Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Saturday. Bensalem/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a photo gallery. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ BOYS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
Non-league
BENSALEM 69, ABINGTON 61
Less than 24 hours after suffering a setback at the hands of Council Rock South, the Owls rebounded to earn a Senior Day non-league win over a Ghost squad that was coming off Friday’s emotional win over Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“It was Senior Day – we have 10 seniors, so it was nice to honor them,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “Our senior class has been great. They really truly have bought into the process.
“Our message before the game was – ‘Play for our seniors and send them out on our home court with a win,’ and it was nice to do that.”
The Owls were on the short end of a 29-25 halftime score but outscored their visitors 44-32 in the second half. Amir Drummond – who kept the Owls close with 13 first-half points – and Aidan Mayfield were the catalysts in the comeback as both scored 14 points in the second half.
Key players: Amir Drummond led all scorers with 27 points, which included four 3-pointers. Aidan Mayfield added 16 points.
For the Ghosts, Xander Grasty led the way with 17 points while Paul Glants added 16 (3 3-pointers).
Bensalem coach Ron Morris on the bounce-back win; “This group is really resilient. We got down early, but It didn’t faze us at all. We just stayed the course. We kept grinding.”
–Props: “In the second quarter, the switch flipped. We were down 27-12, and Amir (Drummond) just changed something, and he took over the game offensively. We’ve been challenging him to do it on the defensive end too, and he really did that today, so he stepped up.
“Aidan Mayfield had a great game offensively and defensively. He was a big spark offensively in the second and third quarters. It was fun to watch.
“Jahmir Chatman just continues to do everything. He had seven points, 13 rebounds and six assists. He had a great game. Defensively, he’s always guarding one of the other team’s best players.
“Dymaire Johnson gave us big minutes off the bench – defensively, rebounds. Kobe King had an awesome game defensively. Paul Glants is a really good basketball player, a four-year starter, and Kobe made him work for everything he got when he was in there.
“This team just continues to play for each other, bouncing back after last night. Council Rock South is a really good basketball team. Coach (Andrew) Rogers does a great job over there. They really gave it to us last night, and today, we just responded in the only way we know how, and that’s to compete, so we came out and competed today. We sent our seniors off in a great way. It was just overall a great win.”
Credit to the Ghosts: “We know Abington is a really good team, a really good program, a storied program. They’ve been one of the best teams in the SOL for many years. They’re well prepared. Dan (Marsh) does a good job over there, so to get a win like that against Abington is a really big deal, and we’re just really appreciative of the opportunity to compete. We enjoy it tonight and get ready for another war on Tuesday.”
Abington coach Dan Marsh: “Bensalem played great and certainly not to take anything away from that, but to play as hard as we did against PW and turn around 15 hours later to try to beat a good team was just too big of a task. We made a lot of physical and mental mistakes – a lot I contribute to fatigue.”
Next up: Bensalem (13-9, 7-2 SOL) – which has clinched at least a share of the SOL Patriot Division crown – will travel to Neshaminy for its SOL finale Tuesday, and Abington (13-8, 5-4) will be on the road at Quakertown Tuesday.
Abington 15-14-11-21 61
Bensalem 9-16-18-26 69
Abington (61) – Kyler Pickron 2 1-2 5; Faizon Garland 2 1-1 5; Xander Grasty 6 5-6 17; Leo D’Arco 2 1-2 5; Michael O’Rourke 1 0-0 3; Jake Manigault 0 4-6 4; Zion Hospedales 1 1-4 3; Antonio Ford 0 2-2 2; Mike Shreiner 0 1-2 1; Paul Glants 6 1-1 16; TOTALS 20 17-26 61.
Bensalem (69) – Jahmir Chatman 2 3-6 7; Aidan Mayfield 6 4-7 16; Christian Lee 2 0-0 6; Amir Drummond 7 10-15 27; Dymaire Johnson 2 0-0 5; Mikey Kramer 3 0-0 6; Brian Zancauk 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 17-28 69.
3-point goals: A – Paul Glants 3, Michael O’Rourke; B – Amir Drummond 3, Christian Lee 2, Dymaire Johnson.
PENNSBURY 47, EWING 46 (OT)
There’s nothing quite like a gutsy come-from-behind overtime win to help take the sting off a disappointing loss.
The Falcons, who trailed 30-20 at halftime staged an inspired second-half rally to even the score and then won it in overtime in Saturday’s non-league game against Ewing in the Capital City Cancer Classic at Robbinsville, High School
“It’s a free event, and everything that’s raised goes to cancer (research),” Pennsbury coach Wes Emme said. “It was a great event, a great opportunity for us to play against a different style going into the playoffs. It’s a local rivalry.
“We’ve played in Ewing’s summer league in Moody Park for the last several years, and have since about 2006-07, so it was an opportunity to see a team you see in the summer a bunch in the regular season.”
Sean Breslin, who scored all of his 11 points in the second half and overtime, was a catalyst in the comeback and was named game MVP. His two 3-pointers accounted for Pennsbury’s only points in OT.
Key players: Mike Roccograndi led a balanced Falcon attack with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Pat Jajua added 11, four assists and two steals. Jajua scored 10 of his points in the opening half to keep the Falcons within striking distance. Sean Breslin had all 11 of his points in the second half and overtime and also had seven rebounds and two steals. Grayson Gozum had seven point, four assists, two steals, and Owen Hawkes had six rebounds.
Pennsbury coach Wes Emme on the game: “They are really athletic. They kind of punk some teams as it relates to defense, and if you can handle their pressure and kind of withstand the initial onslaught of trapping and swarming – they have great back line players and they’ve got some really talented guards. We were able to just hang around long enough. Michael Rocco (Roccograndi) hit a big 3 at the end of the first half to get it to 10, and I knew if we got it to 10, we would be in the game. Without that shot, it’s a different feeling going into halftime. We kept it close enough where we could make a little bit of an adjustment on defense. We went zone, and credit to my staff – Kurt Bergmann is kind like our defensive head coach. He’s worked this zone for us this whole offseason and the whole season, and the team has gotten progressively better at it. Today it was a nice counterpunch to a team that’s really difficult to guard. We did a nice job of keeping the ball out of Joel Cineus’ hands. He is by far their best player and one of the best athletes that we’ve seen all year, bar none. We were able to hang around long enough, and then at the end of the game we made a big stop by Roocograndi getting a block with his non-dominant hand, and in overtime, Sean Breslin his two big 3s to get us a lead. It was just enough to kind of hold them off.”
–Additional props: “Pat Jajua kept us in the game in the first half, being aggressive on offense. Grayson Gozum had a bunch of big plays, including getting fouled at the end of the third quarter on a 3-point shot. He made 2 out of 3 to give us a cushion going into the fourth.”
–Bounce-back win after Senior Night loss: “Just the resilience and growth that we really – to this point – hadn’t shown. We’ve bounced back, we’ve played well in games, we’ve had tough games where we played tough, but particularly coming off a Senior Night loss – as gutwrenching as that loss was – to go to a neutral site in New Jersey to play a really, really, really talented team in Ewing and to pull out a victory, coming from behind being down 10 at halftime – that’s about as gutsy as it gets. Particularly with the stakes as it relates to playoffs. You want to have a home game again.”
Next up: Pennsbury (11-10, 6-3 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South Tuesday for its SOL finale.
Pennsbury 11-9-18-3-6 47
Ewimg 15-15-6-5-5 46
Pennsbury (47) – Mike Roccograndi 5 1-2 14; Grayson Gozum 2 2-3 7; Owen Hawkes 0 1-2 1; Sean Breslin 4 0-0 11; Pat Jajua 4 3-5 12; Max Manga 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 15 9-14 47.
Ewing (46) – Joe Cineus 8 3-6 19; Leslie Summiel 0 1-2 1; Kris Thomas 5 1-2 11; Terrance Taylor 6 3-5 14; TOTALS 19 8-15 46.
3-point goals: P – Sean Breslin 3, Mike Roccograndi 3, Grayson Gozum, Pat Jajua.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 70, FAITH CHRISTIAN 58
The Indians notched their second win in as many days, taking a lead they would not lose in the opening quarter on their way to the non-league road win.
“We played an all-around solid game on both ends of the floor,” Rock North assistant coach Brandon Knotts said.
Josh Erman jumpstarted the Indians with four first-quarter 3-pointers, propelling the Indians to a 19-15 lead after one quarter. He added two more in the second quarter, and Jack Curry also had a pair of 3s as the Indians opened up a 33-26 lead going into halftime.
A 19-19 third quarter was highlighted by a pair of Curry 3-pointers.
All told, the Indians buried 12 3-pointers – eight in the first half in an impressive display of long-range shooting.
Key players: Josh Erman led the Indians with 22 points, which included six 3s in the first half. Jack Curry added 18 points that included four 3-pointers. Owen Crowne also finished in double figures with 10 points – eight in the second half.
For Faith Christian, Jagger Verbit led the way with 23 points, which included an 8-for-10 from the foul line.
Next up: Council Rock North (6-14, 3-6) will host Harry S Truman Tuesday.
Council Rock North 19-14-19-18 70
Faith Christian 15-11-13-19 58
Council Rock North (70) – Jack Curry 4 70-0 18; Josh Erman 7 2-2 22; Owen Crowne 4 1-2 10; Brandon Holmes 3 0-2 7; Zach Vigross 1 0-0 2; Dylan Kiefer 1 1-2 3; Andrew O’Keefe 4 0-1 8; TOTALS 27 4-9 70.
Faith Christian Academy (58) – Garrett Grant 6 0-0 15; Caleb Hughes 1 1-2 4; Mason Paul 2 4-4 9; Micah Shank 2 0-0 5; Jagger Verbit 7 8-10 23; Caleb Hughes 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 19 13-16 58.
3-point goals: CRN – Josh Erman 6, Jack Curry 4, Owen Crowne, Brandon Holmes; FCA – Garrett Grant 3, Caleb Hughes, Mason Paul, Micah Shank, Jagger Verbit.
QUAKERTOWN 51, FLEETWOOD 37
Behind six points from Jameson Sykes, the Panthers opened up a 13-10 lead after one quarter. They took a 20-17 lead into halftime and then outscored their hosts 31-20 to put the game away in the second half.
Key players: Sam Wilkin led all scorers with 16 points – 11 in the second half. Jameson Sykes also finished in double figures with 10 in a contest that saw eight Panthers put their names in the scorebook.
Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta: “We really maintained control throughout the game, and we didn’t let adversity or change in momentum change our attitude or change how we played, and I actually think when the going got tough, we got tougher as the game went along, which is really a credit how we played and dealt with some things that take place normally throughout the course of the game. I think they were resilient and really showed some real mental toughness which allowed us to pull out a victory.”
–The game: “At halftime, it was 20-17, but at one point, (they led) 29-25, and they got a little momentum. We were just resilient. I think the thing that helped us the most was really not being distracted sometimes by calls that don’t go our way. Sometimes we don’t always respond to that in a manner that levels up our play, and I think in this case, we did that.
“Also, Sam did a nice job toward the end of the game. We really spread the floor out and allowed him to get downhill and get to the basket, which gave him some opportunities to finish off and close out the game with some drives to the basket, and we finished it out with some free throws.”
–Balanced scoring: “We had a real balanced attack, and I think that’s when we’re the most dangerous is when we are more evenly balanced from a scoring standpoint. At times, we’ll have either Sam or somebody else whether its Jameson or others that may lead us in scoring. When you can get a balance of points from everyone, it makes a big difference because it’s hard to focus on one person.”
Next up: Quakertown (4-16, 0-9) will host Abington in its SOL finale Tuesday.
Quakertown 13-7-13-18 51
Fleetwood 10-7-8-12 37
Quakertown (51) – Matt Thomas 2 2-2 7; Sam Wilkin 7 0-0 16; Gavin Mushrush 1 0-0 2; Aidan Burgy 1 1-1 3; James Sykes 5 0-0 10; Jaxon Torres 2 1-2 6; Mason Rush 1 1-1 4; Joey Bodnar 0 1-2 1; Drew Sweder 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 19 8-10 51.
Fleetwood (37) – Caden Ryan 5 0-4 12; Natt Perilus 1 0-0 2; Bryce Ryan 2 1-2 5; Kyle Vorse 2 0-0 6; Mason Senna 4 0-0 8; Chris Sandt 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 16 1-6 37.
3-point goals: Q – Sam Wilkin 2, Matt Thomas, Jaxon Torres, Mason Rush; F – Caden Ryan 2, Kyle Vorse 2.
HOLY GHOST PREP 91, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 85
The Firebirds won a shootout against the visiting Golden Hawks in an action-packed non-league battle Saturday night.
Holy Ghost took a 43-35 lead after a high-scoring first half, and the scoring didn’t slow down in the second half. The Firebirds led 63-53 heading into the fourth quarter when the Hawks erupted for 32 points to make things interesting.
Key players: MJ Thompson’s 27 points led the Hawks and included three 3-pointers. His 14-point fourth quarter ignited the Hawks. Ryan Delp added 24 points with three 3s. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter. Owen McLean added 16 points – 14 in the first half – with four 3-pointers.
Council Rock South coach Aaron Rogers: “Credit to Holy Ghost, they are well coached and played really well. We had some opportunities to close the gap but just weren’t able to get over the hump, but we did keep fighting. There were definitely same takeaways for us that we know we need to be better at. We were able to talk about some specific things we can learn from the game and focus on leading into this week.”
Next up: Council Rock South (13-7, 6-3 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Council Rock South 15-20-18-32 85
Holy Ghost Prep 18-25-20-28 91
Council Rock South (85) – MJ Thompson 10 4-5 27; Ryan Delp 8 5-6 24; Ray Haglund 1 0-0 2; Joey Madara 0 3-4 3; Ryan Wekluk 3 0-1 8; Pat Malone 1 0-1 2; Owen McLean 6 0-0 16; Adam Elabad 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 30 12-19 85
Holy Ghost Prep (91) – Zachary Sharlin 6 2-2 18; Adam McDonald 1 5-6 7; Mark Stenardo 5 0-0 12; Robert Segarich 2 0-2 4; Liam Condon 8 1-2 17; Adrien Varella 7 6-10 21; Thomas Vahill 4 3-3 12; TOTALS 33 17-25 91.
3-point goals: CRS – Owen McLean 4, MJ Thompson 3, Ryan Delp 3, Ryan Wekluk 2, Adam Elabad; HGP – Zachary Sharlin 3, Mark Stenardo 2, Adrien Varilla 2, Thomas Vahill
METHACTON 64, CHELTENHAM 50
KENNETT 63, LOWER MORELAND 50
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