Basketball Wrap
By Scott Huff
TOWAMENCIN - One and Twenty-One.
That was the record for the 2008-2009 Pennridge Ram basketball team. It doesn’t get much more hideous than that.
Six and Zero.
That is the current record for the 2010-2011 Pennridge basketball team. It doesn’t get much more attractive than that.
“If you had told me that we would have been 6-0 at this point, I would not have believed it,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens after his Rams defeated host North Penn (3-1, 1-1) – 59-51. “But I think that my players would have believed it.”Those seven young and inexperienced sophomores who took a spanking in that 1-21 season are now seven varsity-tested seniors who are unbeaten at 6-0.
“We’re for real,” smiled senior Rocky Ferrier – a member of that 1-21 squad. “This is basically the same group of players from two years ago, but we have more experience and can handle the game better.”
There were two times during the win over the Knights when the Pennridge teams of old might have collapsed under the pressure.
North Penn jetted to a 7-0 lead at the outset of the game. No problem, Pennridge remained composed and sliced the lead to 14-13 by the close of the quarter.
Pennridge led 50-40 in the fourth period, but the Knights scored nine of the next ten points to close to 51-49.
“North Penn is a good basketball team that can shoot the three-pointers,” said Behrens as Matt Possanza drained a pair of 3’s and Sean Brooks knocked down a trey for the Knights to get them within a bucket. “But we did the little things that we had to do to win the game.”
“We knew that we had to stay within ourselves,” said Pennridge senior point guard Mike Guldin who scored a game-high 17 points. “Last year we lost a few games at the end because we folded – not this year.”
No not this year – not this season where the Pennridge Rams are a remarkable 6-0.
Pennridge 13 12 11 18 - 59
North Penn 14 17 3 17 - 51
Pennridge: Mike Guldin 17; Tim Abruzzo 17; Andrew Lyons 10; Rocky Ferrier 6; Kyle Peters 2; Jared Schaffer 3; Drew DeCew 4. Total – 59
North Penn: Javi Alvarino 6; Janeus Somers 10; Tom Scott 2; Matt Possanza 8; Taylor Koffke 1; Sean Brooks 13; Wes Brooks 11. – Total 51
Around the SOL Continental Conference
Souderton (3-2, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference action with a 54-33 victory over Central Bucks South (1-4, 0-2).
Big Red guard Anthony Sergio finished the game with six 3’s and a game-high 22 points. Mark Wonderling also scored in double figures with 11 points.
Souderton played terrific defense in the first half as the Indians led 25-8 at intermission.
Central Bucks South was led in scoring by Steve Schneider with eight points.
Central Bucks East (1-3, 1-1) won its first game for first year head coach Eric Henrysen as the Patriots knocked off Hatboro-Horsham (3-2, 1-1) – 56-50.
Ryan O’Neil led the Patriots in scoring with 17 points, while Lou Pannella chipped in with nine points and Justin VanHouten added eight markers.
The Hatters were led in scoring by Mike Brown and Matt Kane. Brown and Kane scored 12 points each.
Central Bucks West (4-1, 1-1) rallied from a first period deficit to defeat visiting Quakertown (1-4, 0-2) – 46-33.
The Bucks had two players reach double figures in the victory. Tyler Schechter scored 15 points, while Kevin Sweet added 10 points for the winners.
Quakertown – which did not score in double figures in any of the four periods – were led in scoring by Cory Jorgensen with 12 points.
**Vikings clip Flying Cardinals**
Upper Merion (3-3, 1-1) has resurrected its basketball program as evidenced by the Vikings 52-49 victory over Upper Dublin (3-3, 0-2).
“I told people before the beginning of the season that this team could finish with at least a winning record,” said Upper Merion head coach Francis Bowe. “We are very athletic, but we are new to each other. We are going to have some early season bumps.
“I love the way that are two guards are playing,” added Bowe in reference to 5-foot, 5-inch Pat Stringfield and 5-11 James Mobley. “They are not the biggest players, but they might have the biggest hearts.”
Stringfield – who scored a key basket late in the game to secure the win – finished with nine points and nine assists. Mobley shot 8-10 from the free throw line in the final period and finished with a team-high 20 points.
Upper Dublin featured Khalil Owens who scored a game-high 20 points. Darrell Harrison also scored in twin digits for the Cardinals with 10 points.
“The more we mature, the better we should become,” said Bowe. “We play a tough schedule in our league, but we feel that we can compete.”
Upper Merion 13 10 14 15 - 52
Upper Dublin 7 11 15 16 - 49
Upper Merion: James Mobley 20; Matt Mahoney 2; Ed Chimillo 8; Dallas Chesky 9; Naim Cheeseboro 4; Pat Stringfield 9. Total – 52
Upper Dublin: Ed Petrosky 2; Khalil Owens 26; Darrell Harrison 10; Andrew Derr 2; John DeCamara 9. Total – 49
Around the SOL American Conference
Norristown (6-0, 2-0) remained unbeaten with a 66-54 victory over Wissahickon (2-4, 0-2).
The Eagles had four players in double figures to highlight their balanced attack. Rasheed Johnson (15), Tyreese White (14), Aaron Webb (13), and Jahquan Hargrove (12) each scored in twin digits for the winners.
The Trojans had the game-high scorer in Anthony McKie who tallied 20 points. Mike Scheier scored 11 points for Wissahickon.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-1, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference play as the Colonials routed visiting Upper Moreland (0-5, 0-1) – 87-29.
Jaylen Bond torched the Golden Bears with a 35-point, 17 rebound, four blocked shot performance. Stephon Baker added 17 points for the Colonials.
Upper Moreland was led in scoring by Matt Kohn who scored a team-high 10 points.
***Owls tame Tigers***
Bensalem (3-2, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference with a 53-45 victory over Truman (2-3, 1-1).
“Calvin Brown had an excellent game,” said Bensalem head coach John Mullin. “He was the force that we needed inside, and he rebounded the ball very well.”
The 6-foot, 8-inch senior had a double-double with a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds. He also blocked seven shots.
“We shot the ball very well from the foul line, and we have to continue to do that late in games,” said Mullin as the Owls converted 21 of 26 from the charity stripe. “We had 28 turnovers, and that was ugly, but we did just enough to come away with the win.”
Truman 10 12 14 9 - 45
Bensalem 14 11 11 17 - 53
Truman: Daveed Ransome 10; Mike Mintah 1; Shaun Miller 4; Mike McGuire 9; Merdic Green 8; DeQuan Ashley 9; Lamont Waters 4. Total – 45
Bensalem: Alex Agyedu 4; Quancine Wilson 2; Leo Vincent 6; Feriz Saade 2; Austin Nyekan 7; Davante Newkirk 5; Chris McMullin 10; Calvin Brown 17. – Total 53
Around the SOL National Conference
Council Rock North (3-1, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference action with a 76-54 victory over Abington (2-4, 0-2).
The Indians outscored the Ghosts 22-6 in the second period to cruise to the win. Arron Goodman scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in that quarter. Aaron Morgan (15) and John Raymon (12) also scored in double figures for Rock North.
Abington was led in scoring by DJ MacFadden who scored a team-high 22 points. Jiere Morrisey added nine points for the Ghosts.
Council Rock South (4-2, 1-1) won its first conference game as the Golden Hawks flew to a 48-39 victory over William Tennent (2-3, 0-2).
Rock South had a pair of players earn double-doubles in the win. Justin Thomas had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Christian Crane added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
William Tennent was led in scoring by Shakat Kofa with 15 points. Cole Weber also scored in double figures for the Panthers with 12 points.
Neshaminy (5-0, 2-0) remained unbeaten with an 83-52 victory over Pennsbury (1-4, 0-2).
The Redskins were led in scoring by junior Ryan Arcidiacono who scored a game-high 30 points. Shawn Pepper led the Falcons in scoring with a team-high 16 points.
- Log in to post comments
0
