Check out the recaps for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Monday. Abington/New Hope-Solebury photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos:
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
CHELTENHAM 59, HATBORO-HORSHAM 38
Twelve players contributed scoring for the visiting Panthers, who led by eight midway through the third quarter but then put the game out of reach for the road win in Monday’s crossover game.
“The first three-and-a-half quarters we were in striking distance,” H-H coach Josh Meyer said. “Halfway through the third quarter, we had it to 28-20, an eight-point game. We were having a tough time trying to get our shots to fall.
“In the fourth quarter, they started to feel it a little bit. Cheltenham hit seven 3s altogether, and three of them were right there in the fourth quarter when we were trying to make a push. They started heating up a little bit. They stuck to their game plan.”
The Panthers, who led 10-4 after one quarter, took a 25-12 lead into halftime. After the Hatters pulled to within eight, the Panthers closed it out with a 31-18 tear.
Chris Harmon’s 10 points led a balanced Panthers attack. Osei Johnson and Talisi Henderson each added seven points.
“Credit to them – they had 12 different guys score tonight,” Meyer said of the Panthers. “They had really good balanced scoring.
“We were running an open type of offense. We got some good buckets in the lane, we got a couple nice dishes to our big men and some kickouts for corner 3s, but it just wasn’t enough. They took control of it late in the fourth quarter.”
For the Hatters, Shane Phillips – who had three 3s – led the way with 12 points while Ryan Smith and Kenny Lutz both added eight points.
Cheltenham (16-5, 13-2 SOL) will host Springfield Twp in Tuesday’s regular season finale. Hatboro-Horsham (3-15, 1-13) will host Upper Dublin in its final game.
Cheltenham 10-15-14-20 59
Hatboro-Horsham 4-8-13-13 38
Hatboro-Horsham (38) – Ryan Smith 3 2-4 8; Max Mariano 0 1-2 1; Kenny Lutz 3 2-4 8; Amir Crews 0 2-2 2; Jaden Thompson 1 0-0 2; Vaughn Craig 1 1-4 3; Shane Phillips 4 1-2 12; Reese Hinton 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 13 9-18 38.
Cheltenham (59) – Kamal Mason 2 0-1 4; Josiah Hutson 0 1-3 1; Aidan Wilson Worley 2 0-0 4; Mark Hill 2 0-0 5; Chris Harmon 3 1-1 10; Osei Johnson 2 2-2 7; Salim Kelly 1 3-3 5; Jabril Blackledge 1 0-0 2; Willoughby 2 0-0 5; Nile Tinsley 2 0-0 5; Peyton McClendon 2 0-0 4; Talisi Henderson 2 3-3 7; TOTALS 21 10-13 59.
3-point goals: HH – Shane Phillips 3; Cheltenham – Chris Harmon 3, Mark Hill, Osei Johnson, Nile Tinsley, Willoughby.
ABINGTON 72, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 41
Everyone got into the act on a night that saw the Ghosts celebrate the team’s 12 seniors. They received scoring from up and down their lineup with 12 players putting their
names in the scoring column.
The Ghosts led 20-11 after one quarter and extended that to 44-21 by halftime on their way to the big win.
Kellen Ingram’s double-double led a balanced Abington attack with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He connected on 6 of 9 shots from the floor. Jeremiah Lee added 11 points (5-for-7 from the field), four rebounds and five steals. Lathan Miller also had 11 points with three 3s to go along with three steals and three assists. David Phillips scored a career high 10 points and also had three rebounds, two steals and two assists, and Kamari Brasher had nine points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
The Ghosts shot 29-for-58 from the field (50 percent) and 8-for-21 from beyond the arc.
Abington (16-5, 11-4 SOL) will travel to Quakertown for Tuesday’s regular season finale and then will be competing in the SOL Tournament for the first time since 2019. The Ghosts are 10th in the latest District 1 6A power rankings. New Hope-Solebury (1-15, 1-13) will be on the road at Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
New Hope-Solebury 11-10-10-10 41
Abington 20-24-13-15 72
New Hope-Solebury (41) – Heath Miller 2 0-0 4; John Nettles 3 0-0 7; Rocco Massimino 4 0-0 10; Liam Ross 8 2-4 18; Dylan Fitzgerald 1 0-2 2; TOTALS 18 2-6 41.
Abington (72) – Damon Rawls 1 2-2 4; Jeremiah Lee 5 1-2 11; Aaron Jones 1 0-0 2; Kellen Ingram 6 0-5 12; Jaden Flournoy 1 0-1 2; Kamari Brasher 4 0-2 9; Khalid Jenkins 1 0-0 3; Lathan Miller 4 0-0 11; Jake Manigault 1 0-0 3; Xander Grasty 0 2-2 2; David Phillips 4 1-1 10; Lamar Pittman 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 29 6-17 72
3-point goals: NHS – Rocco Massimino 2, John Nettles; Abington – Lathan Miller 3, Kamari Brasher, Khalid Jenkins, Jake Manigault, David Phillips, Lamar Pittman.
Non-league
WILLIAM TENNENT 71, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 53
Sparked by the glittering 28-point effort of senior Kirby Mooney, the Panthers came away with the important non-league road win.
“This was a big one tonight – to go on the road,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “They run really good offense. They’ve got a lot of wins, and for us to go up there and play the way we did and come away with that victory was huge. It took a lot of pressure off us, I think.”
The Panthers led 20-14 after one quarter and put some distance between themselves and the Golden Hawks with a 17-7 second quarter to go into halftime with a 37-21 lead.
“It was a team effort tonight,” Mulville said. “At that point, we’re subbing in rotations. We really worked hard on our defense in practice, knowing that they ran such good offense that I think we were able to kind of play our screens pretty well.
“(Timmy) Rahill got off those first two 3s in the first quarter, and then we were kind of able to adjust on him. He still ended up with 17 tonight, but I thought we really made him work for those.”
While Mooney stole the spotlight with another big offensive outing, he wasn’t the only hero for the visitors. Tre Stracuzzi buried five 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.
“Again, Kirby comes out and plays hard every night, and he’s got good chemistry with his teammates, and I think that plays in his ability to score points because he does look to pass the ball,” Mulville said. “He led us in assists tonight with six and really found Tre Stracuzzi on a couple of passes out that allowed us to stretch our lead because Stracuzzi hit a bunch of 3s in a row. He missed his first three and then he hit five in a row. A couple of them came at crucial points in the fourth quarter.”
Also for the Panthers, Chris D’Ambra added 11 points, and Imad Abunima had nine.
“Just little things- I thought Imad Abunima really did well on defending his screens at times,” Mulville said. “Jayden Bright came in and got us a couple of extra possessions on offensive rebounds. He had five points, and they came in the first quarter.
“It was just little things like that. We are getting contributions up and down the bench from everybody.”
For the Golden Hawks, Rahill’s 17 points led the way. Mike Burns added nine, and Jordan Getz had six.
William Tennent (14-7, 10-5 SOL) – 19th in the latest District 1 6A power rankings – will host Lower Moreland in its regular season finale, and Council Rock South (12-8, 9-5) will host Harry S Truman on Tuesday. The Golden Hawks are 18th in the latest rankings.
William Tennent 20-17-15-19 71
Council Rock South 14-7-16-16 53
William Tennent (71) – Kirby Mooney 13 2-2 28; Chris D’Ambra 5 0-0 11; Sean Devin 1 0-0 2; Imad Abunima 4 0-0 9; Jayden Bright 2 0-0 5; Vince Sulpizio 0 1-2 1; Tre Stracuzzi 5 0-0 15 TOTALS 30 3-4 71.
Council Rock South (53) – Jordan Getz 3 0-0 6; Timmy Rahill 6 3-3 17; Mike Burns 4 1-1 9; Ryan Delp 1 0-0 2; Ray Haglund 0 1-2 1; Gabe Cerulli 1 0-0 3; Spencer Kredo 2 0-0 5; JD Rakowski 1 0-1 2; MJ Thompson 1 1-2 3; Ryan Wekluk 1 0-0 3; Dan Horn 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 21 6-9 53.
3-point goals: WT – Tre Stracuzzi 5, Chris D’Ambra, Imad Abunima, Jayden Bright; CRS – Timmy Rayhill 2, Gabe Cerulli, Spencer Kredo, Ryan Wekluk.
SPRINGFIELD TWP 59, CALVARY CHRISTIAN 58
The Spartans eked out a non-league win in a nailbiter on Monday.
After leading by four late, the Spartans saw their lead trimmed to one after a Calvary Christian 3-pointer.
“We were up one, they had the ball under the basket – we played good defense, they took one and missed it,” Springfield coach Rob Fusaro said. “They got another one, we got the rebound, and it ended.
“They’re a very well-coached team. Number 11 (Derek Bergin) was a really good, tough player and made a lot of big shots. It was a really good competitive game, so it was nice.”
Calvary Christian took a 30-29 lead into halftime, but the Spartans battled back, outscoring their visitors 15-11 in the third to go into the final quarter with a 44-41 lead. Brandon Thompson’s 12 fourth-quarter points allowed the Spartans to escape with the win. He scored 19 of his game-high 28 points after the break.
“He did it inside-outside, he got to the rim, he hit 3s, he was poised,” Fusaro said. “I’ve had him since he was in eighth grade. It’s been really nice to see him progress and grow as a person, not just as a player. It’s nice to see him come out of his shell and do what we know he can do and have him really enjoy what he’s doing.”
Also for the Spartans, Bob Hartman had 14 points and five assists while teammate Ryan Bell dominated the backboards, pulling down 16 rebounds to go along with five points.
Monday’s victory was the Spartans’ third in as many games after winning just four in their first 17 games.
“We have a really good group that’s really invested in basketball and really invested in what we’re doing,” Fusaro said. “There are no seniors on the team. It’s guys I’ve had since they were in eighth-ninth grade in the four years I’ve been here, so it’s really nice to grow up with them and have them buy into what we’re trying to do and transform what the mentality of the program was before to what we have now, which is really, really fun.
“We’re excited to have them back for another year next. They’ve been really good, and gutting out close wins has been really big for them and learning how to manage the clock, manage a lead and execute the right way. They’ve been great.”
Springfield Twp (7-13, 3-11 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham Tuesday.
Calvary Christian 19-11-11-17 58
Springfield Twp 14-15-15-15 59
Calvary Christian (58)
Springfield Twp (59) – Bob Hartman 4 5-7 14; Aiden Hood 2 5-6 9; Ryan Bell 1 3-4 5; Brandon Thompson 8 8-12 28; Julian Ciasullo 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 16 21-29 59.
3-point goals: Springfield – Brandon Thompson 4, Bob Hartman, Julian Ciasullo.
About the Author
