Check out the SOL results for boys basketball action on Thursday and Friday.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
TRUMAN 48, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 45
The Tigers now share second place in the conference standings with the Indians after a thrilling win on Friday night. The Tigers held a 12-7 lead at the end of one quarter, but the Indians outscored them 12-10 in the second quarter to cut their lead to 22-19 going into halftime. The Indians started the third quarter with a scoring explosion, led my Kyle McCloskey, who tallied 19 for the day.
“They came out and got the ball to McCloskey, but we made some adjustments and got a double team on him whenever he caught it,” said coach Alan Munford. “Then we were able to get some stops.”
Although things improved for the Tigers as the quarter went along, they still found themselves staring at a 34-28 deficit heading into the final frame.
“Toward end of third, we started to find our niche again,” said Munford. “In the fourth, we took the lead and made our free throws down the stretch.
“(Merdic) Green went to line and made two, (Lucas) Waters made 3-for-4 and Ja’er Brown made 3-of-3. If we had missed a free throw and given them the opportunity on offense, it’s possible they could’ve taken the lead.”
Once the Tigers took a lead late in the fourth quarter, they did not let it slip away.
“Green hit a three that put us up one, and then we got a stop,” said Munford. “After that we just spread the floor, attacked the basket, and made them come out to play defense high.”
Green had another monster game for the Tigers with 20 points while Brown and Waters each added nine points. However, Munford credited Marcus Palmer with the most influential performance in the victory.
“He did phenomenal job on Rip Engel,” the Tigers’ coach said. “He defended him the entire game did and did an excellent job taking him out of his rhythm and making it difficult for him.
“Without his performance defensively, I don’t believe we would’ve won the game.”
Palmer limited Engel to just nine points.
“I am proud of him, his teammates are proud of him, and he should be proud of himself,” Munford said.
Both teams boast identical 7-3 records in league play. The Indians are 13-4 overall while the Tigers are 11-7.
On Tuesday night, the Tigers will face conference-leading Abington.
“Tonight had second place implications,” said Munford. “Tuesday’s game has first place implications. We have to keep winning to be where we want to be.”
ABINGTON 77, NESHAMINY 30 (Thursday, Jan. 24)
The Ghosts sprinted to a 22-2 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 42-16 lead into halftime on their way to the big win. Jordan Neely led a balanced Ghost attack with 11 points, Anthony Durham had 10 while Kendall Stewart and Amir Hinton each had nine points. Matt Penecale had seven points, and Jiere Morrissey and Michael Griffin both chipped in with six points.
While the Redskins fell to 0-9 in the league (0-15 overall), the Ghosts improved to 9-1 in the league (13-4 overall).
PENNSBURY 74, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 45 (Thursday, Jan. 24)
The Falcons started off strong, sprinting to a 21-11 lead over the Golden Hawks in the opening frame. Sophomore point guard Cameron Jones picked up eight points in the second quarter on his way to 20 for the day as the Falcons upped their lead to 43-21 at the intermission. The Falcons held a 19-14 advantage in the third quarter to put the game further out of the Hawks’ reach. Steve Ciotti also made significant contributions scoring 13 points in the victory. Christian Crane led the Hawks with 15 points, followed by Will Faccenda who chipped in 10 points. The Falcons jumped into third place as they upped their record to 6-4 SOL, 12-4 overall while the Hawks fell to 3-7 in the league (6-10 overall).
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
SPRINGFIELD 62, UPPER MERION 56
As the new kids on the block in the American Conference, the Spartans have been waiting patiently for their first conference win.
“I’m so happy for them - they deserve a win in this conference,” said coach Dave Turetzky. “They’ve been so close, and I’m thrilled they know what it feels like to walk off the court with a ‘W.’”
The Spartans led for the majority of the game and took a 31-26 lead into halftime. The beginning of the third quarter, however, has proved to be troublesome for the Spartans, and Friday was no exception.
“Our third quarter start has been our nemesis all year long,” said Turetzky. “That six-point lead became one-point lead, and we called a timeout and settled ourselves down.”
According to Turetzky, that’s when a change occurred.
“They responded really well and they were able to pick themselves up,” he said. “We fought right back.”
The Vikings didn’t make it easy for the Spartans in the second half as they continued to work to close the lead, and Turetzky did not want his players to be comfortable.
“We were up six with 15 seconds left and they started to get giddy,” said Turetzky. “I had to remind them that we are playing a team with great three-point shooters.”
The Spartans’ coach attributed the win to some outstanding performances on the court such as sophomore Chris Stone, who was the team’s top scorer with a career-high 24 points.
“Tonight he looked like a basketball player,” Turetzky said. “Everything he did he did it with a fluidity about him and athleticism about him.
“His form was perfect tonight. I think he’s starting to mature as a player and see he can really do some things, and he had a better understanding of where and how he needs to attack.”
Billy Dahm also made some huge contributions to the Spartan’s offense, adding 19 points and picking up 8 offensive rebounds.
“He was a beast under the boards,” said Turetzky.
Another standout was freshman Larry Clark, who had seven points and six rebounds.
“He didn’t play like a freshman,” Turetzky said. “He had a poise about him and rebounded well, he was diving on the floor, and he was everywhere.”
Turetzky’s team was clicking so well that he used only six players. One of those six was John Berglund.
“He had the best game of his life,” said Turetzky. “He didn’t score, but he had a phenomenal block, he rebounded well, and he was more confident with what he was doing tonight.”
Turetzky, whose team improved to 1-9 in the league (6-12 overall), is hoping his players take some of their new-found confidence into the final games of the season, especially when they face Norristown and Upper Dublin next week.
“They really have worked their butts off,” he said. “I think we’ve been close a couple times and we always let it slip away, but to now see we can close out some of these close games and even hold on to win them is nice. We can see now that we can not only play with these teams, but we can beat them.”
Upper Merion was led by three double digit performances of Connor McGrath (16 points), David Stecz (10 points) and Justin Lewis (10 points). The Vikings saw their record drop to 2-8 SOL, 6-10 overall.
UPPER DUBLIN 49, CHELTENHAM 46 (OT)
The Flying Cardinals knocked the Panthers out of their first place tie in the American Conference standings after stunning them in overtime. The Cardinals have been looking to get a win over the Panthers after losing to them three times last season (once in districts) and once this season.
Coach Josh Adelman said revenge and playing the role of spoiler were motivators on Friday night.
”We are always looking for different ways to motivate and there was a three-way tie in our conference,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “We’re not happy with where we are, but we used that for motivation and we stayed focused.”
The Cards led 10-6 after the first quarter and led by as many as nine before closing out the half with a 22-19 advantage.
The Panthers outscored the Cards 15-12 in the third quarter to knot the game at 34-34 heading into the final frame.
“They tied it in the third (quarter), then we’d go up by a couple and they would go up by a couple,” said Adelman. “But we never let it get out of hand.”
“We both went cold in the fourth quarter. It seemed like we hit just enough shots to force overtime.”
Both teams scored only scored five points in the fourth quarter, and Guy Henderson had an opportunity to drain the game-winner with 2.5 seconds left but was blocked by Andrew Carber to send the teams into overtime.
In overtime, the Panthers ran into some trouble as Henderson and Shakur Jackson both fouled out. Late in overtime, Cardinal freshman Simeon Fryer was fouled and went to the line with his team trailing by one.
“He goes to the line and hits one, they call a timeout to freeze him, he steps up and and swooshes the second one and we went up 47-46,” said Adelman. “We run a halfcourt trap, and they take a shot from the corner, and (Carber) gets a big rebound with 14 seconds left and hits two foul shots to make it 49-46.
“The difference tonight is that our guys executed and really ran through our plays very well.”
Adelman also pointed to his team’s 20-for-28 effort at the foul line as a key factor in the win.
The Cards were led by Carber’s 18-point effort, followed by Zach Greenberg who scored 14 points and Fryer who added 11 points. The Panthers, who fell to 8-3 SOL (10-7 overall), had a very balanced offense as Aaron Burton and Aaron McGlawn each scored nine while Kevin Graham and Sabor Edmunds scored eight each.
The Cardinals upped their record to 3-7 in the league (5-10 overall) and hope Friday’s game is preview of things to come as they close out the season.
“We know we have played some very close games and have lost them,” said Adelman. “We are looking to use this as the springboard to take it one at a time and finish up strong. These guys deserve it because they continue to work hard and I’m very proud of them.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 74, Wissahickon 56
The Colonials have been coming oh-so-close to pulling off a big win, and it finally happened on Friday night when they knocked off a Trojan squad that had owned a share of the top spot in the American Conference standings.
“The kids played really well on Tuesday night at Cheltenham,” PW coach Jim Donofrio said of his team’s 52-46 loss to the Panthers. “You’re starting to feel like it’s one of those years where you’re just good enough to lose a close one.
“Wissahickon is terrific, but they’re a little under the weather. They really did all they could. You could tell they weren’t 100 percent, but we have to worry about ourselves right now.”
Anthony McKie torched the Trojans for 29 points, which included five three-pointers and a perfect 8-for-8 effort at the foul line.
“Anthony McKie is having a phenomenal year,” Donofrio said. ”He’s a much different player than he was a year ago.
“They box-and-oned him for most of the second half, and he still had 29 while distributing. He’s become much more than one-dimensional. He has taken to hard coaching, and he’s taken a leadership role. I’m really happy to see how he’s evolving. Early in the season, the plan for our opponents was to just double him or get somebody up in his rib cage all night and just try and take him out of it, and the rest of the team will falter. It’s worked in the first five or six games.”
It didn’t work on Friday night. Sophomore point guard Andre Mitchell added 16 points on a night that saw many players contribute..
“When they went box-and-one on Anthony, Andre Mitchell had three huge attacking drives to the basket,” Donofrio said. “If you’re going to box-and-one a star player like Ant, he has to put some faith in his teammates, and his teammates have to decide they can score.
“Andre Mitchell was just terrific.”
The Colonials, according to Donofrio, have featured a different starting lineup almost every night with as many as three or four sophomores on the floor.
“Jimmy Murray was a kid who was really instrumental tonight,” Donofrio said of his sophomore guard who contributed eight points. “It’s fun to see young kids start to get it as the season goes on.
“We put a very long practice together on Thursday. I think they thought they were sleeping over. We asked the kids to raise their focus because they’re close to putting things together. They’ve had to learn everything from how hard to play this year and how to keep their cool in games, and it’s just been a lot to learn.”
The Colonials led 23-18 after a high-scoring first quarter but had just a 38-37 lead at halftime. The Colonials took a 52-48 lead into the final quarter when they outscored the Trojans 22-8.
“It was like an NBA all-star game in the first half,” Donofrio said. “We were doing some good things. Everybody was just shooting well.
“I think with them not being well we probably got to their legs late in the third. We’ve had up and down third quarters this year, and we had a really strong third quarter and shot well. It helps to make shots. It was an emotional game tonight because Wissahickon-PW is always emotional.”
The Trojans (11-7 overall, 8-2 SOL), who were without Gordon Bentley, received another stellar performance from Chase Wilson, who scored 25 points.
“He played terrifically for not being 100 percent,” Donofrio said. “He’s a player. He’s really, really evolved himself this year, and Kyle (Wilson) should be proud of how he’s coming along.”
Jesse Hunsicker also had a big night for the Trojans, contributing 16 points.
“I know they didn’t have Gordon Bentley, so he was playing younger guys,” Donofrio said. “Hunsicker stepped up and was really physical.”
Chase Rodgers also added eight points for the Colonials, who evened their record at 5-5 in league play (7-9 overall).
“I told the kids – we’re in survival mode,” Donofrio said. “You have to put everything into one game at a time. We’re not in a position to do anything but try and dig ourselves out of something here. You have to look at the next game and keep learning. Otherwise, you start to accept close losses, and you start to believe you’re not the team that’s supposed to pull it out.
“The schedule I threw at our team at the beginning of the season – the league is tough enough this year because everybody is winning games. The league is strong. You can’t fall asleep any night.”
NORRISTOWN 49, UPPER MORELAND 37
The Eagles started off slow as the Golden Bears held a 12-9 advantage in the first quarter, but they rallied in the second quarter to take a 28-21 lead into the intermission. The Eagles outscored the Golden Bears 10-6 in the third quarter to begin to put the game out of reach for the Bears.
Luke Kelley led the Eagles, who have now won six consecutive games, with 15 points. Chris Evans and Jahbri Hargove also nabbed double-digits scoring ten each while Josh Johnson added seven Hargrove also had nine rebounds – six on the offensive end while Evans had five boards. Bernard Gordon had three assists and two steals for the Eagles. The Bears’ top-scorer was Kevin McFall who scored ten points, followed by Tommy Robinson with seven points. Thanks to Cheltenham and Wissahickon losses, the Eagles took over sole possession of the top spot in the conference with a 9-1 record (15-3 overall) while the Bears fell to 4-6 in the league (8-9 overall).
CONTINENTAL CONFERENCE
NORTH PENN 53, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 51
The Knights staked out a 17-12 lead at the end of one quarter but saw that lead trimmed to two by halftime (25-23), thanks to an 8-0 Patriot scoring run. The Patriots took a 37-34 lead into the final frame.
“We had a lead with four minutes to go,” said Knights coach John Conrad. “But they were able to continue to score, and we didn’t shoot particularly well.”
The game was back and forth for the entire fourth quarter, and with just under a minute to play, East’s Brendan McLaughlin tied the game with a layup. With only eight seconds remaining on the scoreboard clock and the score still deadlocked, the Knights inbounded the ball to set up a play for the potential game-winner.
“We inbounded it to Noah Melchior who threw long diagonal bullet pass to Chris Akins,” said Conrad. “Akins is a great competitor, and he’s real good on the defensive end. His man got by him and made a layup, and he turned around and put in a layup for the win.”
Mike Swanson had a strong fourth quarter, scoring six of his 11 points to help the Knights seal the deal.
Stephan Brown led the scoring for the Knights with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Melchior added seven points and six assists. McLaughlin was a force for the Patriots, scoring a game high 24 points, which included a 10-for-11 effort from the foul line while teammate Matt Stauffer chipped in 16 points. The Knights upped their record to 3-7 in the league and moved ahead of the Patriots (2-8 SOL) in the standings.
SOUDERTON 53, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 47,
The Indians increased their winning streak to five in a row after claiming a victory over the Bucks. They opened up what appeared to be a commanding 21-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Bucks rallied in the second quarter and cut that lead to 33-26 heading into intermission. The Bucks actually outscored the Indians 21-10 the second half but couldn’t dig themselves out of their first quarter hole.
The Indians were led offensively by Brendan Wagner who scored 16 points, Austin Murphy who added 14, and John Kanas who also chipped in double figures with 12 points. Jared Kelly had the game-high 17 points for the Bucks, and Kyle Salvitti added nine. The Indians improved their record to 8-2 in the league (11-5 overall) while the Bucks dropped to 5-5 SOL (7-10 overall).
HATBORO HORSHAM at PENNRIDGE (PPD to Wednesday, Jan. 30)
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH at QUAKERTOWN (PPD to Wednesday, Jan. 30)
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