Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Thursday. To view photos of the Abington/CR South game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
HARRY S TRUMAN 45, NESHAMINY 41
It had been a long time between wins for the Tigers – 35 days to be exact. Truman’s last win came on Dec. 12 when the Tigers defeated this same Redskin squad. Sandwiched between those wins were 10 losses, including back-to-back heartbreakers last week.
“We needed the win big time,” coach Alan Munford said. “We had a close one at Bensalem, and we lost in overtime. We turned around on Friday and lost on a last second shot to William Tennent.
“Tonight was coming down to the wire again with a last-second opportunity, a last-second shot. Thank God the ball bounced our way.”
A key play came late in this one when a Neshaminy player – who buried a three-pointer – was called for an offensive foul, and the basket was waved off.
“Jaier Brown was defending him,” Munford said. “Jaier put a lot of pressure on him when he caught the ball. Number 10 (Matt McGinty) caught it, and the kid was trying to gather space to get a shot off. He pushed off, and Jaier fell.
“They called an offensive foul. I didn’t expect them to call it, but I was happy they did because it was obvious. Jaier played really good defense late in the game, which was one of the reasons we were able to win.”
Dyese Hunt led a balanced Truman attack with 12 points. Tramere Adams added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
With the win, Truman upped its league mark to 2-6 (4-11 overall) while the Redskins fell to 1-6 in the league (1-9 overall).
Neshaminy 9 9 11 12-41
Harry S Truman 8 8 14 15-45
SOUDERTON 47, NORTH PENN 43
The Indians used a tenacious defensive effort and big games from Carter Knight and Tracy Simsick to knock off a North Penn squad that on Tuesday handed Pennridge its first league loss.
“They are such a talented team, and especially the way they handled us the last time – for an inexperienced team like us, this is a huge win,” said Souderton coach Pete Chimera, whose team fell to North Penn 74-63 earlier this season. “We’re still without (Steve) Shaffer, so it’s even bigger. This is three wins in a row without him.
“The kids are just stepping up tremendously. We had lots of kids step up today.”
One of those players who has been stepping up is Simsick. On the heels of his 17-point performance on Tuesday night against Quakertown, Simsick scored 14 of his 16 points in an opening half that saw the Indians open up a 28-18 lead.
“He got us off to a great start,” Chimera said.
In the second half, Knight led the charge for the Indians, scoring 12 of his 16 points after the intermission.
“Carter Knight was fantastic in the second half,” Chimera said. “It was kind of the way it’s supposed to work – the young kid is supposed to be real good in the beginning, and when it gets tight, you go to your senior and your leader.”
The Indians took a 41-27 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Knights didn’t go down quietly, outscoring the Indians 16-6. Still, limiting the high-scoring Knights – who had 72 points in their win over Pennridge - to 43 points was no small feat.
“My goal was to keep them in the 50s,” Chimera said. “They have great shooters, and they lit it up against us the last time.
“The guys just did a great job getting out on shooters and making them put the ball on the floor. We wanted to be patient on offense, make them play defense, and we wanted to get out on their shooters. The kids just executed really well. I’m really proud of them.”
The Indians found themselves in some foul trouble in the second half. Tim Markow and Jared Bernhart both were saddled with foul woes.
“You have guys like Dalton Bowers, who hasn’t played much, really just step up and play big,” Chimera said. “There was a big crowd, and it was an intense environment, so that’s huge.”
Chimera added a cautionary word.
“Wins don’t produce wins,” he said, “and that 16-6 fourth quarter is something we have to do better at. We had a lot of missed foul shots.”
The Indians evened their league mark at 4-4 (9-5 overall) while the Knights drop to 5-3 in the league (7-7 overall).
North Penn 8 10 9 16-43
Souderton 12 16 13 6-47
CHELTENHAM 63, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 53
By Antonio Pelullo, Intern, Cheltenham High School
The best part of the Cheltenham versus Springfield game – poorly played on both sides of the ball by both squads - just might have been that it’s over.
The first quarter ended in a 9-9 tie. Cheltenham capitalized on turnover after turnover and started to make a break from Springfield, opening up a 31-19 halftime lead.
A worn out and beat up Spartan coach Dave Turetzky said after the game, “To say we turned the ball over a lot is being polite. We turn the ball over at an alarming pace.”
Cheltenham racked up over 20 steals.
“Really, we’re killing ourselves, and to see that now, to end up in a 10-point game – it really goes to show that the mistakes we’re making early on even are really coming back to haunt us in the end,” Turetzky said.
Although the moral victory goes to Ryan Daley, who shot over 50 percent and led the Spartans in scoring with 13, a moral victory does not go in the win column. Larry Clark also finished in double figures for the Spartans with 11 points.
On the other side of the court, Cheltenham coach John Timms simply said, “I’m glad it’s over” with some joy in his voice.
Luckily for Cheltenham, Josh Coleman was able to come off the bench and provided a much-needed 13 points. Khalil White and Anthony White each added eight points.
The Panthers are 7-1 in league play (7-8 overall) while the Spartans fell to 0-8 in league play (2-12 overall)
Springfield 9 10 14 20-53
Cheltenham 9 22 15 17-63
ABINGTON 53, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 31
The Ghosts sprinted to an 18-5 lead at the end of one quarter and extended that to 31-12 by the intermission on their way to the big win.
Matt Penecale led a balanced Ghost attack with nine points – seven in the first quarter - while Anthony Lee and Amir Hinton both added eight points. Eric Gaines contributed six points off the bench.
The Ghosts upped their record to 8-0 in league play (12-2 overall) while the Golden Hawks fell to 3-5 in the league (4-10 overall).
For the Golden Hawks, Council Rock South 5 7 14 5-31
Abington 18 13 16 6-53
POTTSTOWN 64, UPPER MERION 40
The Vikings trailed 9-5 at the end of one quarter and 25-15 at the intermission. A 23-13 third-quarter scoring burst by the Trojans all but put the game out of reach.
Aidan Newell led the Vikings with nine points while Ethan Miller and Samik Patel both had eight points. David Stecz added six.
Upper Merion5 10 13 12-40
Pottstown 9 16 23 16-64
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