Check out Saturday’s SOL boys basketball results. To view photos of the CB West/Spring-Ford, CB South/Pottstown and CB East/Ridley games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Ben Reese
WARRINGTON – Central Bucks West enjoyed one of its most successful basketball seasons ever in 2011-12.
The Bucks finished the season 23-6, which included a 13-1 Suburban One League Continental Conference record. They lost to Central Dauphin in the second round of the PIAA playoffs.
And then they lost just about everybody to graduation.
Only guards Sherrod Higginbotham and Jared Kelly remain from last season, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Coach Adam Sherman has some players who played on the junior varsity team last year to go with the holdovers. And, as Saturday's 52-44 win over Spring-Ford in the SOL-PAC-10 Challenge at CB South will attest, they are far from destitute.
But it has been a different experience for Sherman, who is beginning his 12th season at the head of the Bucks.
“It’s been like starting over a little bit, but the kids have been putting in the time, putting in the hard work,” Sherman said. “It's just a lot more teaching.
“The group we had last year was very experienced so it was more about just getting the repetitions in. We're right now a little bit behind where we normally are at this point because of the inexperience but each game the kids are growing.”
That inexperience has forced Sherman to do things a little bit differently. As he said, it is more about teaching.
“We look at our personnel; we're trying to play to some of our strengths,” he said. “Last year's group could handle different things differently.
“This group actually does some things better than that group. We're trying to play to those strengths instead of what we did last year.”
And Sherman won't call it rebuilding.
“We're trying to retool,” he said, “not rebuild. That's our mindset.
“You just take one practice at a time and we'll go from there. We have a lot of jayvee kids who moved up, a couple of younger kids. They're getting there but we're very young.”
In fact, the starting lineup for West when it took the floor against Spring-Ford had only one senior, Riley Kratzke. The others were juniors Kelly, Kyle Schechter and Pat Kelley and freshman Cal Reichwein.
Of course, this retooling of his team has caused Sherman to rethink his offense.
“We're not posting up as much as we did last year,” he said. “Last year, we had three guys who we could post up on a pretty regular basis.
“This year, we really don't have that luxury as much, so we're definitely not banging the ball inside as much as we did last year. There's different personnel, and we're just trying to play to their strengths.”
There is no denying that the Bucks are quick. Their guards speed up the court and hit crisp passes to their wingmen.
And all that worked to a charm in the first half against Spring-Ford. West bolted to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter and lengthened it to 27-8 at halftime.
“We had good energy on the defensive end,” said Sherman, “and it played in our favor. Their big kid (forward Zameer McDowell) is pretty good and Kyle Schechter did a good job limiting his opportunities.”
However, as quickly as the Bucks broke out in the first half, they started the second more slowly. They were outscored 20-11 in the third quarter and saw their 19-point lead dwindle to 10 points.
The Rams got even closer in the fourth period. McDowell got loose several times and ran off seven straight points to cut the Buck lead to five at 42-37 and a pair of free throws by Nick Stanek narrowed it to three points at 42-39.
But that was as close as Spring-Ford got. The Bucks won the foul-shooting contest that the game evolved into in the final minutes, scoring five of their final 10 points from the line.
Kelly topped West with 13 points and Baylor Griffin added 10. McDowell led all scorers with 15.
“Jared played a real good game,” said Sherman. “If we get this from him every night, we'll be OK.
“Baylor Griffin came off the bench and gave us seven O (offensive) boards, which is huge for us. We need someone like that to give us energy.
“We played to our strengths and tried to keep them away from what they like to do and it worked out.”
CB West 52, Spring-Ford 44
Spring-Ford 4 4 20 16 – 44
CB West 11 16 11 14 – 52
Spring-Ford: Kakareka 0 3-5 3; Cass 2 0-2 5; Tupper 0 0-0 0; Hilferty 3 0-0 6; DeLuzio 3 0-0 9; McDowell 6 3-6 15; Hopkins 0 0-0 0; Stanek 0 6-7 6; Exley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 12-18 44.
CB West: Salvitti 2 1-2 6; Reichwein 1 0-0 2; Schechter 2 1-2 5; Kelly 4 5-7 13; Kelley 2 2-4 6; Griffin 4 1-2 10; Higginbotham 2 1-2 5; Kratzke 2 0-0 5. Totals: 19 11-16 52.
Three-point field goals: SF – DeLuzio 3, Cass; CBW – Salvitti, Griffin, Kratzke.
ABINGTON 63, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 57
The Ghosts exploded for 24 second-quarter points, turning a 13-10 deficit into a 34-21 halftime lead.
“In the second quarter, we really took them out of their rhythm,” coach Charles Grasty said. “We stepped up the pressure on them a little bit, and we got some stops and rebounds, and we were able to get out in transition like we like to.”
Anthony Durham led all scorers with 26 points while Jordan Simmons, who earned tournament MVP honors, added nine, which included a seven-of-nine effort from the foul line and some clutch foul shooting down the home stretch to seal the win.
“He did the same thing last night,” Grasty said of Simmons. “He’s practicing free throws at the end of practice every day.
“He’s getting better and better and he’s knocking them down, and it’s showing in games. His play overall the last two games has been tremendous. He may not score a lot of points, but he’s doing all the little things for us. He’s a guard, but he played some center for us tonight.”
Anthony Lee added eight points for the Ghosts (2-0) while Matt Penecale and Michael Griffin each added seven.
The Vikings, who trailed 49-35 at the end of three quarters, made things interesting with a late surge, but the Ghosts buried clutch free throws to seal the win.
“Wood is good,” Grasty said. “We tell our guys they’re going to make runs. We just have to (contain) their runs, and the way you do that is by playing smart.”
To read Rick Woelfel’s complete game story, please click on the following PhillyBurbs.com link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/high_school/intel/ghosts-capture-own-tournament-title/article_8a72d56b-17c8-5708-a885-da51297b387d.html
HARRY S TRUMAN 50, HOLY GHOST PREP 48
Merdic Green had another huge performance for the Tigers, contributing 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Truman to the championship in its own tournament on Saturday.
“He has been phenomenal for us,” coach Alan Munford said of Green. “He had a good season last year, and in order for us to be any good, he has to play big, and he has come up big for us on both nights.
“He got in foul trouble tonight, and it was good to see our bench players step up and play well in his absence.”
With three minutes remaining in the back and forth game, Lucas Waters buried a huge three-point bucket that knotted the score.
“The score was just up and down the entire time,” said Munford, whose team trailed 18-15 at halftime. “They would be up for three minutes, and we would be up for two.
“They were up by eight, and we fought our way back into it.”
Munford acknowledged the performances of several players in supporting roles.
“Jiere Brown and Brandon Amparo showed unbelievable defensive ability and did a really good job against their best players,” Munford said. “Guys that came in off the bench – Patrick Stone and James Weaver both played really good.
“It was important to show that we can play through adversity. Merdic was in foul trouble – he had four fouls early in the third quarter, so I had to sit him the entire third quarter. It was good to see that our bench was able to step up and play well with Merdic off the floor.
“It also was really good to see that when Merdic came back in the game he played solid defense without fouling. He stepped up and made some really big plays for us.
“It was good to get a win against a team like Holy Ghost Prep, but it’s just one win, so we have to take it for what it’s worth. We can feel good about it, but we have a lot of work to do.”
HATBORO-HORSHAM 66, CARLISLE 57
Zach Quattro scored 26 points – which included four three-pointers – and Mike Brown added 23 to lead the Hatters to the tournament title of the Carlisle Classic on Saturday. Ryan Kelly added 11 points for the Hatters (2-0).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 51, GEORGE SCHOOL 35
The Golden Hawks opened up a 16-10 halftime lead and extended that lead to 29-19 heading into the final quarter en route to the title of its own Rabberman Tournament. Will Faccenda led Rock South with 20 points, which included a perfect 6-for-6 effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter. Christian Crane added 10 points and Tom Townsend had nine points on three three-pointers for the Golden Hawks (2-0).
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 60, POTTSTOWN 34
Less than 24 hours after falling in a shootout to Spring-Ford 73-67, the Titans routed the Trojans in day two of the SOL/PAC-10 Challenge.
“Yesterday was a tough day for us because we didn’t get there until 5:45 and the game started at six,” coach Jason Campbell said. “Our team was not loose, it was a long bus ride for us, bucking traffic.
“We got off to a slow start last night. We were down 9-0 in the first three minutes of the game. Our guys did a nice job coming back. We were up three at the half, down three going into the fourth quarter. We were up seven at one point in the fourth quarter, and they went on a 9-0 run. I just think the slow start and us missing 12 foul shots in the game really made a difference on Friday night.”
On Saturday, the Titans were on their home court while the Trojans made the one-plus hour bus trip.
“It probably took a little wear and tear on them,” Campbell said. “I know our guys were upset with the fact that we lost on Friday night.
“They have high expectations. They have good chemistry, and they’re all really close friends. I felt after seeing Pottstown play last night that as long as we would be able to get their point guard to pass the ball and get it in somebody else’s hands that we would be able to trap and get more turnovers. I think we did a really good job of that. We really pushed the ball in transition as well.”
Chase Vonder Schmalz and Matt Scamuffo led a balanced Titan attack with 11 points each. Bryce Dobish added nine while Kevin Raymond had six points and five rebounds.
“We got great bench play from Mat Scamuffo,” Campbell said. “Bryce Dobish came off the bench and did really well.
“We have guys that are pretty good defensively. Adam Tamny is long with lanky arms, and he was able to get us some deflections. He did a great job at the top of our one-three-one defense.
“Chase Vonder Schmalz had two really good games. On Thursday, we didn’t know if he would play Friday. He had a calf issue, and we had to pull him out of practice on Thursday. He was having a pain in his calf he never felt before. Fortunately, Josh Williams, my assistant is a paramedic, and he had him do some exercises. Chase woke up the next day and was able to play.”
With the win, the Titans evened their record at 1-1.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 67, NESHAMINY 24
Anthony McKie scored 18 points while TJ Minetola added 13 to lead the Colonials to the decisive win in the consolation game of PW’s Rock the Rim Tournament. Michael Reddick added nine points, and Austin Rodenbaugh had seven in a contest that saw 10 PW players find their way into the scoring column.
The Colonials (1-1) seized control of the game early, opening up a 16-6 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that to 34-17 by halftime. It was more of the same in the second half.
Jaylen Pickett led the Redskins (0-2) with nine points.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 56, MALVERN PREP 17
The Indians jumped out of the gate to a 26-6 halftime lead on their way to the rout of Malvern Prep on Saturday at Coatesville as part of the Kyle Lowry FamJuice Tip-Off Tournament. Chris Rowland, who had four three-pointers, led the Indians with 15 points while Rip Engel added 12 and Josh McWilliams, 10 points. Kyle McCloskey added nine and Brandon Knotts seven to the balanced attack.
WILLIAM TENNENT 51, CHESTNUT HILL ACADEMY 43
Matt Alden led all scorers with 21 points and earned game MVP honors on Saturday at the Kyle Lowry FamJuice Tip-Off Tournament at Coatesville. Vonnie Case added 14 points and Horace Spencer, eight points. The Panthers trailed 13-11 at the end of one quarter but took a 20-19 lead into the intermission. They won the game with a 16-10 third quarter surge.
UPPER MERION 68, POTTSGROVE 63
The Vikings came back to win the consolation game of the Exeter Township Tournament, defeating Pottsgrove 68-63. The Vikings used their size to get to the free throw line 48 times. Leading the Vikings was Justin Lewis, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team. He had 22 points while fellow senior Connor McGrath added 20 points and eight rebounds for the Vikings, who evened their early season record at 1-1.
RIDLEY 47, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 34
The Green Raiders jumped out to a 15-3 lead over the Patriots at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 24-8 by halftime. East outscored Ridley 26-23 in the second half but couldn’t put a dent in Ridley’s lead.
Matt Stauffer led the Patriots (0-1) with 10 points while Kyle Clow and Brendan McLaughlin each added seven points.
METHACTON 66, PENNRIDGE 48
The Warriors opened up a 16-7 lead at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to 34-20 by halftime. They never looked back, rolling to the championship in Pennridge’s season-opening tournament.
Zach Muredda led the Rams (1-1) with 15 points while Alex Krivda added 12 points and Drew Dietterich, 10 points.
BISHOP MCDEVITT 63, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 49
Billy Dahm scored 23 points, but it wasn’t enough to propel the Spartans to a win in the title game of the Oreland Lions Tournament on Saturday.
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