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Bensalem boys advance to SOL championship game

02/14/2022, 11:45pm EST
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)
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When the season began, Bensalem head coach Ron Morris wasn’t sure where his team would end up when the season finished. 

The Owls entered the campaign with only one starter back from the previous year, but several seniors that had seen the floor and spent a lot of time together on and off the court. 

Aaron Sanders stands in a gym

Aaron Sanders (above) led all scorers with 19 points in the Owls' semifinal victory. (Photo: Rob Rose/CoBL)

While the team couldn’t be sure which players would become standouts on this squad, Bensalem’s warm up shirts have a fitting team motto written on the back — “Tradition doesn’t graduate.”

Bensalem’s gym features a banner from the 2020 team that reached the Suburban One League semifinal and lost, but this year’s team was able to get one step further with a 62-54 victory over Upper Dublin to earn a trip to the title game on Tuesday night at Cheltenham.

“We always knew we had the talent and we knew we worked really hard in the offseason, so it was just a matter of if the kids were really going to buy in and gel together,” Morris said. “They've really done that. I think they bonded a lot. They just really enjoy being around each other and I think that helps when you get on the court.”

That lone senior starter that returned for the team, Aaron Sanders, showed why he’s been one of the best players in the league this season once again on Monday. Sanders scored a game-high 19 points with two 3-pointers.

The two-time SOL all-star was honored pregame with a ball commemorating his recent 1,000-point milestone, but it was the other part of the ceremony before the contest started that really excited Sanders. The Owls’ captains and head coach received a trophy after they won the SOL Patriot, and Sanders has his sights set on more team trophies this season.

“A lot of my expectations are just to win. I just want to win championships for the school,” Sanders said. “Hitting 1,000 points was really good for me. I felt it boosted my confidence a lot, but we still got our goals. We got the league now. That's in the past, it's over with. Now to try to get this SOL tournament and then after that we’re going for the district title.”

Aaron Sanders dribbles a basketball

Sanders (above, in Jan.) was the only returning starter for the Owls this season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

While Sanders has been the star and top scorer, his fellow seniors who stepped into starting spots have been big for Bensalem and were once again Monday night. Allen Myers scored 17 points and provided rim protection and rebounds while Jeremy Rodriguez added eight points and helped Sanders run the offense.

Bensalem opened up an early advantage after a strong start by their senior duo and never lost the lead. Upper Dublin battled back at the end of the third quarter to cut the deficit to five points, but the Owls held off the comeback attempt in the final eight minutes.

Sanders said he viewed Myers and himself as the Owls 1-2 punch, with one making plays on the perimeter and the other doing damage in the paint. Morris mentioned how impressed he’s been with Myers’ improvement on offense since last season and added he would take his backcourt duo of Sanders and Rodriguez over any in the state.

The only current Owls who saw significant minutes during the 2020 season were Sanders and Jake Delange. Morris said several of their key players were brought up to the varsity squad for the playoffs two years ago, but haven’t experienced postseason play for themselves yet.

Standing between Bensalem and an SOL championship is Cheltenham. The undefeated Panthers pounced on the Owls in their last postseason meeting, a 17-point win in 2020, but both teams look very different these days.

If Bensalem is bound to build out its trophy case like Sanders and his squad say they can, a road win over Cheltenham would be a big start.

While the Owls want to win Tuesday’s game in a frantic-but-fun schedule Morris compared to March Madness, it wasn’t lost on the head coach how much his team had already achieved this year. For the second time in three years, Bensalem has a chance to capture an SOL title and the growth of his team over the season had made Morris proud of his program where tradition doesn’t graduate.

“It just feels amazing. It's an amazing feeling,” Morris said. “It's great because the kids get the feel of that success. They've put in a lot of hours and a lot of time and now they're seeing all that success paid off.”

By Quarter

Bensalem: 14 | 16 | 13 | 19 || 62
UD:              9 | 11 | 18 | 16 || 54

Scoring

B: Aaron Sanders 19, Allen Myers 17, Eric Gonzalez 9, Jeremy Rodriguez 8, Jake Wineburg 6, Tra Edwards 3.

UD: Colin O’Sullivan 14, Griffin Pensabene 10, Nathan Fechter 8, Chris Kohlbrenner 8, DJ Cerisier 6, Seaton Kukla 4, Jalen Wells 4.


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Tag(s): Home  Suburban One (B)  SOL Liberty (B)  Upper Dublin  SOL Patriot (B)  Bensalem