Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action. North Penn, CB East, Upper Dublin & PW were winners in the SOL Tournament while Cheltenham notched a huge win to earn a spot in the District 1 6A Tournament. North Penn/Pennsbury photos courtesy of Daryl Rule of J&D Photography, PW/Neshaminy photos courtesy of Larry Small, and Upper Dublin/Tennent photos courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for galleries of all three games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f582224377
North Penn 46, Pennsbury 40
FAIRLESS HILLS – Shooters shoot.
Sometimes it goes in. Sometimes it doesn’t.
But the good ones keep on shooting, because there’s an ending to almost every slump.
Coming off a huge disappointment on Tuesday, when it lost a chance at a share of the SOL Colonial Division title – losing at home against Central Bucks East – North Penn came out Friday, and for most of the first half, it once again wasn’t connecting offensively.
But eventually the Knights came out of it, and when they did, it was enough to erase a double-digit deficit in the second half and pull away from host Pennsbury 46-40 Friday in a quarterfinal game of the Suburban One League Tournament.
“At the half, we guards – we were just playing bad,” said North Penn junior Teddy McAllister. “Just keep shooting, basically. Just keep shooting and don’t turn down shots. Just keep shooting. I knew we had to get back in that game, I just kept on shooting.”
Like most of his teammates, McAllister wasn’t hitting early. The Knights had just four points and one field goal in the first quarter, as they trailed 14-4 after one and still trailed 25-19 at halftime.
“We came in the gym tired, with no energy,” North Penn’s Norman Gee said. “At halftime, we got together, and we figured it out. We came out playing.”
McAllister hit a 3-pointer in the second quarter, and then caught fire in the third, with two more 3s and 11 points in a quarter that saw the Knights outscore their hosts 16-7 to go on top 35-32.
That shooter’s mentality is something he’s always had and a skill he spends a lot of time fine-tuning.
“I’ve always been a shooter, but I have been having slumps,” McAllister said. ”I just have to keep shooting. Sometimes I get in my head, but I keep shooting.
“Go to the gym, shoot a lot of shots. Go to the shooting machine and keep shooting. Even if I’m missing shots, I keep shooting.”
Gee, North Penn’s junior point guard, also hit a 3 in the third, and in the fourth, he hit two more 3s, as the Knights finally took the lead and took over control of the game.
“We try to keep pushing the tempo, try to get shots,” Gee said. “If our shots aren’t falling, we try to figure out something to go on. Usually I feel the second half is our strongest point. We try to win the second half because we come out of halftime knowing that we need to pick it up.”
At 5-foot-8, Gee isn’t the biggest player, but he’s good at finding space to get his shot off.
“I feel like you just have to move off the ball and get yourself open,” Gee said. “Try to, if your shot is not going, get other people shots that are going. Usually, it’s always that one person on the team that’s hot and try to get him the ball. Or just drive to the basket.
“I just don’t hesitate. I just try to, like when I get the ball, I already have it in my mind, am I going to drive to the basket. I see who the defender is, and I take the shot or I just drive.”
When the night was over, McAllister had 16 points, Gee 15 points, all but seven of which came in the second half. And North Penn had the six-point win, on the road, the first in what the team hopes is a long run in the postseason.
“North Penn is a really good basketball program,” Gee said. “Specifically, this year, we want to be known out there and we are. We just beat Pennsbury. And in districts we’re in sixth place. We just want to keep going.”
North Penn (18-5) will play SOL Liberty champ Plymouth Whitemarsh in a semifinal game Saturday (5 p.m.).
Pennsbury (16-7), which received its SOL Patriot Division championship trophy prior to the game, is now off until Friday when it will open District 1 6A Tournament play, likely at home.
The district seeds will be announced Sunday.
Ty Kocak had eight first-quarter points Friday and finished with a team-high 14 points. Connor Taddei also finished in double figures with 10 points while Ryan Zuckerman had nine.
North Penn 4 15 16 11 – 46
Pennsbury 14 11 7 8 – 40
North Penn (46) – Mario Sgro 1 0-0 2; Norm Gee 3 6-6 15; Teddy McAllister 5 3-3 16; Ryan Zeltt 2 3-3 7; Ryan Deininger 2 0-2 4; Lee Hammond 0 1-2 1; Nick Hoffmann 0 1-2 1.Totals 13 14-18 46.
Pennsbury (40) – Mike Roccograndi 1 0-0 2; Connor Taddei 4 1-2 10; Ty Kocak 4 6-7 14; Ryan Zuckerman 3 2-4 9; Danny Cohen 1 0-0 2; Sam Callahan 1 0-0 3; Grayson Gozum 0 0-2 0.Totals 14 9-15 40.
3-point goals: NP-Gee 3, McAllister 3; P-Taddei, Zuckerman, Callahan.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 61, NESHAMINY 59
The Colonials took a tenuous 24-21 lead into halftime but then appeared to blow the game open, outscoring the visiting Redskins 19-11 in the third quarter to go into the final frame with a 52-43 lead. They extended their advantage to 19 points midway through the fourth quarter only to watch the Redskins come roaring back, thanks to a 27-point fourth quarter.
“It was a very odd game,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “We don’t really know them, we haven’t seen each other in a while.
“There were times when we just settled for quick jump shots. It’s hard to tell a team that’s got 21 wins in 23 attempts that they could do things better, but they can. The Neshaminy kids can be physical in a good way, and the refs are letting us play. We got a little hyper, but we did what we do a lot this year – we right the ship and got the run we wanted. We’re up big numbers and everything is going, and then for some inexplainable reason, we just decide to act like it’s the very first time we’ve ever played basketball.”
In the third quarter, the Colonials were sparked by Jaden Colzie, whose nine points led the way. He added seven more points in the fourth quarter, and Qudire Bennett had nine – which included a 5-for-6 effort at the foul line in the final frame, and the Colonials needed every one of those points to eke out the win.
“The danger is in overreacting,” Donofrio said. “In the locker room afterwards, we all talked to each other for a while. This team is very new to this. I’ve seen teams that have great regular seasons and just bow out because they don’t get it..
“Even in the Suburban One League Tournament, which is kind of a safety tournament because it’s not like if you lose, you’re out, so it’s really an interesting opportunity to work on things and ideas. If I’m Neshaminy and get to play the number one seed and the top three seed in District 1 a drive down the road, I’m sure you’re uncertain what that’s going to mean, and then we keep opening doors for them. It’s another level of learning. It’s a practice run for the districts.
“It’s kind of good for us. I think the game was a real gift. I’m not sure if you want that to be a huge win and maybe you have to see those guys 10 days from now. It’s very tricky the way the format lines up. Suburban One kids are basically playing the District 1 Tournament twice. I don’t think the Philadelphia Eagles want to scrimmage the Kansas City Chiefs. The folks with all good intentions and put this together think nothing about this stuff. It’s very hard to beat someone twice, much less three or four times.”
Bennett’s game-high 22 points – which included a 9-for-10 showing at the foul line – led the Colonials while Colzie added 21 points. Chase Coleman had nine points, and Lincoln Sharpe had six.
“Jaden Colzie and Qudire Bennett, the two captains, came through in big ways,” Donofrio said. “Jaden’s playing with a bruised heel and really toughing it out and just did some really nice things offensively.”
For the Redskins, Emeer Coombs led the way with 20 points – 10 in his team’s fourth quarter rally. Nate Townsend added 11 points while Sean Curley and Guy Horton both had 10. Curley had eight of his points in the fourth quarter. Ashton Lovelace added six points.
The Colonials were coming off a win over Wissahickon in their regular season finale that saw them trailing by 10 at halftime but rally for the win in the second half.
“Where we’re at as a team – we’ve won too nicely the first 22 games,” Donofrio said. “We’ve won and played beautiful basketball, but teams improve, teams raise their fight, and teams watch you on film, and teams are getting better just as you’re kind of coming off the high.
“That’s what people don’t get, people will say, ‘Why didn’t you play better against Neshaminy?’ Well, they have a lot of heart and fight too. We let up on some concentration, doors opened up, and instead of knowing that a certain player can hit 3s and another one can drive, we’re letting it happen, and you’ve got yourself a game.
“This is two games in a row where we pulled out victories late. It’s up to us to decide to be humble and pay attention and realize that we can actually go to a whole another level of good and we’re already pretty good. The kids have to want to do that. They have to want to be very humble and coachable. The season gets long now. When the going is easy, it’s easy to be a team guy and a positive guy, but what about when it’s not. That’s the true test to really see if we have guys in line to fight for bigger championships.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (21-2, 16-0 SOL) will host North Penn in a semifinal game Saturday at 5 p.m., and Neshaminy (14-9, 10-6) will return to action next Friday in an opening round game of the District 1 6A Tournament.
Neshaminy 7-14-11-27 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh 14-10-19-18 61
Neshaminy (59) – Joey Zack 1 0-0 2; Ashton Lovelace 3 0-0 6; Emeer Coombs 7 3-4 20; Guy Horton 4 0-0 10; Sean Curley 3 3-5 10; Nate Townsend 5 1-6 11; Totals 23 7-15 59.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (61) – Jaden Colzie 9 1-4 21; Chase Coleman 4 1-2 9; Ben Marsico 1 0-0 3; Qudire Bennett 6 9-10 22; Lincoln Sharpe 3 0-1 6; TOTALS 23 11-17 61.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Emeer Coombs 3, Guy Horton 2, Sean Curley; PW – Jaden Colzie 2, Ben Marsico, Qudire Bennett.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 67, PENNRIDGE 61
The Patriots didn’t need a scouting report for their opponent in Friday’s SOL Tournament opening round game. They’d already played the Rams twice, winning both games – the first early in the season by a 61-46 score and then eking out a 61-59 win over a much-improved Rams’ squad on Jan. 31.
“It’s difficult,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We just played them, so a lot of the details to the scouting report – it’s just about execution.”
In the opening half, Pennridge’s Matt Campione had the hot hand, torching the Patriots’ defense for 22 points. The Rams took a 35-34 lead into halftime.
“Campione really got it going in the first half – we were struggling with him, and he ended up with 30,” Henrysen said. “With Campione doing what he did in the first half, it kind of throws you into a spot where you need to react and adjust.
“We just tried to deny him the ball a little more in the second half, we tried to limit his touches, but he still was able to find his moments.”
The Patriots also had to deal with some early foul trouble.
“Jake Cummiskey got two fouls in the first quarter, and so we sat him,” Henrysen said. “We kept the game close.
“Coming out in the second half, we were able to get back to playing our style of basketball, but we still found ourselves down four with two minutes to go.”
Henrysen recounts the sequence that put the Patriots ahead for good.
“Jake Cummiskey made a really difficult inside-out reverse layup,” the East coach said. “We come right back out, and Jake and Joey (Giordano) combine for a steal that leads to a Giordano runout. He gets fouled and finishes a 3-point play to put us up one. There was still a bit of time. We went back and forth, but that was the turning point.”
Dhruv Mukund’s 13 points, which included three 3-pointers, led the Patriots while Tyler Dandrea added 12. Cummiskey had 11 points and five rebounds while Giordano also had 10 points, five assists and five rebounds.
In addition Campione’s 30 points, Caden Fisher had 11 points, Tommy Cramer added nine, and Xavier Peters had eight.
Central Bucks East (20-3, 14-2 SOL) will host Upper Dublin in a semifinal game Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
“The beauty of playing right away is – it won’t be a ton of prep, and you have to give your kids bits and pieces but not overload them,” Henrysen said. “It comes down to going out and playing, and sometimes the guys prefer that.”
Pennridge (18-5, 12-4) will return to action Friday in the opening round of the district 1 6A Tournament.
Pennridge 16-19-16-10 61
Central Bucks East 15-19-18-15 67
Pennridge (61) – Matt Campione 30, Tommy Cramer 9, Xavier Peters 8, Ryan Haas 3, Caden Fisher 11.
Central Bucks East (67) – Joey Giordano 10, Jacob Cummiskey 11, Dhruv Mukund 13, Nick Condo 2, Tyler Dandrea 12, Miles Demby 9, Justin DiRoberto 4, Kyle Berndt 6.
3-point goals: Pennridge – Matt Campione 3, Xavier Peters, Ryan Hass, Caden Fisher, Tommy Cramer; CBE – Dhruv Mukund 3, Kyle Berndt 2.
UPPER DUBLIN 71, WILLIAM TENNENT 61
The visiting Flying Cardinals put 25 points on the board in the first quarter of Friday’s game at Tennent, setting the up-tempo pace for a game that – according to coach Derek Brooks – never really slowed down.
“It was a fun one – it was about as fast a paced game as I’ve ever been involved in as a coach,” the UD coach said. “It was so up and down, especially in the first half. They do a really good job of pushing the ball.
“Watching some film, we realized we needed to push the pace a little bit more, so those two things added together – it was more of a track meet than it was a basketball game in that first half. Like most games that start out like that, they usually slow down as the game goes along, but it was a pretty fast game. A fun one, very fun.”
The Cardinals – behind three 3-pointers and 10 points from Brady Fogle – connected on five shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter. DJ Cerisier added seven points, and Colin O’Sullivan completed a four-point play.
“Brady had been struggling a little bit shooting the ball recently, so it was great to see him get off to such a hot start in the first quarter,” Brooks said. “I think any coach would take that start of the game. We made one 3 the rest of the game. Six 3s is good for a game, five in the first quarter is a great start.”
UD led 25-12 after one quarter, but the Panthers have plenty of firepower of their own, and sparked by seven points from Kirby Mooney, they outscored the Cardinals 21-15 in the second quarter. UD took a 40-33 lead into halftime, but the game was far from over.
“We would get a lead of 8-12 points, and they would storm back, and it would be very close,” Brooks said. “We’d get a lead, and they would storm back. They probably made three to four runs throughout the game. We were fortunate to stop the bleeding just enough to hold on to it every time, but they kept coming at us.”
The Cardinals still led by seven (53-46) heading into a fourth quarter that saw the Cards outscore the Panthers 18-15. Fogle connected on 6 of 8 at the foul line in the fourth quarter, and Seaton Kukla had seven points to lead the Cardinals.
“We’ve been struggling at the foul line at times during the year, so it was good for us to step up and knock them down,” Brooks said.
Fogle’s 20 points, which included a 7-for-10 effort at the foul line, led the Cardinals. Kukla added 15 points, and Ryan Mulroy finished with 11. Cerisier added nine points, and O’Sullivan had seven.
“We as a group have been struggling to shoot the ball for the past couple of weeks,” Brooks said. “Once we saw the ball go in at a decent clip, I knew it would relax everybody. Tonight was kind of that night for us.
“I thought Brady (Fogle) was great. Seaton (Kukla) was in foul trouble, but every time he was in the game on offense, he was making an impact, which was great. DJ Cerisier was pushing the tempo phenomenally. He was getting up and down. Ryan Mulroy throughout the game is always contributing in so many different ways. I thought Griffin (Pensabene), Terrell (Turner), Colin (O’Sullivan) – all those guys made plays that helped us. A couple guys scored a lot of points, but really, when you have eight guys in the box score like we did – I thought a lot of guys contributed.”
For the Panthers, Mooney scored a team-high 19 points, which included a 5-for-7 effort at the line and one 3. Evan Devor added 15 points on five 3-pointers – three in the fourth quarter. George Marion added 14 points. Prior to the game, the Panthers accepted the trophy for capturing the SOL Freedom Division title.
Upper Dublin (18-5, 13-3 SOL) will not have a whole lot of time to enjoy the win. The Cardinals will travel to Central Bucks East for Saturday’s semifinal contest at 12:30 p.m.
“These back-to-backs are always crazy,” Brooks said. “You want to watch your own film from tonight’s game, but then you have to prepare for the next team and have to get a game plan together and make sure you’re well rested enough.
“You know what though – it’s fun. I love the Suburban One Tournament. I think it’s great. It’s an opportunity for us to beat William Tennent on the road, beat CB East on the road and then we could have the opportunity to get PW one more time on the road. That would be an awesome team accomplishment to pull it off – you’ve got to do it, but I think it’s great. All the other leagues have tournaments like this, and we have one of the best leagues around. To get eight of the top 24, it’s a lot of fun.”
William Tennent (16-7, 11-5) will return to action in Friday’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament.
Upper Dublin 25-15-13-18 71
William Tennent 12-21-13-15 61
Upper Dublin (71) – DJ Cerisier 4 0-0 9; Ryan Mulroy 4 3-4 11; Brady Fogle 5 7-10 20; Griffin Pensabene 2 0-2 4; Seaton Kukla 7 0-0 15; Terrell Turner 1 1-2 3; Chris Kohlbrenner 1 0-0 2; Colin O’Sullivan 2 2-3 7; Totals 26 13-21 71.
William Tennent (61) – Kirby Mooney 7 5-7 19; Isaiah Dawson 2 0-0 5; George Marion 6 2-2 14; Chris D’Ambra 1 2-2 4; Danny Scheller 1 1-2 3; Evan Devor 5 0-0 15; Totals 22 10-13 61.
3-point goals: UD – Brady Fogle 3, DJ Cerisier, Seaton Kukla, Colin O’Sullivan; WT – Evan Devor 5, Kirby Mooney, Isaiah Dawson.
Non-league
CHELTENHAM 71, PENN WOOD 68
With the season winding down, the Panthers were a long shot to make the District 1 6A Tournament, but even when others had written his team off, coach Patrick Fleury never lost faith.
With good reason.
The Panthers travelled to Lansdowne for a must-win game against a Patriot squad that was 14th in the district rankings with 15 wins, and they rallied from seven down late to earn a win that vaulted Cheltenham from 26th and on the outside looking in to 23rd and very much alive.
“Five years straight in the playoffs,” Cheltenham coach Patrick Fleury said. “We pride ourselves on going to the playoffs. As the athletic director, I was assessing myself – maybe it was time for me to go.
“It’s crazy. We had a game on Jersey over the break, and they flaked on us, so we lost a game. I saw Penn Wood was up there, and generally, they only play 20 or 21 games. I knew they’d want to play us because last year we beat them in the playoffs. To see the guys buy in and just play as hard as they can no matter what the result was – it was pleasant to see. It was just amazing that the guys at this moment decided to come together and not turn on each other or fold.”
Propelled by nine points from Nasir Washington, the Patriots raced out of the gate to a 22-14 lead after one quarter. The Panthers responded with a 26-point second quarter and went into halftime with a 40-38 lead. Josiah Hutson’s 15 points led the Panthers in the half while Washington had 16 for the Patriots.
Penn Wood took a 54-53 lead into the final quarter and led by as many as seven. They still led by two with just over a minute remaining. Hutson – who had seven points in the quarter – buried a pair of huge free throws in the closing seconds.
“The story of the game is they fought,” Fleury said. “It was a dogfight. The kids fought despite the adversity. It was a rough place to play. I don’t think we managed all of the emotions, and that’s part of the game.
“I’m just happy for the senior class. They are the nicest group of kids. If my daughter was of age, I wouldn’t be mad if she dated any one of them. They just fought. I couldn’t be more proud of their fight. Win, lose or draw, it was their willingness to stay together and play together and make the right plays. For me, it was amazing.”
Hutson’s 28 points led the Panthers. Addison-Anderson added 15, and Kamani Healey also finished in double figures with 11.
“Nile Tinsley came off the bench and gave us nine big points, but it was more what he did – stripping the ball and taking charges, and he hit a timely 3,” Fleury said. “Kevin Addison showed up and gave us a strong 15. There were just so many people. Xavier Thompson came in and missed a free throw, grabbed the rebound with about four seconds and went back up. He got fouled and sank 1 of 2 extended the lead to three. He just was a monster inside for us, rebounding and finishing.
“The kids played together, and at this time of year, that’s what it’s about. We have to play for our team and our community. We struggled obviously throughout the year. This is not the year we wanted or expected, but to fight at a moment and a time and a place like that – I think our community should be proud. They represented themselves as best as they can. It was more so about us fighting and sticking to what we know we can do and just continually pushing forward.”
Cheltenham (12-10, 10-6 SOL) – based on the latest power rankings – will return to action in the District 1 6A Tournament on Friday.
Cheltenham 14-26-13-18 71
Penn Wood 22-16-16-14 68
Cheltenham (71) – Josiah Hutson 10 4-8 28; Yakeen Respes 1 0-2 2; Kamani Healey 3 3-4 11; Kevin Addison-Anderson 7 0-0 15; Osei Johnson 0 1-2 1; Malik Hughes 0 0-2 0; Nile Tinsley 4 0-0 9; Xavier Thompson 2 1-2 5; Totals 27 9-20 71.
Penn Wood (68) – Nasir Washington 11 1-2 26; Anthony Murray 2 3-3 7; Sadiq Fountain 1 3-5 5; Mekhi Shillingford 3 6-14 12; Kivaleon Clarke 4 0-0 9; Jadyen Thompson 0 1-2 1; Donald Hairston 3 0-0 6; Prestin Washington 1 0-0 2; Totals 25 14-26 68.
3-point goals: Cheltenham – Josiah Hutson 4, Kamani Healey 2, Kevin Addison-Anderson, Nile Tinsley; PW – Nasir Washington 3, Kivaleon Clarke.
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