Check out all of Friday’s boys basketball action, which included some exciting SOL wins. To view photos of the Abington/Wissahickon game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Abington looked like a team that was on its way to an easy win when the Ghosts opened up a 36-19 halftime lead over Wissahickon in Friday’s marquee SOL matchup, but the Trojans had other ideas, rallying to make it a two-point game before falling 64-55 in an opening round game of the Ghosts Tip-Off Tournament.
“Those guys are fighters, and coach (Kyle) Wilson does a great job with his team,” Abington coach Charles Grasty said. “Our guys are competitors, and they came out ready to play.”
Did they ever.
The Ghosts led 9-3 after sophomore Matt Penecale buried a baseline three-pointer less than three minutes into Friday’s game. The Ghosts led 19-11 at the end of one quarter and opened up a 36-17 lead after a bucket by sophomore Jordan Neely. A putback by Wissahickon’s KJ Lassiter made it a 36-19 game at the intermission.
“Everything was clicking in the first half, and I was not even worried about getting my shot,” said senior Anthony Durham, who had seven first half points. “In the second half, I started being more aggressive.”
Durham finished the game with 17 points to go along with six assists and six rebounds. Senior Jordan Simmons led all scorers with 19 points and a team high nine rebounds. Pencale added nine points.
Wissahickon was led by the 18-point effort of Chase Wilson while Chris Vila and Todd Bentley each added 10 points.
It was a trey by Vila with 1:11 remaining in regulation that trimmed a once commanding Ghost lead to 55-53.
“We made a lot of mental mistakes and had uncharacteristic turnovers,” Durham said. “They did a good job with the press. We were rushing, but when we hit the two-minute mark, we started to play better defense.”
Simmons was 7-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“It can be tough to stay aggressive with a big lead, but that’s what good teams do,” Simmons said. “I think we just got first game jitters out of our system.”
Abington will take on Archbishop Wood – a 65-29 winner over West Chester Henderson on Friday – in Saturday’s title game at 4:30 p.m. The Trojans will face Henderson at 1 p.m., and although disappointed with the outcome, Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson believes his team – which lost a major part of last year’s high-powered squad to graduation – acquitted itself well in Friday’s opener.
“There’s a reason they picked us for the first game, and we took that to heart,” he said. “We wanted them to respect us, and I think we did that.
“We got in some foul trouble and didn’t shoot that well, but I was proud of the effort our guys gave. We just have to be smarter.”
*Andrew Marcus contributed to this game wrap.
Pennsbury (1-0) opened up their seasonwith a 59-44 win over Prep Charter at the West Catholic Tip-off Tournament. Steve Ciotti and Cameron Jones led the scoring with 11 points each while Shawn Pepper and Pierson Burton each chipped in ten points.
Bensalem (0-1) rallied in the fourth quarter but was ultimately outscoredby Archbishop Ryan 71-64. Raiders’ standout Bryan Okoloproved to be too much for the Owls to handle, scoring 22 points and tallying 9 rebounds in the victory. However, the Owls’ offense showed promise with four players posting double digits. Austin Ngekan led the Owls’ with 15 points, followed by Donnie Reed and Leo Vincent who each scored 14. Deion Jones added 10 while Stephon Johnson had nine points.
Council Rock South (1-0) eked out a win over New Hope Solebury, beating the hosts 39-36 in the opener of its own Rabberman Tournament. Senior Christian Crane - the leading scorer for the Golden Hawks last season - picked up where he left off, posting an impressive 22 points in the victory. Rounding out the scoring for South were Tommy Townsend with seven points, Dan Kockett and Will Faccenda with four points each and Eric Gallo with two points.
Truman (1-0) led 29-23 at the half in its opening gameagainst Palmer and went on to claim a 56-47 victory in the opening round of the Truman Tip-Off Tournament. The Tigers were led by the standout effort of Merdic Green, who scored more than half his team’s points with 29 to go along with 15 rebounds and four assists. Brandon Anparo chipped in with nine points and Abdul Olatunboson scored eight points. Shariff Clinton, Marcus Palmer, Lucas Waters and Ja’er Brown rounded out the scoring for Truman, who shot 25-for-31 from the foul line.
Neshaminy (0-1) was outscored in its first gameof the season, losing to Boy’s Latin 72-40 at the Rock the Rim Classic. Boy’s Latin jumped out to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter, creating a deficit from which Neshaminy couldn’t recover. The ‘Skins had seven players post points in their opener as Stephan Tucker led the way with eight points. Freshman Shammond Thomas scored seven in his varsity debut as did his junior teammate Jaylen Pickett.
North Penn (1-0) trailed 24-12 at the halfbefore launching their come-from-behind victory, outscoring Conestoga 24-7 in the third quarter to take the lead. The Knights battled past the Pioneers to win their first game of the season 48-45. Stephan Brown boasted double digits with 14 points as did teammate Mike Swanson with 10 points. The Knights had nine players contribute to the scoring parade in their thrilling win.
Souderton only led by four points at the halfbut managed to cruise by Perkiomen School in the second as they opened their season with a convincing 58-39 victory at the School at Church Farm Tip-Off Tournament. John Kanas paced Big Red’s offense with 20 points and Austin Murphy added 14 points.
Pennridge (1-0) started off its season with a victory over Saucon Valley (56-45) in the annual Memorial Tip-Off Tournament. The Rams led by one at the half (18-17), but Drew Dietterich (13 points), Jeff Garner (12 points) and Zach Muredda (10 points) - who each scored in double digits - helped seal the deal. Kyle Bigam, Alex Krivda and Pat McClatchy rounded out the scoring for the Rams, who will face Methacton at 7 pm on Saturday in the championship game.
Central Bucks South (0-1) had three players reach double digits, but the Titans fell to Spring-Ford in the SOL/PAC-10 Challenge on Friday night 73-67. South was led by Chase Vonder Schmalz, who tallied 16, followed by Matt Scamuffo with 14 and T.J. Ohntrup with 10 points.
Upper Merion (0-1) fell to Exeter 46-29 in its season openerat the Exeter Township High School Tip-Off Tournament. The Vikings were led by Justin Lewis, who scored a team-high 13 points. Upper Merion will face Pottsgrove tomorrow at noon in a consolation game.
Upper Moreland (1-0) earned an opening night victoryby defeating cross-town rival Lower Moreland 48-35. Tommy Robinson was the leading scorer cracking double figures with eighteen points. Mark Williams and Kevin McFall each chipped in with nine points in the Golden Bears’ win. Joe Leventhal led the Lions registering fourteen points.
Cheltenham (0-1) led by one at the half in their season opener against Central in the opening round of the Panthers’ tip-off tournament, but the Panthers surrendered 29 points in the second half and lost 48-36. Aaron McGlawn was the lone double-figure scorer for the Panthers with a team-high 18 points.
After trailing by three in the first quarter, Springfield (1-0) rallied to take the leadin the second quarter and eventually finished off Phil-Mont Christian 63-50 to advance to the championship round of the Spartans’ Oreland Lions Tournament. William Dahm was the top-scorer with 18 points, followed by Matt Krewson with 16 points and Chris Stone with 14 points. Also contributing in the Spartans’ opening day victory was Malik Ball, Connor Gill and Luke Pollock. Springfield will face Bishop McDevitt in the tournament final Saturday at 5pm.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (0-1) led 31-25 in the first half,but Dobbins pulled away in the third quarter with a 20-7 run and defeated the Colonials 61-50. PW had nine players contribute to the scoring, led by Anthony McKie with 13 points and Cameron Johnson with 11 points. Dobbins will face Boy’s Latin in the final of the Rock the Rim Classic while the Colonials will face SOL foe Neshaminy on Saturday.
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