Check out Monday’s SOL boys and girls basketball results. To view photos of the Souderton/Quakertown boys game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
BOYS BASKETBALL
SOUDERTON 57, QUAKERTOWN 33
As Senior Night celebrations go, this was a good one for an Indian squad that turned more than a few heads by clinching a share of the Continental Conference title with Monday’s win over the Panthers.
“It’s been awesome,” coach Pete Chimera said. “I don’t know if it could have worked out any better.
“It has been a little bit of a roller coaster. We had some tough losses, but the kids just stayed together. We started the season 4-4, but we knew we weren’t a 4-4 team. It takes a while with the transition of a new coach. We lost five games by less than two points, and some of those games I take on my shoulders.”
This year’s squad has eight seniors on its roster – John Kanas, Anthony Williams, Vince Kowalick, Guilerme Freire, Dan O’Hara, Kurt Muhlberger, Austin Murphy and Chris Ulrich, and this night belonged to the seniors, who staked the Indians to a 19-18 halftime lead.
“They all played great, and they all contributed,” Chimera said.
Any doubts about the outcome were put to rest when the Indians opened the second half with a 26-4 tear as they rolled to the win.
“It’s really great because they heard a lot about how great last year’s team was, and it was a great team, and Dennis Stanton is a great coach,” Chimera said. “I have been saying since day one, and I can remember my speech at the first game and I said it to them today, ‘It’s our time.
“A lot of these guys stepped up. John Kanas played varsity and contributed mightily last year. Other than John, it was everybody else needed to step up, and from day one, I was saying it was our time. They wanted to believe it, and they wanted it so badly. To see the smile on their faces tonight, they’re just so happy we were able to do this.
“When we were 4-4, no one thought we could do it, and when we lost to (CB) East, that was a bad loss. We just fought through the doubt.”
Kanas led the Indians (11-3) with 19 points while Murphy added 11. Junior Brendan Wagner added nine points in limited minutes and Muhlberger scored eight.
“John’s an unbelievable leader without saying a word,” Chimera said of Kanas. “He just played so, so hard, and the kids follow him. When he scores or does something, it gets us all going.
“Austin Murphy and I have clashed at times. He’s a lot like me – he’s sort of like a coach on the floor, and he has totally stepped up this calendar year and has always been there for us. They’ve all been terrific.”
Griffin Schmidt led the Panthers (1-13) with 15 points.
UPPER DUBLIN 53, UPPER MERION 52
The Flying Cardinals closed out their season with a flourish, winning a thriller when senior Morey Herschgordon banked home a short baseline shot with 2.5 seconds remaining in regulation.
“With 20-some seconds left, we inbounded the ball and tried to run a play,” coach Josh Adelman said. “It didn’t work the way we wanted it to work. We were looking for Simeon Fryer or Andrew Carber, but Kevin Woods passed the ball to Morey.
“He drove baseline and had a good look, and from about five feet banked one in. Of all the kids – you had a senior with a chance to make the winning basket, and he did. He left 2.5 seconds on the clock. They inbounded it after a timeout and threw up a three-quarters court shot that didn’t get close.”
And the Flying Cardinals had escaped with the dramatic Senior Night win.
“It was crazy,” Adelman said. “We had a nice lead, but they clawed back in it, hit some nice three’s. We had opportunities to extend our lead but missed foul shots, and they capitalized.”
Sparked by eight points from senior Malcolm Berry, who buried a pair of three-pointers, Upper Dublin led 17-13 at the end of one quarter. The Cards extended their lead to 33-25 by halftime and still led 43-38 heading into the final frame when the Vikings staged a comeback, but the Cardinals refused to lose, thanks to Herschgordon’s late-game heroics.
“He’s one of the best leaders we’ve ever have had,” Adelman said. “He’s just a great kid. Even if he’s on the bench or in the game, he’s cheering for his teammates. He’s encouraging them. You can hear him.
“He’s a leader, and that’s something you want out of a senior captain, and he provides that for us. It’s a great way to end the season. We’re disappointed that we’re not moving on and playing in the playoffs, but what a great way to win.”
Senior Andrew Carber led the Cardinals (8-13, 5-9 SOL) with 14 points and nine rebounds while freshman Simeon Fryer had 13. Berry and Woods both had eight points.
Adelman bids farewell to Carber, Berry and Herschgordon.
“We started all the seniors tonight,” Adelman said. “You could tell from the beginning they knew it was their final game. They came out with extra spark and played great for us tonight.
“The nice thing about our team is we lose some good guys, but we had a lot of younger players get a lot of experience, which we didn’t have. They’ll come into next year and have a great offseason, and hopefully will lead to bigger and better things next year.”
Justin Lewis led the Vikings with 11 points while David Stecz added 10. Mike Grant and Connor McGrath both scored nine points, and Riece Jenerette had eight points. The Vikings closed out the regular season with a 2-12 record in league play.
WILLIAM TENNENT 67, HARRY S TRUMAN 50
The Panthers led wire-to-wire in Monday’s regular season finale. Sparked by 10 first quarter points from junior Matt Alden, the Panthers opened up a 19-11 lead at the end of one quarter and stretched that to 33-21 by halftime en route to their sixth win in their last nine games.
“The guys played well tonight after yesterday’s loss (to Archbishop Wood),” coach Robert Mulville said. “We have been playing pretty well lately. Our guards have done a real good job of improving in regards to their turnovers.
“They pressed us, but our guards only had eight turnovers, and that’s getting us more possessions at the other end. I told them, ‘Tonight could be our last game. Look at it as your last chance to get a win as this group.’”
The tone was established early when Horace Spencer and Matt Alden finished off several Tennent breaks with dunks.
“We talked about our energy,” Mulville said. “We came out a little flat yesterday against Wood, and with our pressure, we got a couple of dunks right away from Horace (Spencer) and Matt Alden got one, and we just had a ton of energy after that.
“We got control of the game and led from start to finish.”
Spencer, who had five dunks in the game, led all scorers with 22 points while Alden was right behind with 21 points.
“They had just monster nights tonight,” Mulville said.
Connor Spornak had nine points and Mike Wasserleben, eight points, as the Panthers closed out their league season with a 5-9 record. They are 9-13 overall after a 3-10 start.
“The turning point of our season – and it’s crazy how these things happen, but we were 3-10 at one point and down 10 points going into the fourth quarter against Upper Moreland,” Mulville said. “We were on the verge of being 3-11, and the season just could have collapsed, but they dug down deep and turned things around.
“I was real happy for them.”
Merdic Green led the Tigers with 18 points while Lucas Waters had 13 points and Marcus Palmer, nine points. The Tigers closed out the regular season 7-7 in league play (11-11 overall).
WISSAHICKON 74, UPPER MORELAND 64
Chase Wilson exploded for a career-high 37 points to lead the Trojans. In a preview of things to come, Wilson scored 12 points in the first quarter to propel the Trojans to a 19-12 lead. He had just two points in the second quarter, but the Trojans outscored the Golden Bears 18-14 to go into halftime with a 37-32 lead. Chris Carradorini had the hot hand for the Trojans in the second quarter, connecting on three three-pointers and scoring nine of his 11 points in the frame.
The second half belonged to Wilson, who torched the Golden Bears for 11 points in the third quarter and 12 more in the fourth on his way to a career-best performance.
Matt Kohn led the Golden Bears with 17 points while Kevin McFall added 10.
The Trojans closed out the regular season tied with Cheltenham for second place in the American Conference standings with a 10-4 mark in league play (13-9 overall). The Golden Bears are 7-7 in the league (11-11 overall).
GIRLS BASKETBALL
SOUDERTON 62, QUAKERTOWN 37
Sophomore Sarah Derstein and senior Libby Wetzler dominated the paint for the Indians as both finished the night with double-doubles. Derstein had 14 points and 16 rebounds to go along with three steals, four assists and four blocked shots. Wetzler had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Allison Gallagher also finished the game in double figures with 12 points while junior Bianca Picard had seven.
The Panthers were led by the 18-point effort of freshman Taylor Herd while Kathryne Vetter added nine points and Ashlee Ruzicka, seven points.
The Indians led 14-10 at the end of one quarter, but the Panthers answered with an 18-16 second quarter to make it a 30-28 game at the intermission. The Indians took the suspense out of things with a 17-6 third quarter on their way to the win.
The Indians closed out the regular season with an 11-3 record in league play, finishing second to co-champions North Penn and Central Bucks West. They are 16-6 overall. The Panthers closed out their season with a 3-11 mark in league play (6-16 overall).
UPPER DUBLIN 42, UPPER MERION 27
The Flying Cardinals closed out a remarkable regular season with a win over the Vikings. The win upped their winning streak to 21, and they have not lost since their opening game of the season when they fell to Central Dauphin East.
The Cardinals opened up a 14-4 lead at the end of one quarter, but the Vikings made things interesting, cutting that lead to two points at halftime (19-17). The Flying Cardinals won the game with a 17-3 tear from the third quarter into the final quarter.
Senior point guard Curtrena Goff led the Cards with 13 points and four assists. Regan Gallagher filled the stat sheet with eight points, eight rebounds, five steals and three blocks. Brianna Spector had seven points and 10 rebounds while Lauren Rothfeld had six points and six rebounds and Kayla McAneney had five points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Flying Cardinals closed out the season with a perfect 14-0 record in league play (21-1 overall). The Vikings are 6-8 in league play (14-8 overall).
WILLIAM TENNENT 47, HARRY S TRUMAN 42
The two teams battled to a 13-13 tie, but the Panthers won the game with a 14-4 second quarter burst to go into halftime with a 27-17 lead. Truman outscored Tennent 25-20 in the second half but couldn’t dig itself out of its first half hole.
Angie Pomponio led the Panthers with 19 points, which included an 11-for-13 effort from the foul line. Nikki Alden added 10 points while Allison Chatburn had nine, including a pair of clutch three’s in the fourth quarter.
Khristaijah Jackson led the Tigers with 19 points while Taylor Gasperi added seven and Shappelle Brewton, six points.
The Panthers closed out the regular season with a 5-9 record in league play (13-9 overall). The Tigers were 0-14 the league (5-17 overall).
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