Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. PW/Upper Dublin photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f582224377
SOL Liberty Division
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 66, UPPER DUBLIN 39
It’s official.
The Colonials clinched sole possession of their third straight SOL Liberty Division title with Thursday’s convincing win over an Upper Dublin squad that brought a 13-game winning streak into the contest.
“We’ve gone through a series of games where we’ve been good but not great,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said. “It really fun to see – our guys seem to know when to put the whole thing together, and that’s a sign of a team that we can start talking about doing something more now.
“Upper Dublin is doing a great job. They have competitive guys. You can tell – they believe in each other, they’re playing well as a team, but it’s not about that. It’s about speed and precision. We’re a notch above right now. The biggest thing is – what do you do with that?”
What they did with it on Thursday night was dominate a UD squad that shared the division crown with PW last year.
“I can’t tell with these guys – they’re so laidback, but you could tell in the first two minutes – ‘Okay, we’re following the plan right now,’ and they followed it almost the whole night,” Donofrio said.
The Colonials led by just a 9-7 score after one quarter but – behind 10 points from Jaden Colzie – outscored the Cardinals 19-10 in the second to go into halftime with a 28-17 lead.
“The matchup zone they play is terrific, and it’s something we have to keep working at,” Donofrio said. “We always play so differently home and away with them, and we were over there in our first time around and just dribbling over half court and shooting (in a 57-51 win). No thinking.
“With one day to prepare for this, trust me, it was highly stressful hoping we would figure it out offensively, and defensively, we had a lot of hiccoughs, so this was a big sign. Our defense was just locking in, talking and swarming. Very little trapping, which we’re known to do. That’s why I’m intrigued. We don’t have to go to that fifth gear very often.”
Chase Coleman and Qudire Bennett stole the spotlight in a 23-point third quarter. Coleman scored 10 of his game-high 23 points while Bennett added eight. The Colonials took a 51-29 lead into the fourth quarter on their way to the impressive win.
“The focus of Jaden Colzie – Jaden played a terrific game. Chase Coleman and Qudire Bennett and really, the whole starting five just bought into a game plan yesterday of how to defend their multiple moves,” said Donofrio of a starting five that also included Jahseir Sayles and Lincoln Sharpe. “They’re starting to buy into the idea – if someone gets a nice play, that’s great. Enjoy it later, keep playing, keep the energy up, keep the discipline up.
“That’s the only way you can do something special. You cannot relax, and we’re getting there, but to have the league title on the line and a huge crowd and it was Senior Night – not many teams have come into our place over the years – when there’s a meaningful game on the line, we’ve been pretty successful.”
Coleman led three Colonials in double figures with 23 – 17 in the second half. Colzie added 18 points, and Bennett finished with 15. Sayles added six points on a pair of 3s.
“It’s a night where you’re playing to secure the league title,” Donofrio said. “It’s Senior Night, so you have all of this emotion kicked in and the biggest crowd of the year. Our place is a bigger place, so the noise level – our guys fed off that, and that was good experience for us for a playoff situation because you can’t really hear.”
For the Cardinals, Ryan Mulroy and Griffin Pensabene led the way with eight points while Chris Kohlbrenner added six.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (19-2, 15-0 SOL) will close out its regular season Tuesday at Wissahickon. Upper Dublin (16-5, 12-3) will close its regular season with a home game against Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 7-10-12-10 39
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9-19-23-15 66
Upper Dublin (39) – DJ Cerisier 2 0-0 4; Ryan Mulroy 4 0-1 8; Brady Fogle 1 2-2 4; Seaton Kukla 1 0-0 2; Chris Kohlbrenner 3 0-0 6; Griffin Pensabene 3 0-0 8; Terrell Turner 2 0-0 4; Colin O’Sullivan 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 17 2-3 39.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (66) – Jaden Colzie 7 3-5 18; Jimmy Flowers 1 0-0 2; Chase Coleman 10 2-2 23; Qudire Bennett 6 3-3 15 Jahseir Sayles 2 0-0 6; Lincoln Sharpe 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 27 8-10 66.
3-point goals: UD – Griffin Pensabene 2, Colin O’Sullivan; PW – Jahseir Sayles 2, Jaden Colzie, Chase Coleman.
Non-league
ABINGTON 61, PALUMBO 43
The Ghosts kept their district playoff hopes alive, notching a decisive non-league road win over Palumbo. They set the tone early, opening up a 17-5 lead after one quarter. They extended that to 32-15 by halftime and never looked back.
Jeremiah Lee led all scorers with 20 points and also had five rebounds and five steals.
A pair of players – Damon Rawls and Kamari Brasher – both had career highs Thursday.
Rawls, the Ghosts’ point guard, scored 12 points, which included two 3-pointers and a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line. He also had two steals and four assists.
Brasher was inserted into the starting lineup in the absence of Josh Young, and he finished with a double-double that included a career-high 12 points and 16 rebounds. The 16 rebounds represented the most by an Abington player since the 2018-19 season when Eric Dixon had 17 against Wissahickon. Brasher also had four blocked shots to complete a dazzling stat line.
Kellen Ingram was the fourth Ghost in double figures with 11 points. Paul Glants contributed five assists
The Ghosts connected on 20-of-47 shots from the field (42.5 percent). They were 4-for-10 from beyond the arc (40 percent). The Ghosts were 17-for-28 from the foul line, but after connecting on just 7-of-16 in the first half, they buried 10-of-12 in the second half.
Abington (10-10 8-6 SOL) – 22nd in the latest power rankings – will travel to Wissahickon on Friday.
Abington 17-15-17-12 61
Palumbo 5-10-14-14 43
Abington (61) – Damon Rawls 3 4-4 12; Jeremiah Lee 6 6-11 20; Paul Glants 0 3-4 3; Kellen Ingram 5 1-5 11; Kamari Brasher 6 0-0 12; Lathan Miller 0 3-4 3; TOTALS 20 17-28 61.
Palumbo (43) – Samad Torrence 2 0-0 5; Jayson Love 5 1-1 14; Ayyub Noble 5 3-4 13; Uthaymin Laws 1 0-1 3; Jaleel Drummond 0 1-3 1; Omar Hutchings 1 0-0 2; Mohamed Diallo 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 16 5-9 43.
3-point goals: Abington – Damon Rawls 2, Jeremiah Lee 2; Palumbo – Jayson Love 3, Samad Torrence, Uthaymin Laws, Mohamed Diallo.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 49, MORRISVILLE 35
The visiting Indians opened up a 13-6 lead after one quarter and stretched that to 29-13 by halftime on their way to the non-league win. Adam Mahtat’s nine first-half points led the Indians.
Oliver Schaefer scored 10 points – including a pair of 3s – to lead the Indians balanced attack. He scored all his points in the second half. Mahtat finished with nine points while Vaughn Vanderslice contributed eight, and Micah Oxley had seven points in a contest that saw nine Indians put points on the board.
“It was a good team win,” CR North assistant Tyler Sessa-Reeves said. “Everyone contributed and stepped up when their name was called.”
Council Rock North (11-9, 7-7 SOL) will travel to Neshaminy on Friday.
Council Rock North 13-16-10-10 49
Morrisville 6-7-13-9 35
Council Rock North (49) – Oliver Schaefer 2 4-4 10; Vaughn Vanderslice 3 2-2 8; Tyler Rodowicz 0 1-2 1; Cole McCarthy 2 0-0 4; Micah Oxley 1 4-4 7; Adam Mahtat 4 1-3 9; Jack Blum 1 2-2 5; Luke Blum 0 3-4 3; Brendan Green 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 17-21 49.
Morrisville (35) – Josh Ruiz 1 0-0 3; Raymond Holman 5 1-1 11; Shariff Urquart 1 0-0 2; Bari Santana 2 0-0 4; Alex Brown 1 0-0 2; Shakur Dismukes 3 2-2 8; Ali Santana 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 15 3-3 35.
3-point goals: CRN – Oliver Schaefer 2, Micah Oxley, Jack Blum; Morrisville – Ali Santana, Josh Ruiz.
HOLY GHOST PREP 56, HATBORO-HORSHAM 46
The Hatters trailed the visiting Firebirds by just a 28-23 score at halftime, but they were doomed by a third quarter that saw them score just six points, allowing Holy Ghost to open up a 42-29 advantage on their way to the non-league win.
Kyle Dittus led a balanced Hatter attack with 11 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Noah Schlosser added nine points, and Matt Wingen and Kenny Lutz both had six points. Lutz scored all of his points at the foul line where he was 6-for-8.
Mel Lindsey’s 14 points – which included three 3s – led the Firebirds. He scored 11 of his points in the first half. Gavin McLaughlin added nine points, six in the final quarter.
Hatboro-Horsham (6-15, 5-9 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Friday.
Holy Ghost Prep 14-14-14-14 56
Hatboro-Horsham 13-10-6-17 46
Holy Ghost Prep (56) – Noah McDermott 2 4-4 8; Gavin McLaughlin 4 0-1 9; Adrien Varella 2 0-4 6; Dasani McNeely 0 2-4 2; Spencer Wert 2 0-2 4; Mel Lindsey 5 1-2 14; Colin Lucas 3 1-2 7; Colin Todd 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 21 8-20 56.
Hatboro-Horsham (46) – Jake Grier 1 0-0 2; Noah Schlosser 4 0-2 9; Kyle Dittus 3 3-4 11; Matt Wingen 3 1-1 7; Jack Joyce 1 0-0 3; Kenny Lutz 0 6-8 6; Shane Phillips 1 0-0 2; Mason Bynum 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 16 10-15 46.
3-point goals: Holy Ghost – Mel Lindsey 3, Adrien Varella 2, Gavin McLaughlin; HH – Kyle Dittus 2, Jack Joyce, Noah Schlosser.
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