Cheltenham & Bensalem were winners and advanced to the District One 6A semifinals at Temple. CB East & North Penn were winners in playback games. Cheltenham/Coatesville photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison, and Pennridge/Methacton photos courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for galleries of both games.
Class 6A Quarterfinals
#3 CHELTENHAM 68, #6 COATESVILLE 61
The Cheltenham community has been hit with yet another case of Panther fever.
On the heels of the football team’s state runner-up finish last fall, the basketball team is creating some magic of its own, and the Panthers have once again captured the imagination of the community.
The ticket line for Friday night’s district quarterfinal game against the Red Raiders began forming at five o’clock, and the stands were packed long before the opening tap with the overflow lining the space at both end lines.
“It’s definitely a big boost of energy and excitement,” Cheltenham sophomore point guard Justin Moore said of the fan support. “Tonight it was a big help, cheering us on and giving us energy, so we could keep playing hard. They definitely have been a huge support for us and we thank them for that.”
The two high-flying teams kept the place rocking from the opening tap until the final horn. When the dust had settled, it was the Panthers holding off the hard-charging Red Raiders for a win that vaulted them into Tuesday night’s District One 6A semifinals at Temple University where they will face #7 Bensalem in an All-SOL semifinal.
“I have been thinking about this since the beginning of the season,” Cheltenham senior Jaelen McGlone said. “A couple of years ago (2017) we went to Temple and we actually lost to Coatesville (79-58), so it was good to get the redemption back.”
McGlone certainly did his part to ensure that there would be no reruns of that 2017 loss to the Red Raiders, scoring a team-high 22 points – 16 in a dominant first-half performance. He was a beast under the boards with 14 rebounds and also handed out six assists.
“Jaelen put up a meme on his Instagram story the other day and said it was his playoff Jaelen,” Fleury said. “Basketball-wise he’s locked in.”
“I just know that if I play hard, my teammates will play hard,” McGlone said. “So I just wanted to go out there and just keep giving it my all for us to get the win.”
McGlone had six points in an 8-2 run late in the first quarter that put the Panthers on top 14-10. A Jhamir Brickus foul shot made it a three-point game after one quarter.
Brickus – who scored a game-high 30, 23 in the second half - opened the second quarter with a basket that pulled the Raiders to within one, but Brandon Scott scored on a putback. Again, the Raiders answered, this time with a Jaelen Brickus basket, but another McGlone basket was followed by Sean Emfinger burying a pair at the foul line. When McGlone buried a three midway through the quarter, the Panthers led 23-15. His second 3-pointer of the quarter upped the Panthers lead to 32-21.
The Red Raiders trailed 32-23 after a Jhamir Brickus basket with 22 seconds remaining in the half. Moore, however, delivered yet another play that ignited the crowd, dribbling time off the clock just over midcourt and then – as the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock – made a move on his defender and drove to the hole. Despite being fouled, Moore made the basket and converted the foul shot, sending the Panthers into halftime with a 35-23 lead.
“It was definitely a big boost for us going into halftime and coming out of halftime. It gave us a lot of energy,” Moore said. “The crowd was definitely excited.
“I just saw him step up on me off the screen, he reached, I put it behind my back and went strong to the basket and tried to finish through contact.”
Cheltenham opened up a 41-26 lead after Moore buried a pair at the foul line three minutes into the third quarter, and it looked as though the Panthers might be able to coast to the finish line.
That was not the case, although they still led 48-37 heading into the final frame. The Panthers endured a two-minute scoring drought to open the fourth quarter, misfiring on the front end of back-to-back one-and-ones and allowing the Raiders – who trimmed the Panthers’ lead to 48-45 – to crawl back into the game.
Mike McClain broke the Panthers’ scoring drought when he sank both ends of a one-and-one, and the Panthers led 52-45 when Moore scored on a fast break off a Raider miss. Again, the Raiders pulled to within three, but Travis Coleman turned a Moore pass into an easy bucket and then came up with a steal. He sank one-of-two at the line to give the Panthers a 55-49 lead midway through the quarter.
The Raiders, however, refused to go away, cutting the Panthers’ lead to one (56-55) when Donovan Brickus completed a three-point play with 2:56 remaining.
The Panthers came up empty on a pair of foul shots, but after a Raider miss, Coleman scored on a nifty shot off the dribble to put the Panthers on top 58-55.
“Travis Coleman pull-up - that was very Westbrook-like,” Fleury said.
The Raiders would get no closer than three the rest of the way, and Emfinger put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk as time was about to expire.
The players acknowledged there’s still plenty of work to be done.
“We just have to get better in our press break – make sure we’re strong with the ball, make sure we’re confident dribbling the ball and not turning it over because it’s going to get harder and harder the farther we go,” McGlone said.
As the point guard, Moore had the ball in his hands a whole lot down the stretch.
“After I made a couple of mistakes, Pat (Fleury) pulled me to the side and told me that I got this, play through it and just get on my teammates so we can finish out the game strong – be strong with the ball and make free throws,” “Moore said.
The sophomore point guard was 4-for-6 at the foul line in the quarter and scored eight of his 16 points in the frame. He dished out eight assists and also had three rebounds.
“It wasn’t his best game, but as a sophomore, he made enough plays and stayed confident, and that’s what I want all of them to do,” Fleury said.
Coleman and Emfinger both added nine points for the Panthers. Coleman also had four steals and seven rebounds and Emfinger had nine rebounds. McClain also had nine rebounds to go along with three steals.
“This was a collective effort,” Fleury said. “I’m just happy for all the fans, our community. This is such a great place. You see the energy. I’m just happy that we get to go to Temple.
“I think of coach Nolan who does the (scorer’s) table for us, coach Eveslage, coach Timms, coach Wilson, coach Scott, all of them. I feel as though this is for the community. This is so much bigger than us.
“Our creed is ‘Scholarship, Championship, Service.’ We knew that one of the CHS’s was going to Temple. We wanted to be the one that was going. It’s amazing for our community, for our school, for the families. It’s so much bigger, it’s amazing.”
Cheltenham (23-3, 14-0 SOL) will take on #7 Bensalem in the early game at Temple University on Tuesday.
Coatesville 11-12-14-24 61
Cheltenham 14-21-13-20 68
Coatesville (61) – Donovan Brickus 0 2-3 2; Dapree Bryant 2 3-5 7; Jhamir Brickus 12 5-11 30; Jaeden Brickus 2 1-2 6; Stewart 2 1-1 5; John Proctor 3 4-4 11; Totals 21 16-26 61.
Cheltenham (68) – Travis Coleman 4 1-2 9; Brandon Scott 2 0-2 4; Justin Moore 3 10-13 16; Saleem Payne 2 0-0 4; Jaelen McGlone 9 1-4 22; Mike McClain 1 2-5 4; Sean Emfinger 2 5-6 9; Totals 23 19-32 68
3-point goals: Coatesville – Jhamir Brickus, Jaeden Brickus, John Proctor, Cheltenham – Jaelen McGlone 3.
#7 BENSALEM 51, #18 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 43
Bensalem used a formula that has been successful for most of the season on its road to Temple Friday night.
With smothering defense and a whole lot of offense from junior James Ashford, the Owls led from start to finish and put away a close game late in a District One Class 6A quarterfinal played before a raucous home crowd Friday.
“I’m on cloud 30 – forget cloud nine,” coach Ron Morris said. “We’re super, super excited. I’m just so happy for the kids, giving them an opportunity to succeed, and they’re taking advantage of it.
“We’ve always preached all year about coming together – if we come together special things can happen. The last two games they have really played as a unit and different guys step up at different moments.”
With the win, Bensalem (19-6) advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals at the Liacouras Center where it will play third-seeded Cheltenham in the first of two games.
“We preach all the time about being good young men, and they’ve grown as young men, and that’s why we were able to get to Temple,” Morris said. “Temple is going to be a great experience for them. It’s a once in a lifetime for them. We haven’t been to the district semifinals since ‘91, so it’s new for them and they deserve it because of all the hard work that they put in.”
With their second-round win over Spring-Ford on Tuesday, the seventh-seeded Owls added to their season of milestone accomplishments by qualifying for states. Friday, they upped that one more against a Downingtown East team that upset second-seeded Garnet Valley in its second round game.
But it was far from easy.
Bensalem used its trademark defense and jumped up 10 points in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, it went cold as the visiting Cougars rallied to tie the game at 15 with a 10-0 run.
The Owls’ offense was out of sync, as was leading scorer Ashford, who couldn’t find the range at all from outside.
“He was struggling early, but he still ends up with 23 points (for the game) because his motor has a different gear that everyone doesn’t have,” Morris said. “What was preached to him when he came out was, ‘Relax, don’t put pressure on yourself. Play basketball and do what you do.”
Ashford was able to get in his groove by taking the ball to the basket and getting to the foul line.
“I talked to my coach,” he said. “I had to start attacking the basket more and the ball will go into the net. Once I saw the ball go into the net, then I got to the free throw line and I started knocking them down.”
The Owls also amped up their defense when the offense was struggling as that kept Downingtown East at bay and was eventually able to generate offense. The Cougars were just 17-for-49 (35 percent) from the field for the game and 4-for-19 from 3-point range. They also turned the ball over 15 times.
“Our brand of basketball is always on the defensive end,” Morris said. “Offense, we usually get a lot in transition. We’ve been working on half-court sets but you know it’s like that thin line. We’ve got the athletes, we try to make plays, let them kind of create on their own, but a defensive-minded team is what we are. We don’t ever let up defensively.
“Jeremiah (Alexander) – the way he defended (Andrew) King. King comes in averaging 25, and he held him to (eight) points. Jerry really stepped up to the challenge and really battled.”
Travis Robinson came off the bench and scored 10 points and played solid defense despite foul trouble, while also grabbing five rebounds. Point guard Aaron Sanders struggled from the field but was solid with the ball and went 4-for-4 late from the foul line to finish with eight points.
“Aaron is growing right in front of our eyes as a floor leader,” Morris said.
Alexander had six points and eight rebounds. Luke Zeidler and Unger had six and five rebounds, respectively.
Needless to say, this was a total team effort.
“This team is all about together,” Morris said. “We’ve been preaching all year about buying in and playing together and the last two games, it’s finally starting to click and you can see what can happen. Someone like Blaise (Unger) plays a limited amount of minutes, but tonight he played decent amount because he just came with defensive intensity. He made a big bucket for us (when the game was close in the fourth quarter).
“Travis (Robinson) gave us good minutes. He’s our spark off the bench. Justin Johnson might have defended everyone on the court. He just all around played well. Luke Zeidler was attacking. When he attacks and is aggressive, it definitely changes our team offensively, so that helped.”
The Owls have found their stride since a disappointing 56-39 loss to Pennridge in the semifinals of the SOL Tournament on their home court.
“We had the week of practice – we talked as a staff and said, ‘We need to change things up,’ so we changed up some practice times,” Morris said. “We said, ‘We need some team bonding,’ so we took the kids to Texas Roadhouse for a team meal on Thursday night.
“On Friday when our girls were going to play at Souderton, instead of practicing, we went in the pool and played all different pool games. They were jumping off the diving board, playing pool basketball, pool dodge ball. We just wanted to bond without basketball, just take a break. They were emotionally drained, and they came back focused and here we are – we’re ready for the rest of the season. It was the team bonding that really brought us together.”
Downingtown East 5 13 10 15-43
Bensalem 15 6 12 18-51
Downingtown East (43) - Jayden Rowe 7 1-2 15; James Basilii 0 2-2 2; David Owsik 5 0-0 12; Grant Umberger 2 0-0 4; Andrew King 2 2-4 8; George Bousum 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 5-8 43.
Bensalem (51) - Travis Robinson 4 2-3 10; Aaron Sanders 2 4-4 8; Jeremiah Alexander 3 0-2 6; James Ashford 7 9-14 23; Blaise Unger 1 0-0 2; Luke Zeidler 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 15-23 51.
3-point goals: DE-Owsik 2, King 2
#1 METHACTON 69, #8 PENNRIDGE 46
Midway through the third quarter, the visiting Rams pulled to within one of the top-seeded Warriors (33-32) after a Trent Fisher bucket. The 
Warriors closed out the game with a 36-14 tear, punching their ticket to Temple. It is the program’s first ever trip to the district semifinals.
The Rams led by three after one quarter, but the Warriors regrouped and took a 26-23 lead into halftime.
Trent Fisher’s 18 points led the Rams. Paul Croyle added eight points, Christian Guldin had seven and Colin Post, six points.
Senior center Jeff Woodward led the Warriors with 16 points while Brett Eberly added 15 – nine on three 3-pointers in the pivotal third when Methacton seized control. Erik Timko added 13, including the 1,000th point of his career.
The two teams combined for 20 3-pointers, 11 by the Warriors. The Rams and Warriors each took six foul shots.
Pennridge (19-7, 9-3 SOL) will be on the road at #5 Lower Merion on Tuesday for a playback game for state seeding.
Pennridge 16-7-14-9 46
Methacton 13-13-18-25 69
Pennridge (46) – Connor Pleibel 1 0-0 3; Luke Yoder 0 1-4 1; Paul Croyle 2 2-2 8; Christian Guldin 3 0-0 7; Colin Post 3 0-0 6; Trent Fisher 7 0-0 18; Colin Monahan 1 0-0 3; Totals 17 3-6 46.
Methacton (69) – Owen Kropp 1 2-2 4; Brett Eberly 6 0-0 15; Brett Byrne 3 0-0 8; Cole Hargrove 4 0-0 10; Erik Timko 5 0-0 13; Steven Penjuke 1 0-0 3; Jeff Woodward 7 2-4 16; Totals 27 4-6 69.
3-point goals –Pennridge – Trent Fisher 4, Paul Croyle 2, Connor Pleibel, Colin Monahan, Christian Guldin, Methacton – Erik Timko 3, Brett Eberly 3, Cole Hargrove 2, Brett Byrne 2, Steven Penjuke.
Class 6A Playbacks
#12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 46, #13 HAVERFORD 32
The Patriots turned a 13-13 halftime tie into a decisive win, sending the Central League champion Fords home for the season. The Patriots outscored their visitors 33-19 after the intermission.
“The first half was played at such a slow pace, and they were so deliberate in what they were doing,” East coach Erik Henrysen said. “We were happy to – on the one hand – be tied at halftime because I don’t think we played very well. On the other hand, 13-13 at halftime – I think we set basketball back for a couple of years.
“They just do a great job playing defense and keeping everything tight and compact. On the offensive end, they’re just so patient. We also weren’t happy with some of the decisions we were making on the offensive end. We were taking difficult opportunities instead of just making the smart play, but coming out in the third quarter, we were able to pick up the tempo.”
The Patriots – behind seven points from Chris Charlton – outscored the Fords 18-8 in the third quarter to go on top 31-21.
“We got into transition better off rebounds,” Henrysen said. “Jack Hamilton just really gave us a spark starting some of those run-outs with either rebounds or blocks. He was aggressive and really ignited that third quarter along with Chris Charlton making some heady plays and knocking down some shots.”
In the case of Hamilton, stats don’t lie – he finished with eight blocks and 10 rebounds and was every bit as dominant in the paint as those numbers suggest.
“We felt real good about him staying in the lane,” Henrysen said. “It was just a good matchup to have him anchor our defense. He did a great job of not jumping, staying grounded until the ball went up in the air. Credit to him.
“He’s really learned to block the ball but also get us a possession out of it, so he’s not blocking the ball out of bounds. He’s actually intelligent with the way he’s going about it.”
Joe Jackman led a balanced Patriot attack with 11 points while Charlton added 10, which included a pair of 3s. Jason Markowitz also had two treys and finished with nine points. Anthony Giordano chipped in seven points.
The Patriots connected on 16-of-23 at the foul line while the Fords were 6-of-7.
“We got into the bonus in the second half in the third quarter – they started to try to trap and play a little more fullcourt, so we got to the line quite a bit,” Henrysen said.
Central Bucks East (11-11, 6-6 SOL) will host #24 North Penn in a playback game on Tuesday. A PIAA 6A state berth will be at stake.
“We played them twice this year – they’re a team that traditionally always seems to put it together toward the end of the year,” Henrysen said. “We’re happy to be in this place, but we know even though we beat them twice this year we’re going to go into a battle.”
Haverford 6-7-8-11 32
Central Bucks East 7-6-18-15 46
Haverford (32) – Sean Reynolds 3, Hunter Krazia 5, Will Higson 6, John Schievert 6, Googie Seidman 6, Colucci 2, Dwight 4.
Central Bucks East (46) – Jack Hamilton 5, Joe Jackman 11, Jason Markowitz 9, Tyler Young 4, Chris Charlton 10, Anthony Giordano 7.
3-point goals: Haverford – Googie Seidman 2, Sean Reynolds, Hunter Krazia, CBE – Jason Markowitz 2, Chris Charlton 2, Joe Jackman.
#24 NORTH PENN 69, #16 COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 51
The visiting Knights took a tenuous 18-16 lead into the second quarter but then limited the Golden Hawks to just six points in the second quarter and outscored their hosts 31-15 in the middle two frames to seize complete control of the game.
“That was what we talked about at the quarter – 16 points (in the first quarter) was too many,” NP coach John Conrad said. “We just talked about how we had to play better defense, and I thought we did in the second and third quarters, and that allowed us to extend our lead going into the fourth.”
The Knights, who led 32-22 at halftime, took a commanding 49-31 lead into the final quarter. Kolby Barrow connected on a pair of 3s and scored eight of his team’s 14 points in the second quarter.
In the second half, Matt Swanson had the hot hand, scoring 18 of his game-high 23 points after the intermission. He had had 12 points in the Knights’ 20-point fourth quarter.
“We had a nice lead in the fourth, and they extended themselves with some pressure, and Matt was the beneficiary at the back end,” Conrad said. “Our guards did a nice job of handling the press, and he was able to finish.”
Also for the Knights, Josh Jones scored 16 points. Mike Chaffee added 12, Kolby Barrow had eight and Rob Carangi finished with six.
“I knew our size would be a problem for them, and we were able to score, but in the first quarter we didn’t defend very well,” Conrad said. “In the second and third, I thought Mike Chaffee did a really nice job on (Jack) Rebholz, and that was the turning point where we were able to get some stops and transition baskets.”
Rebholz, who finished with nine points, had just three points heading into the final quarter when he buried a pair of 3s.
“All of our guards really played well,” Conrad said. “CR South likes to extend you and shoot from the perimeter, and I thought our guard play was really good defensively. I thought all of them – Joey (Larkins), Kolby (Barrow) and Mike (Chaffee) – did a nice job of handling the pressure.”
Michael Stewart’s 17 points led the Golden Hawks. Luca Baratta and Luke Meakim also finished in double figures with 10 points each.
North Penn (11-14, 5-7 SOL) will travel to #12 Central Bucks East for a playback game on Tuesday. The winner will earn a berth in the PIAA 6A state tournament.
“One of my kids asked me at practice the other day – will we ever be home again, and I said, ‘Not this year,’” Conrad said. “We’ve been on the road for a while now, and it’s just a testament to our seniors and our senior leadership.
“The kids know the position we’re in, and hopefully, they’re hungry. I know they’ve worked hard. Erik (Henrysen) does a great job at East. We’ll see what happens Tuesday night.”
Council Rock South (8-4 SOL) saw its successful season end with a 16-9 record, a seven win improvement over last year’s 9-13 season.
North Penn 18-14-17-20 69
Council Rock South 16-6-9-20 51
North Penn (69) – Kolby Barrow 3 0-0 8; Josh Jones 7 0-1 16; Joe Larkins 1 2-2 4; Mike Chaffee 5 0-0 12; Rob Carangi 2 2-2 6; Matt Swanson 10 3-5 23; Totals 28 7-8 69.
Council Rock South (51) – Jack Rebholz 3 1-2 9; Joe Purcell 2 0-0 5; Luca Baratta 4 0-0 10; Luke Meakim 3 4-4 10; Michael Stewart 6 3-4 17; Totals 18 8-10 51.
3-point goals: NP – Mike Chaffee 2, Josh Jones 2, Kolby Barrow 2, CRS – Michael Stewart 2, Luca Baratta 2, Jack Rebholz 2, Joe Purcell.
#19 UPPER DARBY 73, #22 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 68
- Log in to post comments
