Check out the results for SOL boys’ basketball teams in action Tuesday.
American Conference
Wissahickon 57, Cheltenham 48
In games against the six American Conference teams not named Plymouth Whitemarsh, Cheltenham had been 8-0 entering Tuesday night’s game with Wissahickon.
Now, the Panthers have another loss on their conference record while Wissahickon was able to move up in the standings by one game.
The final result was a nine-point win for the Trojans over the Panthers at Cheltenham High School.
“That was a huge win,” Wissahickon coach Kyle Wilson said. “We knew that going into this game that it was a big one, and I told my guys before the game that Cheltenham has played phenomenal in the league. And the win helps us also for district playoffs. The general sense is that if you get to .500, you have a pretty good chance at being in the playoffs, but you don’t want to be something like 10-12.
“We knew we were going up against a desperate team today playing for their playoff lives, and we knew we had to be more desperate then them, and it was that simple. We knew we couldn’t let them scratch and claw and we had to be that team tonight, and give the kids credit - they did enough to get the win.”
Besides Chase Wilson’s game-high 15 points for the Trojans, the night belonged to Wissahickon’s Jared Reed and Chris Vila, who owned the paint all night.
Reed finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Vila finished with 11 and 10, respectively.
“Jared and Chris were great – they had great games,” Wilson said. “Every time I turned around, one of them was grabbing boards. They used good size and beat them in the paint. It’s one thing to give up contested first shots, but we can’t give up two or three per possession. Our guys battled tonight.”
Cheltenham (8-11, 8-3) led by one point after the first quarter, but the Trojans (10-7, 7-4) battled back with a big second quarter, taking a six-point lead into the half (29-23). Wissahickon outscored the Panthers in each of the final two quarters to come out on top.
“Honestly, every game starts to weigh a little heavier and we knew Cheltenham was a nice conference team that has beaten some good teams,” Wilson said. “We know that we still have four games left and we’re pretty excited.”
In the losing effort, Cheltenham was led by Jeremiah Coleman and Anthony White, who finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Wissahickon 13 16 12 16—57
Cheltenham 14 9 11 14—48
Upper Moreland 69, Upper Dublin 51
Kevin McFall had one of the games of his career.
The Upper Moreland big man scored the Bears’ first 15 points and led his team to an 18-point win over Upper Dublin on Tuesday night.
For a Bears squad that has struggled to get conference wins in the past, it was all about McFall’s ability to own the paint and leave other players open for jump shots.
“I thought we played well as a team,” Upper Moreland coach Brian Corrado said. “Kevin got off early scoring on the inside, and that helped free us up for some perimeter shots. We had some guys step up and hit some big threes and it kind of opened things up for us offensively.”
McFall finished with a game-high 27 points to lead Upper Moreland (6-12, 4-7), while Chris Corr added 18.
“We felt pretty confident all season long that we could compete with the teams in our league,” Corrado said. “On any given night, it’s going to be a battle and I thought our guys were up to the challenge tonight. I thought they played a team game and defensively, we did a nice job. Our guys did a good job of rebounding and handling the ball screen action.”
The Cardinals, who fell to 7-11 overall and 4-7 in conference play, were led by sophomore Simeon Fryer’s 22 points.
The Cardinals led by two at the half at 25-23, but a 17-8 third quarter advantage for Upper Moreland and then a 27-point fourth quarter outburst helped lead the Bears to the double-digit victory.
Upper Dublin 8 17 8 18—51
Upper Moreland 11 12 17 27—69
Norristown 67, Springfield 31
Norristown had five different scorers with at least nine points in a 36-point win over Springfield on Tuesday night.
Roy Green led the Eagles with 13 points, while Darryl Carr, Chris Evans and Omar Jackson each finished with 10. Kip Patton added nine for the Eagles (11-6, 8-3), who remained in third place in the American Conference.
Springfield (2-16, 0-11) was led by Larry Clark’s 12 points.
The Eagles led 39-15 at the half and outscored the Spartans in all four quarters en route to the easy victory.
Springfield 9 6 11 5—31
Norristown 24 15 22 6---67
Plymouth Whitemarsh 81, Upper Merion 37
It was another easy game for Plymouth Whitemarsh, which won by 44 points over Upper Merion on Tuesday night.
The unbeaten, first-place Colonials (17-2, 11-0) received 23 points – 21 of which came in the first half – from Jimmy Murray, 12 from Andre Mitchell and nine apiece from Cameron Johnson and Manuel Herezi in the win. PW, which also received eight points from T.J. Minetola, led by a remarkable score of 58-13 at the half.
Ethan Miller led the Vikings (5-13, 2-9) with 11 points.
PW forced 31 turnovers on the night.
Upper Merion 4 9 8 16—37
Plymouth Whitemarsh 27 31 17 6—81
National Conference
Council Rock South 51, Bensalem 50
When Council Rock South's Dean Blank made a move to the basket, Bensalem stepped up with two guys and shut him down, leaving another player opened for the Hawks.
That player was sophomore forward Mike Stock, who hit a basket with 3.1 seconds remaining to give the Hawks a one-point victory over Bensalem on Tuesday night.
Stock finished with 12 points for CR South (6-13, 4-7), as did Blank.
"It was a big win for us," CR South coach John Easterly said. "We had been struggling, and in the previous game, we lost by one point, so this was a big win for us to get."
The Owls (4-12, 3-7) trailed 29-17 at the half before climbing all the way back thanks to a five-point advantage in the second quarter and a strong fourth. But CR South would find a way to squeak out a victory thanks to Stock’s game-winner.
"Dean made a move to the basket, but two guys were guarding him and they shut down his drive," Easterly said. "Mike made a great cut and hit a reverse layup and we got the win."
In the loss, Bensalem was led by Avery Nyekan’s 12 points. A.J. Brody and Brian Kilcoyne added 10 apiece.
CR South will look to get another win this Friday night when it takes on Neshaminy.
Council Rock South 15 14 10 12—51
Bensalem 6 11 15 18—50
William Tennent 57, Neshaminy 33
William Tennent’s Matt Alden scored 21 of his 27 points in the first half while leading the Panthers to a 24-point victory over visiting Neshaminy on Tuesday night.
Kevin Simonsen added seven points, five rebounds and two assists for Tennent, which improved to 7-9 overall and 5-5 in conference play with the win.
Neshaminy, which was led by Jaylen Pickett’s eight points, fell to 2-11 and 1-8 with the loss.
Neshaminy trailed 15-7 after one quarter and allowed Tennent to take a 35-14 lead into the half. The Panthers rolled in the second half en route to the win.
Neshaminy 7 7 8 11—33
William Tennent 15 20 12 10—57
Pennsbury 55, Council Rock North 38
Pennsbury’s Mekhi Bryant led the Falcons with 17 points in a 17-point Pennsbury win over host Council Rock North on Tuesday night. Derrick Woods added 16 for Pennsbury, while Steve Ciotti added 11.
The Falcons took a four-point lead into the third quarter (23-19) and then ran away with the game, outscoring the Indians by eight points in the period.
CR North (9-8, 5-5) was led by Josh McWilliams’ 16 points and Chris Rowland’s 11.
Pennsbury improved to 15-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play with the victory.
Pennsbury 9 14 13 19—55
Council Rock North 7 12 5 14—38
Abington 67, Harry S. Truman 32
Abington received 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal from junior Matt Penecale in an easy 67-32 win over Harry S. Truman on Tuesday night.
Penecale, who has been the Ghosts’ leader all season long, shot 6-for-8 from the floor and helped first-place Abington (16-2, 11-0) to a 14-point halftime lead before the Ghosts ran away with a 21-6 third quarter advantage.
The Ghosts also received 11 points apiece from Laz Mackrides and Amir Hinton.
Truman (5-14, 3-8) was led by Tyquan Law’s eight points.
Harry S. Truman 12 10 6 4—32
Abington 16 20 21 10—67
Continental Conference
Pennridge 65, Central Bucks West 53
Through December and into mid-January, Pennridge was in first place in the Continental Conference. The Rams then lost a couple of tough games and fell out of the top spot.
After Tuesday night, the Rams find themselves all alone in second place and with the ability to control their own destiny.
Pennridge is a half a game out of the top spot in the conference following a 65-53 road win over Central Bucks West.
Joe Molettiere led the Rams (13-5, 7-3) with 27 points while draining three treys. Zach Muredda added 20 points for Pennridge, which had a huge second quarter, outscoring CB West 19-6 to go up by nine at the half.
“Joe really stepped up for us tonight in the second quarter,” Pennridge coach Dean Behrens said of Molettiere, who scored 10 of his points in the period. “We had a lot of momentum and the kids were fired up.”
The Rams, who were in fourth place before the night began, also received 11 points from Dan Long despite foul trouble all night.
“Dan got two early fouls and we went down after the first quarter,” Behrens said. “And then of course he got his third foul in the first 25 seconds of the third, but we rolled the dice and kept him in.
“I think we did a very nice job defensively and a much better than job than we did when we played them last Thursday night. I just don’t think they shot the ball very well, but I’d like to think that we had something to do with that.”
Behrens complimented Muredda’s stellar play as well.
“Zach was draped all night and wasn’t getting any calls, but he didn’t complain and he just gutted it out,” Behrens said.
In the losing effort, CB West (11-6, 6-4) was led by Pat Kelley’s 13 points and Kyle Salvitti’s 12.
While he was unsure of the exact date of the last time Pennridge was able to win on the road against Central Bucks West, Behrens said he believed it hasn’t happened since 2003.
“I think this was a big win for a lot of reasons,” he said. “We lost to them just five days ago and we had to play them again this soon because of the snow and that was tough. We got off to a tough start and we never win there.
“Now, we control our own destiny if we can win out, but that’s not going to be so easy. I don’t think anybody thought Pennridge would be in this situation with seven or eight days left in the season.”
Behrens was also very happy that his team was able to collect its 13th win, as he now believes the Rams have an excellent shot at the district playoffs.
“We had two goals this year,” he said. “You always want to try to win your division, but we also wanted to get to the district playoffs. Right now, these young guys believe.”
If both Pennridge and Central Bucks South win out, the two teams would share the Continental Conference title.
Pennridge 11 19 16 19—65
Central Bucks West 15 6 13 19—53
Central Bucks South 46, Hatboro-Horsham 44 (OT)
Central Bucks South received a layup at the buzzer from Bryce Dobisch in a 46-44 overtime win over visiting Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday night.
Dobisch finished with 17 points to lead CB South, while Paul Weeks added 14.
The Hatters, who led by five points going into the fourth quarter (33-28), were led by Brian McEachern’s 12 points and Zach Quattro’s 11.
CB South (12-7 overall) remains all alone in first place in the conference with an 8-3 record. The Hatters dropped to 6-12 and 3-8 with the loss.
Hatboro-Horsham 10 5 18 5 6—44
Central Bucks South 5 6 17 10 8—46
Central Bucks East 49, Souderton 45
Central Bucks East improved to 9-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play following a four-point win over visiting Souderton on Tuesday night. Tommy Strasburger and Ben Kardane led CB East with 15 points apiece, while Brendan McLaughlin added 14 for the Titans.
The Patriots trailed 12-6 after one quarter but stormed back with a 20-11 second quarter advantage. Strasburger also recorded 12 rebounds and four assists, while Blake Peterson added seven rebounds and seven blocked shots for CB East.
Souderton was led by Evan Slone’s 15 points. The Indians dropped to 11-8 overall and 4-7 in conference play.
Souderton 12 11 8 14—45
Central Bucks East 6 20 9 14—49
North Penn 54, Quakertown 48
The Knights got off to a slow start and found themselves staring at a 26-11 halftime deficit. They took care of that little matter in a hurry in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 15-0 run. They went on to outscore the Panthers 25-5 in the frame and took a 36-31 lead into the final quarter.
“In the first half, we couldn’t get anything going offensively and weren’t able to score anything easy in transition,” North Penn coach John Conrad said. “We came out and played a fullcourt press, and the kids really responded to that. We were able to turn them over and get some easy baskets.”
The Knights also received some halftime inspiration from their captains.
“Aaron Dean and Noah Melchior were very vocal at halftime,” Conrad said. “They were very focused and provided that spark we needed.”
North Penn received 14 points from Brian Coleman and eight points from both Jin Lim and Joe Richards.
Griffin Schmidt led the Panthers (6-12, 1-9) with 18 points.
North Penn (9-9, 7-4) drained five three-pointers as a team, while Quakertown knocked down six.
North Penn 7 4 25 18—54
Quakertown 11 15 5 17—48
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