Three SOL boys’ basketball team punched their tickets to the state tournament with wins in Tuesday night’s District One AAAA Tournament. Photos of the PW/Academy Park game are courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for a gallery of the game.
By Jarrad Saffren
Six Suburban One League boys’ basketball teams had chances to clinch state tournament berths in the second round of the District One Class AAAA tournament Tuesday night. Three punched their tickets. Three others will have to reach the championship of the eight-team playback round, which features the eight losers from Tuesday night’s second round. The results and recaps are below.
Central Bucks East 49, Coatesville 43
No one thought Central Bucks East would be here. Not after the Patriots won six games in 2014-15 and finished last in the Suburban One League Continental Conference with many of the same players.
But, after beating No. 1 seed Coatesville Tuesday night, the 17th-seeded Patriots are going to the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament.
“You don’t want to say someone deserved something, because you have to earn things,” CB East coach Erik Henrysen said. “But these guys worked so hard to get to this point and really earned it. I’ve been working with them for four years and I’m so proud of them.”
Henrysen, in his sixth season at CB East, does not remember the last time the Patriots reached states.
“I have no idea to be honest with you,” he said. “It was well before I was here I’ll tell you that.”
Just about every Patriots’ rotation player stepped up Tuesday night, starting with their two big scorers, Tommy Strasburger and Justin O’Neil. Both scored 13 points against Coatesville.
“They’ve been doing a lot of our scoring all season,” Henrysen said. “And they were huge tonight.”
Strasburger also had 10 rebounds and four assists.
Point guard Matt Pattyson added 11 points.
“Matt was a great floor general as usual,” Henrysen said. “He’s been doing that all year.”
Big man Blake Peterson posted seven points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Henrysen praised him and another Patriots big man.
“Blake Peterson and Ryan Plack battled down low and boxed out well,” Henrysen said.
The Patriots trailed by two at halftime (17-15) and eight early in the third quarter. When Coatesville stretched the lead to eight, Henrysen did not call timeout. He let his experienced team play it out.
“I made a decision to trust them,” Henrysen said.
The Patriots’ coach briefly switched his defense from man-to-man to zone before switching back.
“I trusted them to stick with what we were doing because it worked in the first half,” Henrysen said.
The players rewarded him. East stormed back to take a four-point lead into the fourth quarter (36-32). In the fourth, the Patriots held their lead because one unsung player made clutch free throws.
“We missed a lot of free throws but Elijah Seger didn’t,” Henrysen said.
CB East shot 10-for-23 in the game, but Seger shot 5-for-6 overall and 3-for-4 down the stretch.
On Friday night, CB East (15-9) will travel to the place where SOL teams have gone to die so far in the district tournament: Chester, to play the scorching-hot Clippers, winners of 16 of their last 17 games.
In two district playoff wins, Chester has beaten two SOL teams—Council Rock North and Hatboro-Horsham—by 26 and 23 points.
“The thing that strikes you about Chester is something like five of their six losses came to teams from outside the district,” Henrysen said. “They’ve played the best teams and they are certainly one of the two, three, or four best in district one.”
The Patriots will try to prove their coach wrong with a quarterfinal victory, which would earn them a trip to Temple University for the district final four.
Central Bucks East 8-7-21-13 49
Coatesville 8-9-15-11 43
Central Bucks East: Tommy Strasburger 13, Justin O’Neil 13, Blake Peterson 7, Matt Pattyson 11, Elijah Seger 5.
Coatesville: Justus Martinez 1, Rome Boyer 13, Kamau Brickus 12, Trent Hugan 10, Jordan Young 7.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 60, Academy Park 56
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Jim Donofrio was much happier with his team’s performance Tuesday night.
“We had to get that bad one out of the way against Radnor last Friday,” Donofrio said. “We were much looser and played much better against Academy Park.”
The Colonials controlled the first half, taking a five-point lead into halftime (23-18). But Academy Park kept rallying until the end.
“We would go up four or six and then they would come back and tie it,” Donofrio said. “Every time.”
PW led by one going into the fourth and outscored Academy Park by three in the last frame.
“Xzavier Malone had a huge steal. Ahmin Williams had a big steal. Oakley Spencer hit a big shot,” Donofrio said.
Malone – who surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in the first quarter – dropped 26 points and was the only Colonial player in double figures. Seven other players scored between three and eight points, led by Ahmin Williams 
with eight and Spencer with six.
Donofrio was impressed with No. 18 seed Academy Park, which defeated PW’s SOL American rival Upper Merion to get to the second round.
“They were playing on our home floor in front of our fans, and they weren’t impressed whatsoever,” Donofrio said. “They were not intimidated.”
Donofrio expected a close game.
“When you get to this round, you really don’t see many blowouts,” the PW coach said. “Everyone knows that all of the work you put in all year could be for naught if you lose this game and then another. So every team is going to give it everything they have. We got that from Academy Park tonight.”
PW (22-2) punched its ticket to the state tournament and earned a rematch with CB West in the district quarterfinals. The Bucks upset the Colonials in the first round of the SOL Tournament on Feb. 6.
“That was on a neutral court in front of 80 or so people. CB West beat us and they deserve credit for that. But there’s a difference between a neutral court and a game watched by 80 people and coming to our home floor with all of our fans,” Donofrio said. “Plus I’m not sure how much you can learn about a team from that game. Maybe you can get familiar with each other’s offenses but that’s really it. That was just an appetizer.”
The rematch begins at 7 p.m. Friday night.
“(CB West) Coach Adam Sherman does a great job and that team will be ready to play. They are a great team,” Donofrio said.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13-20-12-15 60
Academy Park 11-17-16-12 56
Academy Park: Deandray Covert 6, Jawan Collins 29, Nick Simmons 5, Michael Satimehin 3, Teddy Wright 2, Khyree Temple.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Xzavier Malone 26, Mike Lotito 4, Oakley Spencer 6, Kevin Ashenfelter 4, Grady Minick 4, Matt Walter 3, Ahmin Williams 8, Ahmad Williams 5.
Central Bucks West 40, Phoenixville 32
CB West guard Cal Reichwein said it on Monday. To beat No. 10 seed Phoenixville, the No. 7 seed Bucks had to stop Christian Kelly, who averages 24 points per game.
“He’s Phoenixville’s stud,” Reichwein said. “He’s a great player. We have to limit his touches and make him shoot tough shots.”
Kelly scored just 14 points and his teammates did not do enough to back him up Tuesday night. No other Phoenixville player scored more than six points.
“We really got in his face and were always all over him whenever he got the ball,” Bucks coach Adam Sherman said.
CB West is usually a balanced offensive team. But on Tuesday night, senior point guard Luke Irons stole the show, dropping 17 points. Irons turned in a stellar all-around performance, posting four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
“Luke Irons played amazing. One of his best games,” Sherman said.
Billy Power added six points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Connor Lynch had five points, three assists, and two steals.
Jake Reichwein notched six points and seven rebounds, and took two charges for the Bucks, who were without Cal Reichwein for the better part of the contest.
West opened up a 13-9 lead after one quarter and took a 19-15 lead into halftime. The Bucks took a tenuous 25-23 lead into the final quarter when they closed out the game with a 15-9 tear.
West earned a spot in the state tournament after losing in the first round of districts last season.
“Guys were excited in the locker room,” Sherman said. “That loss last year left a sour taste in their mouths and they wanted to get rid of it. They are a great group.”
CB West (22-4) plays PW Friday night at 7 p.m. in a rematch of the SOL Tournament semifinal that the Bucks won. Only this time, instead of a neutral court, West will play at PW.
“We are just excited to have the opportunity,” Sherman said.
Phoenixville 9-6-8-9 32
Central Bucks West 13-6-6-15 40
Phoenixville: Christian Kelly 14, Jeff Conboy 6, Avery Close 5, Shyheim Abernathy 4, Hunter Herschell 3.
Central Bucks West: Luke Irons 17, Bill Power 6, Erich Hohlenleitner 6, Connor Lynch 5, Jake Reichwein 6.
Chester 56, Hatboro-Horsham 34
Just like Council Rock North, the No. 25 seed Hatters were no match for the No. 9 seed Clippers.
Hatboro-Horsham trailed by three after the first quarter (12-9) but Chester went on a 17-6 run to end the half. Chester stretched its lead to 21 in the third and Hatboro-Horsham never again got closer than 16.
“In the first quarter we were okay,” Hatboro-Horsham coach Ed Enoch said. “But when you get behind them, it’s hard to catch up.”
Hatters guard Jay Davis did all he could to bring Hatboro-Horsham back, scoring 24 points, including 17 in the second half. But he needed more help.
“I maybe came out with a different mindset,” Davis said. “My mindset was just go at them. You go at them, they got to respect it.”
“My team wasn’t fully in it. I think we came out a little scared,” Davis said. “We saw bigger people, stronger people, so our heart got a little down.”
Davis’s usual running mate is 6-foot-7 center Clifton Moore. The two combined for 50 points in Hatboro-Horsham’s first round win over Strath Haven. But Moore scored just two Tuesday night, and took only two shots in the second half.
“They knew where I was on the court. Their coach knew I was a shooter,” Moore said. “The press really bothered us. (The Hatters) couldn’t really get me the ball.”
Chester extended its pressure to full-court to start the second quarter and pulled away, converting four steals into eight quick points. The Clippers led 29-15 at halftime and 42-26 after three. Once Chester had a big lead, Enoch could not do much to get his team back in the game. The Clippers are too athletic to press.
“Then you get going fast and believe me, we are not playing them in a fast game,” Enoch said. “You gotta play them at a certain tempo. It’d be nice to have the lead and to take a minute off the clock each time down.”
Hatboro-Horsham (12-12) plays No. 1 seed Coatesville Friday night in the first round of the playback bracket. The Hatters must reach the championship of the eight-team field to make states.
Chester 12-17-13-14 56
Hatboro-Horsham 9-6-11-8 34
Lower Merion 64, Upper Dublin 48
The news reached Upper Dublin coach Josh Adelman during the school day, and it was a shock. Senior power forward Ryan Stover and senior center Isaiah Henrich would miss Tuesday night’s second round district playoff game against No. 11 seed Lower Merion.
Adelman did not disclose the reason.
“We practiced Monday night and we were ready to go,” Adelman said. “And then this happens and we don’t even get a chance to practice what we might do.”
“We were forced to play guys out of position and they did their best, and we hung around for a little, but it wasn’t enough,” Adelman said. “Will Derr was the only guy left down low. Jimmy Gallagher and John Barrett were forced to stay down low more, which limited them. And Ryan is such a mismatch inside and outside. We really missed him.”
Adelman did not hesitate when asked if the result would have been different with Stover and Henrich in the lineup.
“I know it’s hard to say but I do believe we would have won,” Adelman said. “We’ve been playing so well lately and they make such a difference.”
The Aces opened up a 16-9 lead after one quarter and took a 35-16 lead into halftime. The Flying Cardinals never threatened.
No. 27 seed Upper Dublin (12-12) plays No. 3 seed Downingtown West Friday night in the first round of the playback bracket. The Flying Cardinals must reach the championship game of the eight-team bracket to make states.
Adelman does not expect Stover and Henrich to return by Friday’s game, or even after if the Cardinals manage to win.
“I don’t think so at this time,” Adelman said. “But at least we’ll get to practice with this situation now.”
Upper Dublin 9-7-11-21 48
Lower Merion 16-19-7-22 64
Spring-Ford 61, Pennridge 58 OT
Pennridge (20-5) did not lose a home game the entire 2015-16 season until Tuesday night, when the Rams were stunned 61-58 in overtime by No. 12 seed Spring-Ford (20-6).
“The players are down right now, but they are competitors,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said. “They love to compete, whether it is in drills in practice or under the bright lights of a playoff game.”
“Our goal right now as a coaching staff is to pick them up and get ready for the next game,” Behrens said, as the Rams will play in the first round of the playback bracket on Friday at home against No. 20 seed Perkiomen Valley. “Our goal is still to get to states, and if my math is right we have to win the next two games to get there.”
If Pennridge beats the Vikings, the Rams will play the winner of the Coatesville (No. 1 seed) versus Hatboro-Horsham (No. 25 seed) game next Tuesday. A game between Pennridge and the Red Raiders would be at Coatesville, while a game against the Hatters would be played at Pennridge.
Spring-Ford came out and made seven of its first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, to take a 17-6 lead. The Rams rallied behind the shooting of seniors Dan Long, Steve Lowry, and Max Wagner to close the gap to a manageable 21-17 by halftime.
The teams traded baskets and leads into the fourth period.
Long, who finished with a team-high 20 points, scored seven points in the final minutes to give the Rams a 54-51 lead with 2:50 left. However, after a pair of costly turnovers, and a Spring-Ford three-pointer by Charles Drummond, Pennridge blew the lead and had to win in overtime.
With 2:27 left in the overtime, senior Cam Reid launched what looked like an ill-advised three-point attempt from deep in the corner. The ball hit iron, bounced high into the air, and dropped through the net to give Spring-Ford a 57-54 lead.
Pennridge made it a two-point game with 0.52 seconds left, but got no closer.
“When that ball popped up high and fell into the basket it felt like the basketball gods were telling us, ‘Not tonight,’” said Behrens.
Spring-Ford 21-11-12-9-7 61
Pennridge 17-14-11-12-4 58
Spring-Ford: Matt Gnais 23, Charles Drummond 11, Cameron Reid 10, Nigel Cooke 10, Ryan Fitzpatrick 5, Nestor Diaz 2.
Pennridge: Dan Long 20, Steve Lowry 14, Max Wagner 10, Devon Balmer 7, Ryan Cuthbert 3, Kyle Yoder 2, Sean Yoder 2.
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