North 51 (OT)
Episcopal Academy rallied in the fourth quarter and then outscored CR North 7-2 in overtime in a hard-fought non-league battle on Saturday afternoon.
CR North was led by Owen Crowne with 18 points and Danny Cuneo with 15.
Up Next: The Indians open up Patriot Division play Tuesday at Bensalem.
Episcopal Academy. 4-14-14-17-7 56
Council Rock North. 8-16-14-11-2. 51
Episcopal (56)
Wynton Foster 2 3-4 9; Timmy Dennis 3 4-7 10; Gage Cunningham 5 0-0 10; Reggie King 4 0-0 9; Dawson Brown 2 3-5 7; Carter Kehl 1 1-1 3; David Brickman 2 1-5 5; TOTALS 19 12-22 56.
Council Rock North (51)
Owen Crowne 4 8-12 18; Peterson 1 0-0 2; Justin Freed 2 0-1 5; Andrew French 1 0-0 2; AR Prabhu 0 1-2 1; Cam Wright 3 0-0 8; Danny Cuneo 8 1-2 15; TOTALS 19 11-16-51.
3-point goals: EA – Foster 2, King; CRN – Wright 2, Crowne 2, Cuneo.
PUB SOL Challenge
Pennsbury 54, Palumbo 42
Pennsbury improved to 2-0 to cap a nice start to the season with a 54-42 win over Palumbo at the Pub/SOL Challenge and Bensalem on Saturday afternoon.
The Falcons led this one from start to finish.
Key Players: For Pennsbury, Brayden Clark led all scorers with 17 points, Sean Breslin (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks), Max Manga (12 points, 9 rebounds), Patrick Jajua (3 assists, 1 block), and Zach Staines (3 steals).
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme:
–On the game: “My message to the team after the game was ‘beware of the early lead,’ coming off how we finished last night. We really came out strong.
“We jumped out to a big lead 20-6 after one, playing very decisive and disciplined and aggressive, and then the game got clunky and we allowed them to gain some momentum.
“Thankfully, we were able to keep them at arm’s length in the final three quarters with some strong interior play from Max Manga and then Brayden Clark, who had some impressive timely finishes and free throws.
“I also think Brady Kent played an integral role in today’s victory knocking down threes and pressuring ball handlers.”
Up Next: Pennsbury (2-0) starts its Patriot Division schedule Tuesday against Harry S. Truman.
Pennsbury 20 11 11 13 – 54
Palumbo 8 13 8 13 – 42
Pennsbury (54)
Brayden Clark 5 6-12 17; Brady Kent 3 0-0 8; Owen Hogancamp 1 0-0 2; Sean Breslin 3 0-1 8; Patrick Jajua 2 2-2 6; Max Manga 5 1-2 12; James Achuff 0 1-2 1 TOTALS 19 10-19 53.
Palumbo (42)
Brayden Clark 5 6-12 17; Brady Kent 3 0-0 8; Owen Hogancamp 1 0-0 2; Sean Breslin 3 0-1 8; Patrick Jajua 2 2-2 6; Max Manga 5 1-2 12; James Achuff 0 1-2 1 TOTALS 19 10-19 53.
Bensalem 57, Northeast 47
A 20-9 third quarter allowed Bensalem to flip the script on visiting Northeast, turning a three-point halftime deficit into a lead the Owls would never surrender, winning 57-47 in the end.
Key players: The Owls were led by Jason Bourelly’s 17 points – 12 in the second half – while Naman Parmar had 15 and MJ Ellzy added 10.
Bensalem coach Jerry Devine:
–On the game: “Tonight, was the definition of a complete team victory. Everybody who stepped on the floor contributed, and we had great balance across the board.
“Our sophomores, Naman Parmar and Jason Bourelly, are really settling in. You can see the game slowing down for them, they’re playing with more confidence instead of thinking their way through it.
–Props: “Aidan Mayfield was a monster when we needed him most. Down the stretch he came up with multiple huge rebounds and scored a couple of timely baskets that kept the lead from slipping.
“Jacob Eberhard was the steady engine all game. He attacked the rim all night and set the tone.
“MJ Ellzy gave us a solid 10 points and scored in key moments. We buckled down defensively in the second half, and it carried us through to the end. Proud of how we defended together and closed the game as a team.”
Up Next: Bensalem (2-2) opens SOL Patriot play Tuesday against Council Rock North.
Northeast 11-14-9-13 47
Bensalem. 11-11-20-15 57
Northeast (47)
J.Parrilla 1, T.Williams 15, D.Jones 12, D.Garcia 3, J.Walker 8, I.Aracena 2, B.Brown 6.
Bensalem (57)
Aidan Mayfield 8, Jason Bourelly 17, Namam Parmar 15, MJ Ellzy 10, Jacob Eberhard 7.
3-point goals: N – Williams 2, Walker 2, Jones 2, Garcia;
Pennridge Tip Off Tournament
Central Bucks East 57, Lansdale Catholic 54
CB East made it 2-0 at the Pennridge Tipoff Tournament, and did so in dramatic fashion, as the Patriots edged Lansdale Catholic 57-54 in the final minute.
Trailing by one, CB East’s Keegan Marascio gave his team the lead with a tip in. After Brady Colbert drew his sixth charge on defense with 22 seconds left, Sean Korlesky made a pair of free throws to up the Patriots’ lead to three. LC had a chance to tie but a 3-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.
East trailed the game 34-26 at halftime.
Key Players: CB East was led by Connor Mekanik (15 points, 5 assists) and Brady Colbert (14 points, 7 rebounds), and Keegan Marascio (4 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds).
Up Next: CB East (2-0) will take on unbeaten CB South in its division opener on Tuesday.
CB East 16 10 22 9 – 57
Lansdale Catholic 22 12 12 8 – 54
CB East (57)
Connor Mekanik 15, Jackson Lutz 2, Brady Colbert 14, Keegan Marascio 4, Quinn Slack 7, Sean Korlesky 6, Ryan Dailey 9
Lansdale Catholic (54)
Johnson 3, Cobold 4, Fitzgerald 6, Holdsworth 2, Martin 3, Stevens 16, Lewis 10, Houck 10
Pennridge 56, William Tennent 46
Less than 24 hours after a tough loss to Lansdale Catholic, Pennridge rebounded with a solid 56-46 win over William Tennent in its tipoff tournament on Saturday.
“I thought LC had overwhelmed us a little bit last night and heated us up,” said Rams coach Dean Behrens. “And it was good to see the way we responded tonight. We played a late afternoon game in a gym that wasn’t very filled, so you had to bring your own energy.”
Key Players: Ryan Flood scored a team-high 15 points to lead Pennridge, while Rownan Smith added 11.
Pennridge coach Dean Behrens:
–On the game: “I thought our boys responded well. We started out, we were down 6-0. The kid for Tennent, (Evan) Eiler – Tennent has two good shooters. Eiler is the one of them. He only had six for the night, so we held him in check. And then (Tre) Stracuzzi ended up with six. They hit two 3s in the first minute. I was like, ‘oh, my gosh, here we go.’
“But then we settled in and we crawled back. We were kind of sleepwalking the first quarter, and I thought we woke up and played much better in the second and third quarters.”
–Props: “I think what was nice is we had some scoring that was really spread out. We had two guys in double figures, Ronan Smith and Ryan Flood, and then we had Connor Murray with nine and Ryan Schwind with eight. So, we got some scoring throughout the lineup. We spread it out a little bit.
“But I think Ryan Flood really has stepped up and has rebounded extremely well for us. I thought he played well. And I thought Rownan Smith did a really good job on Stracuzzi defensively to keep him in check. And Ryan also guarded the kid Eiler for a while and did a good job on keeping him in check. Connor Murray played the best game of the season that he’s played.”
Up Next: Pennridge (2-1) plays rival Souderton at home Tuesday in the SOL Colonial opener for both teams.
Tennent 7 8 10 21 – 46
Pennridge 10 17 17 12 – 56
Tennent (46)
Goldberg 4 0-0 10; Stanfield 1 0-0 3; Stracuzzi 1 3-4 6; Scheller 3 1-2 7; Davis-Carter 4 2-6 10; Angelo 0 1-2 1; Jameson 1 1-4 3; Eiler 2 0-0 6. Totals 16 8-18 46.
Pennridge (56)
Rownan Smith 5 0-0 11; Ryan Kuntz 2 0-0 4; Ryan Schwind 2 3-6 8; Tim Croyle 2 0-0 5; Ryan Flood 7 0-0 15; Stanley Wilson 1 1-2 3; Spencer Zaga 0 1-2 1; Connor Murray 4 1-1 9.
Phoenixville Tipoff Tournament
Central Bucks South 63, Upper Moreland 59
Shane Farrell scored 15 points and walked home with tournament MVP honors as CB South improved to 3-0 with a solid four-point win over Upper Moreland in the Phoenixville Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon.
Leo Medwid also earned all-tournament team honors for CB South. Davis Van Zanten scored 15 points in Saturday’s game.
Upper Moreland was led by Cannon Campbell with 16 points.
Up Next: CB South kicks off SOL Colonial Division play Tuesday against rival CB East. Upper Moreland starts its Freedom Division schedule at William Tennent Tuesday.
Upper Moreland (59)
Nate Best 11, Kyle Moore 5, Brody Hughes 2, Larry Hughes 11, Cannon Campbell 16, Jose Hernandez 14
Central Bucks South (63)
Kayode Adebayo 6, Alex Shahin 8, Cade Crim 2, Shane Farrell 15, Brayden Barrett 5, Davis Van Zanten 15, Chase Ross 2, Leo Medwid 10.
CoBL Winter Showcase
Wilson 69, Abington 57
Xavier Grasty led the Galloping Ghosts with 32 points in a glittering offensive performance, earning player of the game honors.
The Ghosts fell behind early, trailing 19-6 after one quarter and 33-21 at halftime. Grasty accounted for 14 of Abington’s points in the opening half.
The Ghosts never could make up the ground they lost in the first quarter.
Wilson benefitted from 32 trips to the foul line, converting 22 of them. The Ghosts, meanwhile, were 9-for-14 at the charity stripe.
Up next: Abington (2-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham in Tuesday’s SOL opener.
Abington 6-15-21-15 57
Wilson 19-14-15-21 69
Abington (57)
Jacob Soloman 1 0-0 2; Faison Garland 4 0-0 9; Xander Grasty 12 5-6 32; Kyler Pickron 3 2-6 9; Michael O’Rourke 1 0-0 3; Amare Stone 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 21 9-14 57.
Wilson (69)
Michael Glover 2 1-2 5; Peter Kelfalla 6 8-9 22; Nechar Mercado 2 0-0 5; Ronaldo Gonzalez 1 0-0 2; Conner Moreland 1 0-0 2; Kaler Cornish 1 3-6 5; Jayden Lockhart 2 3-4 7; Nehemiah McClean 1 0-0 3; Correll Akings 3 5-8 14; Gabe Nyembo 1 2-3 4; TOTALS 20 22-32 69.
3-point goals: A – Grasty 3, Garland, Pickron, O’Rourke; W – Akings 3, Kelfalla 2, Mercado, McClean.
Jack Schott Tournament
Neshaminy 64, Whitehall 59
Logan Gale scored 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds as Neshaminy bounced back from a tough loss Friday night to post a five-point win over Whitehall in the third-place game on Saturday.
Key Players: In addition to Gale, Luke Amrhein had 15 points and four assists.
Up Next: Neshaminy (2-1) opens Patriot Division play Tuesday at Council Rock South.
Neshaminy 11-17-11-24 63
Whitehall 22-14-13-10 59
Neshaminy (63) –
Jason Leiva 1 6-7 8; Luke Amrhein 5 4-4 15; Kenny McCarthy 1 0-0 2; Logan Gale 9 6-6 27; Eriq Gold 1 0-0 3; Cadenn Amati 4 1-2 9; TOTALS 21 9-17 64
Whitehall (59)
Lloyd 7 0-0 17; Talon Dogmanits 3 0-1 7; Seth Hoderewski 9 0-0 21; Tanner Dogmanits 2 0-0 4; Rozyck 5 0-2 10; 26 0-3 59.
3-point goals: N – Gale 3, Amrhein, E.Gold; W – Lloyd 3
Friday, Dec. 5
Holy Ghost Prep 66, Neshaminy 64 (OT)
Holy Ghost Prep (66)
Farrell 5, McDonald 30, Duffy 4, Polek 15, Stearn 2, Albright 10
Neshaminy (64)
Leiva 10, Amrhein 11, McCarthy 1, Gale 21, E. Gold 10, Amati 7, Yon 4
Souderton Rotary Classic
Souderton 69, Allentown Central Catholic 51
Souderton made it 2-0 in its own Rotary Classic this weekend with a solid win against Allentown Central Catholic on Saturday.
The Indians had four players in double figures, led by Nate Rusike with 21 points.
Key Players: Also for Souderton, Marques Brown had 19, Koby Rollerson 13 and Chanse Salone 12 points.
Up Next: Souderton doesn’t play again until Friday when it is at CB West.
Souderton (69)
Rusike 21, Brown 19, Rollerson 13, Salone 12, Epps 2, Singh 2
Allentown Central Catholic (51)
Schmell 9, Hines 9, Diaz 8, Gonzalez 8, Leak 6, Villegas 6, Ford 3, Baxter 2
North Penn Tipoff Tournament
Wissahickon 81, Mastery Charter 57
Nico Vacchiano sparked a 26-11 run in the third quarter as Wissahickon picked up win number one of the season, 81-57 over Mastery Charter in the third-place game at the North Penn Tipoff Tournament.
Vacchiano scored eight of his game-high 25 points in the third quarter run.
Key Players: In addition to Vacchiano, Delmar Taliaferro scored 12 points, and 7-foot Jona Sellenriek had 11 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.
Up Next: Wissahickon plays at rival Upper Dublin in its SOL Liberty opener on Tuesday night.
Wissahickon 16 21 26 18 – 81
Mastery Charter 16 18 11 12 – 57
Wissahickon (81)
Zach Schwartz 3 0-0 7; Chris Lee 1 0-0 3; Owen Haughey 3 1-2 7; Nico Vacchiano 8 7-10 25; Jack Weiss 4 0-0 8; Kevin Horan 1 0-0 3; Jona Sellenrick 4 3-4 11; Milan Fields 2 0-0 5; Delmar Taliaferro 5 2-2 12. Totals 31 13-18 81.
Mastery Charter (57)
Scates 6 6-11 20; Gilyard 2 0-0 4; Murray 1 0-0 3; Williams 4 4-6 12; Gakon 2 0-0 6; Staten 4 4-4 12. Totals 19 14-21 57.
Spring-Ford 66, North Penn 49
Forrest Keys Tournament
MaST Charter 43, Lower Moreland 27
Lower Moreland struggled from the field and that made things difficult against a good MaST Charter squad on Saturday, as the Lions suffered a 43-27 loss in the finals of their tipoff tournament.
LM played solid defense, but went just 1-for-22 from 3-point range.
Up Next: The Lions (1-1) are back in action Tuesday, opening up Freedom Division play at Cheltenham.
MaST Charter 8 10 10 15 – 43
Lower Moreland 6 5 8 8 – 27
MaST Charter (43)
Lopez 2 8-12 12; Twyman 2 7-12 11; Brattan 4 0-0 8; Thomas 5 1-2 11; Bates 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 17-28 43.
LM (27)
Nathaniel Udall 2 1-4 5; Chase Carroll 2 0-0 4; Tristin Vizcarando 2 1-2 6; Tommy Maloney 1 3-4 5; Silverman 0 1-4 1; Luke Wheeler 2 0-0 4; Shawn Mertens 1 0-0 2. Totals 10 6-14 27.
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