This week’s notebook featured Pennsbury, Pennridge and Upper Moreland.
By Scott Huff
Pennsbury is flying right into the eye of the Suburban One League National Conference storm this week as the Falcons take on first place Abington and defending champion Council Rock North. The Falcons (3-3, 1-1) host Abington (7-1, 2-0) on Tuesday and follow that with a huge road game with Rock North (4-3, 1-1) on Friday.
“Obviously, Abington has had a great start with seven wins and no conferences losses,” said Pennsbury head coach Bill Coleman. “And with Rip (Engel) going to North, they are going to be very tough to defend with him in the backcourt with (Aaron) Morgan. North could very well be the team that everyone is shooting for.
“But I keep telling my players there really is no dominant team in our conference this year,” added Coleman. “If you don’t come with your ‘A’ game, you are going to be knocked off. Every game in the conference is going to be decided by who executes the best and makes the least amount of mistakes.”
Pennsbury has featured a balanced scoring attack this season as four players have taken turns scoring the rock. Kieran Bolger leads the Falcons with a 15.0 points per game average. Ryan Charity (11.5), Shawn Pepper (10.5) and Jerrell Burke (9.5) have also contributed offensively. Dan Ransom – who missed the first three games of the season – averages eight rebounds a game.
“There is no question that most people see us as a team that is carried by Kieran,” said Coleman. “But we don’t want to rely on just him, and so far we have had other players step up and score points for us. It makes us a more difficult team to prepare for with everyone contributing.”
Pennsbury had a scheduling conflict that kept the Falcons out of a holiday tournament, but Pennsbury was impressive in a non-conference win over Harrition.
“We would have liked to have played in a tournament, but it is what it is,” said Coleman. “We have played good in spurts, but we need to be more consistent. The effort is there, but we need to execute on a more consistent basis.
“This year, the teams in our conference are very similar in talent,” added Coleman. “Abington, CR North, CR South, Bensalem, Truman, Tennent, and Neshaminy have all played well at times. The conference is open – and we want to be in that mix.”
Upper Moreland is also hoping to be in the championship mix in the SOL American Conference despite the fact that the Golden Bears (5-3, 0-1) are a Class AAA team basically playing in a Class AAAA conference. Upper Merion is also a Triple-A team, while Plymouth Whitemarsh, Norristown, Wissahickon, Upper Dublin, and Cheltenham are all Quad-A schools based on enrollment.
“We are going into the season hungry for the good competition,” said Upper Moreland head coach Brian Corrado. “Playing the competition that we play during our conference season only makes us a better team. We pride ourselves in being prepared to play the good teams and be competitive.”
Upper Moreland has a young team that has flourished in an up-tempo style of basketball. Juniors Matt Kohn, Nick Corbett and Josh Villanueva are joined in the starting lineup by sophomore Kevin McFall and senior Sean Valenza. The first player off the bench for the Bears is sophomore Tommy Robinson.
“Matt Kohn is our most consistent scorer, and he is also our point guard,” said Corrado. “And Nick has shown the ability go both go to the hole and hit the outside jump shot. Kevin has been strong off the boards. We have some size and athleticism and we like to get up and down the floor.”
The challenge the Golden Bears will have this week is to match that size and athleticism with two of the most athletic teams in the conference. Upper Moreland will travel to Norristown on Tuesday and will host Wissahickon on Friday.
“We have some very tough games to welcome us into the New Year,” said Corrado. “But the kids are playing with confidence and have good chemistry. We are excited to play these games.”
Pennridge is rarely in a position to defend a SOL Continental Conference boys basketball championship, in fact, the Rams have never had to defend such a title of any kind since the school began in 1954. Pennridge – which captured the SOL Continental crown last season - had been called Sell-Perk prior to 1954.
“Right now we are 5-3 overall, but we are 0-2 in the league,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “In years past, nobody would complain about a 5-3 record this far into the season. And we felt that in two of losses, to North Penn and Boyertown, we easily could have won those games.
“We have a huge game coming up Tuesday with Central Bucks East (4-4, 2-0),” added Behrens. “If we want to get back into contention, we are going to have to play good defense and rebound better. East knows us – we know them – and it should be a good basketball game.”
The Rams have been led this season by senior guard Tim Abruzzo who has averaged 22 points per game.
“Tim has gotten a lot of attention from colleges,” said Behrens. “We talked about it, and Tim knows that how well he plays this season is going to determine where he can play next year. He is a good student, and he should have some good options at the end of the season.”
Random stat of the week: How have SOL teams competed with teams outside the league so far this season? The American Conference has competed the best with a winning percentage of 63%, while the Continental Conference (45.5%) finished second and the National Conference (40%) finished third. Numbers do not always tell the story, as strength of schedule does not figure in that winning percentage stat. Is a win over a Class A team really more impressive than a loss to a nationally ranked team outside the state? I don’t think so.
SOL *** Tuesday Night (1/3/12)*** Schedule
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (3-4, 1-1) @ Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals (6-3, 1-1)
Upper Moreland Golden Bears (5-3, 0-1) @ Norristown Eagles (4-4, 1-1)
Cheltenham Panthers (6-3, 1-0) @ Upper Merion Vikings (3-5, 0-2)
**Non-league** Wissahickon (8-1) @ Archbishop Carroll (4-3)
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East Patriots (4-4, 2-0) @ Pennridge Rams (5-3, 0-2)
Quakertown Panthers (1-7, 0-2) @ Central Bucks South Titans (3-5, 1-1)
Central Bucks West Bucks (7-1, 2-0) @ North Penn Knights (2-4, 1-1)
Souderton Big Red (4-3, 1-1) @ Hatboro-Horsham Hatters (2-5, 1-1)
National Conference
Council Rock South Golden Hawks (4-3, 1-1) @ Neshaminy Redskins (1-8, 0-2)
William Tennent Panthers (2-6, 1-1) @ Bensalem Owls (2-4, 2-0)
Abington Galloping Ghosts (7-1, 2-0) @ Pennsbury Falcons (3-3, 1-1)
Harry S Truman Tigers (3-5, 0-2) @ Council Rock North Indians (4-3, 1-1)
SOL***Friday Night (1/6/12)***Schedule
American Conference
Norristown Eagles @ Upper Dublin Flying Cardinals
Wissahickon Trojans @ Upper Moreland Golden Bears
Cheltenham Panthers @ Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East Patriots @ Central Bucks West Bucks
Central Bucks South Titans @ North Penn Knights
Souderton Big Red @ Quakertown Panthers
Pennridge Rams @ Hatboro-Horsham Hatters
National Conference
Harry S Truman Tigers @ William Tennent Panthers
Bensalem Owls @ Neshaminy Redskins
Abington Galloping Ghosts @ Council Rock South Golden Hawks
Pennsbury Falcons @ Council Rock North Indians
Suburban One Sports.com
Super Seven
1. Abington Ghosts (7-1)
2. Wissahickon Trojans (8-1)
3. Central Bucks West Bucks (7-1)
4. Council Rock North Indians (4-3)
5. Souderton Big Red (4-3)
6. Plymouth Whitemarsh Colonials (3-4)
7. Cheltenham Panthers (6-3)
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