Upper Dublin & CB West were winners in Saturday’s SOL Tournament and will meet in Tuesday’s championship game at Holy Family University. CB West/CB East photos courtesy of Jon Sklut & Upper Dublin/Abington photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f716903222
SOL Tournament (Semifinals)
#1 UPPER DUBLIN 58, #5 ABINGTON 41
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to 12 games, and they did it in impressive fashion, winning by double digits for the ninth time in the streak.
Saturday’s win vaulted the Cards into Tuesday’s SOL Tournament Championship game against Central Bucks West, a 59-49 winner over second-ranked Central Bucks East in the other semifinal.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” UD coach Derek Brooks said. “We’re playing our best basketball. We keep hearing things – this team doesn’t think we’re that good, that team doesn’t think we’re good, and It’s honestly great for us because we just keep using it as motivation. We get to go out there and prove it. We’re kind of excited for Tuesday to prove we’re the best team in the SOL.”
The Ghosts led 6-2 early. It turned out to be their last hurrah. The Cards – behind eight points from Brady Fogle – rallied to go on top 16-15 by the end of the quarter. They turned up the defense, and the Ghosts managed just four points in the second quarter as UD opened up a 28-19 halftime lead.
“They were up early, so we weathered a little bit of the early storm,” Brooks said. “Our pressure worked. We sped them up into some quick shots, we were able to get rebounds. I thought we executed a lot of our sets well early on.
“Both teams played last night very fast-paced, intense games, and today was going to be about who’s the team that’s mentally and physically tough enough to push through this fatigue and focus and want it a lot, and I thought our guys did a great job of that the first half.”
The Ghosts’ offensive struggles continued in the third quarter as they scored just five points – all from the foul line while the Cardinals upped their lead to 40-24 heading into the final quarter.
“In the second half against these guys a week ago, we didn’t close how we needed to,” Brooks said of his team’s 61-58 win over the Ghosts. “We talked about how we needed to be aggressive defensively. Abington is so physical and so athletic that if they get down, they just flip a switch, and their pressure picks up, and they’re running and they’re attacking the basket, and if you’re on your heels, you’re in trouble, so we had to make sure we were prepared for it.
“We weren’t perfect, but for the most part, we were pretty good. We just never let them get on a significant run, and once they got five fouls in the quarter, we were able to continue to knock down our free throws and we did a good job of it.”
The Cardinals connected on 14 of 16 at the foul line in the fourth quarter. Idris Rines was 4-for-4 at the line and scored six points in the quarter to lead UD.
Rines and Ryan Mulroy led a balanced Cardinal attack with 12 points each. Fogle and Noah Cohen both had nine points, and Anthony Oliviera-Schultze contributed six points.
The win represented the consummate team effort for UD.
“Kobe (Bazemore) and Chris (Kohlbrenner) were really good defensively at the top of our defense today – we ran our
matchup zone,” Brooks said. “Idris Rines was rock solid on offense and defense today. He had some really big buckets for us on offense.
“Ryan Mulroy, as always the best player on the floor, delivers that offensive and defensive effort, attacking the basket rebounding, defense. He deserves credit for taking – it wasn’t called a charge, but it was a great charge take. Noah Cohen made some really big plays off the bench for us. He had one of the better plays of the first half with a steal, and then he gathered himself and buried a 3. It was a huge momentum swing.”
For the Ghosts, Jake Manigault’s 10 points led the way. Miller Latham added nine, and Jaden Flournoy had eight.
Upper Dublin (21-3, 15-1 SOL) will face Central Bucks West in Tuesday’s title game at Holy Family University at 7:30 p.m. Brooks will see a familiar face on the Bucks’ bench.
“I coached at CB West under Sherman – he does a great job,” the UD coach said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun on Tuesday.”
Abington (18-6, 12-4) will return to action in the opening round of the district tournament Friday.
Abington 15-4-5-17 41
Upper Dublin 16-12-12-18 58
Abington (41) – Damon Rawls 0 1-2 1; Lathan Miller 3 2-2 9; Jaden Flournoy1 0-2 3; Jeremiah Lee 2 4-6 8; Jake Manigault 3 4-4 10; Paul Glants 1 0-0 2; Lamar Pittman 1 0-0 2; Kellen Ingram 1 0-0 2; Xander Grasty 1 2-2 4; Dave Phillips 0 0-2 0; TOTALS 13 13-20 41.
Upper Dublin (58) – Kobe Bazemore 2 1-2 5; Chris Kohlbrenner 0 2-2 2; Brady Fogle 3 3-4 9; Ryan Mulroy 3 6-6 12; Idris Rines 4 4-6 12; Noah Cohen 3 2-2 9; Brandon Altman 0 1-2 1; Anthony Oliviera-Schultze 3 0-0 6, J Castronuovo 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 18 21-26 58
3-point goals: Abington – Miller Lathan, Jaden Flournoy; UD – Noah Cohen
#6 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 59, #2 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49
The Bucks are no stranger to the SOL Tournament. As a matter of fact, they won it in 2016, upending an Eric Dixon-led Abington squad 39-34.
On Tuesday night, the Bucks will once again be playing for the SOL crown when they take on Upper Dublin at Holy Family University, thanks to Saturday’s win over the SOL Colonial champion Patriots.
“It’s different – back then only four teams made it to the SOL playoffs,” said West coach Adam Sherman. “It builds up the drama more with eight teams. It makes it a more difficult thing to do. You have to win three in a row in order to win it, so it really makes it more difficult. I think it actually raises the stakes a little bit, and it makes it more exciting.”
The Bucks’ coach was curious what the East-West rivalry game would be like at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night without the school day to get everyone pumped. Turns out he was pleasantly surprised.
“It was better than during the regular season,” Sherman said. “It was a nice crowd. It had old CB East/West vibes to it. It was decent student sections and a lot of community. It was nice.”
Saturday’s contest was the third meeting between the neighboring rivals. The Patriots won the early season meeting (59-45), and the Bucks won the rematch (67-61).
Defense has been the Bucks’ calling card under Sherman, and that defense was on display in a first quarter that saw the Patriots manage just two foul shots. The Bucks weren’t exactly lighting it up but led 7-2.
“I just thought we were locked in defensively,” Sherman said. “The guys were really focused on defending. There was a lot of attention to detail on player tendencies. The guys did a nice job of making it difficult for them.”
West took a 16-11 lead into halftime and extended that to 33-23 heading into a final quarter that saw both squads erupt for 26 points. The Patriots made things interesting, but the Bucks responded with some clutch plays.
“They cut it down to three, and (Roman) Kulesa hit a big 3 and then Bowen Gugger had a huge finish at the rim that got it up to eight” Sherman said. “Julian Phillips had a nice and-one finish, and then we were able to hit some free throws.”
The Bucks were 13-for-19 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Matt Engle – who had seven points in the quarter – was 5-for-6 from the line. Kulesa had nine points in the quarter and was 4-for-4 at the line while Phillips had six points and connected on 4 of 5 from the stripe.”
Phillips’ 17 points led the Bucks and included three 3-pointers while Kulesa added 14 points with a pair of 3s. Engle and Sam Jankowski both had nine points and Bowen Gugger added eight.
“I thought Roman Kulesa played great defense on (Jake) Cummiskey – held him to zero points in the first half and made him work really hard for every bucket,” Sherman said. “Julian Phillips led us in scoring, but I was really proud of the way he defended. I thought he defended (Tyler) Dandrea really well and really made him work hard.”
For the Patriots, Jake Cummiskey led the way with 13 points – nine in the fourth quarter. Dhruv Mukund added 11 points, Bryce Lolas had nine on three 3-pointers, and Tyler Dandrea had eight – all in the fourth quarter. Miles Demby added six points.
Central Bucks West (18-6, 10-6 SOL) will face Upper Dublin in Tuesday’s title game at Holy Family University at 7:30 p.m. Sherman will be going against a former assistant – Upper Dublin coach Derek Brooks.
Central Bucks East (18-6, 12-4) will return to action Friday in the opening round of the district tournament.
Central Bucks West 7-9-17-26 59
Central Bucks East 2-9-12-26 49
Central Bucks West (59) – Matt Engle 1 7-8 9; Bowen Gugger 3 2-6 8; Roman Kulesa 4 4-4 14; Sam Jankowski 4 1-1 9; Julian Phillips 5 4-5 17; Dan Gallagher 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 18 18-24 59
Central Bucks East (49) – Jake Cummiskey 4 4-4 13; Tyler Dandrea 2 3-3 8; Dhruv Mukund 4 2-2 11; Miles Demby 1 4-5 6; Bryce Lolas 3 0-0 9; Anthony Molnar 1 0-0 2; 15 13-16 49.
3-point goals: CBW – Julian Phillips 3, Roman Kulesa 2; CBE – Bryce Lolas 3, Jake Cummiskey, Tyler Dandrea, Dhruv Mukund.
Non-league
EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 73, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 51
The Churchmen put on quite an offensive show, connecting on 17 shots from beyond the arc – six in a 24-point first quarter. The Indians – who were led by the 20-point effort of Grady Burt – had seven 3s of their own but couldn’t match Episcopal’s torrid offensive showing.
“It was a great experience for our guys to compete against a team playing for an Inter-Ac championship,” Rock North coach Derek Wright said. “It was Ethan Neels’ and Tyler Rodowicz’s last high school game. They represented our program so well, and we appreciate their contributions to our program.”
Despite its explosive first quarter, Episcopal led by just five, 24-19. The Churchmen extended their lead in a second quarter that saw them outscore the Indians 19-9 to go into halftime with a 43-28 lead on their way to the non-league win.
Included in Burt’s 20-point effort were a pair of 3-pointers. Oliver Schaefer added 13 points – nine in the first quarter. Josh Erman also had a pair of 3s in his eight points.
A young Council Rock North squad closed out its season with a 6-16 record overall.
Episcopal Academy 24-19-12-18 73
Council Rock North 19-9-14-9 51
Episcopal Academy (73) – Tyler Beaulieu 2 1-2 7; Matt McCarthy 1 0-0 2; Langston Foster 3 1-2 9; Murilo Pereira 3 0-0 9; Gage Cunningham 2 0-0 5; Reggie King 6 3-3 19; Kevin McCarthy 5 0-0 13; Calvin Szoradi 1 0-0 2; Aaron Tang 3 0-0 7; totals 26 5-7 73
Council Rock North (51) – Grady Burt 9 0-0 20; Oliver Schaefer 6 0-2 13; Ted Curry 1 0-0 3; Josh Erman 2 2-2 8; Tyler Rodowicz 1 2-2 5; Andrew O’Keeffe 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 20 4-6 51.
3-point goals: EA –Reggie King 4, Kevin McCarthy 3, Murilo Pereira 3, Tyler Beaulieu 2, Langston Foster 2, Gage Cunningham, Aaron Tang; CRN – Josh Erman 2, Grady Burt 2, Oliver Schaefer, Jack Curry, Tyler Rodowicz.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 47, BRISTOL 43
About the Author
