SOL Patriot/Colonial crossover
BENSALEM 65, PENNRIDGE 55
The Owls closed out the regular season with an important crossover win, bouncing back from a disappointing loss to Neshaminy one night earlier.
“The best thing about basketball – as I told the boys tonight – is you play a lot of games, and you get to play right away,” Bensalem coach Ron Morris said. “Yesterday didn’t go the way we anticipated, but coming back today on the road after a long bus ride to Pennridge – Coach Dean (Behrens) does a great job out there. We know they’ve been devastated with injuries the whole year.
“(Xavier) Peters is back, and he looked like himself, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy going in there. It was their last game, so it was a playoff game for them. We just came out, we played really hard. Antonio and Noah (Morris) scored the ball in the first quarter, and that kind of got us rolling.
“Overall, we’re just really pleased. We’re happy with the effort and the way the guys have bought in. It was just a great team victory, and it made the bus ride home a lot better than it could have been. It’s an hour-and-15-minute bus ride, so it’s never easy to go up there, play and take the ride home. These guys just did a really good job tonight. They battled, and it was just a great overall team win.”
Antonio Morris had nine first-quarter points while Noah Morris buried a pair of 3s, propelling the Owls to a 19-15 lead. Nate Cooper’s eight points in the second quarter along with two more 3s from Noah Morris highlighted a 20-point second quarter for the Owls, who took a 39-31 lead into halftime. Keeping the Rams within striking distance was Xavier Peters with 15 first-half points.
The Owls maintained that lead in the second half, outscoring their hosts 26-24 to earn the win.
Antonio Morris led the Owls with a stellar 20-point outing. Noah Morris added 13, which included four 3s. Amir Drummond and Nate Cooper both contributed 13 points as the Owls put four players in double figures. Included in Drummond’s 13 points was a 7-for-8 effort at the foul line while Cooper was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
“We’re most impressed with our defensive effort,” Morris said. “In the second and third quarters, we locked in there, and we were able to get some stops and create some separation.”
The Owls’ coach lauded the efforts of several players in the win.
“Nate Cooper did a great job defensively on (Charlie) Rising,” Morris said. “Rising has been playing really well and Nate did a good job. Amir did well tonight also. We were able to get to the foul line and make free throws as a team tonight.
“If you look at the score, it’s balanced scoring, and that’s what we’re all about. We’re all about team. There are tons of kids on our team that are sacrificing every day. Whether it’s a starter sacrificing their personal accolades – we have a lot of unselfish guys making plays. We’re not about personal accolades – we’re about team accolades.
“We’ve got guys on our bench that are good basketball players, and they show up every single day and work their butts off, and they’re a big part of this. We try to tell them that all the time, and I’m sure it’s frustrating for them, but they don’t show it. They just keep working hard, and they keep showing up every day. So, it’s all about team. We enjoy this win and tomorrow get ready for the SOL tourny.”
The Owls (18-4, 14-2) – the SOL Patriot Division champions – are the third seed in the SOL Tournament, and they will host sixth-seeded Central Bucks West in an opening round game on Friday.
“You set goals at the beginning of the year to be league champs,” Morris said. “Everyone has dreams of that, and we’re league champs. No one can take that from us – SOL Patriot Division champs.
“We went 8-2 on our side, and for the first time ever, we were undefeated in crossovers, and there’s a lot of good teams in both divisions as everyone will see on Sunday when those rankings become official and we see how many teams are going to be playing in the playoffs, so it’s a huge accomplishment to go through what we did – 18-4 overall and 14-2 in the league is tremendous. That takes a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice from a lot of guys on our team, and they’ve truly bought in. We’re just very proud of that.”
Peters led Pennridge with 21 points in a standout effort, and senior Cole Gehlert added 12 points.
Pennridge closed out its season with a 4-18 record.
Bensalem 19-20-11-15 65
Pennridge 15-16-10-14 55
Bensalem (65) – Antonio Morris 7 4-6 20; Noah Morris 4 1-2 13; Micah White 1 0-2 2; Amir Drummond 3 7-8 13; Nate Cooper 4 7-7 15; Idris Savadago 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 20 19-25 65.
Pennridge (55) – Rownan Smith 1 0-0 3; Xavier Peters 8 3-4 21; Thomas Costa 2 0-1 4; Cole Gehlert 5 0-0 12; Kyle Richards 2 0-0 4; Ryan Schwind 0 3-4 3; Charlie Rising 2 0-2 4; Jacob Barbadoro 1 0-0 2; Hoston 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 6-11 55.
3-point goals: Bensalem – Noah Morris 4, Antonio Morris 2; Pennrige – Xavier Peters 2, Cole Gehlert 2, Rownan Smith.
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