By Scott Huff
Sometimes you just have to believe the politically correct statements.
Pennsbury, Norristown, Central Bucks South, and Central Bucks West all have sights set on respective Suburban One Conference championships.
All are assured slots in the upcoming PIAA District One playoffs and possible shots at both PIAA state playoffs and a PIAA state championship.
But the conference titles are not lost in the blur of the postseason – not by anyone.“The league title means everything to us,” said Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla moments after his Falcons survived a 61-54 overtime victory against Norristown in the Prime Time Shootout tournament held at Villanova University. “To play in games like this – against great competition – is a good thing to get us ready for down the road.
“We were a little worried about just looking at this game and not about what comes next in our league schedule,” added Sciolla. “We want the title, and if we can beat William Tennent (1-17, 0-11) on Monday,the title is ours.”
“Now it is very important to get back to business,”said Norristown coach Michael Evans after the gut-wrenching overtime loss to Pennsbury. “We have
three very important league games this week, and if we want to win a title, we can’t afford to stumble.
“Upper Dublin (Tuesday) and Cheltenham (Friday) are games we have to win,” continued Evans. “And then we have to play well if we want to win an outright championship on Saturday against Plymouth Whitemarsh.”
The Eagles (15-4, 11-0) have a slim one-game advantage in the conference standings over the Colonials (16-3,10-1).
If PW can defeat both Cheltenham (Tuesday) and Springfield (Friday), it would set up a title game on Saturday night – at Norristown.
In the first meeting between the two SOL American Conference powers – Norristown edged PW by a 45-41 score.
Pennsbury’s path to an SOL National Conference championship has no major roadblock.
The Falcons (16-2, 11-0) would need to suffer an incredible collapse to be caught in the conference standings by second place Bensalem (15-4, 8-3).
Both Central Bucks South (17-3, 10-2) and Central Bucks West (16-4, 10-2) have fate in their respective hands as the final week of the SOL Continental season unfolds.
“There is still a lot of basketball to be played,” said CB West head coach Adam Sherman after his Bucks lost a thrilling 45-42 contest to CB South last week. “There are a lot of possibilities – a lot of unfinished business.”
The first test for the Bucks will come against rival CB East (13-6, 8-4) – at East – on Tuesday. West beat the Patriots 57-51 in overtime in the first meeting.
CB West will close out its season against Hatboro-Horsham (7-12, 3-9). The Bucks handled the Hatters 55-39 in the first meeting.
“Our goal, from the very beginning of the season, was to win the first boys’ basketball championship at this school,” said CB South coach Jason Campbell. “We want to hang that banner on the wall.”
The first test for the Titans will come against North Penn (10-10, 4-8) – at North Penn – on Tuesday. The Titans bested the Knights 62-54 in their first meeting.
CB South will close out its regular season with a huge game against rival CB East, at home. The Titans edged the Patriots 53-49 in their first meeting.
Pennsbury, Norristown, Plymouth Whitemarsh, CB West, and CB South all would to love to be addressed as conference champions.
And that couldn’t be more politically correct.
Suburban One American Conference
Norristown (15-4, 11-0) split its pair of games last week as the Eagles prepare of their final week of the season.Khalif Wyatt scored 30 points as N-town cruised to a 76-49 conference win over Wissahickon. Lorenzo Christmas, and Tom Smith also scored in double figures in the Wissy win.
Norristown rallied from a 15-point second half deficit against the #1 ranked team in the state – Pennsbury – but fell in overtime, 61-54. Wyatt – the team MVP in the Prime Time Shootout Tournament – led the Eagles with 17 points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (16-3, 10-1) came up with a pair of impressive wins last week to remain within a game of Norristown in conference play.
The Colonials opened the week with a convincing 63-39 conference victory over Upper Dublin. PW was also invited to the prestigious Prime Time Shootout Tournament and came away with a 63-52 win over Holy Ghost Prep. C.J. Aiken led the Colonials with a game-high 23 points.
Upper Moreland (7-12, 3-9) had an excellent week as the Golden Bears halted a six-game losing streak with a three-game win streak.
Dmitri Miller was the high scorer for UMHS in its victories over Upper Merion [42-41], Upper Dublin[51-41], and Strath Haven [63-47]. Miller scored 18,16, and 19 points respectively.
Upper Moreland will close out the regular season with two conference games and a non-league tilt. The Bears travel to Springfield on Tuesday and hosts Wissahickon on Friday. UMHS hosts Lansdale Catholic on Saturday.
Cheltenham (10-8, 10-2) continued to be the third best team in the conference – behind Norristown and Plymouth Whitemarsh – as the Panthers won a pair of conference games last week.
CHS bested both Springfield and Wissahickon [46-42] behind the scoring of both Naseer Khalid and Keith Coleman.
Cheltenham will close out the regular season with a pair of conference dates. The Panthers will host PW in a Tuesday showdown and will travel to Norristown on Friday.
Wissahickon (9-11, 4-8) is on a five-game losing streak which included a pair of conference games last week.
The Trojans fell to both Norristown [76-49] and Cheltenham [46-42]. Alex McClure led Wissy with 16 points against the Eagles, while Jordan Reed led the Trojans with 17 digits against Cheltenham.
Wissahickon will close out its regular season with a couple of conference contests. Wissy will host Upper Merion on Tuesday and finish the season on the road Friday versus Upper Moreland.
Upper Dublin (6-14, 5-7) not only saw its three-game win streak snapped, but the Cardinals also suffered the loss of leading scorer Jamil Brown to an ankle injury.
The Flying Cardinals opened the week with a 63-39 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh and followed with a 51-41 loss to Upper Moreland. The Cards - who were led in scoring by both Anquil Bailey and James Newman – also lost a non-league game to Central Bucks East, 52-36.
Upper Dublin will close out its regular season with a pair of conference dates. The Flying Cardinals will host Norristown on Tuesday and will finish their season on the road at Upper Merion.
Upper Merion (5-13, 4-8) split a pair of conference games last week.
The Vikings – behind the double figure scoring of Tim Gallagher (13) and Fran Rafferty (10) – suffered a tough 42-41 loss to Upper Moreland. Upper Merion rebounded with a win over Springfield.
Upper Merion will close the books on its season with a couple of conference games. The Vikings will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday, and will most likely close the season at home against Upper Dublin.
Springfield (1-18, 0-12) continued its losing streak that has now reached 11 games.
The Spartans – who defeated Renaissance Academy 11 games ago – dropped conference losses to both Cheltenham and Upper Merion.
Springfield will close its conference season with a home game against Upper Moreland on Tuesday and an away game at PW on Friday. The season will come to a close on Saturday night, as the Spartans will host Bristol in a non-league affair.
Suburban One Continental Conference
Central Bucks South (17-3, 10-2) had an interesting week as the Titans share the #1 slot in the conference standings with CB West.South opened the week with a stunning 66-60 conference loss to Souderton. Mike Pincus led the Titans with a 19-point scoring effort and closed the week with a 78-42 non-league win over William Tennent.
The big win, though, came against CB West when Ryan Clark scored the game winner on three-point play with four seconds left in the game to give the Titans a 45-42 victory.
CB South has beaten CB West both times they have played this season, but the Titans have dropped conference games to both Souderton and Quakertown.
Central Bucks West (15-4, 10-2) won two of its three games played last week.
The Bucks opened the week with a 54-44 conference win over North Penn and closed the week with a 55-47 victory over Abington in a non-league game.
West, though, dropped out of sole possession of first place in the conference standings when the Bucks dropped a 45-42 contest to rival CB South.
The high scorers in the games this week were Rellis Reichwein (22) versus North Penn; Joe DiLullo (9)versus CB South; and Patrick Furst (19) versus Abington.
Central Bucks East (13-6, 8-4) may not win a conference title, but sure could determine which of its sister schools – CB South or CB West – does win
the championship.
East – which has now won six consecutive games – hosts CB West on Tuesday and will close the season against CB South on Friday. The Pats also have a non-league game on Wednesday as they host Perkiomen Valley.
The Patriots collected three wins last week against conference foes Hatboro-Horsham [59-43] and Souderton [56-49]. East also claimed a 52-35 non-league win over Upper Dublin behind the 17-point scoring effort of Brandon Boekel.
Souderton (12-8, 8-4) came up with a huge conference victory to open the week when the Indians stunned first place CB South, 66-60. A.J. Picard lit up the
scoreboard with a 30-point performance.
Souderton – still playing without the services of high scoring Jimmy Connolly – stumbled in a non-league loss to Upper Perkiomen, 57-47. Kyle Connolly led the Big Red with 21 points.
The Indians closed the week with a 56-49 conference loss to CB East. Picard led the team with 20 markers, while Nate Moyer added 10 points.
Souderton will host Pennridge on Tuesday and will travel to Quakertown on Friday to close out its conference schedule.
Quakertown (9-10, 4-7) came up with a huge conference victory to close the week as the Panthers defeated North Penn, 44-42. Then Q-town lost a non-league game to Neshaminy, 67-50.
Quakertown was led to victory against North Penn by a 20-point performance by Dalton Nice and a 13-point effort by Brett Roseboro. Nice led the Panthers in scoring against Neshaminy.
Q-town will play three conference games this week as the Panthers travel to Pennridge on Monday, travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday, and finish out the conference schedule with a home game Friday against Souderton.
North Penn (10-10, 4-8) lost a pair of conference games last week as the Knights were defeated by both CB West [54-44] and Quakertown [44-42].
North Penn rebounded to beat Perkiomen Valley in a non-league game, 60-51. The Knights were led in the win by the scoring of Adam Jones (15), Derek Brooks(14), Scott Billman (10) and Max Resnick (10).
The Knights will close out their conference schedule with a home date on Tuesday against Central Bucks South and a road date on Friday with Pennridge.
Hatboro-Horsham (7-12, 3-9) split its pair of conference games last week as its season is coming to a close.
The Hatters lost to CB East [59-43] to open the week and followed with a conference win over Pennridge[56-49]. The Hatters had twin digit scoring during the week by Connor Posten, Mike Marvin, and Pete Williams.
Hatboro-Horsham will host Quakertown on Tuesday and will travel to Central Bucks West on Friday to close out its season.
Pennridge (1-18, 0-11) played just a single game last week – and it ended like the last 18 for the Rams – in a loss.
Pennridge dropped a 56-49 contest to Hatboro-Horsham despite the fact that three Rams scored in double figures. Zech States led the team with 17 points, while Ryan Connellan added 14 points and Mike Guildin scored 10 points.
Pennridge will close out its season with a trio of conference dates. The Rams host Quakertown on Monday, travel to Souderton on Tuesday, and will end their season with a home game against North Penn.
Suburban One National Conference
Pennsbury (16-2, 11-0) should be the first team to earn a conference championship when the Falcons host William Tennent on Monday.Last week, Pennsbury defeated both Council Rock South [57-35] and Norristown [61-54 in overtime] to extend its win streak to 11 games.
In the Rock South win, the Falcons were led by Eddie Dirugeris with 17 points, while Dalton Pepper led the team against Norristown in the Prime Time Shootout with 22 points.
Dirugeris – who has committed to Philadelphia University – was named MVP of @ the Prime Time Shootout.
Bensalem (15-4, 8-3) split its pair of conference games but remains in second place in conference standings.
The Owls – behind a 20-point scoring effort by Rob Schreiber defeated Harry S Truman [70-56] – and lost to Council Rock North [59-48] despite a 25-point scoring performance by Dyron Edwards.
Bensalem will close out its conference season with a trio of games this week. The Owls will travel to Neshaminy on Tuesday, will travel to Rock North on Wednesday, and will host Abington on Friday.
Neshaminy (13-7, 8-4) continued its winning streak with three wins last week. The Redskins have now won seven straight.
Neshaminy won conference games against Council Rock North [52-51] and William Tennent [66-38], and also won a non-league game against Quakertown [67-50].
Freshman point/shooting guard Ryan Arcidiacono continued to impress with an 18-point effort against Rock North and a 20-point performance against Quakertown.
Neshaminy will conclude its conference schedule with a home game against Bensalem on Tuesday and an away game against Pennsbury on Friday.
Council Rock North (11-8, 7-4) earned a split of its conference games last week.
The Indians opened the week with a tough 52-51 loss to Neshaminy despite the scoring performances of both Arron Goodman (18) and Andrew Stress (12).
Rock North closed the week with an impressive 59-48 victory over Bensalem. The Indians were led to the win with a balanced attack that featured the scoring of Dan Costello (13), Aaron Morgan (13), and Tim Filler (11).
CR North will close its regular conference season with an away game with Abington on Tuesday, followed by a home date with Bensalem on Wednesday, and another home date with Council Rock South.
Abington (8-12, 5-7) played well in the conference as the Ghosts notched wins over both Council Rock South [49-31] and Harry S Truman [45-33]. Abington also lost a non-league game to Central Bucks West [55-47].
The leading scorers during the week for the Ghosts were Ken Johnson (18) against Rock South, Jaymes Miller (16) against Truman, and Johnson (16) against CB West.
Abington will close out its conference season with a home contest on Tuesday against Council Rock North and an away game on Friday against Bensalem.
Council Rock South (10-10, 5-7) lost its fourth and fifth consecutive games last week in conference play.
The Golden Hawks – who had been on a seven-game win streak prior to this seven-game losing skid – were beaten by both Abington [49-31] and Pennsbury [57-35].
Both Cody Nowlin and Pat Fitzsimmons were double figure scorers for Rock South last week.
The conference season will close for the Hawks when they travel to William Tennent on Tuesday and close the season with an away contest at rival Council Rock North.
Harry S Truman (5-14, 2-10) lost both of its conference games last week as the Tigers lost to Bensalem [70-56] and to Abington [45-33].
The top scoring honors in defeat went to Phil Griffin (19) and Keith Jones (15) in the setback to Bensalem, and to Mike Schmidt (7) and Quincy Palmer (7) in the loss to Abington.
The Tigers will close out their conference season with a Tuesday home date against Pennsbury, and a Friday away contest versus William Tennent.
William Tennent (1-17, 0-11) has now lost its last 13 games, which included a pair of losses last week.
The Panthers dropped games to both a conference game to Neshaminy [66-38] and a non-league game to Central Bucks East [78-42]. Jeff Pio led WT in scoring with a 14-point performance against CB East.
William Tennent has a busy week as the Panthers close out its season. Tennent will travel to Pennsbury on Monday, will host CR South on Tuesday, and will end its season with a home game against Truman on Friday.
SuburbanOneSports.com Super Seven + 1
1. Pennsbury Falcons (16-2, 11-0)
2. Norristown Eagles (15-4, 11-0)
3. Central Bucks South Titans (17-3, 10-2)
4. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (16-3, 10-1)
5. Bensalem Owls (15-4, 8-3)
6. Central Bucks West Bucks (15-4, 10-2)
7. Central Bucks East Patriots (13-6, 8-4)
Neshaminy Redskins (13-7, 8-4)
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