Pennridge pulled off an upset of Souderton. Check out all of Friday’s SOL results.
By Scott Huff
Perkasie – Both Pennridge and Souderton had a great dealto play for Friday night, and it was the Rams (10-10, 4-8) that earned the coveted victory with a 45-42 shocker over the Indians (15-5, 10-2) in a Suburban One League Continental Conference game before a packed house on the Pennridge High School campus. Ram senior Tim Abruzzo drained a 3-ball with 3.4 seconds left in the game to secure the game – and maybe a playoff run – for the Rams.
“Last week we were 7-10 and a mess as far as making district playoffs,” said Pennridge head coach Dean Behrens. “But now we are 10-10 and have to at least be in the discussion. We talked about how important beating Souderton was going to be if we wanted any chance at the playoffs. This was a quality win.”
“We approach every game like it is a championship game for us,” said Souderton head coach Dennis Stanton. “Right now, 10-2 in the conference is not quite good enough. (CB West beat Hatboro-Horsham 44-40 to improve its conference record to 11-1) This is a tough place to play, and Abruzzo just might be the best pure scorer in the conference.”
Abruzzo – who scored all 10 Ram points in the fourth period and finished with a game-high 26 points – is eight points shy of the all-time Pennridge scoring record with at the very least two games to play. The Rams finish the season at CB West and home against Quakertown.
“I wasn’t thinking about scoring, all I was thinking about was winning this game to keep us in the playoff run,” said Abruzzo. “We have lost some fourth period leads this year and I wanted us to be able to finish this one off.”
Pennridge led at the conclusion of the first period (16-10), at the conclusion of the half (29-24), and at the conclusion of the third quarter (35-31), but when Souderton senior Luke Moyer deposited a 3-point field goal with 6:32 left in the game – the Indians took the lead at 36-35. Souderton held a 39-37 lead with 3:02 left in the game when Abruzzo made a game-turning play for the Rams.
Souderton forced Pennridge out of its packed zone with the lead and holding the ball, but Abruzzo came up with a terrific steal – drove the length of the floor – threw down a monster dunk – was fouled – and converted the free throw to regain the lead for the Rams at 40-39.
“I was hiding behind one of our players and looked for a passing lane,” said Abruzzo. “And once I got the steal, I was going to go straight to the rim.”
Abruzzo connected on a clutch one-and-one situation with 31.6 seconds left to improve the lead to 42-39, but Mark Wonderling banged home an equally clutch 3-ball for the Indians to knot the score at 42-42 with 16 ticks left on the clock.
“I thought about calling timeout, but when we were able to inbound the ball to Tim, I decided against it,” said Behrens. “We wanted to get the ball in his hands, and he already had it. He came down the floor – got the shot he wanted – and made it. He made me look awful smart by not calling the timeout.”
Souderton called timeout and was able to get off a desperation shot at the buzzer - but it fell short.
The fans stormed the court and Pennridge had collected its biggest win of the season - while Souderton might have suffered its toughest loss of the season.
Souderton Indians 10 14 7 11 - 42
Pennridge Rams 16 13 6 10 - 45
Souderton: Mark Wonderling 11; Ryan Connolly 10; John Kanas 10; Ry Yazzolinas 6; Luke Moyer 5. Total – 42.
Pennridge: Tim Abruzzo 26; Andrew Lyons 8; Jeff Garner 5; Shane Schmidt 2; Alex Krivda 2; Zach Muredda 2. Total – 45.
The Rest of the Story in the SOL Continental Conference
Central Bucks West (18-2, 11-1) moved into sole possession of first place in the conference as the Bucks were able to capture a hard-fought 44-40 victory over host Hatboro-Horsham (7-12, 5-7). CB West received a game-high 18-point performance from Derek Dyer to lead all scorers, while Tyler Schechter also scored in double figures for the Bucks with 10 points. Michael Brown scored a team-high 13 points for the Hatters, while Zach Quattro scored in double digits with 10 points.
Central Bucks West Bucks 9 7 15 13 - 44
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters 7 7 11 15 - 40
North Penn (7-13, 4-8) won its fourth straight game as the Knights marched to a 76-49 victory over visiting Quakertown (1-18, 0-12). North Penn senior guard Wes Brooks led all scorers with a 21-point effort, while Javi Alvarino (17) and Chris Dawson (14) also scored in double digits for the Knights. Quakertown was led in scoring by Steffan Spieker with 18 points, while Jon Landis scored 11 points for the Black Cats.
Quakertown Panthers 12 14 7 16 - 49
North Penn Knights 18 19 22 17 - 76
Central Bucks South (10-10, 8-4) remained in third place in the conference standings as the Titans captured a 65-52 verdict over rival Central Bucks East (9-11, 6-6). See full game story on SuburbanOneSports.com
Central Bucks East Patriots 11 8 16 17 - 52
Central Bucks South Titans 16 11 15 23 - 65
Owls Soar to Huge Victory
Bensalem (11-8, 8-4) captured a critical Suburban One League National Conference victory as the Owls flew to a 58-46 win over visiting Abington (14-6, 7-5).
“I thought that we did a great job defensively stopping their dribble penetration in the first half,” said Bensalem head coach John Mullin as the Owls held the high scoring Ghosts to just 14 first half points. “I didn’t really think that our offense was going to be a problem, and we were able to share the scoring.”
Julian Hyden – the leading scorer for the Owls this season – scored just seven points. But Hyden collected nine rebounds – dished out six assists – and played a fine defensive game.
Bensalem had four players score in twin digits in the win. Donnie Reed and Austin Nyekan led the Owls with 13 points each, while Dovante Newkirk (11) and Leo Vincent (10) also scored in double figures for the winners.
“Austin played a great game,” said Mullin of his junior 6-0 guard. “He scored some key points, got some key rebounds, and passed the ball well.”
Abington was led in scoring by Anthony Durham with a game-high 25 points. Jordan Simmons scored in twin digits for the Ghosts with 10 points.
“We play Bethlehem Freedom (Saturday) and if we could beat them we could rack up some points for the playoffs,” said Mullin as Freedom enters the game with a 16-3 record. “And even if we don’t beat them, it will give us exposure to the quality teams that we are going to play in the playoffs.”
Abington Ghosts 8 6 15 17 - 46
Bensalem Owls 14 10 13 21 - 58
Abington: Anthony Durham 25; Jordan Simmons 10; Jiere Morrisey 4; Chris Ruhl 3; Matt Penecale 2; Anthony Lee 2. Total – 46.
Bensalem: Donnie Reed 13; Austin Nyekan 13; Dovante Newkirk 11; Leo Vincent 10; Julian Hyden 7; Deion Jones 4. Total – 68.
The Rest of the Story in the SOL National Conference
Pennsbury (13-6, 8-4) rallied from a nine-point first half deficit as the Falcons scored 24 third period points and collected a 51-40 victory over visiting Truman (8-11, 5-7). Kieran Bolger was the scoring machine for Pennsbury as he finished with a game-high 23 points – 15 in the second half. Ryan Charity scored all ten of his points in the second half for the Falcons. Merdic Green scored a team-high 20 points for the Tigers.
Truman Tigers 11 10 11 8 - 40
Pennsbury Falcons 8 4 24 15 - 51
William Tennent (7-13, 5-7) led by 14 points in the first period but needed a put-back basket by freshman Horace Spencer with seven seconds left in the game to secure a 53-51 victory over Neshaminy (4-16, 3-9). Ryan Smith scored a game-high 21 points for the Panthers, while Jack Rauchut (15) and Matt Alden (11) also scored in twin digits for the Black Cats. Bobby Marterella scored a team-high 17 points for Neshaminy, while Tyler Katz scored in double figures with 12 markers.
William Tennent Panthers 17 14 9 13 - 53
Neshaminy Redskins 3 20 16 12 - 51
Council Rock North (15-4, 10-2) earned at least a share of the conference title, thanks to its 66-43 win over host Council Rock South (5-14, 2-10). The Indians rebounded from their 65-62 loss to Pennsbury on Tuesday and still hold a two-game conference lead over both Bensalem and Pennsbury with just two league games remaining.
SOL American Conference
Wissahickon (18-2, 9-1) kept its grip on first place in the conference as the Trojans broke open a 23-23 deadlock at the half and marched to a 58-42 victory over host Upper Merion (5-13, 1-9). Jordan Reed scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the second half to pace Wissahickon. Tanoh Kpassagnon – who signed a letter of intent to accept a football scholarship from Villanova earlier in the week – scored 11 points for the Trojans. James Mobley led the Vikings in scoring with a team-high 16 points.
Wissahickon Trojans 9 14 17 18 - 58
Upper Merion Vikings 10 13 11 8 - 42
Norristown (14-5, 9-2) kept its grip on second place in the conference as the Eagles flew to a 52-43 victory over visiting Cheltenham (12-8, 5-5). The Eagles were led in scoring by senior guard Luke Kelley with 13 points, while B.J. Gordon scored in twin digits with 10 points for the Eagles. Aaron McGlawn scored a game-high 20 points for the Black Cats, while Guy Henderson scored in double figures with 10 points.
Cheltenham Panthers 11 7 11 14 - 43
Norristown Eagles 8 10 14 20 - 52
Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-9) took a non-conference road trip to Atlantic City to play in the Battle by the Bay and the Colonials played well despite the 43-41 loss to host Atlantic City (12-4). Anthony McKie led Plymouth Whitemarsh with a game-high 20 points, while Russhon Phillips, Morgan Jackson, and Dee Bennett scored six points each.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 10 13 12 - 41
Atlantic City 11 7 9 16 - 43
In the Rear View Mirror
On Wednesday, Pennridge (9-10) received a 30-point explosion from Tim Abruzzo as the Rams improved its non-conference record to 6-2 with an 82-45 victory over Upper Perkiomen (2-16). Zach Muredda and Colin McIntyre each scored nine points for Pennridge. The Rams had an even dozen players score points in the win.
Upper Perkiomen Indians 13 8 12 12 - 45
Pennridge Rams 26 23 11 22 - 82
On Wednesday, North Penn (6-13) won its third straight game as the Knights held off Pottsgrove (11-8) – 56-51. Javi Alvarino led North Penn in scoring with a game-high 18 points, while Wes Brooks collected 11 points and dished off 11 assists. Larry Roane scored all eight of his points in the decisive fourth period.
Pottsgrove Falcons 12 13 9 17 - 51
North Penn Knights 12 5 14 25 - 56
On Wednesday, host Norristown (13-5) played terrific defense as the Eagles shutdown West Chester Rustin (9-10) – 56-32. Senior guard Luke Kelley led Norristown with a polished floor game and a team-high 13 points. Jahad York (8), Jahbri Hargrove (6) and Chris Evans (6) supported Kelley offensively.
West Chester Rustin Golden Knights 8 10 4 10 - 32
Norristown Eagles 14 13 16 13 - 56
On Thursday, Upper Merion (5-12) lost a non-conference game as the Vikings were sunk by powerful Faith Christian (15-3) – 65-55. James Mobley led all Upper Merion scorers with 19 points, while Justin Lewis (17) and Eric Wells (10) also scored in twin digits for the Vikings.
Upper Merion Vikings 12 14 18 11 - 55
Faith Christian 16 10 23 16 - 65
‘On Tap’ Saturday in the Suburban One League
Coatesville Red Raiders @ Pennsbury Falcons
Bethlehem Freedom @ Bensalem Owls
Hatboro-Horsham Hatters @ Upper Moreland Golden Bears
Truman Tigers @ Upper Merion Vikings
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