Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action. Bensalem/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson; Wissahickon/Plymouth Whitemarsh provided by Larry Small. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for BOYS’ BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
SOL Liberty Division
Upper Dublin 51, Hatboro-Horsham 35
Thursday night was 20 years in the making for Upper Dublin, as the Cardinals captured a share of the Liberty Division title with a big win over Hatboro-Horsham.
“It’s been 2002 since Upper Dublin has had a division title,” said UD coach Chris Monahan. “It’s not something we started off the season saying it was a goal or anything like that. We’re more short term. We just want to play well, we want to win the next game, we want to get better at the next practice.
“Where we’ve come from November all the way to now, it’s a great accomplishment for our guys. They’ve gotten better. They play so well together. It’s not one guy that’s a dominant scorer. We share the ball really well. We compete on defense, and it’s been a fun season that way.”
Even more impressive was the team looked to be in a rebuilding mode coming into the season, having to replace standout big-man Drew Stover from a year ago.
“As coaches at the end of last year, we’re talking about we’ve got to replace all those points, we’ve got to replace all those rebounds,” Monahan said. “We’re looking at the guys coming back and how are we going to do that? We did it. It’s just a team mentality. It’s fun. It was fun last year also – Drew scoring a thousand points. It’s neat doing it a different way this year.”
UD started strong against H-H, going up 12-3 after one and 24-14 by halftime.
“We got off to a very good start,” Monahan said. “Our guys were ready to play. They knew a division title was on the line. The defense was good, and we got off to a very good start in the first quarter shooting the ball, and we just kind of rolled from there.
“We were nervous about Hatboro. To their credit, those kids are having a tough season, Rick (Fedele) is having a tough season, but they battle. They’re diving on the floor for loose balls, they’re taking charges, they’re rebounding. They played really hard, and we were very happy to get off the start we did, and we rode a hot start.”
Colin O’Sullivan led a balanced scoring effort for UD with 13 points. Ellis Johnson added eight points, while DJ Cerisier and Seaton Kukla scored seven points each.
UD (16-6, 12-4 SOL) finishes in a tie atop the division standings with Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Cardinals will host a SOL Tournament game on Saturday, and currently sit at No. 9 in the District One power rankings.
Noah Schlosser scored eight points for H-H (1-20, 1-14 SOL), which hosts Abington in its season-finale on Friday.
Upper Dublin (51)
DJ Cerisier 3 0-0 7; Noah Lee 0 0-2 0; Chris Kohlbrenner 1 1-2 3; Mason Pensabene 1 0-2 2; Colin O’Sullivan 5 3-8 13; Ryan Mulroy 1 0-0 3; Griffin Pensabene 2 2-2 4; Ellis Johnson 3 2-2 8; Seaton Kukla 1 5-5 7.
Hatboro-Horsham (35)
Jake Grier 1 0-0 3; Noah Schlosser 3 2-4 8; Kyle Dittus 1 0-0 2; Matt Wingen 2 0-1 5; Crishon Avery 1 0-0 2; Anthony Pumilia 0 1-2 1; Joyce 2 0-0 6; Daniels 1 0-0 2; Sam Fink 3 0-0 6.
Upper Dublin 12 12 22 5 – 51
Hatboro-Horsham 3 11 11 10 – 35
3-point goals: UD-Cerisier 1, Ryan Mulroy; HH-Joyce 2, Grier 1
Plymouth Whitemarsh 63, Wissahickon 48
Plymouth Whitemarsh needed to win Thursday night.
The Colonials had a chance to clinch a share of the Liberty Division championship, and they also had to get a victory to get in position for a spot in the upcoming District One Class 6A Tournament.
Avenging a loss to Wissahickon from earlier in the season, PW did just that with the 15-point win.
The Colonials finish 12-4 in the Liberty (15-7 overall) and share the division title with Upper Dublin. They also, unofficially, stand at No. 19 in the district power rankings for the upcoming 24-team district tournament.
“We’ll take it,” said coach Jim Donofrio. “We’re learning and going. Wissahickon just does some really nice things, changing defenses, and Upper Dublin is just playing really solid defense and they have weapons. It’s been a very interesting, old school, competitive battle between a number of teams.
“I’m really proud of the kids. Their backs were to the wall. They were very down after the loss to Abington (Tuesday), and I wasn’t making it any easier. I was very honest with them about what the reality could be for them, and I love how they responded.”
Qudire Bennett led five PW scorers in double figures with 19 points. Jaden Colzie hit three second-half 3-pointers and finished with 12, while Marshall Baker and Trey Jones had 11 points each and Taji Hubbard finished with 10.
“Obviously, I’m a little frustrated still from the Abington game Tuesday night,” Donofrio said. “We’re trying to learn. We did so many good things in that game. The kids are trying to understand, with the school of hard knocks, that teams aren’t going away.
“Every time I think we’re ready to go next leap up we’ll have a little stumble, but in the end, you’re still putting a date up on the banner. You never, never, never disrespect someone saying you won a championship.
“A lot of people in our time at PW have had the opportunity to be on district titles and on state titles and that kind of thing, and you start to think league titles are easy, but so many teams would appreciate league titles and we can’t not appreciate league titles because they represent longevity, they represent consistency, they represent going against teams twice five times, and teams get better. They just get better. It’s so interesting this year.”
Wissahickon was led by Earl Stout and Dom Vacchiano, with 13 and 11 points, respectively. The Trojans (14-8, 11-5 SOL) also figure to earn a berth into districts, sitting, officially at No. 21 after Thursday’s game.
Wissahickon (48)
Josh Twersky 2 0-0 4; Jaylon Williams 3 0-1 7; Morgan Wilson 3 2-3 8; Phil Dias 2 0-0 5; Dom Vacchiano 4 1-2 11; Earl Stout 6 0-1 13. Totals 20 3-7 48.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (63)
Jaden Colzie 4 0-0 12; Marshall Baker 3 3-3 11; Trey Jones 5 0-0 11; Taji Hubbard 5 0-0 10; Qudire Bennett 7 4-5 19. Totals. 24 7-8 63.
Wissahickon 14 9 16 9 – 48
PW 15 13 16 19 – 63
3-point goals: W-Vacchiano 2, Williams 1, Dias 1, Stout 1; PW-Colzie 4, Baker 2, Jones 1, Bennett 1
Abington 54, Quakertown 36
To make the District One Class 6A playoffs, Abington was going to have to run the gauntlet, a brutal stretch of five games in six days, and the Galloping Ghosts couldn’t afford to lose one of those games.
So far, so good.
Abington started strong and then blew the game open in the third quarter on the way to the win over visiting Quakertown.
“From the start, we came out and played extremely hard,” said Ghosts coach Charles Grasty. “With three games in three days, you want to think your guys are ready. They’re young, they can do it. I thought they came out with a lot of energy.
“We came out with a little full court press. I wanted to see where their legs were. I wanted to challenge them, and they actually responded. We got some turnovers early, jumped out on them. Credit to (Quakertown coach Tony DaCosta), they fought back and made it a close game early.
“In the third quarter, we came out with a lot of energy. I thought that separated us.”
Derrius Lucas led Abington with 12 points, including 8-for-12 from the free throw line, while Jeremiah Lee added 11 and Connor Fields 10 points, nine rebounds and four steals. The Ghosts shot 32.7 percent from the field (19-for-58).
“We got almost everybody in,” Grasty said. “I thought everyone that came in played well. Kayjel Morris played some good minutes for us, Josh Young came and got some good minutes. Paul Glants, a freshman, came in and gave us good minutes. He handled the ball for us. They pretty much steadied the shop.”
The win improves Abington to 13-8 overall (10-5 SOL). With one game remaining – Friday at Hatboro-Horsham – the Ghosts are now No. 23 in the district power rankings, unofficially, in what will be a 24-team Class 6A tournament.
“Hopefully, it’s not too late,” Grasty said.
For Quakertown, sophomore Miles Longacre had nine points when he was injured in the second quarter and did not return. The score was tied 18-18 when he went down. Sam Wilkin had 10 points.
The Panthers concluded their season with a 6-16 overall record and 4-12 in the SOL.
Quakertown (36)
Sam Wilkin 4 2-2 10; Kyle Rosenberger 2 0-1 6; Ty Wilkin 2 0-0 4; Brendon Ruzicka 1 0-0 2; Miles Longacre 3 2-4 9; Anthony Callan 1 1-2 3; Jahshua Thomas 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 5-9 36.
Abington (54)
Connor Fields 4 2-4 10; Fhenyx Scutt 2 0-2 5; Paul Glants 2 0-0 4; Jeremiah Lee 4 0-0 11; Josh Young 0 1-2 1; Kayjel Morris 1 0-0 2; Eli Louis-Benjamin 2 0-0 5; Damon Rawls 1 0-0 2; Kellen Ingram 0 0-2 0; Danny Moynihan 1 0-0 2; Derrius Lucas 2 8-12 12. Totals 19 11-22 54.
Quakertown 12-9-7-8 36
Abington 16-14-17-7 54
3-point goals: Q – Kyle Rosenberger 2, Miles Longacre; A – Jeremiah Lee 3, Fhenyx Scutt, Eli Louis-Benjamin
SOL Freedom Division
William Tennent 63, Lower Moreland 39
Sophomore Kirby Mooney scored 22 points as William Tennent started strong and put away Lower Moreland, as the Panthers look to close out the season strong.
“He got a little bit of time last year towards end of season,” coach Robert Mulville said about Mooney. “One of our kids got sick, so we called him up. He played in our last eight games.
“He plays at pretty high level when he’s not playing with us, against pretty good competition in the offseason. He had 29 points against Cheltenham, only had 10 against Upper Morleand and then had 22 again tonight. He’s only a sophomore.”
Also for Tennent, Timmy Stanfield finished with eight points, while Jeremy Henry had seven points, four assists, and six rebounds. Evan Dubor and Connor Fithian both came off the bench and hit 3-pointers for the Panthers, as well.
Tennent (8-12, 8-8 SOL) has two games remaining – both nonleague – home against New Foundations Charter on Saturday and then against CB West on Monday.
Lower Moreland (6-14, 5-10 SOL) was led by Braden Alicea and Tom Przyblinski, who had nine points each. The Lions play at Cheltenham Friday.
William Tennent (63)
Jeremy Henry 3 0-0 7; George Marion 3 0-1 6; Kirby Mooney 7 8-13 22; Isiah Dawson 2 1-2 5; Connor Fithian 2 1-2 6; Timmy Stanfield 3 0-0 8; Brandon Beluch 2 0-2 4; Evan Devor 2 0-0 5.
Lower Moreland (39)
Ian Alicea 1 3-4 5; Tom Przyblinski 3 2-2 9; Brian Grant 3 0-0 7; Matt Ernst 0 1-2 1; Braden Alicea 4 1-2 9; John Kroll 0 0-1 0; Kevin Hegedus 0 2-2 2; Gabe Krutsinger 1 0-0 2; Barnette 0 2-4 2; Matt Pennisi 1 0-1 2.
Tennent 14 18 17 14 – 63
Lower Moreland 7 9 10 13 – 39
3-point goals: WT-Stanfield 2, Henry 1, Fithian 1, Devor 1; LM-Przyzblinski 1, Grant 1
Upper Moreland 49, New Hope-Solebury 21
It was Senior Night at Upper Moreland, and the Golden Bears had a lot of them to celebrate.
And they did so in style, as UM’s nine seniors all played and the team routed visiting New Hope-Solebury, 49-21.
“It was a good win for us,” said UM coach Dan Heiland. “Coming into a game like this – we had a tough one earlier this week against (CB) South, when we lost on a last-second ‘3’ and then had a tough Tennent game the following night, when we struggled in the first half and had a strong second half.
“Going into tonight, I wanted to find balance as a coach. I let them know we had to take care of business tonight. I challenged the group and they responded. It was great to see our senior group play meaningful minutes. They shared a memory tonight.”
UM’s nine seniors – Matt Tiernan, Jake Tiernan, Byron Hopkins, Bo Meakim, Rashim Lancit, Stefano Garofalo, Sean Dallahan, Owen Stanton and Jared McClellan – were honored before the game.
Matt Tiernan scored a team-high 10 points, while Meakim had nine.
UM (14-8, 9-7 SOL) now has a long wait until its next game. Unofficially, the Bears are No. 4 in the District One Class 5A power rankings and stand to get a first-round bye in the upcoming 12-team tournament. Its first game would be Feb. 23 if they get a bye.
Either way, Heiland expects his team to be prepared when the postseason does start.
“It’s a good spot to be in,” the coach said. “Having a first-round bye, we’ll be able to scout and will have an idea of who we’ll be playing. And they’ll have to travel to Upper Moreland. We hope to stay in the four-seed, but obviously, there are things you can’t control.
“But this has been a good group. It’s been a team effort. It’s been a fun team to coach.”
New Hope (2-19, 1-15 SOL) was led by Miles Demby’s 10 points in its season finale.
Upper Moreland (49)
Sean Dallahan 6, Byron Hopkins 4, Bo Meakim 9, Owen Stanton 3, Jake Tiernan 7
Matt Tiernan 10, Jared McCellan 1, Stefano Garofalo 2, Colson Campbell 7
New Hope-Solebury (21)
Dylan Hildebrandt 2, Miles Demby 10, Liam Ross 4, Matt Hanley 2, Brian Demby 3
3-point goals: UM-Meakim 3, Campbell 2, Stanton 1, J. Tiernan 1; NHS- M. Demby 2, B. Demby
1
Upper Moreland 7 12 9 21 – 49
New Hope Solebury 6 6 5 4 – 21
Cheltenham 72, Springfield Twp 44
Rasheem Dearry scored 21 points as Cheltenham jumped up early and never looked back, moving one step closer to an undefeated regular season.
The Panthers (21-0, 15-0 SOL) will wrap up the regular season Friday night with a home game against Lower Moreland.
Justin Savage also had 12 points, as 10 different players got into the scorebook.
“We just defensively have to continue to get better,” said Panthers coach Patrick Fleury. “Obviously, four games in a week is daunting and then we have the SOL Tournament coming up which is going to make it eight games in 10 or 11 days. The schedule is just unreal.”
Springfield (10-10, 6-10 SOL) was led by Dylan McKenzie and Ben Cooney with 11 points each. Harry Rittenhouse added eight points. The Spartans will compete in the four-team district Class 4A Tournament, which starts on Feb. 22.
Cheltenham (72)
Rasheem Dearry 21, Elias Walker 7, Kamani Healey 5, Nasir Edens 7, Brandon Bush 6, Justin Savage 12, Jalen Lucas 3, Johnathan Fevrier 2, Kevin Addison-Anderson 4, Craig Metcalfe 2.
Springfield Twp (44)
Dylan McKenzie 11, Miles Godwin 2, Ben Cooney 11, Brett Smith 1, Harry Rittenhouse 8, Damani Herbert 1, Jimmy Halligan 1, Kylen Smythe 2, Tommy Koppel 2, Will Hastings 2, Bob Hartman 5.
Cheltenham 17-20-13-22 72
Springfield Twp 10-14-10-10 44
SOL Colonial Division
Central Bucks East 51, North Penn 43
It took five straight wins to close the season, but CB East is SOL Colonial Division champions once again after Thursday night’s road win at North Penn.
The Patriots shared the division title with rival Central Bucks South.
“(CB South coach Jason) Campbell just texted me and said, ‘It looks like we’re sharing,” said East coach Erik Henrysen. “It was a good way to end the regular season. It’s been such an up-and-down season. The season was tough at times, but I give credit to our guys. They came together at the right time.”
In its five-game win streak, East won by an average of 15.8 points per-game. It also came after a stretch that saw the team go 2-6 and fall in danger of not even making the playoffs.
“Our first goal was to win the division,” Henrysen said. “You can check that off.
“It’s a credit to our guys. Early on, we got some wins, but we thought, maybe, we had a few bad habits that developed during those wins but starting 8-1 we could ignore that. Then, we had a rough stretch, but down the stretch, we really regrouped as a program. I’m proud of what they were able to do.”
Against North Penn, the Patriots started quickly and built a lead as high as 25 points in the second quarter.
“We got off to a hot start,” Henrysen said. “North Penn went on a 7-0 run to end the first half, and then in the third quarter they came out and gave us some fight. Down the stretch, we knew they weren’t going away.”
In the fourth, however, East was able to overcome some free throw struggles and put the game away.
Tyriq Toney-Bailey scored a team-high 11 for East, all in the first quarter. Jacob Cummiskey had nine points and four blocks. Aidan Weaver had 10 rebounds, while Liam Cummiskey and Kyle Berndt had five boards each.
East (15-7, 11-5 SOL) will compete in the SOL Tournament, starting Saturday and will find out its opponent on Friday.
North Penn was led Thursday by Terhan Wright with 15 points, while Norm Gee and Joey Larkins added 10 points each.
The Knights (11-11, 8-8 SOL), unofficially, are on the outside looking in on the District One Class 6A playoffs, in the No. 26 position, but will find out officially of theirs fate come Sunday.
CB East (51)
Tyriq Toney-Bailey 11, Jacob Cummiskey 9, Liam Cummiskey 3, Nick Rivera 4, Brett Young 5, Aidan Weaver 2, Joey Giordano 4, Ryan Lenahan 2, Kyle Berndt 6, Joshua Lyzinski 5
North Penn (43)
Mario Sgro 6, Terhan Wright 15, Norm Gee 10, Joey Larkins 10, Ryan Deininger 2
CB East 23 15 8 5 – 51
North Penn 9 11 10 13 – 43
3-point goals: CBE-Toney-Bailey 3, Berndt 2, J. Cummiskey 1, Young 1, Lyzinski 1; NP-Gee 2, Larkins 1
Central Bucks South 63, Pennridge 53
Five of CB South’s previous six games were decided by three or few points, so going into Pennridge Thursday night, the Titans expected nothing else.
But, with a share of the Colonial Division title on the line, South took care of business with a solid 10-point win over the Rams.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said coach Jason Campbell. “We’d take the lead, they’d come back. We’d take the lead again, and they’d come back again. It was a fight for a while, but we were able to extend the lead a bit, and then knocked down free throws in the fourth quarter.”
The win earned the Titans a tie with rival CB East with final 11-5 records atop the division standings.
“I’m really happy for our seven seniors,” Campbell said. “They worked so hard to have a piece of this championship. They’ll be able to come back and see the banner in our gym say 2022. It’s a nice bond that they’ll share forever.”
Michael Farley continued his red-hot play to end the season, with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Joe Rooney added 15 points, while Tyler Meinel came off the bench and scored 11.
Senior point guard Jay Macalindong finished with nine points, eight rebounds and five assists.
“He was just exceptional,” Campbell said of Macalindong. “He played really good defense on (Pennridge freshman guard Xavier Peters). He’s a valued part of our team, on both ends of the floor. He’s the floor general for us, running our plays and on defense he defends some really good guards.”
South (15-7, 11-5 SOL) will host a game in the SOL Tournament on Saturday morning (11 a.m.) against an opponent to be determined Friday.
Pennridge was led Thursday by Jude D’Agostino’s 17 points. The Rams finished their season with a 6-16 overall record (4-12 SOL).
CB South (63)
Jay Macalindong 2 5-5 9; Aidan VanZanten 0 1-2 1; Joe Rooney 6 3-5 15; Chris Granito 3 0-2 7; Michael Farley 6 5-7 17; Tyler Meinel 5 1-2 11; Bryan Delara 1 0-0 3.
Pennridge (53)
Justin McCormick 4 0-0 10; Justin Nichols 1 0-0 2; Matt Campione 1 0-0 2; Xavier Peters 4 3-3 11; Tommy Cramer 1 1-2 3; Tyler Johnson 2 0-0 4; Ryan Hass 0 2-3 2; Jude D’Agostino 6 4-5 17.
CB South 16 15 12 20 – 63
Pennridge 15 5 19 12 – 53
3-point goals: CBS-Granito 1, Delara 1; P-McCormick 2, D’Agostino 1
Central Bucks West 46, Souderton 45 (OT)
With the game on the line, in overtime, CB West turned to a sophomore.
And Bowen Gugger stepped up, taking it strong to the basket for a bucket at the buzzer to give the Bucks the thrilling one-point road win in the division finale for both teams.
“We have a lot of confidence in Bowen to make plays like that,” said Bucks coach Adam Sherman. “He’s been doing it at practice on a regular basis. We feel very comfortable putting him in that situation.
“That was the play we called. We wanted to get Bowen the ball. We felt like he could get to the rim.”
It was a close game throughout, and Souderton had a chance to win in regulation, but West came up with a big defensive stop. In overtime, West led by two, when Souderton’s Jay Bonnet nailed a 30-foot 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to put the Indians back up by one.
That set the stage for Gugger’s heroics in the final seconds, giving West a gratifying one-point win after a season of tough losses.
“It’s been tough,” Sherman said. “We might have set a record for losing close games. It was nice to finally win one, to have things fall our way at the end of a game. We’ve had so many fall through our fingers. I think we had six games decided by three points or less.
Nick Tenaglia scored 11 points to lead West’s offensive effort, while John Lee had nine and Mike Fountain eight.
West (5-16, 4-12 SOL) will play one more game, a nonleague makeup game Monday against William Tennent.
Thursday’s loss may have been a devastating conclusion to the regular season for Souderton (13-9, 7-9 SOL). The Indians lost their final four division games and, unofficially, sits at No. 25, just outside of the 24-team field for the upcoming District One Class 6A Tournament. They will find out officially on Sunday if they’re in or out of the playoffs.
CB West (46)
Matt Engle 0 2-2 2; Kyle Kubit 1 0-0 2; Charlie Cashman 0 1-2 1; Nick Tenaglia 4 2-3 11; Donte Mancini 2 1-1 7; Bowen Gugger 3 0-0 6; John Lee 4 0-0 9; Mike Fountain 2 2-2 8.
Souderton (45)
Jay Bonnet 4 0-1 11; Shaun Purvy 2 2-2 7; Chris Towsen 1 2-2 5; Carson Grant 2 0-0 4; Jordan Zimmerman 1 0-0 3; Aleks Smih 2 1-2 5; Paul Vince 2 3-4 7.
CB West 11 10 12 6 7 – 46
Souderton 12 10 2 11 6 – 45
3-point goals: CBW-Mancini 2, Fountain 2, Lee 1, Tenaglia 1; S-Bonnet 2, Purvy 1, Towson 1, Zimmerman 1
Patriot Division
Bensalem 61, Neshaminy 56
With the Patriot Division title wrapped up on Tuesday, Bensalem celebrated Senior Night on Thursday, while on the floor, the Owls played a strong second half to end the regular season with the win over visiting Neshaminy.
“It was a really good game,” said Bensalem coach Ron Morris. “We have nine seniors, and we were able to get them all in in the first half. We started out decent and we were down one at the end of the first. Our shots weren’t really falling, and we were down six at halftime.
“We just came out in the third quarter and played really, really good defense as a team. Aaron (Sanders) and Jeremy (Rodriguez) were able to get to the rim in the third quarter.
“The difference tonight was Allen Myers. It was the Allen Myers show. He was rebounding, contesting, blocking shots. He had a double-double with 17 points. He was finishing around the rim. We were trying to get the ball to him in all different ways. We were able to get a lead in the fourth quarter. We were trying to use our speed to get to the rim, and it was working out for us in the second half.”
Myers also finished with 15 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Aaron Sanders had 16 points, while Jeremy Rodriguez ended with 11.
“It’s a great team victory,” Morris said. “You win the league title Tuesday, and all the emotions involved in that game, you’re not sure how you’re going to respond. You come out, it’s Senior Night. It was a really good crowd. We know Neshaminy is tough. They’ve got shooters, they’ve got guys that can attack. You know they’re going to be well prepared, and it was a great battle.
“It was another SOL Patriot battle that we came out victorious. We’re happy with the result, and now we get ready for the playoffs.”
Bensalem (17-5, 13-3 SOL) will play in the SOL Tournament, hosting an opening round game on Saturday. Currently, the Owls hold the No. 4 spot in the District One Class 6A power rankings and will find out its official seeding for the district playoffs on Sunday.
Neshaminy (13-8, 10-6 SOL) was led Thursday by Nate Townsend’s 15 points, while Evan Esposito and Kade Benjamin had 12 points each.
It too will be in the district-playoff field. Currently, Neshaminy is in the No. 22 position and will likely play on the road in the opening round on Feb. 19.
Neshaminy (56)
Evan Esposito 5 1-2 12; Emeer Coombs 0 3-4 3; Kade Benjamin 6 0-1 12; Nunzio Zydzik 2 0-0 4; Sean Curley 4 1-2 10; Nate Townsend 6 3-3 15. Totals 23 8-12 56.
Bensalem (61)
Jeremy Rodriguez 5 1-2 11; Tra Edwards 3 0-1 7; Allen Myers 6 5-6 17; Eric Gonzalez 0 0-2 0; Aaron Sanders 5 5-7 16; Matt Ebner 1 0-0 2; Antonio Morris 2 0-0 4; Jack Wineburg 2 0-3 4. Totals 24 11-21 61.
Neshaminy 13-18-13-12 56
Bensalem 12-13-20-16 61
3-point goals: N – Evan Esposito, Sean Curley; B – Tra Edwards, Aaron Sanders.
Council Rock North 53, Pennsbury 48
CR North closed out the regular season in style, with a solid defensive effort on the way to a five-point win, its second over the Falcons this week.
“Tonight was big for our team as we celebrated the seniors,” said Indians coach Jesse Krasna. “It was great to have Ryan Burkett back on the floor with us. He has been injured but is a huge part of our team and we were all happy he was able to suit up on Senior Night.
“Shane Anhalt made plays with his hustle, effort and heart from start to finish. Every time he steps on the floor, he puts on an incredible display of sheer will. I can’t wait to make a reel of all his ‘toughness’ highlights from this season.
“Logan Saifer defended well, took excellent care of the ball versus Pennsbury’s pressure and came up with some big rebounds and finishes in traffic.”
Adam Mahtat led the Indians with 14 points, while Bernie Parent added 11, and Jack Blum and Anhalt 10 points each.
“Sometimes your star player’s job is to set the table so everyone else on the team can eat and that is what Bernie Parent did tonight because the coverage dictated he play that way,” Krasna said. “He was essentially double-teamed every time he touched the ball. He found the open man and allowed us to score off a numbers advantage, sometimes with assists and sometimes by just making the easy pass out of traps that helped us make the next play. He did a great job not forcing shots and making the right play for our team.
“Our two juniors, Adam Mahtat and Jack Blum, have been stepping up on Senior Night since they were freshmen and they did it again tonight.
“Adam defended the perimeter really well tonight and was a beast finishing plays for us on the offensive end. Jack played a great all-around game. He altered so many shots near the rim, chased shooters off the line and was decisive offensively. As we are accustomed to seeing, he closed the game out at the free throw line as Pennsbury made a late run.”
Pennsbury was led by Aidan McCormack, who scored 21 points. Justin Hedges added 10.
CR North (15-6, 11-5 SOL) wrapped up its regular season on Thursday and will play in the SOL Tournament on Saturday. It will find out its opponent Friday. The Indians are also, unofficially, in the No. 14 spot for the upcoming district playoffs.
Pennsbury (12-6, 9-6 SOL) hosts Harry S. Truman in its regular-season finale on Friday.
Pennsbury (48)
Justin Hedges 3 2-2 10; Aidan McCormack 9 1-1 21; Connor Taddei 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 3 0-0 6; Ty Kocak 3 0-3 7. Totals 19 3-6 48.
CR North (53)
Shane Anhalt 4 2-3 10; Bernie Parent 4 3-4 11; Adam Mahtat 6 1-2 14; Jack Blum 2 6-6 10; Logan Saifer 3 0-0 6; Tyler Rodowicz 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 12-15 53.
Pennsbury 8 9 11 20 – 48
CR North 11 13 14 15 – 53
3-point goals: P-McCormack 2, Hedges 2, Kocak 1; CRN-Mahtat 1
Council Rock South 57, Harry S Truman 55
Year one with coach Andrew Rogers and his staff came to an end Thursday, and while the Golden Hawks will finish just out of the District One playoff field, it finished strong with a quality two-point win over Truman.
It was the final game for seniors Gavin Hollaran, Anthony Burns, Shane Dawson, Chase Littig, Gavin Stock, and Zach Schwartz.
“I’m really happy with our seniors,” Rogers said. “I give them a lot of credit with this group, with our first year as a staff with them, they played hard from the beginning of the season to the end. And they got better and better. We were in a lot of games. I wish we’d pulled out a few more, but I couldn’t be more proud of the senior group. They demonstrated a lot of toughness and grit. We’re hoping that carries over to our younger guys.”
Dawson finished with a team-high 16 points for the Golden Hawks, while Burns had 14 and Hollaran added 12.
Makai Jackson scored 13 for Truman, while Shanbul Lewis added 10.
“It was close throughout,” Rogers said. “Truman played really well. I give a lot of credit to our guys. All year long, they’ve been gutting it out and they keep fighting. That was true tonight. We were down six going into the fourth quarter.
“We tried to up the intensity a little bit and were able to get big stops. Matt Robisnon had three really big charges that were momentum changers for us. Anthony Burns hit three ‘3s’ in the fourth quarter that were huge for us.”
CR South finishes with a 10-12 final record and was 5-11 in the SOL.
Truman (4-15, 2-13 SOL) plays at Pennsbury on Friday.
Truman (55)
Shanbul Lewis 4 2-3 10; Gavin Burns 3 0-0 9; Mike Burns 3 0-0 6; Franz Fabian 3 0-0 7; Khavier Adams 1 0-0 3; Blake Alvarez 2 0-2 4; Makai Jackson 5 0-0 13; Antonio Carr 1 0-2 2. Totals 22 2-7 55.
Council Rock South (57)
Gavin Holloran 5 1-2 12; Anthony Burns 5 0-1 14; Shane Dawson 7 2-3 16; Gavin Stock 2 0-0 5; Zach Schwartz 3 0-0 7; Matt Robinson 1 0-0 3. Totals 23 3-6 57.
Truman 12 16 16 11 – 55
CR South 10 13 15 19 – 57
3-point goals: HST-G. Burns 3, Jackson 3, Fabian 1, Adams 1, Jackson 3. CRS – Holloran 1, Burns 4, Stock 1, Schwartz 1, Robinson 1.
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