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William Tennent holds off Cheltenham to clinch share of SOL Freedom title

02/01/2023, 12:15am EST
By Ryan Coyle

Ryan Coyle (@ryancoyle35)
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For the last two decades, the William Tennent boys basketball program has been an afterthought in the Suburban One Conference.

After winning a division title in 2004, the Panthers rarely put together a league contender, only posting two winning SOL campaigns in 18 seasons leading up to this year.

On Tuesday night, they finally completed their climb back to the top.

It was a night celebrated in William Tennent basketball history that was 19 years in the making as the Panthers knocked off three-time defending division champion Cheltenham, 60-56, to clinch at least a share of their first SOL Freedom regular-season league title since the 2003-04 title campaign. 

“It feels amazing to finally get it done,” junior wing Kirby Mooney said. “We haven’t done it in so long, so it feels really good to win at least a share of this league. Especially being able to beat Cheltenham, a really good basketball school like that, we have never beat them in my career so that made it even more special. A big win for the program for sure.”


William Tennent junior Kirby Mooney scored 23 points to help his team clinch at least a share of its first SOL title since 2004. (Photo: Ryan Coyle/CoBL)

Mooney led Tennent with 23 points on the night, including a second half that saw the junior score 13 points, converting a key and-one with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter.

With the victory, Tennent (15-5, 10-4) took a two-game lead in the SOL Freedom division over Cheltenham (9-9, 8-6), guaranteeing at least a share of this year’s division title. 

If Tennent is able to win one of its last two SOL games against New Hope-Solebury (0-15, 0-12) or Lower Moreland (7-12, 5-8), it will win the league outright. If the Panthers drop both of those games and Cheltenham defeats Upper Moreland (11-8, 5-8) and Springfield-Montco (6-12, 1-11) the two will share the title. 

“As a coach, each team that comes through is special to you in one way or another,” William Tennent head coach Robert Mullvile said. “Obviously, when you have a team that gets a league championship, at least a share of it right now, it means a lot and you feel good for the kids because they work so hard all year for moments like this.”

William Tennent, which came into the night as the tenth ranked team in the District 1-6A power rankings, played its first home game since Jan. 13 on Tuesday after playing its last five on the road. The Panthers came out hot in front of their home crowd getting off to a 7-0 lead, forcing Cheltenham to use a timeout at the 5:39 mark in the first quarter.

“We just came off of five straight road games, so it was nice to be back at home in front of our fans and I think we used that energy at home to start out fast,” Mulville said.

In a sloppy first quarter that saw Cheltenham and Tennent both turn it over five times each, the home team took a 12-6 lead to the second quarter after senior guard George Marion recorded six points via two and-ones. The duo of Marion (16) and Mooney combined for 39 points on the night, good enough for 63 percent of the scoring production in the victory for Tennent. 

After playing its normal pressure man-to-man style defense in the first quarter, Cheltenham came out in the second half in a 1-3-1 extended zone, giving Tennent some trouble, causing four turnovers and forcing the Panthers into taking eight 3-point shots, only converting on two of them. 

While Cheltenham’s athleticism and defensive intensity gave Tennent some problems, causing 13 turnovers on the night, the Panthers returned the favor on the other end, turning it over 16 times themselves.

Cheltenham forward Niles Tinsley had a strong second quarter, going 3-of-4 from the field, scoring six points, but Cheltenham trailed 31-20 going into the break.

Tinsley continued his strong play into the second half, doing a lot of work around the basket for the Panthers and helped Cheltenham gain some momentum, going on a 9-4 run from the 5:38 mark to the 2:25 mark in the third quarter. While the momentum began to shift, Mooney and his teammates didn’t panic.

“When they went on that run, coach was just telling us to stay calm,” Mooney noted. “They are a good team and we knew they wouldn’t give up, so we just had to stay calm and close it out. With the way they play up and down and running the fast break a lot, they are going to be able to stay in it no matter the score, because they can get baskets in a hurry. We knew they would make their run, but just staying calm and collected was key.”

Heading into the fourth, Cheltenham cut the lead all the way down to four, trailing 42-38 entering the final frame. The Panthers, who entered the night in 28th place in 6A (the top 24 teams make the playoffs) began to play with a bigger sense of urgency like they were playing for their playoff lives, with key players like Josiah Hutson and Kamani Healey diving for loose balls and taking charges. 

In the fourth quarter, Cheltenham tied it 50-50 after a pair of free throws from Healey with 3:55 remaining. Mooney answered on the other end. After initially getting fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one attempt, he missed the first one, but followed his shot and was able to get a second chance putback and-one to give his team a 53-50 lead with 3:40 to go.

“Since I was younger at every level my coaches have always told me to follow my shot and that is something I try to do every night,” Mooney said after having a handful of offensive boards on the evening. “I do it every time I shoot because I know I can get a lot of offensive rebounds.

“I can outjump a lot of guys, so I try to use that to my advantage and never give up on a play. I know if I give myself a chance to hustle for an offensive rebound and follow my own shot, it will gives me a chance to get some more points for my team.”

After Mooney converted the and-one, Cheltenham quickly answered, bringing Tennent’s lead back to one. A few possessions later, Marion tried to hit Mooney on a backdoor play, which was quickly sniffed out by Cheltenham senior Yakeen Respes which was turned into a steal and then a coast to coast layup, giving the visitors their first lead of the game with 2:30 left. Mulville never lost faith in his team down the stretch though.

“When they took the lead there in the fourth it was one of those situations where we kind of had to just refocus,” Mulville said. “We have been in situations like this before in close games throughout the season, so I think our guys weren’t rattled by the moment. We have really good senior leadership on this team. We have four seniors and then Kirby who are the starters and those are the guys we go with down the stretch. When you have good senior leadership, that really helps you at the end of games.”

Those seniors, alongside Marion and the junior Kirby include Evan Devor who had 10 rebounds on the night, Isaiah Dawson who had 13 points and three trey balls, Danny Scheller who had five points, and Tyler Laurin who comes off the bench.

Cheltenham fouled Marion on the other end, giving him two shots at the line. He hit the first and missed the second to tie the game, 54-54. 

Huston couldn’t convert the 3-pointer on the other end after a well executed back screen play against Tennent’s 2-3 zone, giving the home team a chance to regain the lead. 

 

That is where Mooney, just like he has been doing since he was a young ball player followed his shot and grabbed another offensive rebound, ripping the ball away from Cheltenham’s Kevin Addison and converting a layup with 1:33 to go to put Tennent in the lead at 56-54 for good. 

After a few more unsuccessful offensive attempts on the other end, Marion stepped up at the line and hit four free throws to seal the deal and clinch a share of the league title.

“Cheltenham is a good team and they made that run in the third quarter, eventually came all the way back and took the lead, but mentally our guys stayed tough,” Mulville said. “They knocked down their foul shots, stayed tough down the stretch, and we closed it out like we have been doing in these close games recently.” 

The top 16 teams in the 6A bracket will host a home playoff game, which William Tennent looks locked in for, but they also have a chance to be one of the top eight seeds and secure a first round bye, still giving them at least one guaranteed home playoff game and putting them within one win of a state playoff trip.

Tennent has been to the state playoffs since its last SOL title in 2004.

For a school that hasn’t seen much basketball success in the 21st century, to be able to win a league title and host a district playoff game would be a special moment for everyone within the program.

While the focus is on two remaining regular-season games against New Hope-Solebury and Lower Moreland in hopes of clinching the outright league title, Mooney knows this has been a historic season for the program with a chance to continue making some noise right in front of them.

“As long as we stay humble and keep playing out our pace, I think we are going to be a tough out.” Mooney said.

By Quarter
William Tennent:  12  |  19  |  11   |  18  ||  60
Cheltenham: 6  |  14  |  18  |   18  ||  56

Shooting
William Tennent: 20-47 FG (5-17 3PT) 15-21 FT
Cheltenham: 24-44 FG (1-15 3PT), 7-10 FT 

Scoring
William Tennent: Mooney 23, Marion 16, Dawson 13, Scheller 5, Devor 3

Cheltenham: Tinsley 12, Hutson 10, Healey 10, Hughes 9, Addison 7, Respes 4, Johnson 2, Thompson 2


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