Scott Huff recaps all of Tuesday night’s SOL action, including Abington’s big win over CR North. To view photos of the Souderton/CB South game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
By Scott Huff
Abington (5-0, 2-0) added a huge win to its unbeaten resume as the Ghosts collected an impressive 54-51 Suburban One League National Conference victory over visiting Council Rock North (1-3, 1-1).
“I hope a win over a program like this opens some eyes,” said Abington head coach Charles Grasty. “Playing them at home is a great atmosphere for our young team. We have such unselfish players – they don’t care how many points they score – the only thing they worried about is how many turnovers they had.
“The players are having a whole lot of fun, and the coaching staff is having fun coaching them,” added Grasty. “They are beginning to believe in themselves, and they will be able to play with more confidence down the road.”
The Ghost scorebook at the conclusion of the game showed the balance of an unselfish team. Junior Jordan Simmons scored 13 points, junior Anthony Durham scored 11 points, freshman Matt Penecale scored eight points, junior Jiere Morrisey scored eight points, and junior Mike Griffin scored seven points.
“The biggest points of the game came in the fourth period, and they came from Mike Griffin,” said Grasty. “He came off the bench, and his teammates had no trouble giving him the ball in the key parts of the game – and he came through. He might be the best shooter on the team.”
Council Rock North – the defending conference champion – was led in scoring by Arron Goodman with a game-high 17 points. Alex Jordan and Aaron Morgan each scored 10 points for the Indians.
“When I was a young kid, I couldn’t wait until I could play varsity basketball at Abington,” said Grasty who graduated from Abington in 1990. “And I want the young players in the community today to feel the same way that I did.”
Council Rock North Indians 8 12 16 15 - 51
Abington Galloping Ghosts 16 10 13 15 - 54
SOL National Conference Results
William Tennent (2-2, 1-1) won its first conference game of the season as the Panthers edged Council Rock South (3-2, 1-1) – 38-36. Freshman Horace Spencer helped secure the victory with a key free throw late in the game and a blocked shot in the final moments on a shot that would have forced overtime. Jack Rauchut led the Panthers with 12 points. Council Rock South was led in scoring by Zach Fitzgerald and PJ Gallo who each scored 10 points for the Hawks.
Council Rock South Golden Hawks 11 7 11 7 - 36
William Tennent Panthers 13 7 4 14 - 38
Pennsbury (2-2, 1-1) jumped out to a 14-point first period lead as the Falcons flew to an easy 60-39 victory over visiting Neshaminy (0-6, 0-2). Pennsbury was led in scoring by Kieran Bolger with a team-high 19 points that included five 3-point field goals. Ryan Charity added 17 points for the Falcons, while Shawn Pepper scored in twin digits with 10 points. Neshaminy was led in scoring by Tyler Katz who scored a game-high 23 points that included three 3-point field goals and an 8-10 performance on the free throw line.
Neshaminy Redskins 3 14 13 9 - 39
Pennsbury Falcons 17 11 14 18 - 60
Bensalem (2-2, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference play as the Owls went on the road and collected a 55-50 victory over Truman (1-4, 0-2). Bensalem had three players scored in double figures with Deion Jones the leading scorer with 16 points. Julian Hyden scored in twin digits with 13 points, while Leo Vincent added 10 points for the winners. The Tigers had a pair of double figure scorers as Merdic Green scored a team-high 15 points and Mike Mintah scored 13 points.
Bensalem Owls 18 10 12 15 - 55
Truman Tigers 10 3 17 20 - 50
Trojans Win Daily Double
Wissahickon (4-1, 2-0) saved its best basketball for the fourth period as the Trojans defeated visiting Norristown (2-2, 1-1) – 45-40.
Wissahickon opened its SOL American Conference schedule with perennial powers Plymouth Whitemarsh and Norristown – and the Trojans are 2-0 in those challenging games.
“I told my players that I don’t make the schedule, but if you want to be the best you have to play the best,” said Wissahickon head coach Kyle Wilson. “It wasn’t real pretty, but we found a way to grind it out against an athletic basketball team. We made some plays when we had to late in the game to come up with the win.”
Senior Jordan Reed was the ‘man’ in the fourth period as he scored 10 of his game-high 21 points during crunch time. Reed hit a 3-point field goal to snap a 36-all deadlock, and Wissahickon was able to protect the lead for the remainder of the game. Kyle Garrett and Chase Wilson scored seven points each for the Trojans, while Tanoh Kpassagnon had eight block shots and five points.
Norristown was led in scoring by Jahbri Hargrove with 11 points, while Richard Bouknight scored nine points and Marquis Bryant added eight points for the Eagles.
“We have a real tough game (tonight) against Central Bucks East,” said Wilson. “We want to play teams in our non-conference games that will prepare us to play in districts.”
Norristown Eagles 4 9 13 14 - 40
Wissahickon Trojans 13 9 5 18 - 45
SOL American Conference Results
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-2, 1-1) won its first conference game as the Colonials blasted host Upper Moreland (3-2, 0-1) – 71-52. Anthony McKie led the PW offensive attack with a game-high 28 points, while Jake Silvers (15) and Russhon Phillips (13) also scored in twin digits for the Colonials. Senior Brandon Johnson dominated the boards with 17 rebounds – four blocked shots – and scored five points. Matt Kohn led the Golden Bears with a 23-point scoring performance.
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials 20 18 18 15 - 71
Upper Moreland Golden Bears 16 15 8 13 - 52
Upper Dublin (4-2, 1-1) held off a determined Upper Merion squad (1-3, 0-2) as the Flying Cardinals edged the Vikings – 53-50. John DeCamara scored a game-high 19 points for Upper Dublin, including a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to put the Flying Cardinals on top 53-50. The Vikings came up short on several shots to knot the score. Andrew Derr (12) and Darrell Harrison (10) also scored in double figures for the winners. Upper Merion had three players reach twin digits as Hassan Gardner led with a team-high 13 points. Justin Lewis scored 12 points for the Vikings, while Connor McGrath added 11 points.
Upper Dublin Cardinals 10 19 15 9 - 53
Upper Merion Vikings 8 13 18 11 - 50
Knights Win First For Coach Conrad
North Penn (1-2, 1-1) broke open a tight game with a 44-point second half to defeat host Pennridge (3-2, 0-2) – 63-48 – in an SOL Continental Conference game.
“It feels great to be able to come up with a win,” said North Penn head coach John Conrad in earning his first coaching win for the Knights. “We had a lot of balance in our scoring, and we shot free throws well at the end of the game. We did what we had to do to win the game.”
North Penn scored 25 points in the final period to secure the win. The Knights shot 13-of-16 from the foul line in the final period with Wes Brooks a perfect 6-6 and Javi Alvarino 4-6 from the charity striple. Brooks finished with a team-high 16 points, while Alvarino scored 14 points for the Knights. Larry Roane had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Dawson scored in twin digits for NP with 10 points.
“We took some of the pressure off of Wes offensively tonight, and that was a real good sign,” said Conrad. “We had Wes on (Tim) Abruzzo, and although he made some shots, I thought that Wes did a really good job defending him. He is a great shooter.”
Abruzzo buried seven 3-point field goals and scored a game-high 27 points for the Rams. Andrew Lyons scored in double figures for Pennridge with 10 points.
SOL Continental Conference Results
Souderton (3-2, 1-1) opened up a 50-26 lead as the Big Red collected a 71-49 victory over visiting Central Bucks South (2-3, 1-1). The Big Red was led in scoring by Ryan Connolly who scored a game-high 16 points, while Mark Wonderling also scored in double figures for SAHS with 14 points. The Titans were led in scoring by Chase Vonder Schmalz with a game-high 15 points, while Paul Zakrzewski scored in twin digits with 10 points.
Central Bucks South Titans 12 9 10 18 - 49
Souderton Big Red 15 19 27 10 - 71
Central Bucks West (4-1, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference play as the Bucks defeated host Quakertown (1-4, 0-2) – 49-41. CB West was led in scoring by Tyler Schechter and Derek Dyer who each scored 12 points, while Shane Kellar added nine points for the Bucks. Jon Landis scored a game-high 17 points to lead Quakertown, while Mike Ciccarone scored in double figures for the Panthers with 11 points.
Central Bucks West Bucks 11 10 14 14 - 49
Quakertown Panthers 7 11 6 17 - 41
Central Bucks East (2-2, 2-0) remained unbeaten in conference play as the Patriots defeated visiting Hatboro-Horsham (1-3, 1-1) – 44-36. Lou Pannella scored a game-high 13 points for CB East, while Mark Kiersnowski added 10 points for the winners. Zach Quattro scored a game-high 14 points for the Hatters, while Michael Brown added seven points.
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 8 9 7 12 - 36
CB East Patriots 10 6 12 16 - 44
- Log in to post comments
