Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. CB East/NP photos provided courtesy of Tracy Valko. Upper Moreland/Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Jon Sklut, and Pennridge/Pennsbury photos provided courtesy of Tom Shewbrooks. Check back for galleries of all three games. CB West/CB South photo provided courtesy of Marge Bullock (http://www.margebullock.com/ )
SOL Colonial
Central Bucks East 57, North Penn 46
Jack Hamilton scored 16 points to go with eight rebounds and three blocks, as Central Bucks East inched closer to clinching the SOL Colonial Division championship and avenged a previous loss to North Penn this season.
“This has been a strange few weeks,” said Patriots coach Erik Henrysen. “We were shut down for 10 days, then got three practices in only to have two snow days off. We went into the Bensalem game and the rust showed. We had off the next day because it was Sunday and then yesterday we have another snow day.
“We were able to get in a virtual film session and highlighted a few things we know we could improve on last night. Today we had a leak in the gym that jeopardized the game. Before the season we talked about being resilient and flexible. That is really coming to fruition.
“Tonight was a huge win for us. North Penn ended our season last year and they knocked us off in OT at their place this year. We really wanted this one.”
East led 15-14 after one and then held North Penn to just six points in the second quarter and nine in the third to extend the lead.
“I thought our defensive effort was the difference this time,” Henrysen said. “We did a much better job defending in transition and controlling the glass. Josh Jones is such a good player. He scored 23 and I thought we did a great job on him. Aidan Weaver and Jack Hamilton really made him work.”
Joe Jackman finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three steals for the Patriots, while Jacob Cummiskey had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals.
“Hamilton was assertive offensively as well,” Henrysen said. “He was aggressive driving the ball to the basket. He finished at the rim and did a great job distributing.
“We were able to get out in transition. Joe Jackman and Jacob Cummiskey have a knack for getting to the rim and are really tough when they get down hill.
“It was our Senior Night so it was a nice night for our 6 seniors. Jackman, Hamilton, Brendan Harte, Jason Markowitz, Shane Kennedy and Anthony Giordano have had such a huge impact on our program. Their impact will last long after they are gone. Giordano is out for the season and he hasn’t missed a practice. They are a special group.”
North Penn was led by Jones’ 23 points, while Billy Coley chipped in with 13.
With the win, CB East is now 6-1 in the conference (9-1 overall) three games up in the loss column on North Penn, Pennridge and CB South with three games remaining. The Patriots are No. 1 in the District One Class 6A power rankings. East plays at Neshaminy on Thursday.
North Penn (10-5, 6-4 SOL) plays at Upper Dublin on Monday.
Central Bucks East 57, North Penn 46
North Penn 14 6 9 17 – 46
CB East 15 15 15 12 – 57
North Penn (46) – Joey Larkins 2, Billy Coley 13, Josh Jones 23, Ryan Zeltt 5, Wright 3
CB East (57) – Jacob Cummiskey 10, Brendan Harte 7, Aidan Weaver 4, Joe Jackman 14, Jack Hamilton 16, Jason Markowitz 3, Shane Kennedy 3
3-point goals: NP-Jones 3, Coley 1, Zeltt 1; CBE-Kennedy, Markowitz
Central Bucks West 44, Central Bucks South 43 (OT)
John Lee turned a pass from Donte Mancini into a 3-pointer with eight seconds left in overtime and Central Bucks West pulled off the upset and easily its biggest win of the season. The Bucks dealt Central Bucks South a costly defeat doing so.
“The kids have had a good attitude, they’ve worked hard and are constantly trying to get better,” said Bucks coach Adam Sherman. “We’re starting to see growth that hopefully we’d see in the fall and summer. This is a really young group. There’s only two seniors in the program. On the varsity, we have a freshman, sophomores and juniors seeing a lot of time and they’re learning as they go. We’re all learning from our mistakes, playing better basketball and especially playing better on the defensive end.”
Michael Fountain led West with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Lee had four 3s, 12 points and the game winner.
“We started off slow; it was 8- or 10-0 to start the game,” Sherman said. “But we crawled our way back in the game and from the second quarter on it was anyone’s game. There were a whole bunch of lead changes.”
The Bucks, according to Sherman, had a chance to win the game in regulation.
“Donte Mancini had a shot that rimmed out,” the Bucks’ coach said. “In overtime, we were the first team to score, but they were up two at the free throw line. Their kid missed the free throw, Joe Gallagher got the rebound with 20 seconds left. Donte Mancini drives in the lane and kicks it out to John Lee for the 3 with eight seconds left.”
Michael Farley scored 16 to lead CB South, while Jay Macalindong added eight. The Titans (7-5, 5-4 SOL) are currently in the No. 15 spot in the District One power rankings. They play nonleague at Council Rock North on Friday. CB West (3-11, 3-6 SOL) plays at Harry S. Truman on Wednesday.
Central Bucks West 44, Central Bucks South 43 (OT)
CB West (44) – Fountain 13, Lee 12, Mancini 9, Engle 5, Martino 3, Gallagher 2
Central Bucks South (43) – Michael Farley 16, Tyler Meinel 4, Bryan Delara 3, Owen Petrich 4, Jay Macalindong 8, Nate Macalindong 3, Evan D’Orazio 5
SOL Freedom Division
Cheltenham 64, Lower Moreland 50
Saleem Payne scored 19 points, as Cheltenham shook off a very slow start and pulled away in the second half for the 14-point win on Senior Night over Lower Moreland.
“The kids played very well,” said Panthers coach Patrick Fleury. “All five senior started. Keeon Healey got to play with his brother, Kamani, and that was special. Brandon Hawkins and Mike McClain had good games. Jack Klebanoff and Chris Harmon-Belcher gave us good minutes. We were excited to be back in the gym.”
Lower Moreland led 15-11 after one quarter and 24-18 at halftime, but the second half was a different story as Cheltenham outscored the Lions 46-22.
“Lower Moreland played very well,” Fleury said. “Our guys were not in sync early, and that’s a testament to the reality of us needing to realize how important practice is in the time we get and moving forward. We had a way better second half when we went back to normal rotations.”
Payne also added five assists to his game-high 19 points. Brandon Hawkins and Mike McClain added 13 points each. Hawkins also had three assists and a block while McClain had three steals. Elias Walker had eight rebounds and Keeon Heely and Justin Savage seven rebounds each. Savage also had a pair of blocks.
Lack of practice time due to a recent string of bad weather has hurt Cheltenham like it has many teams.
“We were off for five days,” Fleury said. “We had a game, then there were snow days, and we can’t practice if school is closed, so they probably weren’t in the gym since last Tuesday or Wednesday, and you could tell. We practice tomorrow, which is good. It was good to get back, but with COVID, the lack of practice is an obstacle for all teams.
“Usually at the time of year, you practice Saturday, you’re off Sunday. You practice Monday, you play Tuesday, you practice, practice and then a game. Now it’s like game, school closed, school closed, game. It’s hard to get a consistent flow within a game.”
Cheltenham (10-0, 9-0 SOL) is currently in the No. 2 position in the District One Class 6A power rankings. The Panathers play at Upper Dublin on Thursday.
Lower Moreland (2-6, 2-6 SOL), which was led by Justin Sandler’s 13 points, hosts Springfield on Thursday.
Cheltenham 64, Lower Moreland 50
Lower Moreland 15-9-13-13 50
Cheltenham 11-7-24-22 64
Lower Moreland (50) – Ian Alecia 3, Justin Sandler 13, Brian Grant 5, Matt Ernst 8, Braden Alecia 8, John Kroll 4, Jack Donkey 6, Joey Morrison 6.
Cheltenham (64) – Rasheem Dearry 3, Brandon Hawkins 13, Elias Walker 4, Keeon Healey 4, Saleem Payne 19, Justin Savage 5, Ife West-Ingram 3, Mike McClain 13
Nonleague
Neshaminy 38, William Tennent 33
It wasn’t pretty offensively, but Neshaminy turned it on in the second half and regrouped after a loss to Pennridge on Saturday with a five-point nonleague win over William Tennent on Tuesday.
“We came out rusty in the first half shooting the ball, but our defense kept us in it,” said Neshaminy coach Mark Tingle. “We started shooting a little better in the second half and were able to continue playing good defense, holding (Tennent) to 14 points in the second half.”
Tennent led 19-17 at the half, but an 11-4 third quarter turned the tide in Neshaminy’s favor. The Panthers managed just one field goal in that quarter, and standout forward Derrik Cosenza, who finished with a game-high 20 points, was held scoreless in the third.
Jake McGinty had seven steals, five deflected passes and drew a charge to lead the Neshaminy defensive effort. Offensively, Jimmy MacDonald scored 10 of his team-high 14 points in the second half. Matt Drapkin and Mike Murray had seven points each for the game.
Neshaminy (11-2 overall), already winners of the SOL Patriot Division, currently sit in the No. 3 position in the District One power rankings and play No. 1 Central Bucks East in a nonleague game on Thursday.
Tennent (9-6 overall) is currently No. 21 in the Class 6A rankings in what will be a 20-team district playoff field. The Panthers play at Bensalem on Saturday.
Neshaminy 38, William Tennent 33
Tennent 12 7 4 10 – 33
Neshaminy 6 11 11 10 – 38
Tennent (33) – Matt Miller 1 0-0 2; Jay Stanfield 1 2-2 4; Michale Scheller 0 3-4 3; Derrick Cosenza 9 2-4 20; Ryan Emmerich 1 0-0 2; McAnulty 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 7-10 33.
Neshaminy (38) – Jimmy MacDonald 7 0-0 14; Jake McGinty 2 0-1 4; Matt Drapkin 2 2-3 7;l Mike Murray 1 5-6 7; Sean Curley 2 0-0 6. Totals 14 7-10 38.
3-point goals: N-Drapkin 1, Curley 2
New Hope-Solebury 59, Quakertown 43
Alex Walinski hit four 3-pointers and scored 22 points, as New Hope-Solebury started quickly in this one and pulled away for a 16-point nonleague win over Quakertown.
“Alex was great; it was his most efficient game of the year,” said Lions coach Derek Brooks. “I thought it was probably his best all-around game – offense and defense. I think he was the most engaged and made a lot of good passes, he was ready to shoot, took the shots confidently, knocked a lot of them down. He was really good.”
New Hope jumped ahead 18-5 after one quarter and that lead was 32-17 at halftime.
“Our guys shot the ball with confidence, and they did not hesitate,” Brooks said. “We had 18 points in the first quarter, by far our highest of the season. We had 32 at halftime and finished with 59. All these are season highs. Our guys were ready to shoot. We made a lot of good passes.
“We had a good shooting night which doesn’t always happen, but I thought they shot to make and were not hesitant, so that was good to see.”
Aside from Walinski’s 22, Will Albano scored 13 for the Lions, while Phil Weinseimer chipped in with 10 points and Bryan Dougherty added eight.
“Will Albano actually got hurt in the third quarter, so he had 13 through three quarters,” Brooks said. “He started off the game phenomenally. He might have missed one or two shots the whole game. He was one of the kids that was ready to shoot and shot with confidence. It was huge. Phil (Weinseimer) and Bryan Dougherty also chipped in as well, so it was a good team effort offensively.”
“We’re starting to click a little bit. We started off 0-5 and now we’re 5-5 in our last 10. I think the guys understand what we’re trying to do. Defensively, we’ve been really good for a while now. I think this was our best game of the year. Things are on the up and up.”
New Hope (5-10 overall) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
Jack Gordon had four 3-pointers and a team-high 14 points for Quakertown (1-14 overall), which hosts Holy Ghost Prep in a nonleague game on Friday.
New Hope-Solebury 59, Quakertown 43
Quakertown 5 12 9 12 – 43
New Hope 18 14 12 16 – 59
Quakertown (43) – Kayden Roley 1 1-4 3; Jack Gordon 5 0-0 14; Luke Bauer 3 0-0 7; Ty Wilkin 2 2-2 6; Ozzy Grimmage 2 0-1 4; Zach Fondl 4 0-0 8; Brendan Ruzicka 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 4-9 43.
New Hope-Solebury (59) – Charlie Albano 0 1-2 1; Alex Walinski 6 6-9 22; Phil Weinseimer 5 0-2 10; Bryan Dougherty 3 2-2 8; Will Albano 5 0-0 13; Chris Kolen 2 0-0 5. Totals 21 9-15 59.
3-point goals: Q-Gordon 4, Bauer 1; NHS-Walinski 4, W. Albano 3, Chris Kolen.
Upper Moreland 63, Upper Dublin 37
Defense was the difference, especially on the perimeter for Upper Moreland as the Golden Bears started quickly and knocked off the Flying Cardinals in a nonleague game on Tuesday night.
“They have Drew Stover, and he’s a very, very good big man,” UM coach Dan Heiland said about the Cardinals. “We knew we had to not stop him, but maintain him. He’s going to get his, but we couldn’t allow anyone else to hurt us.”
Playing a man-to-man defense, Heiland said his team’s perimeter defense was outstanding, led by Jahaire Johnson, Jourdan Gregg and Byron Hopkins.
“We primarily played man tonight,” Heiland said. “Going into it, I thought we had the better matchup as far as guard play. We wanted to pressure them on the perimeter, and when they got the ball to Drew, dig down on him, make him kick out and not get easy layups. He had 23 points tonight, but he earned all 23. That was our mentality, as long as he doesn’t get easy points, we’ll be in good shape.”
Offensively, Gregg led UM with 19 points, while McKie Walker scored 14, Johnson 12 and Matt Tiernan 11 points.
“It was a great game overall offensively for us as well,” Heiland said. “We were making good decisions, running our sets, and making extra passes.
“It was a very good overall team win. When we play our style like that we’re a real tough team to beat.”
UM (10-3) hosts Hatboro-Horsham on Friday. The Bears currently sit at No. 5 in the District One Class 5A power rankings. Upper Dublin (9-6), which next hosts Cheltenham on Thursday, is No. 16 in Class 6A.
Upper Moreland 63, Upper Dublin 37
Upper Dublin 11 7 10 9 – 37
Upper Moreland 19 10 16 18 – 63
Upper Dublin (37) – Drew Stover 11 1-3 23, Pensabene 1 2-2 4; Kukla 1 1-2 3; O’Sullivan 1 0-0 2; D.J. Cersier 2 0-0 5. Totals 16 4-7 47.
Upper Moreland (63) – Justin Sanders 1 0-0 2; Byron Hopkins 2 0-0 5; Jahaire Johnson 5 0-0 10; Jourdan Gregg 7 1-2 17; McKie Walker 6 2-2 14; Jeremy Harmer 1 0-0 2; Matt Tiernan 4 3-4 11. Totals 26 6-8 63
3-point goals: Cersier 1; UM-Hopkins 1, Gregg 2
Pennridge 61, Pennsbury 58
Pennridge shot 57 percent from the field and 70 percent from 3-point range, and the Rams were able to pull out this nonleague win on Tuesday.
The Rams were 23-for-40 from the field and 7-for-10 beyond the arc, most of that coming from sophomore Matt Campione, who went 5-for-5 on his 3-point attempts, on the way to 17 points for the game.
“You talk about a diamond in the rough,” said Rams coach Dean Behrens. “If you told me he was going to play varsity this year, I would have said there’s no way. We didn’t have an offseason. He played for the freshman team, and we liked him as a freshman. We looked at him as a nice 10th-grader who would probably get a lot of minutes on the JV, and hopefully as a junior, he would be a good player for us.
“What’s nice is he’s extended the floor. We’re not a team that bombs 3-pointers, which is good about our group. We do what we do well, and we don’t try to do things we’re not good at. For us to shoot 30 3s a game would be a terrible idea. Matt has now created a situation where we can extend the floor a little bit because (Colin) Post and (Luke) Yoder can really get to the basket in a hurry, and Colin Monahan can play inside and outside. He’s a dual threat from the perimeter and the inside.
“Now Matt (Campione) – all of a sudden, you’ve got to now decide how you’re going to defend him, and that’s really benefited us. The boys seem to have confidence in him. Seventeen points from a sophomore, that’s big time, and they were all over him.”
Early on it was back and forth, as Pennridge jumped up, only to see Pennsbury come back to take a 19-16 lead after one. The Rams led 30-26 at halftime.
“Pennsbury is a very good defensive team,” Behrens said. “They’re very aggressive. We scored 61 points so you’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’ They probably got us over our turnover margin. I would say we probably turned the ball over 15 times at least, and that’s not us. We’re usually 10 or less and that gives you the opportunity to win the game.
“We were up 16-6 or 16-7 at one point, and they just really got after us in the backcourt. They started pressing us, trapping us and really flying around the basketball, and we were down 19-16 at one time. Our spacing was poor, we weren’t reversing the ball, we were standing around, we weren’t stepping to the ball. They really took us out of our comfort zone. We called timeout, and we obviously went on a little run after the timeout and went into the half up 30-26. That’s high scoring for us.
“Because they’re gambling so much and because they’re overplaying and double teaming – when you get it out of there and reverse the ball, you can get some easy buckets, but I give their staff – coach (Bill) Coleman did a great job. Coming off the bus, that was a long ride. They got off to a slow start, and about halfway through the first quarter, it was game on.”
Pennridge led for most of the second half and had chances to pull away but couldn’t.
“They never went away,” Behrens said. “I didn’t know what defense to play because they were killing us with the little flex cuts, they were getting layups. We weren’t in good help-position. We went zone, which did a decent job until the end when they started bombing some 3s. We finally went man on the last possession and forced them to take a deep 3, and we ended up getting the rebound, but we missed both foul shots. We would have sealed it without any problem. We hung on for dear life.
“It almost felt a little bit like a loss in the locker room. I think the boys were disappointed in the way they handled things down the stretch. We got up eight in the last two minutes, and it looked like we had some breathing room, and wham, they come right back, and they cut it to three, and it’s a one-possession game. I think they got it to one. I felt fortunate to walk out of there with a win. They’re well coached. They’re very physical on the perimeter. I knew we were going to have our hands full. They’ve lost a lot of close games, and I’m sure they felt snake bit tonight.”
Colin Post led Pennridge with 21 points, while Campione had 17, Monahan nine and Justin Nichols eight. Top scorer Luke Yoder was held to six points.
“Post was very aggressive tonight,” Behrens said. “He got to the basket and really finished well around the basket, and that was important.
“Luke Yoder having six, that’s not been him. He’s usually 14-15 a game, and he struggled offensively. It wasn’t that he took bad shots. They didn’t fall. He had a couple go in and out.With us winning and Luke only scoring six, that’s pretty good.
“Monahan had nine, and that’s a solid performance. Justin Nichols hit a big 3 and hit a big foul shot down the stretch.”
Pennsbury shot 45 percent (21-for-46) from the field and 33 percent (6-for-18) from 3-point range. Juniors Aidan McCormack and Evan McNeely had 20 and 16 points, respectively to lead the way, while sophomore Ty Kocak added 14 points.
The win improves Pennridge’s overall record to 10-5 and the Rams are currently No. 12 in the 20-team District One Class 6A playoff field. They play at Holy Ghost Prep on Wednesday.
Pennsbury (5-9) hosts Wissahickon on Friday.
Pennridge 61, Pennsbury 58
Pennridge 16 14 15 16 – 61
Pennsbury 19 7 14 18 – 58
Pennridge (61) – Justin Nichols 3 1-2 8; Luke Yoder 3 0-0 6; Colin Post 8 4-7 21; Matt Campione 6 0-0 17; Colin Monahan 3 3-3 9. Totals 23 8-12 61
Pennsbury (58) – Amir Johnson 2 2-4 6; Aidan McCormack 9 2-4 20; Evan Reichard 1 0-0 2; Evan McNeely 5 3-3 16; Ty Kocak 4 3-4 14. Totals 21 10-15 58.
3-point goals: Pennridge-Campione 5, Nichols 1, Post 1; Pennsbury- McNeely 3, Kocak 3
Dock Mennonite 67, Souderton 47
The Indians trailed the visiting Pioneers by just one after the first quarter but found themselves on the short end of a 23-15 halftime score. The second half belonged to the Pioneers, who erupted for 44 points.
Shaun Purvy (14 points), Jayson Bonnet (12 points) and Evan Kutzler (10 points) all finished in double figures for the Indians. James Blair chipped in with six points.
Nathan Lapp’s 21 points led the Pioneers, who also received 18 points from Steve Martin and 11 from Roman Kuhn.
Souderton (1-12, 1-8 SOL) will host Abington in a non-league game Thursday.
Dock Mennonite 8-15-15-29 67
Souderton 7-8-7-25 47
Dock Mennonite (67) – Nathan Lapp 21, Steve Martin 18, Roman Kuhn 11, Nathaniel Dorsey 7, Tomir Johnson 5, Hoyt Bultje 2.
Souderton (47) – Shaun Purvy 14, Jayson Bonnet 12, Evan Kutzler 10, James Blair 6, Chase Cheuren 4, Aleks Smith 1.
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